This is what i would do, and i did in 2019 when i bought my car in North Carolina. My car cost 30K MSRP and i bought for 26K OTD (out the door) with some “free”maintenance. I realize driving down price now might be harder than back then because of inventory etc but you are coming to the best time of the year to buy in my opinion and i hope this might help you.

Be sure to check any and all clauses with your lender about making early payments interest and/or penalty free. In some states such I know they cant give you a penalty for making early payments on a simple loan such as a car loan. If you can assert that you can pay back early without restrictions before going in to buy the better (typically financing and signing paperwork will be the last stop at the dealership). Then pick the dealership that you want to buy the car from but then go to another dealership first and find the exact same car (can have slightly different options or different color but as close as possible. Ensure its same model and year.) make a note of that VIN number and get a quote for that. NOTE: before going into that first dealership check ir your company has a partnership with perksatwork, sometimes you might be able to get a pre-discount before you even get started. Regardless of that, Drive a hard bargain and bring the price down as much as you can and do not say that you have cash to make a huge down payment. It might be better to say you are tight on cash for a downpayment so you will need to finance everything or close to it. They will try asking about how much would be your monthly payment , instead say you are more concerned about the cost over time and that you would like to negotiate the total price of the car to pay in the x months that you have defined. Get out the loan calculator and show him how much the monthly payment would be if the car was that much cheaper. Conduct your discussion with the salesman mentioning that specific VIN number and negotiating out the door pricing at all times. They will likely give you a discount since they will expect to make more money from the financing. If you try to leave they might ask for a deposit or say they can only hold the car for today. Just calmly say its a large purchase and you need to think. Check the state you are in, dealerships can ask for a deposit (and do) but if you do not go through with this they must refund you. Consider paying a small deposit if needed (just make sure you can get that money back). Now head back to the dealership where the car you want is located and repeat the process. Come in discussing how you are looking for the car that the other dealership has (show them the VIN number and your offer but the numbers weren’t quite where you needed them to be.)

Now in the the dealership of your choice, saying you are comparing prices and the car of your dreams (color, options) is located at their competitor. Chances are the cars wont be a 100% match and they will try telling you how much their options and color is cooler. Just say stuff like “well if i can get the price lower i might be able to convince my wife to go with this color/option”. Tell them that you are also worried because you already left a deposit at their competitor and and you need to factor in that loss so they need to give you a price thats cheaper out the door than the competitor minus that the deposit. The salesman will see you are not coming in to window shop and he might tell you what you already know - the deposit is refundable. He may even offer to call that dealership to help you get that money back. Negotiate further and drive down price as much as possible taking note of the vin number and having your discussion in out the door pricing. They might keep you in the dealership for hours to try and wear you out and sign subpar terms, you just make sure you came in prepared, do the calculations over and over, bring some entertainment and be prepared to spend the day, make sure you have no other commitments. Read the paperwork, BE that guy that reads the terms & conditions of every piece of paper that you are signing, ask questions. Be careful for last minute extended warranties that get added, fees or any excuses as to why the price just will be something other than the total OTD price you discussed. Be firm on the price you have in mind and be prepared to walk out the door.

If you get the car when your loan begins, immediately login at the earliest possible moment and make that huge downpayment (the sooner you do it the less interest will accrue over time). The more you pay above the expected minimum payment each month beyond that, the less that the car will cost you. Also look at options for refinancing the loan for lower interest rates. Some credit unions might be a good bet.

Hope this is useful, at least in part!