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I was trying to assist my dad with buying while on vacation last month but his health simply wouldn't permit a transaction while I was there.
I agree with cindy4's comment about the stores in Brevard County - don't waste your time as their prices are high. Apparently they don't need to offer sharp deals -while having mine serviced at Space Coast in Cocoa on 3/23 I noted that all of their Odysseys had been built since the 2/14 price increase. Here in Ohio there are pre-2/14 units still available.
After several days, I had promises from two dealers that they could get the car in our color but each subsequent day brought another excuse why it wasn’t available .just yet. When a distant dealer called back 5 days later to see how my search was going, they said they would match my price, could provide documentation and a build number of an Odyssey they were going to receive next week, the choice was obvious. After 15 minutes of discussions and three faxes, we had a contract for this van. The Odyssey is being built this week and we should pick it up next week. Yes, I will have to drive a rental car 100 miles ($32 total) and take a day off from work but again, this is $1700 less than our friendly in county Honda dealers.
Be prepared, be patient, be willing to drive a little farther than you would like, and eliminate any preconceived notions where you may purchase your Odyssey if you want your best value. Good luck with your search.
To all east coast Florida customers looking for better pricing on Honda, avoid Brevard County. Drive to Orlando or points beyond for much better pricing.
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Can you tell me who dealer was? I'm also on LI. And are you happy with the navigation? Is it worth the money? Anything you particularly like or dislike?
Much appreciated.
Michelle
Just picked up my EX-L RES this week and could not be happier. Paid 31,400 and they had it in stock. Great experience in the western burbs.
Reading just a few messages, I cant believe what I am reading about how obsessed you all seem to be with price.
Yes, I get it, we all want a 'good deal'. But that all depends on what your perception of a 'good deal' is. Thats entirely up to you to decide, and not the reason for this post.
The reason for this post it to put in a plea on behalf of all of the sales people out there, the vast majority of them who just go to work to pay their bills, just like we all do.
I have a very very close friend who has been selling Hondas for almost 5 years now, and has some of the best customer service skills and product knowledge I have ever experienced. He just gives the customer all of the information they request, and usually more than that, and will never use the old tired, cliched lines we are all used to.
He often says that he will spend on average one and a half hours with a customer, often longer if its a complex vehicle with DVD and navigation systems, and his single biggest frustration is when the customer turns around and offers below invoice, expecting that after all of his effort and service, that he will end up working for what is called a 'mini' commission, which at his dealership is $100 GROSS.
I read these posts and cant believe that any of you, myself included would want to put ourselves through what car salespeople have to go through with many of their customers.
How many of you are in service industries and work for a combination base hourly plus commission, or straight commission? Some of you?
Well, then how many of you have a product that someone can research online, and within three minutes find out invoice, holdback (which no sales person gets paid a commission on), and every other expense that goes into making and marketing your product, and then have your customer show up, spend one hour, two hours, or three hours receiveing fantastic customer service and then they offer you what that product cost to make, or a fraction over that? None of you , unless you sell cars.
Once again, whatever you consider a 'good deal', is your own perception, however, give the people you are dealing with a break, allow them the same professional courtesy you expect from your customers and employers, allow that sales person to make a living.
The vast majority are good, honest, hardworking people, just like yourself, it just so happens a few of them are jerks, just like those few people in your company are jerks. Every company/organization has them.
Disclaimer : I AM NOT a car salesperson, just someone who wants everyone to make a fair and decent living, and receive a fair reward for a job well done.
You mention in worse case scenarios they might only make $100 (which I doubt) for 1.5 hours work... Well, even that seems a bit much for a job which does not require a college education or manual labor.
I live in Northern California and contacted dealers within a 75 mile radius. I knew the invoice price was aprox 31,400 and the MSRP was 34,810, that is a difference of aprox $3,400. I figured a fair deal for me and the dealer is splitting the profit margin. This gave me a $1,700 discount and it left the dealer a $1,700 profit...
TARGET PRICE FOR 05' EXL R&N $33,100+ fees Silver Pearl Met w/Gray Interior
What I was not willing to do is pay MSRP- no matter how popular the ODY EXL R&N was... I also did not leave a deposit with anyone! Any dealer that contacted me with a MSRP quote I didn't waste my time with...
The dealers that got my attention were: (They were straight forward/no games)
Yuba City Honda $33,163
Michael Hohl Honda $32,900
Hansel Honda $33,468
Grace Honda $33,363
Jim Doten Honda $33,363
Originally, I got ETA's then I began getting the VIN#'s - with details and out the door price...
Michael Hohl Honda Gold/Beige Vin# OTD aprox $36,000
Hansel Honda No response when I pushed for OTD price?
Yuba City Honda Didn't get the color I wanted (Honest Dealership)
Grace Honda Silver/Gray OTD $36,100 - couldn't produce VIN#?
Jim Doten Honda Silver/Gray OTD $36,115 VAN ARRIVED 4/6
I went to Jim Doten Honda that evening and made the purchase. Everything went smoothly - The staff there is wonderful, honest & informative!!!
I hope my experience will benefit other potential buyers -
Beware of the following Lines:
1) Come in and we'll talk - If the Ody is not on the lot don't waste your time
2) We need a deposit - The dealers use this to trap you - it guarantees
nothing!
3) It sells at MSRP - Only for the uniformed
I am enjoying my New Odyssey and the kid's call it the "I Robot" Van because of all the advanced features of the Navigation System...I will never buy another automobile without Nav!
I was searching for the EXL with DVD/Nav - no dealer had it in stock in Sacramento Area, Roseville, Yuba City, Chico or Bay Area BUT - they all tried to talk me into the Touring with the DVD/Nav because they are sitting on their lots!!!
I needed the 8th seat so I declined the Touring, however most of the dealers still gave me awesome quotes on the Touring with DVD/Nav -(close to invoice)
I recommend you try:
Auburn Honda
Yuba City Honda
Wittmeir Honda
Jim Doten Honda
Hansel Honda
El Cerrito Honda
Michael Hohl Honda
If you don't mind driving about 50 miles you could save $$$$!
I am looking to buy 05 EXL within the next 4 weeks. Could you please tell me what was the out the door price for yours? I live in seattle, Wa area. thanks a million.
Bruce
This forum makes up a very small amount of Ody buyers and there are plenty of people that will roll over and pay near the sticker price. On top of that, dealers try to sell you the Honda Care warranty at closing for as much as $2000. And then they try to steel your trade on top of that.
Most people in this day and age are not able to do the same type of work for ever. Especially in sales. Perhaps it's time for a career change. I sure your friend is a great person but your point is not well received on this end.
ALso, power doors don't work either.
How do I fix audio code and power doors ? Battery should be charged by now.?
Thanks
I am buying EXL in 4 weeks. I live in seattle, WA. could you please send me the dealer that you dealt with for your EXL. Thank you so much for your post.
Bruce
First, thank you to everyone on your responses. I appreciate the guidelines you have provided and the sharing of your buying experiences. We are still waiting to hear on a settlement from our insurance company, so, we haven't proceeded with a purchase yet and now are considering a 1-2 year old Odyssey, except that the 2005 has some really nice features even the 2003 or 2004 doesn't have....tough decision.
I wanted to share some bids I received in the Chicago area (and up to Milwaukee area) on an EX with Leather, some with RES:
Grand Honda: $27,650 dest. included. Grand even offered an additional $100 off.
Rosen in Gurnee: $28,749 dest. included
Castle Honda: $30,387 with RES and dest included.
Community Honda: $30,386 with RES and dest. included.
One quote from a source not listed above was $31,187 with RES and I did not verify if it had destination included. So it is roughly $800 more than the "best" quote I received so far without further negotiations. To the best of my knowledge, none of the dozen or so quotes I received were at MSRP for such a "hot" vehicle. This was before the end of March and I dont' know if any will still honor their bids (end of month/end of first quarter selling motivation), but it is still a good reference point.
And just a humble opinion in response to sales-folk earning a living. I am an independent sales person, strictly commission-based, no base salary. I work hard for my money and appreciate that cars salesmen also work hard. That won't stop me from trying to get a good deal,especially after noting the significant price differences in the quotes I received and what I have seen stated in this forum. Saving $800 or more is a big deal to me, and it maybe be a week or more salary for some (think 40+ hours of your time...). I am empathetic and respectful of a salesman's time and energy. Some are notably better than others. I recognize that they will get paid some addtional monies if they win my business (which is better than none at all...and an additonal $100+ above salary for a couple hours time isn't so bad in my book.) But consider also that if I have a good buying experience with that salesperson/dealership, I will refer others to them, which may in turn increase their future earning potential.
Could you please email your dealership from which you bought your EXL. I am in the market to buy the same model within the next 3 weeks. I live in seattle, WA. Appreciate the information.
Bruce
Please reserve this for exchanging info on Odyssey buying!
kirstie_h
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I know you can't post names or phone #s but wondering if you talked the internet sales manager or just a random salesperson?
Great deal and thanks for the info!
Here are some lowlights (there are more):
Deposit left over phone and agreed to pick up that evening.
Car was not preped at all - It was presented all covered with white plastic, muddy tires and wheel wells - basically had been driven from nearby lot.
Finance guy flat out lied about the paperwork involved to use a 3rd party check (Eloan) to get us to take Honda finance. We did since the rate was nearly identical. He tried to sell us lots of extras, mistyped every key number (SS, phone, DOB, etc) on the forms and had to reprint everything. The truth later revealed by the salesman is they don't get paid for a few weeks with these checks. What a joke.
Salesman had little knowledge of the Ody and explained nothing to us. He spent time preping the car with Windex and promised us a thorough cleaning when our plates come in.
We were there over 2 hrs. and none of this was negotiation time!
Could it get worse?
Against my better judgement I gave them another chance and actually drove there in my new van to get plates and let them clean it. I waited over an hour and when the car was 'ready', I could visibly see the rear window was still dirty enough to write on and the wheel wells had not seen a drop of water. They had put black polish on the outside of the wheels. That's it. I left.
When I get home, I notice they had added their Madison Honda logo and phone number to the liftgate. This was promptly removed and discarded along with their license plate frame. This is vandalism. I had owned the van for 3 wks!
This experience was sooo bad that Honda will likely never see me again except for service. The future with my new van will be the only hope.
Anyway, price was great thanks to help on OdyClub and Edmunds.
EX-L $27,700 incl dest. + tax and fees.
Anyone know a good contact with American Honda for a firm complaint letter? Thanks.
I'm surprised that dealership treated you that bad, knowing very well that Honda is going to send out a survey to you related to the sale. I guess they don't care.
I bought a New 2005 Honda Odyssey EXL NAVI&RES for invoice $31.364 from Apostolakis Honda, Cortland Honda, Ohio. The dealer fee $100. Title and temp tags for 25.50. Free delivery. I hope DC metro area dealers come down to the invoice price soon. He never asked for extras and extended warranties. But I opted for few accessories for my comfort and extended warranties for electronic gadgets.
I got the following accessories installed for $1000: Cargo mat, Cargo tray, Cargo net (one more), cross bars, all season mats, splash guards, door edge guards, black leather steering cover, wheel locks, third row sunshades. I also got the 7year/100K/0 deductible extended warranty for $1069.
Van was delivered on Friday evening. I went through the checklist, which are posted on this web site by our members. Everything perfect so far. I am enjoying every bit of it. As especially, the NAVI was marvelous. It is good for me because I always miss the Mapquest routes. My kids are enjoying playing games on DVD.
Thanks everyone on this forum. I got good information and saved me $$$$.
Do all the dealers do this?
What a complete snob!!!!
Who are you to judge how much is enough for any profession?
For your information, I know dozens of college educated people who struggle to tie their own shoe laces, and yet they make 6 figure incomes working 40 hour weeks, and having lunch with their friends on the company expense account!!
Yet you say $100 seems a bit much when it comes to a product that can retail for up to $40,000 with many more times the computing power of your top of the line PC, safety features that save lives and ensure you and yours get to where you are going in a comfortable and timely fashion.
I can assure you, many of his sales are of the $100 (before tax) variety, I have seem some of the commission vouchers. The dealership he works at has 15 salespeople, and sells between 100 and 150 new and used vehicles per month, you do the math in terms of the amount of money he makes, even if he has just average volume.
The whole point of my post was only to make people take stock of the situation, realize that perhaps they are dealing with a straight shooter who knows their product, and will be there for the customer if and when something goes wrong with the vehicle. And maybe just think to themselves "Is it really worh it, saving $300 (or whatever the number is), to drive 300 miles (or however far), and make 20 phone calls (or however many it is), when the first or third person you spoke to answered all of your questions, was up front and forthright about things, and didnt play a game with you? When you could have used that time to invest in yourself personally or your family life?
"Luck is not chance, its toil. Fortunes expensive smile is EARNED."
Let the good ones make some money, and kick the jerks to the curb.
Here are my experiences:
I kind of decided to buy a van to replace my current sedan almost a year back. The lethargic person I am, it took me until early January to really look for one. And that too because I expected prices to be good towards the year end (which officially close in the first week of January).
I test drove the Sienna at Tricounty Toyota and Pottstown Honda. I did not like the pickup in Sienna. Sluggish it was for me. Pretty much decided that I would go with the Honda. Pottstown Honda quoted me $34610 and would not budge in spite of my repeated threats to walk out. Was dissapointed.
Sent requests to several dealers in the area and through buying services. Came back with the following quotes. Contacted dealers through BJs dealers network, AAA, invoicedealersc.com, edmunds.com and carsdirect.com. Quotes varied from $500 plus invoice to MSRP:
Lowest quotes I got from different dealers:
JLFreed: $31464
Jones Honda (Lancaster): $31464
Philadelphia Honda: $31848
Martin/Garden State ondas: $31964
Roberts Honda: $32400
Sussman Honda: $34110 (had a very good price for EX-L).
Pottstown: $34610
Scott: did not quote a price but seemed like he would not discount much
I had choose between Jones and JLFreed and ended up depositing $250 with JLFreed. While not extremely pleasant to work with, JLFreed was straightforward and had a no-nonsense approach. They placed the order on January 8th. Vehicle was expected before the end of March and I was also told casually that the price would not change (though the receipt itself indicated that if the price changed, I can request a refund).
I waited and waited. I kept calling up the sales person for a date or a VIN number but never got one. Towards the end of Feb I was told that the vehicle would be built in the 1st/2nd week of March. First week of March I was told that epecting the vehicle by the end of March was not realistic. In the middle of March, I was told that the vehicle would be built in the first/second week of April and that this was the firm date. Earlier dates were apparently guesses.
Another complication: Honda had increased the price and my price increased by $400. I asked whether he could give me some discount because I had booked early and I was told not possible. I could take it or leave it. (If I had known that the price would increased) I would have gone with another dealer who had the vehicle and not waited. Even in January, I had known about the Ohio deals but decided to buy locally.
I restarted my search and in the local area the lowest price was $31863. Started calling the Ohio dealers (Classic and Jack Matia). With Classic, price was too high and when I told them that many had gotten the vehicle around invoice, pat came the reply "Good luck!" or "No way!".
Anyway, Jack Matia came back with a quote of $31663 and after some bargaining $31463. This included free delivery. I was also told that the vehicle was built on March 21 and expected in the first week of April. I was given the VIN number when I booked. The vehicle arrived on April 4th evening. Jack Matia delivered on Wednesday afternoon (6 hour drive). All paperwork was done effortlessly. Excellent sales people and managers. Excellent and polite people. Very easy to deal with. Prompt in their responses.
Final Price: $31463
Temp Ohio Tags: 25.50
I paid no other document or dealer fee. I paid a total of $31488.50. I need to register the vehicle in Pennsylvania. Jack Matia said they could get it registered with a service they use but it would cost me $200. They themselves suggested that it is very easy to do it myself. I also declined to use the service. The sales people called my insurance agent and took care of that. All in all, a great experience.
With respect to JLFreed, fine people but I felt that they did not really care for my business. Also, a low volume business and hence if you book I think you may have to wait a bit. But price is $500 + invoice - no haglling business.
Jones Honda was also easy to deal with. Scott Honda was nice to deal with their prices are too high. Sussman Honda was a nice place but price was too high. Philadelphia Honda was ok but seems to be a very high volume dealer and may get your vehicle the fastest in the area. Prices are not bad.
I will never go near Pottstown Honda again who clearly wanted me out of the showroom as quickly as possible.
Roberts Honda was ok (not great) and prices were mediocre at best.
Jack Matia seems to have thrown in splash guards for free (I dont believe it is standard equipment). I also got all waether mats through Ebay. $117 including shipping. (comes to $125 or so with College Hills).
if you need any other information, email me.
Good luck!
So what you are saying is one should pay a thousand dollars over invoice so the salesman can make $300. Wouldn't it be better to pull your salesman aside and tell him you will give him $200 cash under-the-table if he can get this new car at invoice? If you have been reading the posts it's not just $300 that most people are saving it's a $1,000. plus.
It is really good that you friend has friends like you that feel that they owe the salesman and are willing to pay the owner of the dealership a premium so the salesman will be better paid. And if you end up dealing with a jerk your going to take you business elsewhere and the "good ones" are going to miss out anyway.
I am not trying to flame you are your friend. It's just your logic. It should be obvious that the auto industry has changed and people have more choices.
Say... Why are you reading this forum if your not willing to go somewhere else to purchase your next car? It might be better to post something about how wonderful this dealership where your friend works at is and how the salesman are straight shooters.
I am sure there are people reading this forum that would really appreciate doing business where your friend works and your friend may sell a few more cars out of chance just because you wrote something positive about this dealership.
"This is called negotiating a price and the auto industry is one of the few business models left in our society that still believes in it."
From my experience everything is negotiable from the purchase of a DVD player up and thru the cost of a house. In fact, but for Taxes, Grocery items, gas for your car, & maybe a few other items I have found there is very little that cannot be negotiated down. The trick is to research and understand what your options are as completely as possible and understand the $$$/value relationship.
As for the 2005 HO EXL-DVD I purchased one in January at $600 over invoice or $29,600 with dest. and no other charges but for taxes, tags. I guess I can claim I only paid $200 over invoice now that Honda pushed thru their price increase. Probably could have squeezed another $100 or $200 off the price by making another round of the dealers but made the deal anyway. With the competition so fierce I would not pay more than a few hundred over invoice for the 2005 HO. Paid MSRP for my 1999 lx which I still own.
Bill Rogers, Albany $29200 out the door
Roseburg Honda $28948
Tonkin Honda, Portland $28948
Kendall, Eugene $29809
A few others offered to meet or beat these, but they flaked out. It looked like the best were $1000 over invoice ($27434 + $515 destination = $27949)
Kendall is the closest to our home, so we went there on a cold rainy weekday, told them what quotes we had, and asked for $28450 or $500 over invoice. They agreed immediately, no hassle. We were treated very professionally. They did not even give us a hard sell about extended warranties, clear coat etc, nor did they try to attach accessories. In retrospect, I wonder if they would have accepted a lower offer, but it would likely have been for just a hundred or two. That is almost worth it to have such an easy sale.
We recommend Kendall Honda in Eugene. By the way, their little restaurant there has great burgers.
Bought for 37000 (Plus Tax, title, and registration) at Honda of Greeley in Greeley CO.
Hope that's useful to someone in Northern CO. Seems it's a hard van to get out here - Greeley had none last week, got 3 in over the weekend, and I grabbed the my first choice of color. By Tuesday of this week, they were all sold.
IrishHunter
usaa has a price negotiation service and they said that the best they expect on a new odyssey is $1000 under msrp.
Thanks in advance for any help or advice anyone can give on this matter.
Then, their starting price was a couple hundred dollars OVER MSRP. I laughed, and said I wanted to pay $500 over invoice, less the trade-in value. They told me they had to make at least $3400 in profit or they wouldn't sell the car. After the standard sales manager ping-pong match, which took quite a while, because the sales manager's calculator appeared to be broken, it took him about 15 minutes to add up the same numbers I had, over and over again. Eventually the "must have" profit became $2400.
Then they started making noises about the trade-in value on my car, which they had already given to me, and how they might have to rethink that trade-in value. I told them I would like my car keys back (which they had kept someone else in the dealership for the last hour or so for no apparent reason, other than keeping me from leaving). They said that surely we could work something out if I would just pay a bit more, or take less for the trade-in.
So, to be clear, they wanted me to pay $2400 over invoice, on a fully loaded car, plus they wanted $895 extra on top of that for the "paint protection" package which really amount to nothing buy some tape pinstripes and a wax job, plus, they wanted to back off the trade-in value they had already given me earlier.
I asked them to bring me my keys AGAIN. They wanted to call their sales manager yet again (I never even met him, he wasn't lowly enough to honor me with his presence), and ask if he could do anything, seeing as how they wanted to make me happy. I said, you'll make me happy if you sell me the car, without the paint protection, just as I asked for it 2 hours and 45 minutes ago, but I am willing to pay $1000 over invoice, with the trade-in value on the car that you offered me originally. No, sorry, we just can't do that.
Bring me my keys please, so I can go to another dealer. (There are 5 within a 50 mile radius of my home). A little more humming about being reasonable, at which point I had taken enough and said that if I wasn't given the keys to my car immediately I would call the police and report it stolen, at which point I finally got them and left, after asking for them all those times.
I wouldn't buy a car from them for any amount of money now. I highly recommend anyone considering a Honda to look elsewhere.
i didn't want the crappy pinstripe and stuff either. i told them to take it off and that i wasn't paying for it. no problem. i was the woman with the noisy baby who was there all afternoon.
We ended up at $263 over invoice and were willing to wait 3 weeks for the right color to arrive. They also matched internet prices on accessories that we wanted from the parts department.
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What dealership was this?
Thaniks