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Looking to buy new car in 2022 - insight on how to approach given my situation?

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So I know that it isn't the ideal time to buy a car in 2022 with all the shortages - my intention was always to get a CPO car when the time came. But with the crazy market for used cars, it seems like the consensus is that buying new is the way to go if you have some flexibility/patience and don't *NEED* a car immediately - am I right so far?

My situation is that I bought an old 2004 Lexus ES 330 back in 2015 and it's on it's last legs... it's getting to the point where it's hard to justify spending $500+ on a repair when the car is only worth a few thousand. So I've been researching a bunch of cars and I'm heavily leaning towards a Hyundai Tucson Hybrid. I'll still want to find a dealership to test drive one as I haven't gotten to that step in the process yet.

I've never been a big car person so I'm definitely not the most knowledgable about all the specs/mechanical stuff when it comes to cars. I'm happy to listen to anyone's opinion or experience with the Tucson hybrid, but I also don't want to get too caught up with the make/model of the car, as that's not really the point of the post. I've done enough research and I'm fairly satisfied with what I came up with - the only slight question mark to be is the reliability of the make/model, as Hyundai doesn't quite get the unanimous glowing reviews for reliability that Toyota/Honda get, but it seems that it is generally considered a reliable brand that isn't too costly to repair(?) My perspective is that every make/model has their hit and misses - so if I'm buying a 2022 vehicle without a history of issues to analyze, it's going to be a bit of a crapshoot anyway. I also read to stay away from any new Hyundais that were incorporating the new CVT from Toyota and/or Kia(?) as it was known to have issues, but when I read through the specs it seems the Tucson hybrid does not have this CVT so I should not have to worry - idk this is getting to the details that are somewhat over my head lol.

But to my main point/question - ironically I'm an engineer even though I'm not super into/knowledgable about cars lol, but I'm very good with numbers. I have a pretty solid grasp on my finances and what I can afford. Ultimately, I want to make sure I get the best deal/potential financing on a car, and not get overwhelmed or confused by all the sales-person talk. I could practically buy the car up front if I wanted to, but as someone who values investing my money, I want to take advantage of any potential good financing deals and good interest rates.

I have excellent (800+) credit, and I've been leaning towards putting down anywhere from $10k-20k down, and financing the rest (MSRP is just over 30k, hoping I won't have to go much over MSRP). When I'm looking at financing deals online, I'm seeing things like "0% APR for 48 months" - am I misunderstanding things, or are they really offering 0% interest rates for financing? I've also read a bunch of different "car buying guides", but there's always a ton of conflicting information. And it seems that the whole sales environment is different these days so anything older than like 6 months may be irrelevant. Has anyone had luck with the whole 'email all the dealerships in the area for best "out the door price" and leverage them against each other until you have the lowest price?" Also, given that I want to finance part of the purchase, how can I avoid getting caught up in any sales tactics/fine print tricks? Is it still best to finance through a bank or credit union rather than the dealership? If you go this route, are you basically just taking out a separate loan and then buying the car at the dealership with cash? Is this really better than the 0% APR loans that dealerships claim to be offering?

Ultimately, if you were in my situation given the information I've provided, how would you proceed to approach buying & negotiating for a car?

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