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Comments
The standard ones are -
Sales Tax - 8.5% where I live
License - 2% checked w/DMV, California.
Registration - flat $48 checked w/DMV, California.
Other fees -
Dealer prep charge - NO - for Honda, paid by mfg.
Advertising - NO - for Honda, built into invoice price
Documentation - $45-$50 per California law
Vin# Etching - NO
After a dozen years of owning a reliable Civic, I want to upgrade to an Accord LX V6. Does anyone have experiences with Maine Honda dealers: Saco, S. Portland, Auburn, or Augusta? thank you
$18,583 incl./dest.
-$1500 (3% holdback, $500-$1000 rebate)
$17,083
Please refer to my message above regarding fees.
The most consistent low price internet quotes I've gotten have been from Captitol Honda in SJ. They have a huge inventory and have a pretty good reputation.
Stand firm with the out the door price and accept no compromise or substitutions. Be prepared to walk out. After all, there are over a dozen Honda dealers within 50 miles in the Bay Area.
But...you are suggesting the dealer make ZERO profit. You suggest going after holdback (which isn't profit)and any incentive dollars.
By the time a dealer pays overhead, commissions, B&O taxes etc, a deal like that would represent a major LOSS.
Why do you think a dealer would take such a deal?
I'm seriously curious.
I don't want to spend too much either, but as money is what makes the world a better place for all, I try to be fair at least, and doing so makes the process go much better.
Thanks
Of course there will be and should be profit to sell these cars. I reckon having a bunch of 04 cars in your lot of 05 cars will represent on ongoing loss. They need to get rid of them. I agree that they will lose money if I suggested this deal on an 05.
Holdback is paid to the dealer by the mfg. when the car is sold. The dealer ends up paying this much less than the invoice price. If you disregard holdback, that's sounds like an indirect PROFIT to me.
Besides, I don't have any personal interests in selling Hondas. My suggestions are based on no BS, factual numbers.
Dealers are dealers. I had one dealer make me a special offer of only 3% over invoice for which he may get in trouble with his manager. They would love for all of us to be uninformed, ignorant buyers.
Why would dealers troll this forum?
I'm seriously curious.
Holdback doen't work that way either. It gets paid once a year. It's in place to **help** pay for bank flooring charges. Overhead is outrageous and continues rising. Personally, I think that if a customer insists on talking about holdback, they should factor in overhead at the same time.
Accords aren't distressed merchandise. They are great cars with a strong demand.
That's why I and others can't understand why a dealer would be willing to take a loss.
I guess it would be one thing if the dealer were trying to win over a loyal customer who would refer people and use their service departments as a long term customer. In the cases I read about here, it's only price that matters and in many cases that customer will drive many miles just for a price with no intension to ever return.
I still don't understand but, that's O.K.
Any '04 purchased now will be one model year old in a week or two, so should be at least $1,000 to $1,500 cheaper in my opinion. If you can't get a substantial discount, wait for a 2005.
What surprised me is that I bought my car from San Francisco Honda. San Francisco is a very expensive place to buy almost anything, but they gave me what I think was a fair price at the time. I said (truthfully) that I'd been on the internet and knew what I should pay. After one silly highball offer, the sales manager immediately offered a fair price which I accepted. I'm glad I bought my car there because it's convenient and the bargaining process was fast once I made myself clear. I suspect they did well or they wouldn't have sold me the car which has been excellent.
I can't comment on service yet because the car has been completely trouble-free. I'll go to them for my first, one year oil change--there are only 3000 miles on it now.
So, if you live in S.F., you really don't have to go to a distant dealer if it's more convenient to go to S.F. Honda.
I also remember that within a few weeks of buying my Accord, someone claimed to have made a great deal at Hayward Honda, so give them a try if convenient.
The least expensive could be going to a dealer in Petaluma or Santa Rosa, but the amount saved wouldn't have been worth the annoyance for me--I live just a couple of miles from S.F. Honda.
Good luck. You'll really like the Accord if you buy one........Richard
Any suggestion?? We apprecitate your help.
Thanks.
By the way, anybody want to buy a Accord EX recently, Please let me know. Maybe we can go together and negotiate with the dealer. I am in the south bay area.
I'm sure a lot of people had similar problems with other service departments. That's why these days they do a walk around with you to survey and note any damage before taking in a car. When picking up your car, I strongly recommend doing a thorough review of the car with a service manager before driving off the lot. After leaving, you have no recourse. Also, take everything removable (including ash tray, cigarette lighter,etc.) out of your car before bringing it in because your car is likely to sit unlocked in a large lot where customers can roam and be tempted.
Sorry, i can not find your email,could you please tell me how to find your mail address? Thank you !
However...as a person who used to manage a large shop, you can't imagine the things that get blamed on shops that they didn't do. " That scratch wasn't there before!"
Well, was it? Who really knows? Did another customer back into the car? Did the dent happen in the Post Office parking lot just before the car was brought in?
Most smart shops will do a "walk around" with the customers when the car is dropped off notating any damage on the work order.
Sign of the times, I supppose.
These are all high markup items (like 500%) that sweeten the dealers profit margin. Tell the dealer you don't want any of these those things. And don't let them stick you with unnecessary fees (dealer prep, advertising, excessive doc fee etc.) The only "accessory" I consider mandatory are floor mats and I can't stand when dealers act like they are doing you a favor by "throwing in" $40 floor mats on a $25k car. I wouldn't pay more than $50 for them if they insist on breaking it out.
Also, I noticed the $1000 manuf-to-dealer incentive expires 9/07/04. Shouldn't that incentive go up as the 05's get closer?
Thanks!
And could you tell me how many milage on your new car? Thank you for your help!
my mail address: babycham13@hotmail.com
thank you again!
If $17092 includes the $490 freight charge, then I think it's a good deal. If not, then that's too much.
Go to a site like carsdirect.com and configure your car to get the invoice price. Minus 3% MSRP for the holdback and another $500 for the current Honda-to-dealer incensitive. That's the "dealer cost", although I don't know if that's really true or not.
For the Accord LX auto with side air bags and CA partial zero emmission I bought today, this is the data:
MSRP: $20,990
invoice: $18,942
holdback: -$630
incensitive: -$500
"dealer cost": $17,812
I paid: $17,800 + $45 doc + tax and registration
My reply:
Too much? Maybe, but not far off from your deal from what I can figure. I paid $17135+$490 freight, or $17,625, for the '04 sedan AT cloth w/o side bags; and flaps & wheel locks. Rest of my cost was VA tags, VA tax & doc fees. (My previous posting was wrong on the base price by $43 but my out the door price was correct -- $18530).
Looks your price was $187 more for the same car with side bags, which is $37 less than the invoice difference between the two, according to Edmunds. I can live with those numbers!
I possibly could have saved another $190 by buying from a MD dealer, because the state caps dealer doc fees at $100. But, having done that on my previous car, I didn't want to drive 30-45 minutes each way for warranty service.
3c3> dealer's cost? "Invoice - holdback -
3c3> incentive" seems to be way too high.
That is the correct formula to figure true dealer cost.
There is an additional $200 built into the invoice price that is paid to the dealer on each vehicle to be used for local/regional advertising costs.
There has been much discussion in the past about this fee. Some say it should be deducted to determine true dealer cost as advertising is ordinarily a part of overhead. Others, including the Edmunds published book "Strategies For Smart Car Buyers" concludes that this is a legitimate charge and should not be deducted when determining true dealer cost.
Also, some dealers on some occassions may be willing to sell a car at a loss in order to meet dealership allocation goals. This is not the norm but has been known to occur.
Base price : 17,445.24
Dest. Charge : 490.00
Total base : 17,935.24
MD Tax 5% : 896.76
MD TTL : 151.00
Total : $18,983.00
Price $23,255.00
Vehicle Tax 7.50
Doc 51.00
Tax 1,259.38
Plate Transfer 80.00
Wheel Locks 69.00
$24,721.88 total
The tax was originally $1,524.38, but I got an adjustment of ($265) because of my trade in. I got $4,000($4,265 with the adj. above) for my 99' civic with 108k miles on it. This was a little below Kelley Blue Book, but I never got my timing belt or water pump changed which is a must at that level of mileage. It was a fair trade though I'm sure that they will still make $1k plus when they sell it.
I would try and get $500-$700 lower as you suggest. I don't think that you will get much more than that. It's a great price for the value. I love everything about the car.
Hope this helps.
Thoughts?
Also, would you wait for the 2005?
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