By accessing this website, you acknowledge that Edmunds and its third party business partners may use cookies, pixels, and similar technologies to collect information about you and your interactions with the website as described in our
Privacy Statement, and you agree that your use of the website is subject to our
Visitor Agreement.
Comments
Thank you for your insight and time in communicating. I did not know about a dealer hold back and will follow your guidelines. Yes, there are a good number of dealers around here, the right deal should come out of one of them.
If you are leasing, the first thing that you should do is read here:
http://www.edmunds.com/advice/leasing/articles/78385/article.html- - - ?tid=edmunds.a.landing.leasing..2.*
Basically, you must learn (the Edmunds website is a great resource) the exact dealer cost for the vehicle in which you are interested. There is a 3% dealer holdback that you should deduct from the "invoice" figure to determine the dealer's REAL cost. Add back a small ($100 to $200) local advertising cost and whatever you consider to be a fair profit (perhaps$300). The resultant figure should be your offer to the dealer for a purchase price.
Read about negotiating a purchase price here:
http://www.edmunds.com/advice/buying/articles/78386/article.html?- - - tid=edmunds.a.landing.buying..2.*
Don't even think of discussing a lease until you've settled on a purchase price. Also, don't let them muddy the water with any talk of a tradein. Tell them that you plan to sell your old vehicle privately. You should consider doing that anyway unless you are exceedingly generous.
Only then, should you bring up the possibility of leasing instead. Make sure that the lease calculations are based upon the negotiated purchase price, not MSRP or anything in between.
Best of luck.
My experience in the past has been that one of the very first things any dealer wants to know is whether or not I have a trade in. Even on the internet quote forms they ask if you have a trade. What should I do? Just leave that part blank or simply make it clear from the first that I expect kbb value for my car? I've just never understood how you can keep the two transactions separate for any length of time.
I want to include gold emblems, a spoiler, and a moonroof deflector on the EX-L I'd like to purchase. A friend gave me an Accord accessory sheet, and the prices are absolutely ridiculous. 750.00 for a wing spoiler?!? C'mon....I teach school for a living! Do you think prices are pretty negotiable on the extras?
Also, for years, when visiting Honda lots, I inevitably see a dealer add on sticker for mystery crap like protection packages...Is it wise to just say from the first that I will consider no such dealer add ons? The latest one I saw totaled close to a thousand dollars.
Again, I thank you both for your insight and effort in advising me. I really appreciate it.
2004 Accord Coupe EX-V6/Leather/XM/no nav.
MSRP----$26500---Care Point Protection $895
Dest------$490---Total Price $27885
Paid-----$24333(invoice)
Doc Fee-----$35
License----$168(4 Years)
Drive away price--$24536
Portland OR
You may want to look at http://www.handaaccessories.com - they sell the same factory accessories as your dealer at much lower prices - the spoiler is $371, for instance. You can simply buy it and have the dealer install it or attempt to get the dealer to lower his price based on your findings.
When I was with my mother for her Accord puurchase, it was a fairly low-pressure thing - that stuff is usually tacked onto the sticker but not actually applied until after dealer prep. Politely refuse and it should be the end of the discussion.
I have leased 2 in the last 6 years and everything went well with them. Good luck
I would be interested in knowing if anyone has bought or leased an EX model recently with special lease or financing thru Honda finance. I am currently in the market to buy, as soon as I sell my current vehicle. I would like an EX on lease, but having done the math an LX lease would be roughly $100/ mo. cheaper bue to price and lease rate differences. Seems like a huge discrepancy to me, and will likely push me into an LX if I can't get better financing.
regards,
kyfdx
EDIT: Also, I've never seen AHFC express their money factors as a percentage. Their standard lease rate would be .00XXX, not a conversion of a certain percentage.
Edmunds Price Checker
Edmunds Lease Calculator
Did you get a good deal? Be sure to come back and share!
Edmunds Moderator
blane> cost for the vehicle... There is a 3%
blane> dealer holdback that you should deduct
blane> from the "invoice" [including destination]
blane> figure to determine the dealer's REAL
blane> cost.
blane> Add back a small ($100 to $200) local
blane> advertising cost and whatever you
blane> consider to be a fair profit
blane> (perhaps $300). The resultant figure
blane> should be your offer to the dealer for a
blane> purchase price.
I agree with most of what you have said regarding calculating the true dealer cost as well as determining what to offer (although, I would keep those numbers just to myself as a goal price and first get the dealers to bid for my business through an email blast attack because it might result in an even lower price.)
The other difference in the calculation that as I understand it is that there is already a local (or regional)$200 advertising fee included in the Invoice price on Honda's. So I wouldn't be adding back a second fee which would just amount to additional dealer profit.
Toyota breaks this advertising fee out as a separate line item on it's Buyer's contracts but it is non-negotiable at probably 99% of the dealers.
There have been discussions about this issue of local dealer advertising fees as to whether it should be absorbed by the dealers as a cost of doing business or whether it is legitimate to assess this fee to the buyer.
I recall reading an article on the subject (I thought it was here on Edmunds.com but may have been in their book "Strategies for Smart Car Buyers") which concluded that the dealer advertising fee was probably something consumers would have to pay.
Depending on how in demand any particular vehicle is at any time may cause one to increase the "fair profit" figure due to market fluctuations. But generally I would agree with a $200 to $400 range.
This resultant figure should be inclusive of any "Dealer Processing Fees". The only extras to pay should be Tax, Tags & Title fees.
When you bought the car at the VA dealer, did it come with a Safety Inpection sticker? Or did you have to go and get the $15 inspection done yourself?
If you buy a car out of state and it does not have a state inspection sticker, it's no big deal to get one. Many gas stations and most (probably all) dealers will do it for you.
Don't worry about it - it really isn't a big deal!
Forever involved is the trade in. The good news is that you have one stop shopping and selling. The bad news is that you don't know which to do first. Consider that in negotiations you want to be honest, but you don't want to disclose anything more than you have to. Do you have a trade in? I might, depends upon the deal! Perhaps the best way to sort through it is to negotiate these two things in a serial order. That is, don't confuse me with numbers that shift and change. Negotiate the new purchase not having decided upon the status of the trade. Simply state, lets talk about the trade later. Quite honestly, they only want to buy your car (unless it is fairly new) in order to get you to buy their car. Try to sell them what you want to trade in without buying anything back! So, make your best deal on the new and stop just short of shaking hands. When this price is set, talk about the trade. They might say they can get you a better deal if they have both in hand, but you may never know it. Once you have numbers for the new, then get numbers for the old. Take what you are sure that you could get if you were doing this as a private sale for your vehicle and figure the difference. Keep this number in mind. If they need to slide losses into their used car business to pump the new, you shouldn't really care, as long as they do not add costs back to you.
The whole point is that you have the information to make each part of this transaction. However, if they only want to deal in differences then you don't have as good a data set to make it happen to your advantage.
I am looking at an accord right now as well. When I was in this week a customer came back to complain about the gold emblem having some surface issue. Make sure that you really want it as I would hope that it is gold plated for the price they ask. With respect to the other accessories, if you go to the H and A sight that sponsors Edmunds, you can see the discount that the sponsor sells the honda original accessories for.... A salesman showed me this week that the only difference between the accord spoiler and some of the pre painted after markets was that if you look directly under the spoiler you will see Accord in the plastic. A web search will show you that you can do a lot better. Get some prices and then talk to a respectable body shop or detailer about the cost to install. I am considering putting the wing on myself. Again the sponsor site (H and A) actually provides directions for installation of the genuine honda accessories. When we bought our odyssey a couple of years ago the salesman indicated that he could get me a deep discount if I just wanted to buy the accessories separately after purchasing the car. Didn't do it, but sounded interesting.
And last, it is annoying all of the crap that you don't want that they want to charge you for. Our local dealer puts a pinstripe ($100) on almost every vehicle. I told the salesman that I didn't like the stripe. He said they could remove it. Point is, if you don't want it don't offer to pay for it. If they can't take it off tell them that they should order you a vehicle without. They can choose whether they want to move stock that they are already paying interest on or whether it is worth it to them to order or trade for what you want. There are some protection plans that are like the Ziebart plans, consider whether you want them or not, compare with no dealer shops like Ziebart whether you want it. To be honest, I have had every new vehicle I have ever owned Ziebarted. To me it is worth it because I drive the things well past the 5-7 years and then sell/give them to someone else in the family. I just noticed the first bit of rust on my 1985 Chevy that I gave my dad 14 years ago. Bye the way, if you use Ziebart, they sell there services much cheaper to the dealers than they do to you. I actually got a Dodge dealer to indirectly tell me what Ziebart charged them and then I went to Ziebart and got something close. I went back to the dodge dealer (the caravan years)and got him to deliver the car to Ziebart for me and then I picked it up from Ziebart. I also had them remove the annoyying dealer decal from the car. They should pay us to have their decals on our vehicles.
Anyhow, good luck to you.
gregoryvw> ask if you have a trade. What should
gregoryvw> I do?
Then I wouldn't use the Internet quote forms. Just obtain the dealer's Internet department email addresses. Call them and ask for them if necessary.
Then email them directly setting forth plainly what you are doing in getting dealers to give you the best price they offer for the car you want. If they email or call you and ask about a trade in you can say something non-committal like "I don't think I'm going to do a trade in at this time. My [wife/son/daughetr/brother/mother/father/cousin] is going to use it."
You still have wiggle room to change your mind at a later time. After you finally get a firm price from them you can say "Oh, by the way, I've thought it over and have decided that I am going to sell my car. I would consider trading it in with you so I'd like to know what you would pay me for it if I were to purchase the new car from you as well."
gregoryvw> Do you think prices are pretty
gregoryvw> negotiable on the extras?
I negotiated the purchase on my car without any extra accessories but I believe everything is negotiable.
I would first consult the price for the accessories you wish to purchase from a Genuine Honda Internet accessories dealer. Here are a list of some for you to check:
www.HandA-Accessories.com - CA
www.CollegeHillsHonda.com - Wooster, OH
www.partscheap.com - Northern CA
www.cheaphondaparts.com - SFO, CA
www.hparts.com - OK
www.hondaacuraworld.com - NY
www.hondacaraccessories.com - CLE, OH
www.hondaautomotiveparts.com - RI
www.honda-parts.net - CA
www.autowebaccessories.com-?
www.1sthondaparts.com - WA
www.4hondaparts.com - CA
www.4hondaautoparts.com - CA
Take the best price on each accessory and tell the local dealer that you can buy these accessories at the following Internet prices (you don't need to say who or where) and will they meet or beat them. I'd do this with the Internet salesperson AFTER you've negotiated a firm price on the new car purchase. At that time you would also want to see what they will charge to install them.
If their install price is too high, but they've agreed to the price match on accessories then you can do the install work yourself or you can get pricing from a local mechanic or body shop professional you trust and have them install them for you.
gregoryvw> I inevitably see a dealer add on
gregoryvw> sticker for mystery crap like
gregoryvw> protection packages
In the dealer bid request letter that I created for my own purchasing process, I just asked them to bid on the basic car I wanted. I told them to also tell me in their response what, if any additional accessories that they would include AT NO ADDITIONAL COST TO ME in their bid price.
The dealer that I ultimately purchased from included the mud guards, wheel locks and pin stripes in their price.
It's the unknowledgeable that get stung by paying inflated prices for these dealer "packages".
Now, the equation could be different in your location as you describe that you are not close to a bunch of Honda dealers and they may feel that they can get away with this add-on stuff.
In the e-mail, I simply stated that I wanted to buy a 2004 Silver Accord EX-V6 6-speed w/ Navigation system, requesting price quotes and letting them know I was sending the same request to other dealers. I also mentioned that I had no dealer preference, and that I'd go with whoever gave me the best price.
I first got a quote of $25,531 base/destination, with drive-out of $27,636.24. I was surprised at how low this was, but even more surprised when another dealer offered me the car at $25,076 base/destination!! The other offers I got were higher.
I went back and e-mailed all the dealers who gave me a quote and told them the lowest price I found. To my surprise, 3-4 dealers offered to match the price. The lowest offer originally came from Milton Martin Honda in Gainesville, so I was mostly trying to find a dealer who was closer to Atlanta.
Unfortunately, this car is HARD to come by. The 6-speeds are rare, with nav even rarer, plus I wanted a particular color. Apparently there were only 1 or 2 of these cars in GA/AL and there weren't any more coming in for the foreseeable future. The first dealer in Atlanta who matched the price was unable to trade for the car, so I went back to the Gainesville dealer. Apparently they have good rapport w/ other dealers, because they got the car w/in 24 hours, something I doubt any of the other dealers would have been able to do. I picked up the car Saturday. In and out within an hour including a test drive. I highly recommend them if anyone in the Atlanta area is looking!
To review, final price:
$25,076 - Base incl. Destination
$378 - Doc fee ($199 doc + $179 theft protection)
$1,781.78 - 7% county tax
$22 - GA fees
The car also ended up having mud guards, pin striping and a cargo net though that was never discussed.
$27,257.78 - Drive-Out Total
That base price was $3,500 below MSRP, $1055 below invoice, and $200 below Consumer Reports Wholesale price! Given that this price was matched by multiple dealers, there must be some kind of general Accord incentive going on right now.
I love my car, and love the Nav w/ touch/voice control over audio & AC. Also love the XM radio. The audio system on this car is sweet!
Paid 25532, no doc fees, no other fees besides tax title registration
Could have got a small amount more off, but was in and out in an hour.
Factory to dealer incentives right now because of poor accord sales (down over 10%). Some dealers have hundreds of accords (and odysseys) on the lots.
The deal I got should be EASY to get, required no work on my part.
I just purchased an '04 Accord EX V6 Coupe, customized with the following options: rear deck spoiler, fog lights, auto-dim mirror w/ compass, metal-trim interior, metal-trim steering wheel. Dealer options were wheel locks and cargo net. The base price on the car was $22,543, fees included destination, taxes, tags, and processing. The final OTD cost was $26,377. The dealership was Bill Page Honda; brokered the deal through the Internet department.
Good luck everyone.
Go here for latest news:
http://biz.yahoo.com/rc/040418/autos_airbags_1.html
.........Richard
My question to the group is, how exactly did you e-mail all of the dealers? I know you can "request a quote" through edmunds or through the honda website, but they only list a few dealers that are closest to you (in my case they list about 5, and I know there are many more--I live in LA!). I know that many of you have e-mailed 10-15 dealers over an extended area, and this is what I want to do. If I look in the internet yellow pages, I can get the phone numbers of the various dealers, but not their e-mail addresses. It seems to me that I need each dealer's internet sales e-mail address, right?
So, for those of you who have e-mailed "10-15" dealers, how did you do it? And how many of you used the edmunds or honda website to e-mail the dealers for you? Did you only e-mail 5 or so? Was this enough to get the "best price"? Are there any other methods? I ultimately desire the best method to get the best price, even if it means driving a bit further to save money. And if it means e-mailing 15 dealers, how do I get their e-mails? Thank you.
From the dealer website, it's easy to find the contact e-mail address, which goes to the Internet Sales Department. About 1/2 of the dealers only provide an online form rather than an e-mail address. For those, I chose the general form (not the price quote form) so that I could more freely put in text, rather than filling out certain required fields. This also allowed me to essentially send out the same message to all dealers, regardless of the method I used.
See my previous post for what I put in the e-mails and other details on my experience. I was very sucessful in finding aggressive price quotes and getting dealers to match my lowest quote using this e-mail method.
slawenda> dealers?
First I compiled a list of about 25 Washington, DC area (in both Maryland and Virginia suburbs) Honda dealerships within 75 miles of my home. I used several sources to obtain the names, addresses and phone numbers of these dealerships. I consulted the Saturday edition of the New Car classifieds of the Washington Post newspaper, local Yellow Pages (where I xeroxed the page which listed all the Honda dealers together), online Yellow Pages like www.SuperPages.com and www.Switchboard.com and www.HondaCars.com.
slawenda> I know you can "request a quote"
slawenda> through edmunds or through the honda
slawenda> website, but they only list a few
slawenda> dealers that are closest to you (in my
slawenda> case they list about 5, and I know
slawenda> there are many more--I live in LA!)
I prefer to submit my New Car Bid Request Form directly to the Internet department (as opposed to a 3rd party website) and make use of the carbon copy feature in email so that in that subtle way I am letting them know that I’m really serious about getting their lowest bid on their first response because their competetor probably will.
Honda’s site allows you to insert Zip codes to give you the 5 nearest dealers to that Zip Code. In order to expand your search you need to know the adjacent or farther out Zip codes and resubmit them in order to get more dealers. You can try using this postal service site: http://www.usps.com/zip4/citytown_zip.htm to obtain zip codes for nearby cities and towns (in your case for example, you might submit Santa Monica instead of LA and then get those Zip Codes and plug them into the Honda website and see what it gives you.) Copy the different ones and repeat until you feel you’ve got a sufficient list. In my opinion, the more the merrier and the better the competition.
After I compiled my list I spent an hour or so calling the dealerships one afternoon and asked for two things: 1) to the person answering the phone I asked for the dealership FAX number and 2) then I asked them to let me speak with the Internet department. I then told the person that answered in that department that soon I was going to be purchasing a new car and that I was going to submit a request for an email quote so I wanted to know the name of an Internet department salesperson and the email address I should send it to. Be sure to deal only with the Internet Department salespeople or Sales manager not a regular salesman.
On a couple of occassions someone at a dealership would try and engage me in a negotiation during this call. I just said that I wasn’t at that point yet and just wanted to get the information so that I could send the email the minute I made a final decision.
Now, I kind of combined the email attack / fax blast methods. On a couple of dealers, I could never get an Internet email address to send the email too and in some cases I must have gotten incorrect email addresses because they “bounced back”. In both of these cases I printed out my New Dealer Car Bid Request Form and faxed it to the attention of the Internet Department and/or Sales Manager. I also faxed the form to dealers that hadn’t responded within a couple of days.
Don’t let them play any games with you where they won’t give you a firm OTD price and they say something like “we’ll work with you on price, just come into the dealership and we’ll talk.” Just tell them that other dealers were able to give you an OTD price and that if they wish to be considered for you business then they will have to give you a firm price.
Once you get your lowest price by email/fax or phone, you can play one dealer off another by saying that you're sorry you can't buy from them because they didn't have the lowest bid. In my experience nearly every one said they would beat the lowest bid I got.
This process takes a little work but I believe it will bring you the lowest rock-bottom price available in your area due to the competition you’ve fostered.
thanks
Is this a decent deal?
*****
REPOST FOLLOWS
*****
To follow up on the price paid, I'd like to provide my observations on the Northern VA & Maryland dealerships I considered during my purchasing period. These are my opinions, nothing more. Please take them for what they are.
As background information, I submitted requests for quotes on the vehicle I eventually purchased (see post #4382) to the closest five Honda dealerships near me, via Honda.com. After receiving confirmations and/or quotes from the dealerships, I set up a weekend of test drives. Some dealerships were eliminated that weekend, others later.
Browns Arlington Honda
----------------------
Overall opinion: Shady.
Details: This was the first dealership that I went to for a test drive. The salesman was very polite and laid back as we went out for a test drive. When I asked for curvy roads to drive, he pointed some out without hesitation. During the drive though, the sales push began. After the test drive, the push intensified, and I began to sense that the gentlemen were not going to respect my expressed sentiments that I was only out test driving that day. After brushing off an overly pushy sales manager, I left the dealership.
Dealership also failed to honor my request to only be contacted by email, not to be contacted during the business day, and seemed aghast when asked to match a lower offer.
Quoted price: $24043.00 + $3635 (selected options installed)
Fairfax Honda
----------------------
Overall opinion: Shady.
Details: This was perhaps the most turbulent experience in the buying process. The emailed communications and quote were professionally done. On test drive day, the experience was satisfactory, and I went about my day.
The shadiness began when I asked about pricing and installation on the options I had requested in my quote. Initially I was met with the vague promise of "we'll work with you on that if you buy from us". When I pressed further, saying that I needed a full price to decide who to do business with, and gave the internet salesman the current best price quote I had (at that point in time from a MD Honda dealership), he responded with "I refuse to get into a-bidding war on installation prices of accessories. Good luck in Md." No further communication occured until two days later, when a sales lackey called to ask how Fairfax Honda could "earn my business". Having told my story to this gentleman, I was shortly called back by an apologetic salesman from the dealership, and the options quote was given, with two options missing from the quote.
Quoted price: $23775.00 + $???? (selected options installed)
Ourisman Honda (MD)
----------------------
Overall opinion: Nice, but overpriced. Small shady factor.
Details: I had a very pleasant experience with the internet salesman at this dealership. My only complaints were that he couldn't turn off the caps lock on his emails (a minor annoyance until the 5th email as such) and he called me up during the business day initially, rather than emailing. The inital quote on the vehicle was high, but he did come down to the current best price offer when I told him about it. Options priced showed extensive markup.
The only shadiness in this experience came when the competition obviously started to get a little too high for Ourisman's taste. When confronted with lower, written qotes, twice the salesman bluntly suggested that quotes were less than legit, even offering to "look into those for you and let you know if they're for real". Clean competition is one thing, insinuating fraudulent activity to get a sale is another, in my opinions.
Quoted price: $23775.00 + $3,650 (selected options installed)
Rosenthal Honda (Tysons Corner VA)
----------------------
Overall opinion: Professional, but a little remenisciant of a BMW dealer. Small shady factor.
Details: I had a extremely pleasant experience with the internet salesman at this dealership. The gentleman was intelligent, articulate, and knew an amazing amount about the vehicle. His sales style was soft, not a hint of pushiness in it. When told I was simply out test driving the vehicle, I was not met with a sales push or with a decrease in quality of service. A clean quote was delivered on the base vehicle promptly.
The only problem encountered with Rosenthal and, to be honest, the reason that I did not buy from this dealership was that they were extremely non-forthcoming on total price of vehicle, whether fees or installed options. It finally took telling the salesman that I was going to buy next day from a competitor (I was, and did) to get him to deliver a complete OTD cost with options & installation. It was like pulling teeth, without anethestic. Too bad, I would have bought from them otherwise, and a good week earlier, too.
Quoted price: $23844.00 + $2,407 (selected options installed)
Bill Page Honda
----------------------
Overall opinion: Honest & legit, no shady factor in sales. Need to extend this philosophy towards F&I.
Details: This is the dealership where I eventually made my purchase. They almost waited too long... the first contact I received after soliciting a quote came almost a full week after all other competitors. The initial quote was far below anyone else, and I proceeded cautiously. After visiting the dealership and speaking with the salesman in person, I became convinced that the quote was legit, and proceeded to eliminate all other dealerships save Rosenthal.
In the end, the soft sales push, honest and straight forward nature of one Mr. XXXXXXXX, the salesmen with whom I worked (forgive me Edmunds.com, but in a world of shady salesman, an honest one merits mention) and the bottom line caused me to select Bill Page as my dealership of choice.
The only complain with Bill Page Honda that I have is the attitude I received in the F&I room. Now, don't get me wrong -- it wasn't pushy. A simple "no thank you" to the extended warrant, and there was not a single mention or allusion to anything of the sort thereafter. I was simply disappointed that they were not willing to match or beat the rate I received from a 3rd party credit union, Capital One Auto Finance (thanks Edmunds). The finance director pointed out that the differences in payments were rather small, but it was the principle of the thing -- if the difference is so small, why didn't they meet the Capital One rate. Oh well, lost profit.
Quoted price: $22543.00 + $2,029 (selected options installed)
Please, if anyone out there has questions about this buying experience or these dealerships, please let me know. Edmunds and all of you were invaluable resources to me during my car buying experience, so the least I can do is share with you what I can.
Thanks, and good luck everyone.
Current quotes received today were:
2004 Accord Auto EXL 4cyl - $21,222 (includes dest)
2004 Accord Auto EXL V6 - $23,200 (includes dest)
Are these for real or will I get slammed when I actually step into the dealership with hidden fees and so on
Any experience from the Chicago folks.
Also, they said if I were to swap the wheels to the 17' wheels from the Accord Coupe V6 6spd, it would void the warranty on the suspension and they didnt want to do it. Any experience on this either?
Dan
Cookpr's deal sounds even better, but i've not seen any firm offers that low.
is this possible?
I know there is a way to do this with a car purchased in Europe (w/ CA specs) but am not sure about transfering from state to state.
danwashdc> process within the next few weeks.
danwashdc> Any hints or tips would be greatly
danwashdc> appreciated.
Sounds like you are on the right track. I also live in the Wash DC area and went through this process back in January in order to get the lowest rock-bottom price I could obtain. I’ve written fairly extensively about it on this board since February.
You indicated that you just found Edmunds Town Hall so I would suggest, if you haven't already done so, that you go back several months on this Honda Accord: Prices Paid & Buying Experience board and you will find very helpful information from many participants to tell you how to achieve these results.
So as not to annoy regular readers with my experience again, I will refer you to the relevant messages that I have posted here regarding my process or answers to others questions about it.
You can get to them by going to the top of the page here and typing in the message number in the appropriate space and pressing “Go”. The messages are 3825, 3878, 3898, 4207, 4247, 4281, 4310 and 4389.
Should you need other information or clarification, just let us know.
marys235> & doc fees, TT&L extra]
marys235> ...That sounded like a good deal to me,
marys235> but wondered if I should haggle with him.
That is not too bad a price for that vehicle. There may be a lower price available or it may be the best price obtainable in your area due to supply and demand. I have no way of knowing for sure. I believe you can only get the true lowest price by getting competitive bids from your area dealers and then trying to negotiate a lower price, free accessories or both.
Now this is the exact vehicle I purchased in January: 2004 Honda Accord LX 4dr Sedan w/Dual Side Airbags (2.4L 4cyl 5A) (CM5644EW)
I can do the math for you and tell you what the dealer paid the manufacturer for the vehicle. The True Dealer cost including destination charge is Invoice ($18,808) minus Hold back ($611.00) which equals $18,197. You can use this figure to negotiate from.
Now I was lucky because I had motivated sellers and I paid only $17,852.33 (incl dest & doc fees, TT&L extra). This also included dealer installed mud guards, wheel locks and pin stripes at no additional cost. This was $345 below dealer cost. I believe I achieved this price because of timing and by fostering competitive bidding among dealers. (See my msg # 3825 on this board for full details.)
I am ready to purchase a 2004 Honda Accord. I am contacting most of the Honda dealers in the <metro> area and will buy where I get the best price. These are my specifications:
Model: 2004 Accord EX with leather and navigation system
Engine: 4cyl automatic
My preferred colors are <color> with <color> interior or <color> with <color> interior. However, I am flexible on both the exterior and interior colors. I don’t want paint sealant, rust or fabric protection, or other dealer add-ons.
I have done my homework. I am aware of dealer invoice on this vehicle as well as the dealer holdback, which in this case is $789 (3% of the base MSRP minus destination charge).
My goal is to make this a quick and easy transaction for both of us, resulting in a high CSI score for your dealership. My preferred way to communicate concerning this transaction is by email: <email address>. However, you may also reach me on my cell phone: <cell phone>.
Thank you for your time. I look forward to hearing from you.
<my name>
<my city>
The pricing I got from dealerships was all over the map.
Dealership #1 - We went for a test drive here. After the drive I was offered $25,800 including destination (ha!). On Day 2 after the test drive the salesman calls me back with $24,599. After I tell him he's off by over $1000 he calls back on Day 3 with $23,500.
Dealership #2 (Honda Barn, North Reading MA) - I walked in told them the car I wanted and asked if they had it so my wife could drive it this weekend. Within 10mins they offered a bid of $23,263.
Dealership #3 - I made initial contact through edmunds.com pricing. The online sales agent would NOT give me a quote even after 10 emails back and forth. After I sent a email to the head of the sales department I got back a bid for $23,200 and an apology. (Too late!)
We went with Dealer #2. Strong opening bid of about $1000 under invoice and great guys.
My real question though is how does a dealership sell a car for UNDER the edmonds posted invoice value? Surely they arent taking a loss?
Was $23,263 the total "out the door price"?
I plan to buy soon and after reading most of the postings here that seems to be a great price. Congratulations!
The doc prep fee was the only bad part of deal ($378 & included in price above) but in North Georgia that's unfortunately standard with most of the dealers. The experience was pleasant so I didn't make it an issue.
Based off an invoice of $18,807, looks like I netted about $345 below invoice or more than half the $611 dealer holdback. I thought it was fair bargain so called it a day. Hope this helps and comments (good or bad) are welcomed.