Ask the Car People.SM


Hyundai Sonata Prices Paid and Buying Experience

8852 messages,  Last post on May 20, 2013 at 9:55 AM

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

What is this discussion about? Hyundai Sonata, Sedan

Messages Page 616 of 886

#6151 of 8852 Price Quoted and (NON)Buying experience (Hampton Roads, Virginia) by billward

May 06, 2009 (1:47 pm)

Ok, there will be a happier message in a few days about the Hyundai Sonata we ARE buying (arranging financing now and taking delivery Saturday!) but it's time for an UNPLEASANT Buying experience (i.e., the dealership tried to perform a bait and switch).
 
I used Edmunds here to send my vehicle request to local dealers: a 2009 Sonata GLS I4 with Automatic and Popular Equipment Package 2, Slate Blue as preference. There are "four" local Hyundai dealships in my area, but one of them owns one of the others (it's a subdealership), Hall Automotive. The other two dealers (Priority Hyundai and Checkered Flag Hyundai) responded quickly, via both email and phone, although Checkered Flag never did get back with a price to us (surprisingly, since we've done most of our work with them, and they've always followed through in the past; we've even had our in warrenty 2003 Sonata's work done there). Priority came up with a reasonable offer, though in the end it was about $1600 too high compared to where we ARE buying our car from. Hall, however, came up with a GREAT offer, at $14999, with (as expressed in the offer) only the $2000 rebate taken out. Hall, by the way, is one of Edmunds Premier Internet dealerships.
 
With our current Owner Loyalty rebate, that meant we would get the car we wanted for 13499 plus taxes/tags/title.... that's just fine, it's even about $2500 less than we were looking for. The email explicitly stated that I may be eligible for other rebates (I know that! I'm eligible for $1500 more, only a year shy from being eligible for the $400 college rebate (I'm working on a PhD) and I work for the military, though I'm not in (so I don't qualify there....). So I call to confirm it, and they say "oops, it's not PEP 02, but it is the automatic". Ok, even at $15649 (too much if the car is $14999, but...) I'm willing to jump on it. Then the Internet manager comes in.... "Oh, but that's with every rebate applied". Not what the email says... email says I might be eligible for even MORE rebates, and the only rebates applied are those EVERYONE gets. I point this out. He starts getting upset with ME, and says that they ALWAYS do that. In other words, they ALWAYS lie to potential customers. This is when I start getting upset... I'd already said that I would be there "tomorrow" (which is now TODAY) to pick up the car.
 
Even then, I give him the chance to make good.... he can fix his way of doing business, and sell me the car at the price he's quoting plus the differential... nope, he's not willing to do that, but "I'll ask my manager and get back with you". Internet shopping is supposed to be about taking the liars and the "Oh, I have to clear that..." folks out of the equation.... but not at Hall!
 
So, even though I knew that I was going to end up moving on (if they're dishonest from the first get go, I know just what caliber of people we have here....) I gave him the simple choice... make me whole or I'd let folks know about their tactics.
 
And when the call ended, I started checking... which I should have done from the get go. Priority has a good reputation locally, so does Checkered Flag... Hall? Not so much. There was even another report about Hall here on Edmunds, though only on the Mazda side. So, folks, steer clear... the folks are NOT honest.
 
On the other hand, I decided to see what the non-local, but still close regional dealers could do... and that included all the way up to the famed Fitzmall.... along with dealerships in Williamsburg, Richmond, Fairfax, etc., and within two hours had found not one, but TWO very good deals for exactly the car we wanted (down to the color, except for the interiors). So, stick around a few days and I'll give you the much better deal that I got from one of the regional dealers.

#6152 of 8852 Re: Just bought a Sonata [ray78] by jonnala

May 06, 2009 (2:59 pm)

Replying to: ray78 (May 06, 2009 1:40 pm)
Thank for sharing ray. I was looking for deal in california bay area..
 
Krishna

#6153 of 8852 Sonata GLS V6 with Popular Eqip pkg by gutta_99

May 07, 2009 (12:52 pm)

Hi,
 
Did anybody buy the Sonata GLS V6 with Popular equipment Package ?
What is the best deal on this trim ?
 
Thanks.

#6154 of 8852 Re: Just bought a Sonata [jonnala] by xav

May 07, 2009 (11:07 pm)

Replying to: jonnala (May 06, 2009 11:39 am)
hardin hyundai in Anaheim (Orange County). That's what they told me on the phone though. They also have an ad with it.

#6155 of 8852 Re: Price Quoted and (NON)Buying experience (Hampton Roads, Virginia) [billward] by xav

May 07, 2009 (11:12 pm)

Replying to: billward (May 06, 2009 1:47 pm)
That's a good deal..
 
Lowest I was offered for an MSRP $21k auto GLS was $14,800 + tax/ttl/fees, after Owner Loyalty Rebate.
 
Anybody has any idea on how much these cars cost to the dealers? The dealers claim they're losing money on them.. I'm not so sure..

#6156 of 8852 And now the BUYING experience and Price Paid by billward

May 08, 2009 (5:41 am)

It WASN'T a good deal; they had folded every rebate under the sun into the price they quoted, even when they had said they hadn't; in addition, So, the base GLS I4 Auto (without the Option Package 2) would have been $16399.
 
However, to finish the story on my buying experience (because what was a non-buying and very negative experience with Hall wasn't going to keep me from buying a car...), we'll pickup where we left off.
 
I came back to Edmunds to expand my regional search; one of the folks in here just two weeks ago got what sounded like a decent deal for a Manual GLS I4 from Pearsons in Richmond, two hours away, along with West Broad Hyundai. Closer, that opened up Williamsburg, and hour away from my home, and further, it opened up Pohanka in Fredricksburg (3 hours) and Fitzmall in the close DC area (4-5 hours). Through Edmunds, I contacted all of those except Pohanka (they didn't have much inventory, so I didn't bother), and Fitzmall (which I was going to go to directly) and immediately, through the websites of the dealers, found two candidates that were close; in fact, one was so close that I turned to my wife and said "I've just found our new car!" Fitzmall had a brand new 2009 GLS I4 Automatic with Package 2, Bluetooth (not originally a requirement, but something my wife had intimated that she would very much appreciate), and floor mats, Slate Blue with Grey interior, at $17,123 with ONLY the $2000 cash back applied; that meant my price (since I own a 2003 Sonata) was $15,623, within $26 dollars of what I had told Hall it would take to make me whole after their shoddy performance, but including the Bluetooth and in my wifes exact exterior color choice and favorite of the two interiors.
 
I contacted Fitzmall, West Broad, Pearsons, and Williamsburg. Of the four, Peasons has only just contacted me back (48 hours later) and Williamsburg hasn't at all. West Broad's Internet salesman contacted me back within 30 minutes of my inquiry, though, while I was still setting up the information to send to Fitzmall to lock us for purchasing the car. I was straightforward with the salesman, and told him flat out I have family in the DC area, so it wouldn't be a big hardship to go up to Fitzmall to get the car from there, and that they're price was the best I'd seen; however, West Broad was only a few hundred more, and if they could match Fitzmall on the final OTD price, for the same car, I'd buy from them, because it would save a lot of time (we have a family member dying and will probably be traveling to the funeral next week; I don't need to spend two days getting the car when we're crunched in making arrangements).
 
West Broad took a little time (I think because they had to find the car), but they did it. WITHOUT >ANY< rebates, Fitzmall's price for the car was $19123 (17123 for the standard, then down to $15,623 with owner loyalty. In order to make the same OTD cost, West Broad had to BEAT Fitzmall; there were additional taxes with buying in Richmond versus Gaithersburg. West Broad got it to $18,836.42, minus the $2000 Hyundai Rebate, and then got $1500 Owner Loyalty for a total price on the car of $15336.42 (before Taxes/Tags/Title). Out the Door was $16,357.40 (beating Fitzmall's out the door by one penny). Then, last night, we found we needed to seriously speed up how fast we were buying. Instead of Saturday, could we drive the two hours (in rush hour traffic!) and get up to Richmond to pick it up tongiht? Would they stay open? They made arrangements for two folks to stay late, and we did the deal; everyone involved all along the way was professional, courteous, and efficient. I got a nice rate from my credit union before I went up, but West Broad found almost a point better, saving us an additional $19/month. Could I have done better? Maybe... but not more than $100 or so, at best. Any my wife and I now have our exact car we wanted. A win-win for us, and a much better experience than our abortive near-purchase at Hall. Thanks West Broad, and sorry Fitzmall. Oh, and as a humorous aside; when we got home with the new car, there was a message on the answering machine from Hyundai Motors (human, not a machine) asking us to rate our buying experience, saying he was sorry he missed us, and that he would call back. The funniest part? The time; it was almost the exact moment that we arrived at the dealership, 45 minutes before we left with the car, and nearly three hours before we got home.

#6157 of 8852 Re: Price Quoted and (NON)Buying experience (Hampton Roads, Virginia) [xav] by mrukz

May 08, 2009 (5:58 am)

Replying to: xav (May 07, 2009 11:12 pm)
I am not an expert, but as far as I know dealers pay the invoice price (could somebody correct me if I am wrong?). Yet, the profit that the dealer makes is *not* the difference between what you pay and the invoice. The manufacturers set up incentive programs to "reward" the good dealers, meaning the ones that sell a lot of cars to many satisfied customers. Because of that, you can often see dealers selling below invoice. They do this to meet their incentive program goals. As one dealer told me, they are especially inclined to give you a good deal if you pay cash. If you finance, you may still get a good deal, especially if the dealer is able to get some profit from your loan. However, the longer the time between you driving your car off the lot and the dealer getting his money, the smaller the chance that you will get an amazing deal.

#6158 of 8852 sonata lowest trim by 1283956

May 11, 2009 (1:34 pm)

i just saw an ad in washington post automotive this sunday of a dealer
selling new automatic sonata lowest trims for 10k (10xxx dollars ) or 12x dollars per month
they were also offering up to 10k off all new Hyundai.
so a sonata lowest trim must cost a bit less than 10k considering they are willing to go 8k lower than msrp
 
i've also seen deals on tv for 4k off sonatas (rebate x2)
but the ad i saw last sunday seems very nice, wish i hadnt thrown that away

#6159 of 8852 Re: Price Quoted and (NON)Buying experience (Hampton Roads, Virginia) [xav] by jonnala

May 11, 2009 (4:06 pm)

Replying to: xav (May 07, 2009 11:12 pm)
Thank you very much xav. I have already pulled trigger for honda accord EX-L 4 Cyl. I wish you all good deals in the hunt.
 
BTW I am still receiving mails from Hyundai dealers that rebate got increased by 1000 which makes 3000 in total on 2009 sonata models. Looks they are also offering extra 300 to cover increase in sales tax(CA). Hope this info helps in your bargains.
 
Krishna

#6160 of 8852 Rebate changes by scdelan

May 11, 2009 (5:50 pm)

Just a note on that rebate increase. It's an increase to $3k on the normal rebate, but the loyalty rebate was lowered to $500. So a better deal if you don't have a Hyundai, the same if you're already an owner.
 
I'll be giving the dealer nearby offering double rebates a call tomorrow to see how this changes things, if at all.

Messages Page 616 of 886

To POST a message, please Sign In.

Advertisement

Browse by Category

Browse by Vehicle
   View All Vehicles

Browse by Board
Browse by Topic
View All Topics

Edmunds Community

Advertisement