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Prices Paid: Buying & Leasing Experiences Honda Civic Prices Paid and Buying Experience
9208 messages, Last post on Dec 04, 2009 at 11:38 AM
You are in the Prices Paid: Buying & Leasing Experiences Forum. Your Hosts are car_man & kyfdx
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| So, what would one recommend now for the 2009 LX auto? I read through a bunch on pages but being that the 2010s are out and the one dealership I am looking at has 38 of them listed online in their inventory, and they seem like they want to get them out of there just trying to come up with a decent OTD price (DC area) | |
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You have to do the homework. There are too many variables (color, installed options, location/region, etc). to say what to pay for a car. If there are still 2009 left and 2010s are out there already, you could get a good deal on 2009. Dealers don't want cars for too long sitting on their lots as it costs them money. End of the month or end of the year are good times to shop for a new car. Dealers and sales persons try to get sales on the board. If you are trading in your used car, pay attention to the price of the new car. Don't bring it up before you have agreed on the price of the new car. Too many people are attached to their old cars and the value thereof. You have to make the trip to the dealer at least twice. Once you decide on the car that you want, you have to see, what options are installed. Get the VIN number and do your homework. Look at the sticker to see, what options are installed. With used ones, you can decipher the VIN number, if the dealer doesn't know what option were originally installed. Also, get the CarFax to see if the car is clean - some dealers will provide CarFax for you free of charge. Generally speaking, the dealer pays appx $ 2000 below wholesale (Blue Book or NADA) to the person who trades the car in. So you know what room you have for negotiation. You can look in BlueBook or NADA at any bookstore, without even purchasing one. Some dealers let you look in those books - that is a good sign of an honest dealership. Then, using Edmunds charts, see what the dealer's invoice is and shoot for $ 200 over invoice. Also see "what others are paying" on the same website.
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Replying to: jogousa (Oct 06, 2009 3:49 am) A VIN number won't tell you what options may have been installed. " Generally speaking the dealer pays 2000.00 below wholesale to the person who trades the car in" ??????
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Replying to: isellhondas (Oct 06, 2009 5:20 am) VIN tells you when and where the car was made or assembled, what type of body it is and some other data, depending on manufacturer - true, not all the options, but some, depending on manufacturer. You can also track down who and where the car was originally sold, if you know how. Do I feel some resentments from you that I am giving away some trade secrets here? A well informed buyer is a goal here. Don't see anything wrong with that! |
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Replying to: jogousa (Oct 06, 2009 5:26 am) But any dealership of that make of car can punch in the VIN code and pull up everything about that car. |
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taylOrd - correct! But, sometimes, if Honda dealer is selling say used Toyota and they do not have the Toyota franchise, they may not get that info that readily. And, as you've said, each manufacturer has it's own way and place where to display the options - unfortunately that is not an universal rule. |
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Replying to: jogousa (Oct 06, 2009 5:26 am) Moved here from Rancho Palos Verdes. Grew up in San Pedro. Met Vasek a couple of times when I was in the tool business. Used to body surf at Hermosa. Ave I. Managed the Sears Auto Center at Del Amo. You said the VIN number tells you which options the car has and this isn't true with dealer installed options. No resentment. Not at all but when you said a dealer takes in trades for 2000.00 below wholesale I have to question you. With Hondas it isn't uncommon for us to pay well above wholesale book to get a nice one. People tend to believe what they read in these forums!
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Replying to: isellhondas (Oct 06, 2009 6:46 am) I lived in Rolling Hills and knew Vasek Polak personally (I looked at his house from my house for many years)...He died while his private ambulance plane was descending at Calgary, AB - Canada.The U.S. doctors would not let him recover in Stuttgart hospital doubting German medical care. So much for this country's medical health care! But that is another story. And yes, $ 2000 below wholesale is/was and should be any dealer's goal! Case and point here, the previous owner of the Honda that I bought from Toyota dealer confirmed that he got 2000 below wholesale. VIN - yes, you are right - the dealer's options are not there. But, these days (depending on market) there are not that many options that dealer would install. High demand cars just move "as is" as they arrive from the port, distributor or similar. Pin striping, under coating or floor mats - maybe - those will not show on VIN.
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Replying to: jogousa (Oct 06, 2009 6:59 am) I'm not surprised Vasek has passed on. He would have been pretty old. Even all of his money can't hold back the years. With Hondas, I wish we could buy them for 2000.00 back of book. We pay over book all of the time for nice cars. |
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Oh well, that was the tubulent past.... I have helped him to liquidate his car collection (he donated most cars to various museums in Europe) while he was still alive. I wish I could live, where you live now...I have to sweat here in FL now... But back to the topic, I understand Hondas sell perhaps under different conditions, being as popular as they are. Also, region/location in the U.S. plays a big role in pricing structures not to mention those fokls who live in small cities where they only have one of the brand franchise in town with no competition. But I hope you agree on the general rules when buying a new car that I have outlined earlier in this thread.
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