The job of an Auto broker is to save you money, time and the hassle of negotiating with a car dealership. A good auto broker knows all about the car buying process and most importantly knows how to negotiate a sale, so you save money. In addition to hiring an auto broker there may be other ways to save on a new car including rebates, new car incentives and government rebates.

New Car Rebates & Cash Back Offers

New car rebates are typically offered by the manufacturer of the vehicle and offered through a participating dealership. Not every dealership will participate so it’s important to know and check ahead of time if it’s available to you. But typically, the rebate will be a set amount that can be applied to the sale price of the new car. So, if a dealer is advertising $2,500 cash back on a new Honda civic model than you can expect to pay the negotiated price minus $2,500. Rebates are usually model specific and straight forward.

New Car Incentives

In addition to or on their own, dealers or manufactures may offer what’s called a New Car incentive in the form of low interest or 0% interest financing. Since people usually borrow the money to buy a new car the incentive is offered through a specific dealer or manufacturer approved lender. Terms and limits will apply as specified by the lender. So, in order to receive these discounts, you must pass a credit approval and agree to the terms such as a 48-month loan.

These end up saving you as much or more than a cash back offer just over time as opposed to upfront. A 0% loan at 48 months is exactly what it sounds like, you pay no interest on a loan over 4 years. Dealers may offer other incentives to encourage purchase of specific models such as free maintenance or feature upgrades.

 Check out some of the current offers available here and I’ve included a helpful auto loan calculator link as well.

Government incentives

Currently the US federal government along with the State of California offer incentives for the purchase of hybrid and full electric vehicles. The federal incentives usually take the form of tax credits deducted at the end of the year and in some cases such as in California will take up to $750 off the sticker price through the dealership. For more information check out Clean Fuel Reward and the federal tax credits here.