Advice needed regarding Future car purchase?

Im looking to buy a used car soon and im not sure what a good down payment would be on a $27,000 car. Im planning on putting $7,000 down, would that be good enough and finance the rest or should i put more into it? What kind of negotiation leverage would i have on the dealer if i showed up at the dealership with $7K Down, 772 Credit score and research from Galves and Nada car values? BTW, the vehicle im looking into is a 2006 Lexus GS300 with 48K miles. Dealers have this car selling at $30K+ but according to the research ive done, the car is worth $25K-$26K. Advice would be greatly appreciated.

Advice needed regarding Future car purchase?

Here%26#039;s a simple way to estimate payments that we use:

For every $1,000 dollars you finance, you can figure that your payment will be $20/month.

Using your example - You are talking about a $27,000 car with $7000 out of pocket. Ignoring tax and tag fees you could expect a payment around $400/mo (27,000 - 7,000 = 20,000, 20 x 20 = 400) So if you were to put down $5,000 instead, your monthly payment would be closer to $440.

If you%26#039;re asking if that%26#039;s enough, well, that%26#039;s up to you. More and more people are putting less and less down on a car. The more you put down up front, the less negative equity (if any) you will have later.

When it comes to leverage in a deal with the dealership, cash down doesn%26#039;t have the same effect it once did. Dealerships make money on financing, and the more you finance, the more they make. So in reality, the more you put down, the more you%26#039;re cutting into your leverage. You have good credit, you have cash to put down, you%26#039;ve done your homework on the car...you don%26#039;t need much more leverage than that friend!!!

Best of luck!

Advice needed regarding Future car purchase?

that is a wonderful down payment. they usually ask anywhere between 10% to 20%. I would suggest researching financing before you go there seeing that many dealers get the most profit from jacking up your interest rates. go to kbb.com and research also if you haven%26#039;t do so. lastly there is no reason why you should pay over what%26#039;s listed as the current value for the vechile. i%26#039;ve went to ebay.com and looked at the car that i wanted and got it for about $3000 less than what other people were offering and with more features. try doing that and looking in your area and then complete the transaction in person