On my budget, price is paramount.

I bought my "gas guzzler" at the height of "pump panic", and got it for a song.

Even with the endless summer premium (Florida bikes average about $500.00 more than their Yankee equivalents) my bike was under $2,000.00, and should last me the rest of my life.

UPDATE:

Payments?

Not when you've saved enough to pay cash.

A perfect four rating.

Important but reality must be considered- you generally get what you pay for and unearthing great 'buys' or 'secrets' are getting tougher than ever. Better brands that run longer cost more- period. (But not always the case.)

I have not yet purchased a "new" vehicle in my time on this planet, and price has everything to with it. Oh yeah, to the people that think my driving of used "clunkers" is somehow environmentally irresponsible, screw you all. Fun fact, as much as a quarter of emissions that are tied to your vehicle over the course of its life are related to its production and transportation to its point of sale. Now who's saving the planet?

The price is obviously important. If you can't afford the car, you can't buy the car. Of course the sales guy will try to convince you that it's OK to be making payments for years, but the longer it takes you to pay it off, the more money it costs you. It's amazing how many people just consider the cost of payments without taking into account how much interest you'll have to pay.

Price definitely is important. I start out by looking at vehicles that realistically are in my price range. From there I research as much as I can, then go to a dealer and do just that - deal. Negotiating can be fun (and at times frustrating). A couple of months ago I went down to Virginia to help a niece of mine buy a new vehicle. We spent over half a day at one dealer who was being really stinky about price (the manager actually raised the price that the salesman had quoted), then went the next day to another dealer and made a better deal. It was fun.

The price is the most important reason I will buy a new car from a dealer. I shop around and use internet sites like http://www.car-buyingtips.us to research the vehicles I am interested in. My last purchase was a savings of $6000 off msrp using http://www.car-buyingtips.us and that doesn't include what I saved on auto insurance and an extended automotive warranty.