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Prices Paid: Buying & Leasing Experiences Honda Fit Prices Paid and Buying Experiences
2423 messages, Last post on Nov 30, 2009 at 2:38 PM
You are in the Prices Paid: Buying & Leasing Experiences Forum. Your Hosts are car_man & kyfdx
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Replying to: sandman46 (Jan 30, 2009 5:41 pm) |
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Replying to: frankied (Jan 29, 2009 11:04 pm) After buying two Fits in the past few years my experience is that one way to negotiate a deal is to find out who to speak to like the internet manager or in some cases the sales manager or general manager and just talk with them politely. This internet haggling game with sending and re sending quotes is time consuming and not very personal...it is probably a big turn off and nobody really wants to play games. Of course some will play if they need to move a unit... By talking to lots of different people on the phone at dealerships, you can find out if there is someone who is more eager to move a unit. I have read postings in the past of people that got their deal b/c that particular dealer needed to sell one last car to meet a particular quota and they got a good deal....You just never know what's going on behind the scenes ever and the price of the car is not the only issue at hand for the dealer on each transaction. The other thing is it always depends how attractive you are as a buyer in terms of your financing...But, whatever the case, be pre-approved before you talk to anyone...do an online finance application with honda or the use your bank, credit union etc. They like cash these days and will cut breaks for cash deals. Honestly the best thing to do in my experience and opinion is to develop your own target out the door price and let them know that this is what you are looking at and you would like to know if they want to seal the deal with you. This game of seeing how low they will go is far more time consuming than developing a price you feel is fair and reaching out for that deal. This is what I did my second time around and it worked very well. The main reason it worked is because my circumstances were such that it had to work, I had no wiggle room and when it's your true bottom, it is a lot easier to keep trying to get what you need...it came from a more sincere place and not a game like place. Anyway, people in sales are people and it's always about the relationship so go out and cultivate some preliminary relationships by collecting contact names and emails...if you like the way email goes, you can talk by phone. You can take some pressure away by NOT being guaranteed anything in writing b/c that turns it into a GAME where they now feel like it is going to be used against them. Instead simply let them know on the phone that if the deal should somehow change (write the numbers down and bring them with you) that you will be excusing yourself from the transaction. Just be polite and stay firm. Well, this is my two cents. I get long winded and I am sorry about that! Best of luck and try to enjoy yourself and enjoy the great Honda people you meet along the way! 
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Replying to: frankied (Jan 29, 2009 11:04 pm) When you request a quote online you must specifically ask for the OTD price, or else they'll just give you MSRP. After you get all the quotes back, tell each dealer what the lowest quote was (show them the email, if they ask) and give them a chance to beat it. After round two, go with the lowest price. It's really that simple for me. I rather disagree with absconfused on this. I've been negotiating for cars online for years and it's the best method, I think. I generally never set foot inside a dealership nor talk to anyone directly until I have an OTD deal sealed. Face to face negotiations is where most shoppers fail because they're just no match for the savvy skills of car sales people. So, if you're a confident negotiator, go ahead and talk directly. But if you're like most people and aren't good at negotiating, stick to the internet until you get an OTD deal sealed. Good luck! Don
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Drove off the lot last night. 2009 Honda Fit Sport 5M - Tafetta White accessories included cargo tray, door edge guards, bumper applique, window tint, side body molding , wheel locks, striping and of course the dealer "protection package". OTD price was 18,103. I negotiated over the internet with several dealers - in north texas area most dealers have tint and a few items already added - so I compared those prices and told dealer that had extras like the striping that I would not pay extra for it and they said OK - we will match the price anyway. It was tough car to find - they seem to have lots dark colors which I did not want - I had pretty much locked in on white or silver Took about a week from first mass email to dealers to close the deal. Hope I enjoy it as much as some of you Fit veterans - love the new car and utility of vehicle, but also have the new car jitters - want to protect my baby as long as possible. Side note - call insurance agency to get it insured when driving off the lot - USAA classifies it as a small SUV - go figure. |
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Replying to: dhectorg (Jan 31, 2009 7:01 am) Great reply! Just to clarify a bit how I do things, I use the emails to communicate to try and sort through who is ready to make deals and who is blowing smoke. I steer clear from useless form letter responses. After I have a few people that have good people skills, I let them know a little more about my situation and what my needs are. It is pretty easy for me to tell who is going to make a deal b/c after they send the first couple of polite responses that I should come in, I tell them that I know what I want, I am serious, and this is the price I can pay. At that point, it becomes easier for me to figure out who can make a deal. Sometimes I might speak to someone on the phone if they really want to talk but my position is clear and to the point. I think your way is the tried and true method but I guess it just does not fit my rather social personality. I agree that I WOULD NEVER WALK INTO A DEALERSHIP without my deal sealed first! That would be just NUTS!!!!!! But I suppose it would not hurt to go into a dealership if it was very close to your house and leave your name, number and your Out the Door price offer with them. JUST AS LONG AS YOU LEAVE RIGHT AWAY of course. The main thing is always staying in control of the transaction and the only way to do that is follow internet shopping advice. The other thing I do is give a TIME LIMIT to the finance guy. I tell them that I do not expect this to take more than ten or fifteen minutes...Letting them know you are serious about not being jerked around in the finance dept puts you back in the drivers seat. Say it like you mean it and let them that you have time constraints and that everything about your deal is straightforward. If you want extended warranty just go home, you can get cheaper from several places. Let them know before you go into finance I will not be purchasing a warranty today and this should not take very long. I do or do not need gap insurance and am not purchasing any other options....Any pressure in finance just get up and LEAVE! You must stay in control of the transaction at all times. You are the king, you are making the purchase. It is YOUR DEAL NOT THEIR DEAL and you will do it YOUR WAY.... Always be very polite and never get aggressive...you can get aggressive but it creates bad energy.... sue
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Replying to: buycar09 (Jan 30, 2009 5:19 pm) Um, what do you mean by "ok?" The question is, was it ok for you? My car had 30 miles on it when I bought it, so it's not a big deal at all. First of all you want there to be some mileage on it to make sure the car was properly PDI'd. If the car was not taken on a proper inspection test drive and something goes wrong that could have been caught during the test, it's your word against the dealership's word if you discover an issue. Guess who's going to win that battle? (here's a hint, it's not you). Second if a car is sitting on the lot for a couple of months before it gets purchased I Imagine the dealership moves the car around a bit. Also, they put miles on it when they give you the courtesy gas fill up. The closest gas station to the dealership was about two miles away, so that was four miles on my car right there. It's really not difficult to rack up 35 miles on a new car before you buy it, especially if it was taken for a test drive or two. I'm really not quite sure the obsession some people have with getting a car with as close to 0 miles as they can. This is a weird thing to stress about. I can see if the car had like 600 miles on it being a little concerned, but to stress about 35 miles? Don't get it. The engine isn't made of glass, it's not going to break if a couple of people test drove it. Also it's a Honda, they can take it.
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Replying to: dgs4 (Feb 01, 2009 1:25 am) Several years ago, I had a guy test drive an Accord THREE times before deciding to buy. All three times, we used the same car and he was the only one who had driven it. Between Honda, our PDI ha\and his driving, I think it had something like 31 miles on it. We had about four others that were the same model and color and he went from car to car, peering through the windows. I couldn't figure out what he was doing until he yellout.." This is the one I want" It was buried three cars deep and I couldn't understand what he was talking about. Besides that, we had a language barrier and I could barely understand him. It turns out, he selected the car with the lowest number of miles. I think it had 12 miles on it. I let him know I wasn't about to move four cars to sell him that one when he was the person who put the bulk of the miles on the car he drove. I've also had people scour the lot looking for certain "lucky" numbers in a car's VIN number. Some things I guess I'll never understand... |
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Replying to: isellhondas (Feb 04, 2009 2:14 pm) Not a US, Canadian or Mexican. Go figure??
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Replying to: isellhondas (Feb 04, 2009 2:14 pm) |
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Hi all. I am new to this lunacy that is car buying.... So I will probably be bugging you with some pretty simple questions. I hope you don't mind too much. First up. The term "Out the door". I am assuming that means the total out of pocket expense including everything but insurance. For instance it includes tax, tag title and any fees. Am I correct in assuming all that?
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