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Comments
To make it easier to compare prices, if possible can you tell everyone the APR you got and if you bought any accessories, extended warranties, window etch etc. Obviously if you over pay on one part the car can be sold for below invoice etc.
Alex
Richard Lynn at Doten Honda in Berkeley (CA) is a good person to deal with.
I have received quotes up to ~$17.6k in writing from 2 different dealers, this is just over phone/email, no in person negotiations yet.
I would love to get it around ~17K. Would be great to hear from any other buyers who have been able to negotiate around this in Bay Area OR suggestions on how to get to this number.
Similar to couple of other postings, I am curious to find out how dealers are able to sell below their dealer cost (=invoice+destination-hold back which equates to 18,003+460-600=17,863 for this model).
Are there any dealer promos in place for this model or are they just making loss on this?
FYI - I found following site useful in getting some #s - http://www.car-prices-costs.com/2003-Honda-Accord.html
- Savvy Buyer
Another mechanism could be the manufacturer's customer satisfaction survey. Since the dealer I dealt with was pretty concerned about me giving them a good rating when Honda would call, I would not be surprised if there were some financial teeth put behind that survey.
And since the invoice price is so well-publicized, I wouldn't be surprised if manufactures are using these and other mechanisms to keep the true dealer cost hidden from the public. I certainly would if I were in their situation.
Just my completely unsubstantiated two cents...
'nailed it. the 2002 civic year-end INVOICE sale here in atlanta had the dealer giving away the $750 holdback (that's at least 5%) and another $750 in dealer incentive, totaling $1500.
strong hint at what they get for accords even at invoice, right ?
dealers' practice is to typically sell a "rare," high-demand model variant initially at MSRP, or over, and wait for buyer response. they then reduce their internally acceptable price weekly/bi-weekly as the car remains unsold.
thus, if you see your target car not having been sold by month-end, you know they're ready to negotiate.
best guess is that with buyers flying from other states to get their desired car, and where the manual v6 will be initially in low supply, invoice price may be hard to get for the first few months.
but month-end buying can still get a better price than during any other time of the month, unless the one or 2 units are delivered at month-end too.
good luck.
You may be familiar with Gwinnett Place Honda in Atlanta... they told me they'll be getting 20 6MTs a month, so I may be able to keep an eye on them and see how it goes. I live down in Macon where the dealers are trying to charge $500 to $800 over MSRP for everything (Appearance package or Locality Adjustment). The Macon dealer said they'll be getting a white one, then a black one, so I may be able to watch here too (I want black one).
If I was able to get a 6MT for $24800, would that be a good deal considering the "demand"? Or is this car going to be under $24k in 3 months?
20 v6 manuals/month is quite a lot, and works to your favor because i think it's matched with demand.
if you're buying without a trade, the nego will be much smoother. with volume-conscious g.p. honda, i'm sure you'll get a fair if not fantastic price.
$24.8k including destination but no sales tax looks quite good based on the edmunds' tmv ($25.3) for gphonda's zip code. it's only $1k or 4.2% over invoice for which is practically a new product. the price 3 months hence ? very speculative, but let me say that with consumer confidence down and honda production geared to optimize capacity, there's a fair chance prices might go down some.
to get your target price of $24.8k, or even lower, maybe an unorthodox way is called for. which is, how about starting an acquaintance with the the sales rep and sales manager (man in glass booth who approves deals) a week or two before actual negotiation.
make friends over the phone, let them know what car you need, etc. and show up month-end to nego and buy.
premise here is that they'll give better terms to someone they already know and like than a first-time acquaintance.
it should feel good to jump into that coupe from the taurus, i imagine. i might be able to help personally - since i might be in buying position for the v6 auto end-jan - so email me at bsromana@yahoo.com for a possible "group-buy."
Now the 6 Speed manual V6 Coupe. This car is a limited production run vehicle by Honda, they are making only 2500 of these rare cars, every dealer in America will get one and only one I'm told. So a dealer getting 30 V6 6 spd Manual Coupes a month is a crock. And lastly, they will bring sticker, they will be collectors items, yes a collectors item on a production run car, they also will be released in March.
Don't give in to the hype and make everyone pay over MSRP. Not to mention that the 2004s will be out 6 months after the 2003 6MTs are.
DX $14799
LX $17997
EX $20154
EXL $21322
LX-V6 $20588
EXL-V6 $23174
All are AT and "L" is for leather.
The car we bought is not old (only 8 miles on the car). So we don't care how long it had been on the lot. It was more than $1000 below invoice (AT in California cost more because of smock control). The dealer did not quote this price to get me in and try to sell me something else for more. He actually did not want me to chose another car for the higher price. There was no hard sell at all. There is another dealer who said if we wait until February, he may be able to beat that deal by a couple of hunder dollars. But that deal is too good to past up. We will not wait for something that "may" be better.
This price didn't include tax.
I emailed them, requesting a quote and got one, countered, and then we came to a deal.
Very nice sales staff, at least the guy I dealt with, and no hassles.
Comment: very nice dealer and friendly saleman. Less time than when I bought my Accord 2000 at Norm Reeves Honda in Cerritos. Help them out by asking for Gabriel and Mario.
Direction: From LA, take 57 exit Ball and turn left. After the bridge, turn right on the first light and right on the next street. They're at the end of the road.
Recently I bought the Accord EX V6, and dealer sold me the Care Craft package for $489. They will probably apply some coating on the exterior and interior of the car to protect against Sun, Rain, acid rain etc...
I am just wondering is it worth taking that package for $489... Do we really need extra coating on Accord. A friend of mine told me that its of no use... I am in delima, please gimme expect feedback about the same
Thanks
-Amit
Should I go ahead and return the package?? If I am talking good care of my car, do I need to apply these coating (exterior/interiror), I mean does it good to have these type of coating...
This includes destination but not TTL fees. The quote is for $390 below invoice...Can I go lower?
17,588 seem to be magic number in Bay Area for this car. Stevens Creek Honda is widely advertising this via email.
Folks in MA/VA have received it as low as 17,100/17,000 respectively.
Alex
Few dealers have confirmed that there are lot of LX in the market so they are forced to offer good $. LX with side air-bag isn't as widely available so even though sticker price difference is $250, selling price difference is more than $700 between the two.
To be honest, I am unimpressed by dealings of Capitol Honda even though they appear to have more cars. Not as professional or straight forward folks to deal with. Anderson is holding the price around $18k, not negotiating much.
Stevens Creek appear to have the best deal, followed by San Leandro Honda in this market. AutoWest folks are professional, not as hungry though. Los Gatos and Larry Hopkins don't appear to be able to compete on price compared to few of the other mentioned.
I am in my final stages of buying, will let team know on final numbers.
If you go to Stevens Creek, make sure you do not talk to any salesperson. You need to talk to one of the fleet managers who work for Manuel Souza. I think the person who is in charge of internet sale is Charles. His last name begins with B, but I don't remember what it was. Two other fleet managers there are Vince and David. You may try to call Charles and make an appointment before you go. By the way, if they tell you the low price cars are sold out, don't go for a higher price one. Tell them you will wait and leave. Give them a local number to call you back. Don't let them know you are from out of town if possible until the deal is closed. (After the deal is closed, you would want to let them know you are from out of town to get the lower sale tax.)
On the other hand, the internet manager at Capitol was very persistent in trying to reach me during the holidays. He kept saying he had better price whenever he called. Finally when I came in on the first day of 2003, he agreed on $23600 which includes Day/Night Auto Dimmer installed. Signing process went pretty smooth too with no pressure to purchase any of extra services like extended warranty or paint protector etc. In a nutshell, my experience with Capitol was not bad at all. Steven Creek Honda seems ok too even if they were not as aggressive as Capitol Honda in my book.
He also went on to bashing few other dealers in the area.
My 2c.
I wouldn't say it was a really bad experience. I never totally trusted that he can beat the quote I got. I just want to give him a chance. When he can't, we walk. I was not disappointed.
Call ahead, say you were recommended, and either have a discussion or make an appt to meet. He will be straight about which cars they have, and what deals he can do.
I just received an internet quote for Accord Ex auto (cloth interior,4 cyl)for $20,554 that is $200 under the invoice price including destination charge but before tax and license according to the quote. Is this a good price? Any advice would be appreciated. Thanks again!
I am a firm believer that if you exactly know model/trim you are looking for - most dealers are offering commodity products and you are in a good position to bargain. I was in that boat so getting a better deal to me was more important than service and as a result my opinion may not factor in service aspect as much.
Following are the lowest bid I got in writing (without getting into any negotiation, bids include destination charge of $460) after polling about 10 dealers in Bay Area between 1/9 - 1/16.
LX AT - $17,588 (Stevens Creek Honda)
LX AT w/ Airbag - $18,322 (Anderson Honda)
EX AT - $19,588 (Stevens Creek Honda)
Please note that some of these #s were offered on certain color/units only. I got the unit/color I was looking for so it wasn't a problem. For example, Graphite in EX seem to be in demand I was asked to pay more $ for that.
Once you are serious, I believe each of these deals have few more hundred $ room (e.g. I got my EX @ $19,400). After visiting the dealership (and walking out once), I did rest of my negotiation via phone. Once we agreed on price, I had the salesperson fax me a quote in writing before I went down to do paperwork.
Since there are lot of base LX AT and EX AT models in the market (not sure about leather / NAV / V6 or others) so one piece of advise - don't let dealer start the pricing at X% below MSRP or y% above invoice. Question to ask is how much below DEALER COST (=Invoice - holdback) are you willing to give. There were FEW who were able to offer me base LX & EX AT vehicle (but not LX with Side Airbag) around dealer cost (+/- 1%) . My deal was won by dealer offering most discount below dealer cost. Dealer cost info @ http://www.car-prices-costs.com/2003-Honda-Accord.html
Re post # 1566 - no EX w/o leather does not have climate control. Reg. LX with Side Airbag, there are not that many on the market and hence you will find $700+ difference between this and LX AT even though sticker price difference is only $250. I was initially considering LX with Side Airbag but after seeing price difference and additional items offered in base EX AT (Moonroof, 6 CD changer, 16" wheels instead of 15", slightly better brakes and interiors, lumber support, security system), I went for EX. I guess this was successful tactic on Honda/dealer part to up sell me to next model by offering the right value.
Re. post # 1557 - I actually got a better deal from sales person compared to their Internet dept. Internet group @ Stevens Creek was offering vehicle @ 19,588 (and would not budge even after several conversations). Salesperson's name is TJ Singh, you can tell him that "savvybuyer" referred you to him so he knows that you have all right info to negotiate. Really nice guy, I would highly recommend him.
I have built a spreadsheet with all dealer contact / offers and relative price comparison and lease scenarios. If interested, please drop me a note at savvybuyer@vimals.net and I can send it to you in few days (as I need to clean it up).
Lastly, based on postings from other region, it looks like Boston area dealers are offering even more aggressive pricing on than I found. This may partly be higher business costs in Bay Area compared to other areas? In other words, Boston etc. may find numbers even better than what I have found.
Here is what I think is happening - I posted the article and it appeared ok, I refreshed browser before closing it looks like it just took what I had in post section and reposted it.
I saw same issue with one of my prior posts.
Since I got better deal through TJ, it wouldn't hurt to give him a call (408.205.2602) to check out if he can offer better number. I don’t know the big picture on how different individuals operate within the group but at least at few dealerships I have seen regular sales and Internet groups enjoying healthy competition - this is always good for buyers as they both will try to win you over.
I also spoke to their Internet dept. a bit more about these specials. Apparently, Stevens Creek Honda's owner Sonic Automotive (NYSE:SAH web site http://www.sonicautomotive.com/) has corporate policy to offer better deals on vehicles 100+ days old (as they carry loans on them and have incentive to move the vehicles off the lot). These are not demo vehicles, they have 6-10 miles (similar to "fresher" vehicles). Vehicle I purchased is similar to this and I made my decision knowingly and checked it out to my satisfaction prior to purchase. If anyone else has more info regarding potential concerns with buying 100+ day old vehicle - please chime in to educate all of us. I imagine other dealerships under Sonic have similar policies - you can find the dealerships they own on their web site.
If you like the vehicle, I'd suggest you grab it. I have asked 7 other dealers (including Capitol Honda) to match Stevens Creek price on EX in the area and no one has been willing to do so.
One thing I suggest in dealing with anyone is to verify model/trim/color availability and get VIN number of the vehicle for the specific price they quote to make sure that they have are not just "inviting" you to store to really sell you something else OR that the special vehicles haven't been sold already.
I'm told it is extremely difficult to get an LX-6 sedan in a light color. This seems odd since I thought that the LX was a bigger seller than the EX and thus there'd be more production units I'm in the Wash DC area. Comments/experience from anyone?