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Prices Paid: Buying & Leasing Experiences Honda Odyssey Prices Paid and Buying Experience
24381 messages, Last post on Dec 05, 2009 at 9:37 AM
You are in the Prices Paid: Buying & Leasing Experiences Forum. Your Hosts are car_man & kyfdx
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Buying a new Honda and most other new cars should be like shooting fish in a barrel if the buyer follows a simple method and is strong enough to hold their ground inside the dealership. The fundamental mistake many people make is allowing the price negotiation to be a function of dealer offers. In a new car purchase, the buyer should control the price negotiation. New cars are commodities, they exist in several dealer locations hungry to sell cars, yet the buyer is only going to buy 1 car. 1. Decide exactly what you want, including ALL factory and dealer-installed options. 2. Use Edmunds to come up with a "safe" cost estimate, something like $500-1000 less than dealer cost. Use the manufacturer's invoice/sticker figures in Edmunds, ignore any extra dealer-created add-on invoices. Cost out that you want. 3. Subtract what your trade-in should bring, if there is a trade. 4. Add tax and title charges. Subtract incentives. (at least in Florida where I live, sales tax is calculated after deducting the trade-in value, and incentives do not reduce the taxable basis) 5. You are now ready to take control of the price negotiation and make offers. 6. Locate the vehicle you want in at least 2 locations. 7. Shop your offer from one location to the other, raising your offer by $100 or $200 or $300 (depending on how hard you want to work) each time you walk out and go to the other location. Never, never raise your offer inside the dealership, only raise your offer when you get to the next location. 8. Always, always ignore the dealer's offer, you are making the offers. As soon as your offer has any gross profit to the dealer, even $50, they can't let you walk out because they know the dealer down the street will get the deal and they will never see you again. 9. Also, do not change your mind regarding what you want in a vehicle without going back to step 1. 10. Step 3 above is critical, it is the only way to deal. Consumer Reports, Ralph Nader and the rest of the people promoting the bad advice of breaking the negotiation into 2 negotiations (new car price and trade-in value) take heed! TAKE CONTROL AS THE BUYER. YOU ARE BUYING A COMMODITY THAT IS READILY AVAILABLE IN MANY LOCATIONS. NO, I AM NOT IN THE CAR BUSINESS AND NEVER HAVE BEEN. I JUST LIKE TO BEAT THEM AT THEIR OWN GAME. EVERY DEAL IS DIFFERENT. SOME DEALERS CAN GIVE MORE FOR THE TRADE THAN OTHERS, SOME MAY HAVE A HOLDBACK ON A PARTICULAR VEHICLE THAT CAN AFFECT THE COST, ALL KINDS OF CRAZY FACTORS CAN COME INTO PLAY, READ BELOW SOME OF MY EXPERIENCES. I BOUGHT A 1999 HONDA VAN A PRICE I COULD NOT BELIEVE WHEN THEY WERE SO HOT IT WAS HARD TO FIND ONE TO TEST DRIVE. WHY? EXPERIENCED SALESMAN, FIRST DAY ON THE JOB AT THAT DEALERSHIP, AND THEY WANTED TO SEE HIM GET A DEAL HIS FIRST DAY WITH THEM, SO HE FELT GOOD ABOUT HIS DECISION TO GO TO THAT DEALERSHIP. WHEN I TRADED THAT 1999 FOR A 2002 HONDA VAN, THE 1999 HAD HAD THE SPEEDOMETER/ODOMETER REPLACED UNDER WARRANTY. EVEN SO, THE FEDERAL TITLE LAWS HAD CHANGED AND THE VEHICLE HAD TO BE REPRESENTED AS "TRUE MILEAGE UNKNOWN" LEAVING ME WITH A $5000 PROBLEM IN TRADE VALUE. THE LAST DEALERSHIP I WENT TO AFTER GOING TO 6-7, THE SALESMAN LIED ABOUT THE MILEAGE. I OF COURSE CHECKED OFF THE TMU BOX ON THE TITLE AND FIGURED THE CLOSER WOULD THEN NOT CLOSE THE DEAL. HE ASKED IF I HAD AN INVOICE, WHICH I OF COURSE DID AND CLOSED THE DEAL TO MY SURPRISE. THEY USED THAT VAN AS THEIR SERVICE DEPARTMENT VEHICLE TO TRANSPORT CUSTOMERS. ANOTHER NOTABLE DEAL... I TOOK A FRIEND TO BUY A CIVIC. THE WINNING DEALERSHIP SAID OK TO OUR PRICE IF WE WOULD COME UP $100 AS WE WERE WALKING OUT, TO WHICH I REPLIED, I DON'T KNOW WHO OWNS HONDALAND, BUT HE'S PROBABLY ONE OF THE RICHEST GUYS IN TAMPA AND IF YOU THINK WE'RE GOING TO GIVE HIM AND EXTRA $100 YOU ARE CRAZY. THEY DID THE DEAL. WHEN I CALLED JOE FROM THE LOSING DEALERSHIP WHO HAD RECENTLY WON MY HONDA ACCORD DEAL, HE SAID THE OTHER DEALERSHIP HAD A "BUY-HERE-PAY-HERE" CAR LOT, TOOK A REAL CHANCE ON THE TRADE, AND HE WOULD HAVE HAD TO WHOLESALE IT OUT. JOE WAS AN EXPERIENCED SALESMAN, KNEW MY METHOD, KNEW WE WERE SERIOUS BUYERS AND STILL LOST THE DEAL BECAUSE OF OTHER FACTORS. MY POINT... THEY KNOW ALL THE TRICKS, I DON'T AND YOU DON'T. BUT IF YOU MAKE THE OFFERS, TO 2-3 DEALERSHIPS, YOU DON'T NEED TO KNOW WHY THE DEAL WORKED, BUT YOU WILL SAVE A LOT OF MONEY IN MOST CASES AND BEAT THESE GUYS AT THERE OWN GAME. USE THEIR GREED AGAINST THEM!!!! |
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Replying to: sjsaz (Feb 22, 2006 10:31 pm)
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Replying to: adam16 (Feb 23, 2006 9:01 am)  Honda Cars of Mesa is who I dealt with... They are in the Fleet department...
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Replying to: sjsaz (Feb 22, 2006 10:31 pm)
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Replying to: sjsaz (Feb 22, 2006 10:31 pm) |
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I just purchased an '06 Odyseey EX-L w/DVD for $100 over the invoice price, total of $27,696.00. The dealer is working me hard to purchase exterior rustproofing/weather protection for $399 and interior scotch guarding for an additional $300. Also the extended Honda Care warranty. I've already decided against Honda Care at least until the regular warranty is nearly up - does anyone know if the price to purchase Honda Care increases as you get closer to the expiration of the standard warranty? Also, living in the NorthEast (Buffalo,NY) I am debating about weather protection/rust proofing for the exterior - any suggestions? Is this a waste of money since the manufacturer typically rustproofs prior to assembly/delivery? Your thoughts are greatly appreciated!!
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Replying to: lazyboy1 (Feb 18, 2006 6:59 pm) Thanks! |
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Replying to: jamiev (Feb 23, 2006 5:09 pm)
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Replying to: cccompson (Feb 23, 2006 6:20 pm) |
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