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Comments
The Sandman
BTW anyone looking to but a Honda in upstate NY, DO NOT shop at Lia Honda. They customer service is terrible... I was supposed to go pick up my Civic LX SSRS AT that I purchased from them a week ago last weekend, I got there and there were telling me some cock and bull story about not having MV-50's the manager and the salesperson were extremely rude, telling me that its not about me that they could sell the car to someone else blah blah. I'm Nigerian and apparently one of their salesmen had lived in Nigeria for a while and they had the audacity to come to ask me if I spoke Nigerian (btw there is no such language). anyway needless to say the manager decided he didn't want to sell me the car anymore. I collected my money back and went to john holtz and paid $300 more for the SE which I feel was a better deal...
The Sandman :confuse:
John Holtz sent the paperwork by fedex overnight and put a return fedex overnight for me to return the docs...
John Holtz sent the paperwork by fedex overnight and put a return fedex overnight for me to return the docs...
Not to be prejudice, but I would not accept a cashiers check from a Nigerian. There are WAY to many fake checks being passed around by Nigerian nationals. As a matter of fact, I have about $50,000 worth of fake cashier's checks, postal money orders, and Qchex checks that I have collected from Nigerian nationals. Luckily for me, I knew upfront that the checks would be fradulent, and did not cash them. I simply gave them to my friend at Buffalo's FBI office.
All of the stories were similar, "I am out of town, I will be sending you a cashier's check with my courier/by mail and my agent will pick up the merchandise, blah blah" or "Someone owes me money and they will send you a chashier check/money order for $5000 (items I was selling were couple of hundred dollars) and you (me) would wire a Wester union money transfer to my shipping agent for to pick up the items..." ONLY A FOOL WOULD FALL FOR THAT. I just wanted to collect fake checks and pass them to my friend at the FBI.
Some checks were actually very good, some had spelling mistakes, and non-existent addresses.
I hope you are not one of them scammers, but if you are, good luck. Of course, if one scammed a dealer, they won't sell a car to the next Nigerian, who may be legitimate. Call it profiling, or whatever, but I don't blame LIA for not taking a cashier's check from Nigerian National.
besides its not that they were unwilling to accept my check... they hadnt gotten the paperwork they were supposed to get together even after a week and they were very rude to me and i mentioned that to them.. they could have called me sometime during the week to let me know they would not have delivered the car and i would not have flown in from indianpolis to pick up the car...
i was going to fly in again to pick up my car from John Holtz but they offered to Fedex overnight the documents to me and send me a fedex overnight return envelope to send the docs and the check back to them and they didnt seem to be bothered by the fact that I was Nigerian...
My car has been picked up from Holtz and they have their money and they have been nothing short of 5* customer service
Finally decided on the CRV after debating between the Escape, Rav4, and the CRV. Test drove all three; felt the CRV was the best fit for the family (we are previous Accord owners) did my research on Edmunds, CR, and carbuyingtips.com. We wanted the CRV-SE, the leather and heated seats are extra amenities we felt were worth the extra $. From my Internet research, I knew that invoice was 23,831 (incl. $515 dest). All prices I quote here include the $515 destination. Realized that Honda factory to dealership has a 3% holdback, so I set my sights on paying 23,831, figuring this was fair to the salesman and myself. I solicited quotes from the Seattle area dealers (Honda of Bellevue, Lynwood, Seattle, Kirkland, Redmond, South Tacoma, Hinshaw Honda,). All quotes were at least $500-1500 over what I wanted to pay. Many of the dealers told me that (lied) the invoice price was 24,331. Honda of Bellevue would not quote me a price via email.
My goal here was to negotiate via email so that I would not have to do the dreaded 3-hour haggle in the dealership office. I decided to seek quotes outside the Seattle metro area, and emailed dealers in Bellingham, Burlington (Sims), Vancouver (WA), and Portland. Finally I received quotes at my price (23,831, Wilsonville Honda), and below (23,635, Thomson Honda). Both were in the Portland area, 3 hrs away.
Armed with this quote, I emailed back to my local dealers, saying I had an invoice quote, and would they match it.
Trade-in issues. I wanted to trade in my Ford Explorer, and I was going to have to deal with that part of the haggle process.
Honda of Seattle said they would meet my invoice price, and I decided to come in and talk. Long story short, they really low-balled my trade by $1000. I now figured out that if they are going to sell me a car at invoice, they will try to make it back by cutting the trade in value. I left slightly disappointed, but better informed.
Hinshaw Honda in Auburn was the next attempt. I received an invoice quote (23831) from them. I sent a few emails back and forth requesting details on all fee’s (tax, lic, doc.) that I would be charged. I did receive a detailed quote listing all fee’s (Tax 9.1%, Documentation: $35, and lic and reg: 145.00). They asked that I bring the invoice quote from the other dealer. Drove to the dealer. Went thru the trade-in evaluation. Again I was offered about $500 less than what my trade was worth. During the negotiations, they tried to tack on various fee’s (detail fee 300, prep fee 200, etc) I was armed with the email print out from the Internet manager showing all fees (tax, lic/reg, doc.). They did pull those off. They did not have the color I wanted on the lot (Sand/Ivory or Pewter/Black). They said they could bring one over from another dealer BUT, it would have extra add-ons already in place. Front mud flaps @ $166.00, and wheel locks @ $100.00. They would not take them off. I was not going to pay $266.00 for two items I can get at online for $80.00 total. Left slightly discouraged, but more informed. The “other dealer” add-ons was a trick I had not read about.
Lesson learned: Make sure they have the car you want on the lot.
In the next few days I decided to sell my old car on my own and simplify the buying process. Emailed a few more dealers to find who had a SE in Pewter/Black (hard color to find) or a Sand/Ivory. Sims Honda in Burlington had a Sand/Ivory SE on the lot and would match my 23,831. Got all fees in writing (tax, docs, lic/reg). Drove to the dealership. Everything actually went quite smooth. Dealt with the Internet manager (the person I was dealing with via email). 20 min test drive. 30 mins in the sales office. The one line item I got in the sales office that was different from the email quote was a B&O tax at $112.00 (.048%) I didn’t know about this one. I agreed to it (now I know differently, they can not pass this onto you without your permission). I paid 1% less sales tax than in my home county (8.1 vs. 9.1). So with the B&O tax, I paid 8.6% in taxes.
Final prices paid: 23830, lic/reg: 170, doc: 35, tax: 2055.
The CRV-SE seems to be a hot car in the NorthWest. Many dealers did not have any SE’s on their lot, and only a few more 05’s arriving in August before the 06’s arrive in September. I was not interested in the 06’s as the only changes (I could find) were a red/ivory and blue/black model offered in a SE trim.
Accessories: We did solicit prices for Fog Lights (installed) from all the dealers. The prices ranged from $495 (South Tacoma) to $661 (Honda of Seattle). I paid $570 for the lights installed. This is probably about $80 too much, but I was happy with the sales service I received. I could have got these on line for 231.00, but the installation is way more that I wanted to do.
I ordered other accessories thru www.handa-accessories.com. Cargo tray, all weather floor mats, cargo cover, and cargo net. I was very happy with their prices and quick shipping.
Be prepared, do your homework, walk-out if need be, get all prices in writing.
Don't be too sure your Explorer was lowballed. They don't bring what the verious guides thell you what they are "worth". With the recent sharp increase in gas prices, they are almost impossible for us to get rid of. The ford dealers and wholesalers don't want them because they are already choking on them.
We cringe when we see certain cars drive in and Explorers are pretty high on that list!
Seems like you went to a LOT of trouble over just a few dollars but it sounds like you are happy and that's what counts!
Enjoy your CRV- Great cars!
Thanks!
Thanks,
Jeannine Fallon
Corporate Communications
Edmunds.com
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I got it from David Hobbs Honda in Glendale, WI. The experience was great. I was able to arrange a test drive and settle on a price all over email with their internet sales manager. I went in, test drove, and was immediately ready to buy. The internet sales manager was great and the whole process went very smoothly. I went in on a Saturday, so it all took about 4 hours, since the financing and business offices were busy.
I am going to buy 'O5 Civic VP AT 2 doors soon.
The internet manager has offered me $12,491 (invoice = 13,220) not including sale tax, tags, and destination.
Is that a good deal?
Has anyone got it cheaper?
One more thing,
Anyone know when the 06 civic will come?
I hate civics with such a god D#*&! passion :mad:
-have a wonderful day
The Sandman
Then why did you even go in to a Civic forum....
L. O. L. at kimmyson
I hate civics with such a god D#*&! passion".
Kimmyson--Can you spell TRO (double hockey sticks)?
If you don't like Honda Civics there are plenty of forums where you can sing the praises of your Plymouth Neon or are you frustrated because there isn't currently an Edmunds Forum with members who will discuss your Yugo?
Gogiboy
regards,
kyfdx
Edmunds Price Checker
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thanks
My daughter was thinking about an LX sedan and I contacted some of the "discount" Honda dealers I have worked with and most have no cars. The few places that did have cars wanted over invoice for them (there is/was a $400 dealer incentive on sedans and $500 on coupes). The best offer was for invoice, but they would have to locate a car and drive it in.
The 06 Civics are much nicer with standard ABS (now only on EX) and side airbags (an option) and more power, if you can't get a deal on an 05 it might be worth waiting for an 06. I am no fan of first year cars and for sure first examples of first year cars, but before I would pay too much for an 05 now I would seriously think about it. If you have something you can drive for another year - or for a few months until the "new" is off of the 06 models than I think I would wait.
http://automobiles.honda.com/civics/index.aspx
has the info and pictures of the 06 cars.
You can also visit carsdirect.com and put in your ZIP code and see what kind of price comes up for an 05. You may be able to get a deal, if the dealer that works with carsdirect still has something to sell in stock.
If you want a coupe or a manual transmission car your odds seem to be a lot better, since the AT sedans seem to be sold out a lot of places.
Dennis
I had found a handful of dealers in the area who had the LX's in automatic or could get one for me.
I went back and forth on pricing with a few of the dealers I had received dealer quotes from. I ended up finding a great deal. I just bought a 2005 Honda LX Special Edition in automatic transmission in magnesium for $14,990. The only other charges were tax, title and license. They are throwing in the mudguards I had requested. Delivery to my home is free in addition to free oil changes, free water park tickets, and a free $1,000 online shopping spree. My car is arriving at home after work today.
Dennis
If anyone can tell me why the decided it would help.
Please respond to jfallon@edmunds.com no later than Wednesday, September 14, 2005 with a few thoughts on the subject.
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I am also on the fence between the Mazda3 and a Civic. For the record, I've owned nine cars and eight of them were Acura/Honda products. My current car is a Nissan Maxima, but my lease is up on it in mid-October.
I want something sporty and good looking. The Mazda3 has attracted me from the first time I saw it. I test drove one as well as a current Civic EX. If I had to pick between the '05 models, the Mazda wins hands down. I've been waiting for the new Civic before I made a decision. Unfortunately, the local dealers I've spoken with only have automatics in stock and aren't expecting manual transmission sedans for about a month. They said they're producing only automatics at first because they account for 90% of sales.
Anyway, I'm not sold on the Civic's front end (ugly actually) but do like the rest of the car and the interior is kinda cool as long as it is functional. I'm very anxious to drive one.
You won't go wrong either way with a Mazda3 or a Civic. Good luck.
.
Anyone know how to go about looking outside of Florida? Any good websites that would be easy to search?
Nice, and roomy inside for my 6' 3" size and the NAV system flips out to reveal the CD player, which is nice. One I saw was Silver, with a nice gray interior. Another white civic next to it with a lousy looking gold seats. Wow, what color to have with the white exterior. The steering wheel was OK up close and it adjusts well for my size.
I went to a couple dealer lots last night. One of them had only a couple 05's left, none were close to what I'm looking for. The other had a ton, about 15-20, 05's but most were the VP, lots of those, and no SEs.
I'm also finding out the blue color with the SE package is almost impossible to find. That SE package really makes the Civic a sharp looking car.
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When I looked at it, it looked Gold to me, but found out on the internet it was called Ivory... I'm sorry, but when I opened the car door to look inside, that gold or ivory color stood out like a sore thumb. But, each his/her own. I just did not like that interior color. I also know everyone has the gray interior, but not much else you can do about it. Most of the Civic's (06) have just one choice....Gray interior.... Called the Internet sales dept again and now waiting to see if they can do a better deal than the one I posted. Hope against hope, but luck me, I don't have to rush into this....The red civic has the ivory as well...Would have liked the red...Oh well...