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Honda Accord Prices Paid and Buying Experience

29563 messages,  Last post on May 22, 2013 at 9:25 PM

You are in the Prices Paid - Buying & Leasing Experiences Forum.

What is this discussion about? Honda Accord, Coupe, Sedan

Messages Page 2805 of 2957

#28039 of 29563 Re: Post dealership Names [darrin8] by hondafan31

Jan 13, 2013 (5:05 pm)

Replying to: darrin8 (Jan 13, 2013 9:49 am)
darrin8
I live in VA and used a quote from Weymouth to negotiate my deal from a VA dealership. Two months ago I purchased an Accord 2013 EX-L V6 no navi. Price paid was $27,794 (includes Destination Fee), $55 for wheel locks, $399 Processing fee plus VA sales tax and tags. There was no trade involved, just a new car purchase. Car dealership is in Stafford VA (Pohanka Honda). I researched pricing on the Weymouth website and secured a quote $27,794 from the Weymouth dealership (includes Destination Fee) plus a $239 processing fee. The Weymouth quote addressed the process associated with an out of state purchase. I took a copy of the Weymouth quote to Pohanka Honda and negotiated a very comparable deal. The Pohanka deal was based on the same price quoted by Weymouth for the car plus Pohanka's $399 processing fee, ($160 difference).

#28040 of 29563 Two weeks after paying $1100 below invoice (long!) [more] by michaelvox

Jan 13, 2013 (5:04 pm)

18) I sent out 39 e-mails. Yes, 39. At 23 dealerships. From two blocks away to 62 miles away (a place I heard had good deals). Yes, in some cases I sent more than one e-mail to a single dealership. This may have caused some internal strife. One recommended salesman couldn’t work with me because his team had already received an e-mail from me.
 
19) I heard back from just 12. If I was Brian125, I would have called the other ones up. But I was determined to do this without using the phone. I sent followup e-mails to those I didn’t hear from. I find it incredible that I had $30,000 in my pocket which I was going to give to one lucky salesman within 48 hours and a large number of people never responded. I left contact information to prove I was real and motivated. In one case, I sent five e-mails to the five people listed as “internet sales manager” at one dealership. None of them have responded to this day.
 
20) The first prices came in. Some were exactly what they offered at carwoo, some were over invoice, some were a little bit below invoice. The lowest initial offer was $500 below invoice. After 24 hours, I sent a second e-mail mentioning the lowest offer. Some of them didn’t respond at all to this, some responded that they thought they could sell their cars over invoice; most were polite. I was likewise polite. Just because I didn’t buy their $1000 over invoice car, doesn’t mean it didn’t fly off the lot just the same. The cars are great and they are still new in the marketplace. No hard feelings. Most came down in price.
 
21) I now had five places substantially lower than the rest. So I began my Edmunds-informed final push. “I am aware of how important the Customer Satisfaction Index survey is. I look forward to giving the winning bid’s dealership the highest ratings on my post-sale survey.” Next e-mail: “I have high credit scores and may be persuaded to use Honda Financing if it brings my cost down” Bingo! “If you finance with Honda at 2.49%, I’ll give you $500 in flex-cash towards your downpayment.”
 
22) Yes, I already applied for and was approved at Penfed at 1.49% which I will use to refinance the Honda loan thereby saving me $500 over the life of my car loan. Penfed cost me $20 to join.
 
23) Final e-mail to the winning dealership (15 miles away): “If that flex-cash ‘disappears’ before I get there, I walk; If our out the door prices don’t agree, I walk”. He assured me it was all good.
 
24) And then, the big final demand from me: “We will sign papers at a Starbucks. I am NOT coming into your dealership. Do you have one nearby?” “Yes, across the street. I’ll meet you there.” SOLD!
 
25) We met, I bought his coffee, we sat down and looked over the numbers. I showed him my huge spreadsheet of every dealer in California. He marveled at it. While we were there, two of his managers came into the Starbucks. They likewise looked over the spreadsheet. They were most amazed at the fact that so many dealerships simply didn’t respond. Did I miss out on a great deal from the unresponsive dealers? Maybe. But I know they missed out on my money by not responding.
 
26) The winner was “CC” at Morgan Hill Honda. After my very first e-mail, he punched numbers into his computer, took a photo of his screen, and e-mailed it back to me. Within ten minutes. The guy responded to each and every one of my e-mails within 20 minutes. He didn’t pressure me. He used proper grammar and spelling. He didn’t make me wait for answers. This guy is going to make a ton of money as more and more young people buy cars online. He had his iphone with him at all times. Some of the older salespeople are going to have trouble keeping up.
 
27) After papers were signed, I was required to go to the dealership to drive the car off the lot. But by then, CC and I were pals.
 
28) The holidays messed with parts ordering and it took a week to get my options installed, but now with the deck spoiler lid, my car looks like an “almost BMW” from the back. My three tank overall mileage is 29 and I’ve been tearing over hills and around curvy back roads. In Econ mode, I blow over the Altamont pass without the RPMs going over 2k.
 
29) For those of you data minded, these are historical pre-TTL prices for a 2013 Honda Accord EX-L V6:
 
30860 MSRP
30353 Truecar Average Seven Weeks Ago
29813 Edmunds TMV Seven Weeks Ago
29785 Google Cars Regional Price Seven Weeks Ago
29467 Carsdirect Seven Weeks Ago
29459 Edmunds TMV Four Weeks Ago
29192 Costco Twelve Weeks Ago
28792 My highest bid--he politely told me that he had more buyers than he knew what to do with at this price.
28693 USAA Seven Weeks Ago
28566 Carwoo Offer Seven Weeks Ago
28292 INVOICE PRICE
28272 Truecar Target Seven Weeks Ago
28193 Truecar 65 Miles Away Seven Weeks Ago
28064 Truecar Target Four Weeks Ago
27998 Carwoo Offer (but then revoked and dealer stopped using it--rogue salesman?)
27931 Truecar Target Three Weeks Ago
27788 Internet Quote From Online Inquiry Recent
27739 WEYMOUTH quote for comparison (higher doc fees, though)
27695 Bid from 50 miles away
27492 Bid from 39 miles away
27477 Bid from 30 miles away
27192 Winning Bid from 15 miles away.
 
From my sales contract:
27192 Cash Price Vehicle
446.76 Deck Lid Spoiler + Cargo Net installed
80.00 Document Processing
29.00 Electronic Vehicle Registration
301.75 California State Fees (title, tires, etc.)
2363.32 Sales Tax (ouch)
 
30412.83 Out The Door
 
Thank you for all the help in this forum. Good luck out there. Remember that a car is a commodity. There is no shortage. You can wait

#28041 of 29563 Re: Two weeks after paying $1100 below invoice (long!) [michaelvox] by brian125

Jan 13, 2013 (6:45 pm)

Replying to: michaelvox (Jan 13, 2013 5:04 pm)
can you guys try to keep your post to a short novel. i hit my head on paragraph 148 from eye strain.
 
i posted in the honda cr-v forum post number 11919 Jan ,10th on how to start to get pricing from out of state dealerships then apply it to your state . If your not a good negotiator check it out . Or if you want to read mikes above post you hopefully will be done reading it before the end of the month..

#28042 of 29563 Re: Two weeks after paying $1100 below invoice (long!) [michaelvox] by jammike

Jan 13, 2013 (6:45 pm)

Replying to: michaelvox (Jan 13, 2013 5:04 pm)
Thanks for all the information and the effort to post so many details on the Forum. Your dedication is simply applaud worthy.

#28043 of 29563 2013 CVT Special Auto. Transmission Fluid by coches1

Jan 13, 2013 (8:05 pm)

The Honda CVT Auto Transmissions needs Special hydraulic fluid
only provided by the Honda Dealer. According to a Honda Salesperson
the system can only be opened by the dealer.
 
If this is true it is not a deal breaker but is important
to know regarding maintenance and emergency repairs.
 
thanks

#28044 of 29563 29.00$ Electronic Registration Fee LOL by coches1

Jan 13, 2013 (10:58 pm)

Replying to: michaelvox (Jan 13, 2013 5:04 pm)
29.00$ Electronic Registration Fee LOL
 
I asked a dealer about this fee when he presented it
in his offer. He said it expedites the delivery
of your registration. When I asked him if it
was necessary to have this added service,
he said no and would remove it.
 
Anyone in the forum had a situation with this fee??
 
CA DMV has an awesome new car fee calculator that
includes everything.
 
 
 

#28045 of 29563 Re: Two weeks after paying $1100 below invoice (long!) [michaelvox] by btan44

Jan 14, 2013 (2:10 am)

Replying to: michaelvox (Jan 13, 2013 4:47 pm)
Thanks for all your helpful information, i live in the same area as you and plan to buy the exact same car. My first stop with be Morgan Hill Honda and hope to get a great deal as you have.

#28046 of 29563 Re: Two weeks after paying $1100 below invoice (long!) [michaelvox] by liaison

Jan 14, 2013 (7:45 am)

Replying to: michaelvox (Jan 13, 2013 5:04 pm)
Thank you for the detailed post(s). I don't feel so bad now about our 4.75% sales tax. My local dealer charges $499 for doc fees and on top of that we pay the sales tax on doc fees. One thing I have noticed is that all of the Honda dealers in my area had great sales in Dec. Inventory is very low and few EX-L sedans are on their lots. I don't know if it was the season or the 2013 Accord that accounted for high sales. Like you, I drive a V6 (07) and love the extra power. Trying to decide if I would be happy with the 4 cylinder.

#28047 of 29563 Re: Two weeks after paying $1100 below invoice (long!) [michaelvox] by rayainsw

Jan 14, 2013 (9:46 am)

Replying to: michaelvox (Jan 13, 2013 5:04 pm)
I really appreciate the time it took to detail your process!
Thanks,
- Ray
Rarely a man of few words ...

#28048 of 29563 Internet Sales Managers and another buying option by solo67

Jan 14, 2013 (11:09 am)

When I began my car search, the first dealership I went to for a test drive actually had a ficticious Internet Sales Manager. When I'd call the dealership, the person was never available or was on vacation. But, he always seemed to answer emails promptly. When I went in for the test drive appointment, I was told he was on vacation. After being helped by someone else, I asked where the guy's desk was ( I noticed he didn't appear in the staff photos on the wall) and the salesman was speechless. Apparently, whomever sees an incoming email for the Internet Sales Manager becomes that guy for a few minutes.
 
My last car was purchased through a local independent auto broker and the price is always invoice or invoice minus any manufacturer deals going on at the moment. The broker finds the car that meets my specs and has it trucked by the selling dealership (usually a mega-dealer) to the broker's location where we go to take delivery. Clearly the transportation fee and broker fee (an undisclosed amount) mean that the broker is getting the car for a few hundred below the invoice. The last time around, after a long search and negotiation, the broker price came in almost the same as the best price I could get with a dealership. The deciding factor was: buying a Honda from a dealership around here (Raleigh, NC) requires you to sign a contract (even for a cash deal) that includes clauses where you give up your right to sue the manufacturer or participate in a class action lawsuit against them. You avoid that with a broker. As someone who got a major engine repair paid for through a class action lawsuit, I appreciate the advantage of not signing that away.

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