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Comments
kad: Why do you care what someone else thinks of the price you paid on your car, especially since the transaction was two months ago? Are you happy with it? For what it's worth, I think you did fine. If you get the same deal again, I wouldn't complain.
did i laught at them n tell them they are crazy?? no.
then it was my turn i offer them my price, remeber dealer sell at highest price possible, buyer buy at lowest price possible.
am i going to only buy at my offer price? no,
should we both work out the # and find a fair price?, yes.
but did that happen? No
and now they offering to sell at invoice, will i buy? maybe, maybe not
so tell me is 26g reasonable enought for you ral2167
Since you didn't specify exactly which version of the Accord EX you purchased, I had to do some backtracking and research to be able to answer your questions. Based upon the MSRP, Destination and Invoice figures you provided, I deduced that you purchased a 2004 Accord EX V6 4-Door Sedan with Automatic Transmission, Leather and without Navigation.
If my above assumption is correct, total dealer cost, after deducting their $807 3% Holdback, is $23,437. Adding your $500 spoiler, $300 mirror & wheel locks, $1,458 tax, $192 documentation fee and $96 registration, the total that you would have written a check for was $25,933 without any advertising costs or profit for the dealer. If you paid $25,989 you got a fantastic deal.
If you can purchase your second vehicle the same way, you will have done very well indeed.
That being said, if you really want the car, invoice is a pretty good deal if it isn't packed with a lot of add ons. It may pay to wait until the end of the month, or, if you are really in no rush, there seem to be a lot of new midsizes on the way later in the year. Your dealer may be more motivated then.
I love the car, got almost 600 miles on it already, and no problems at all. Its super cold here and have had no cold related problems also. I hope you have the best of luck with yours, and yes the 2.4 is very peppy.
Jelly
However competition is a wonderful thing. This time around, I shopped online by sending emails to all the dealers within about 100 mi or so from my house. After I received the inital quote, I let those who follow up know the best quote and let them decide if they want my business or not, As the negotiation go on, some dealer drop off because they are either looking for more profit or their cost structure is too high and cannot match the other guys. Once you get the best price, you can decide if it is good enough for you or not. If you don't like the best price then try another car. It is irrelevent how much money the dealer make. It is more important that I get the best deal within my area and I can live with the deal. (Anyone know or care how much the grocery store make when they sell us a quarter of milk??). The final price is very much depend on how much competition is in a certain area and how popular is the car. I end up with about $1000 below invoice in California. However, the one I am negotiating for my relative in Arizona does not go as well. The best I have so far is $150 over invoice. But there is only 8 dealers within about 150 miles or so in Tucson vs there are about 30 within 100 miles from my house in California. Don't get too hung up on how much the dealer make. They can make tons of money on hot new models with thousand above MSRP but they also pay for the loser that sit in their lot.
Accord coupe EX V6 with Nav
msrp: 28,990
invoice: 26,131
price I paid: 26,331 (200 over invoice)
3000 down payment, 3.9% financing = $460 per month for 60 months
This was in Boston. I have been negotiating for 2 weeks straight. For a long time my best offer was $27k. I got an offer for $26,600 but it was abour 2 hours away from Boston.
I called everywhere and there are only about 4 of these cars within 2 hours of Boston, including in NH and RI.
Anyway, this just proved that if you are willing to wait, and even walk out the door a few times, you will get them down. They still made over $1000 on the deal, so they should be happy.
Good luck everyone
and if so, don't you still have to deal with a salesman??
and if so, if you DO buy from that same dealership, doesn't the salesperson get some kind of commission, even if you email thereafter?
Once you agree on a price via e-mail, you go to whichever dealer gave you the best price, find the salesperson who conducted the e-mail negotiation, and buy the car. That person then gets the commission.
In my case, I liked the salesman who went with me on the test drive, so I gave him the opportunity later (via e-mail) to submit a quote.
I wanted to compare quotes on my own time and not feel the pressure of being on the lot.
$22,300 vehicle sale price
+ $400 trade-in difference ($13,100 owed - $12,700 trade allowance)
+ $239.95 "customer services" (title, etc.)
+ $1,337.04 sales tax
Total Financed (3.9%, 60 months) = $24,276.99
Included in the sale were mud guards, all-weather mats, wheel locks, cargo tray, pin striping, and VIN etching (I advised the Sales Manager I wouldn't pay for this - by the time we got to the numbers, it had already been done, free of charge).
The Accord had 154 miles on it, but the salesman said that was because they had traded for it with a dealership in Columbus, OH. Seemed odd to me to trade across state lines, but what the heck. I wasn't wild about the mileage, but considering I had been working with this dealership via e-mail for the past month, and that they matched any price I gave them, I thought it only fair to give them the business.
What sold me was the fact they gave me $12,700 for my trade. I know it's not smart to trade upside-down, but I'd been watching KBB, NADA, etc for the past 2 months, and my old vehicle (2002 Ford Escape XLT) was depreciating at approx $400/month based on my location, mileage, etc. My monthly payments on it were $440, so it wasn't going to turn in my direction any time soon. Also, I figured the average (using KBB, NADA, Edmunds.com, Black Book, and CarsDirect.com) trade-in value of my vehicle to be $12,600.
In your honest opinions, was this a good purchase? Thanks for your responses.
I started shopping for an Accord back in September, but because financing fell through, I decided not to get the Accord back then. Now, I will be getting a large tax return, so I'm in the market again. I received a quote of $25,700 from a dealer here in Washington, D.C. This does not include tax, tags, or title. I also have been shopping in the Rochester, NY area (since my parents live up there), and one guy quoted me as $28,100 OTD (I would do the taxes myself here in Maryland). I have been asking for a purely Japanese built Accord because I think the paint on a Japanese built Accord is oil based instead of water based. I think the build quality is better also. Within the past three days, the best that I could do (so far) is $26840 (OTD $28,463). If anyone has been shopping within the Rochester, NY or Washington, D.C. area, are these prices good deals, and if not, can anyone recommend a dealer to me?
If you are refering to the 2004 EX V6 SEDAN with Navigation, the total dealer cost including freight, presuming that they retain none of the 3% holdback, is $25,189.
If you are refering to the 2004 EX V6 COUPE with Navigation, the total dealer cost including freight, presuming that they retain none of the 3% holdback, is $25,276.
Add whatever you choose to those figures for things such as local advertising, profit, a portion or all of the holdback, etc to determine what you are willing to pay. That $25,700 quote you mentioned is in the right ballpark, but you may be able to do slightly better.
I am also looking exactly for the same vehicle in MD/DC/VA area. Can you share me the dealer info who gave you the quote for $26840
regards,
kyfdx (who's BMW was assembled in South Africa)
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Edmunds Moderator
I think your price is pretty good for the DC area (or anywhere). I got a great deal (substantially below invoice) from Criswell Honda in Germantown, MD. You (and banums) might want to email their internet sales guy and see what he'll do.
Barry S.
regards,
kyfdx
Edmunds Price Checker
Edmunds Lease Calculator
Did you get a good deal? Be sure to come back and share!
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topgun7 -- what dealer did you buy from?
you can e-mail me: ucinugget32@yahoo.com
thanks
Thanks
Jelly
22,038 Price
150 Doc Fees
22,188 Total
The only accessory it came with was the wheel locks. I couldn't even get a 3.00 bottle of touch up paint free.
How's that?
How important do you think it is to buy at a dealer closest to you (for service convenience)?
For a 2004 EX-L I4 COUPE without Nav, total dealer cost including freight, presuming that they retain none of the 3% holdback, is $21,715.
Add whatever you choose for things such as local advertising, profit, a portion or all of the holdback, etc to determine what you are willing to pay.
On the other hand, if demand in your area is high, you may just have to pay the asking price.
Edmunds also gives an estimated price on this site (look on the 2004 Honda Accord page), but I found that the Edmunds price was quite a bit higher than the Consumer Reports price.
hmurphy- Why would someone pay $12 to get info that is FREE on this website. Invoice - 3% of MSRP is the dealer's price. It isn't hard to figure out.
Edmund's estimated price to pay (TMV) is high compared to what people are paying.
Just curious...
I just got a price quote of $200 BELOW invoice for a 2004 Honda Accord EX V6 with navigation at College Park Honda in Maryland. Here is what I did to get that price: I first checked my credit score and report so I could apply for loans to get the best rates out there. I applied through USAA and got 72 months at 4.95% (my credit is pretty good). A couple of days ago I ordered the www.fightingchance.com package that they sell for 2003-2004 Honda Accords (they also have Civic stuff in there). The price of this package was WELL WORTH IT. The package even tells you what your e-mail or fax should look like before you send them out. This package tells you how to negotiate the best deals through a fax attack, what to say to the dealer when you walk in, and common scams that some dealers may pull. I also consulted Jeff Ostrom's sight www.carbuyingtips.com to help me. These two things you must do to help yourself get the best deal possible. Instead of the common 'fax attack', I did the e-mail attack. I e-mailed 12-18 dealers within a 250 miles radius and made sure they bid against eachother. My final price that I would not go higher than was $27,671.55. That included the car at invoice ($25,551), a 3% holdback of the MSRP ($866.70), a 3.5% profit of the dealers cost ($24,684.30) of $863.95 for a final selling price of $25,548.25. Add to that number the destination charges ($490), and the final price that I would go higher than was $26,038.25. I also told them I would not pay more than $100 processing fee (that's what they charged me), would not pay more than $135 for Maryland state tags, and taxes were 5%. Well two or three dealers wrote back and said that was too aggressive and they could not make the sale. Oh well. Their loss. Last night I got a phone call about 8 PM and the Internet Sales Manager told me the final price breakdown was this:
2004 Honda Accord EX V6 NAVI: $25,351 ($200 below invoice)
Freight: $490
Processing fees: $100
Two year tags: $136.50
MD tire tax: $2
MD taxes: $1,297.05
TOTAL : ($27,374.55)
If you do the e-mail attack, I would make sure that the dealers can see that you're knowledgeable and that you're serious about getting the car.
i also made sure in my email i nailed down the monthly payment based at 3.9% that honda was offering-- down to the penny--- so the finance guys didn't try to add anything else on.
nice going there.
Thanks for your information. As per your suggestion, I emailed College Park Honda in Maryland and got the following quote.
Your College Park Honda Internet Special for a 2004 Honda Accord EX-L V6 4DR Auto w/NAVI is as follows:
MSRP $28,400.00
_________________________________________________
Invoice $25,551.21
Dealercash -$0
Holdback -$852.00
Discount in-lieu
of advertising cost -$100.00
_________________________________________________
Internet Special: $24,599.21
Plus $490 destination charge, State taxes and tags, $100 processing fee and $2 MD tire tax.
But When I called them for the out of the door price, they added $1500.00 for Appearance & Protection packages.
As the friend who is often called upon to help negotiate with car dealers, I am back in the Town Hall section looking for the BEST information on buying a car as efficiently as possible. You were all a great help to me when I bought my 02 Accord EX V6 in July of 2002 and I am sure you can help me again. My friend is looking at a LX or EX V6 Accord Sedan w/o Navi at Willis Honda in Burlington, NJ. We will be going back soon to negotiate and it seems like, based on posted messages, that I should be able to get him the car for invoice +destination + $300-750 + TTL. I have not been successful even talking about the holdback, that is theirs. I usually work from invoice and then add destination ($490?), salesman's profit ($250-700) and TTL and processing. I always try and get a car that is either off the trailer or has not been slapped with overpriced stuff by the parts dept. Is there anything else I should be thinking about as we nogotiate? This dealer has a great loaner car program which is not offered at the other local Honda dealer, so we would like to buy it at Willis. Thanks
Whenever you get a chance, here is my suggestion. Call back College Park Honda. Tell the $1.20/hr receptionist you'd like to speak with a fleet manager or at the very least the head Internet Manager. If you spoke with a fleet manager, tell him or her that you're considering getting an an Accord (or whatever car you want) and that you haven't spoken with any sales people about this yet (if you tell them this, they like that because that way they won't have to pay a commission to the salesperson). Tell him (or her) exactly what car you want. Tell them that you know about the 3% holdback of MSRP (which would be $852), that you subtracted this number from the invoice ($25,551) of the car ($24,699 after the subtraction), and that you believe in giving the dealer a fair profit (anywhere between 3-5%, say 3.5% in my case, which is $864.47). Now tell him that you added this number ($864.47) to the dealer's cost ($24,699) and that the final cost to you would be $25,563.47. Tell him this is a fair offer because he won't have to pay sales commission. Then bite your tongue. Wait for him to speak. Tell him this does not include tax, tags ot title. The final OTD price (based on the above figures (5 MD tax, $136.50 for two year tags, and $100 processing fee)) should be no higher than $27,671. See what he does. If he bites, then great. If not, then move on. Remind him that with this deal that they won't have to pay sales commission.
My salesman offered me a deal $200 below invoice, and a profit of only 2.73%. By the way, did you email several dealers AT THE SAME TIME? That is the key. You have to include several e-mail addresses in the same "To" line. Once they see that you e-mailed several dealers about this deal, they know you're serious and hopefully they won't treat you like they did in the past. In the e-mail, remind them that whoever e-mails (or calls) you back first that would be willing to accept that offer, you sign with them.
See if that works.
Regarding email 'bidding' - this is what I have done on our past three cars and it was worked great. I email about 10-15 dealers asking for their 'best' price. The lowest one 'won' my business. None of them tried to add etching or "Appearance & Protection packages". That is just BS.
Also try the free services like autobytel.com. The dealer is supposed to call/email you with their 'best price.' Most of the time they are decent numbers (at least in my experience).
They werent selling the "Honda Care Warranty" They were pushing an after market which I didn't want. Does any one know the number of that N. Carolina dealership selling the warranties cheap?
Good luck.
I love the leather seating sufaces also. I've heard that the seating surfaces aren't as soft as say, Acura or Mercedes, but coming from a 1989 Toyota Corolla is a BIG difference.
The navigation system is INCREDIBLE. It's virtually impossible to get lost. I'm sure my fiancee will "borrow" the car and I'll never see it again. She could definitely use the navigation system as she could not find her way out of a wet paper bag.
I also love the ATC (Automatic Temerature Control). I live in the Washington DC area, and now I just set the temperature at 70 degrees and it stays there. Awesome.
The V6 is also powerful. On my way home from the dealership, I was at a red light with a Nissan 350Z (2003 or 2004). I looked at the driver, and he looked at me. When the light turned green, I beat him off the line and was ahead of him for about 4 seconds, and then he just blew me away. Not bad considering I was in a heavier car and in a sedan.
I plan on adding some other stuff to my new car, including front and back speakers, an amp and a sub, and maybe some engine components to improve fuel efficiency and power. Has anyone had any luck with any of the aftermarket turbo kits or engine components in the 2004 Accords?
Anyways, I love the car, and I can't imagine being without it. Heck, if it wasn't a big piece of plastic and metal I would sleep with the thing! Lol.
For those who were wondering what my e-mail in my e-mail attack looked like, here it is:
I am ready to buy a 2004 Honda Accord EX V6 with navigation. I would prefer to deal with Honda of Bowie, but if a dealer can offer a lower price than Bowie, I will deal with them. I have arranged for financing through USAA, and I will receive a blank check in the mail by this weekend. I am contacting several Honda dealers in the area, and I will buy the Accord that I want where I can get the best price. Here is what I want:
Vehicle/Equipment Invoice MSRP
2004 Honda Accord EXV6 NAVI $25,551 $28,400
Holdback (3% of MSRP) $866.70 -----
Dealer’s Cost (invoice-holdback) $24699.00 -----
Profit (3.5%) $864.47 -----
Final Cost $25,563.47 -----
Destination $490 $490
Processing fee (I will not go higher) $125 -----
Tags and title (I won’t go higher) $140 -----
Tax (5.2%) $1335.80 -----
Totals $27,654.27 $28,890
I WILL NOT GO HIGHER THAN $27,654.27. I would prefer the color to be Satin Silver Metallic. I DO NOT want paint sealant, rust, or fabric protection or any other add-ons. I do NOT want Honda pin stripe on the car. I also do NOT want a “demo”, a.k.a. a car that a manager has previously driven or a car with more than 25 miles on it. If I have to, I will wait for a new car to come into the dealership.
You will find me very easy to deal with, because whoever e-mails me first with the above price (or lower) will make the sale.
I can be reached at ---------@hotmail.com (preferred contact). If you want to call, my numbers are: 000-000-0000 (work, until February 2nd), 000-000-0000 (home), or 000-000-0000.
spiderman32, we got our car from Anderson Honda. H My brother-in-law got a 04 EX V6 coupe with Nav from Capital Honda in San Jose for $1000 below invoice the same day (we compared notes). In his shopping, Serramonte Honda also agree to $1000 below invoice but they charged higher on the spoiler and fog light. The first quote I got from Anderson is $200 below invoice so I doubt that you can just walk in and demand $1000 below invoice. You have to go through the shopping exercise (and may be it is going lower now, who know).
Getting the invoice price by paying consumer report is a joke. The information is all over the internet for free. However, there is a service call Carbargins (by consumer checkbook), that will do the comparison shopping for you. I think they charge a couple hundred dollars. Because of their reputation, they can get the best price in one shot and presented it to you. So for those who don't want to do there own shopping, it may be a good alternative.
This is a good price?
2004 Accord V6 EX w/Navigation
Mud Guards and Wheel Locks Thrown in.
Agreed price: 25,750.00
: 20.00 Paper Work Fee
: 80.00 NYS Registration Fee
: 10.00 NYS Inspection Fee
: 8.125% Sales Tax for our Area
: 12.50 NYS Tire Fee
OTD : 27,964.00
We could have discounted/negotiate a bit more, but the color that we wanted the vehicle in was very difficult to obtain in our area, (Red). Everyone wanted to sell us silvers and the Gray colors. Another dealer was going to sell us the vehicle for $25,500.00, but we would have to wait until the ending of January 04, the vehicle would be built by then. That was too long of a wait for us. We like the vehicle better than the Camry SE V6 w/Nav that we were originally going to purchase. No regrets. I hope this information helps any perspective buyers.
I don't follow your logic. As many people have attested, it's not very difficult to comparison shop via e-mail.
Perhaps I'm just too moronic to get it, since I paid for the pricing report :-)