well done. I'm from socal also and i've emailed Norm Reeves but have not received any reply.. did you call them or email them? Did you purchase your end of may? Thanks.
I am also looking for an EXL in the Seattle area. Which dealer did you go to? I got an email quote from Honda of Lynnwood for $29,743 which is way above what people are paying in California and rest of the country.
I requested quotes from all dealers around my zip code using Honda's powershopper including Penske in Ontario. I was first planning on an LX, and the quote from Penske is incredibly low--$1000 below invoice w/ destination charge included. Since Ontario is kinda far and traffic there is always terrible, I tried to find a closer dealership who can match that price, with no success. The guy at Cerritos said he would sacrifice his 3% factory holdback, but won't go lower. I was also dubious about the quote from Penske, and the fear of being tricked after driving hours in traffic drove me to Norm Reeves at Cerritos. Long story short, my wife liked the slate green color which is only availbe for EX models, and the guy at the internet sales dept. kept his word and said he would give me the 3% for all trim levels. Having done my homework in this forum, I knew the number for EX-L is reasonably good, then...I pulled the trigger. The end.
It looks like davidchantf has given all of the information about his dealer that is allowed..
You may include the dealership name, city and state in your post. Please do not post names of salespeople, telephone numbers, email addresses, or other contact information.
Any idea's on where I can get the best deal on the EX-L with Navigation and Dvd. I live in the naperville/ aurora area but will be willing to drive anywhere within the Chicagoland area. Also does anyone know when the 2007's are coming and would that be a better time to wheel and deal with the dealership + maybe honda will have a finance offer at that time too.
In this forum, over the past year,forum members have found Crystal Lake Honda in Crystal Lake, Illinois to have the lowest prices for Ody EX-L's w/R&N. Even before Honda's recent dealer's marketing incentive, Crystal Lake's internet department was routinely selling Odys for 1100 under invoice. I do not believe Chicagoland buyers can ever be sure that they have the lowest price until they contact Crystal Lake. Forum members from outside the Midwest have purchased their Odys from Crystal Lake and shipped them to their home states.
sgolvan, as you said" we are here to get information to get a better deal for the car!". This is why I appreciated your post before and went to the Penske. I did get great deal and buying experience was great before it turned out to be a dealer fraud. I recommended Penske here and other several other forums the same day when we drove back home. Later on when I found the van was in body shop service and even pre-owned 6 months by others, you can image what was my feeling! Penske Honda cheated us and we recommended them online! I clearly know this forum is especially for deal discuss. Dealer fraud is not the topic. So I post Penske fraud topic on other relative forums instead of here. The reason I post Avoid Penske Honda post (#12261) again is because Sanvan asked about the Penske deal. I believe it is my responsibility to let people know what is really going on for the “good” deals from Penske Honda. ( BTW, there was no records for your and myhondas transaction when I asked another sales, this also confirmed by another member here !) Sure we need focus on the deal, but we are not off the topic if the deal was from a cheater dealer/sales person. It may not directly help people here, but at least can help others avoid the same problems we got. Do not forget part of the forum is “ buying experience” beside “ Price paid”.
I agreed with you “I still don't understand why they are so stupid.” I have to say the Penske did very good job for cheating on my case, but they did not do it flawless and we are luckily enough to find out the problems. If they did not miss the two keys and print out the service record with original warranty date started from 1st buyer and body shop record. We are still driving the “pre-owned” fixed van and no way to find it out. I have to say the sales department and the internet sale director did all they can do for cheating. But they forgot to make story flawless at service department.
Penske just 'offer' themselves for a potential expensive law suit. I agree. But I am an easy going person and never want to beat people to death. (Actually my job is saving people’s life). And I have two very good friends work at Longo and Penske Benz ( they are all belong to Mr. Roger Penske) , both of them are sales managers too. This might be another reason “lured” me to Penske Honda. And they suggested us the settle with Penske Honda to save the PENSKE’s big name. So after we were cheated, we still tried to contact with Penske Honda directly to solve the problem without suing them. Even when the sales general manager was very rude; we still tried to give them a chance to work it out. Finally the general manager was kind of nice and solved the problem. Although it was not very satisfied to us, at least he was trying to solve the problem ( or avoid the law suit ). We drove away with replaced basic touring model without further complaint. Actually if I like, it will not be a hard job for me to punish the dealer. I am working at Beverly hill area. We have more than 9000 customers each day. Some of them become very good friend of mine and willing to help me in all kind of things. And our office people have very good relationship with almost all the local as well as national media. If I sue the Penske Honda and publish the story on the media, even I lose the case (which is very unlikely). They will lose much more customers. From this point the General Manager was smart or at least not as stupid as sales general manager. Some other friends suggest me to send the story to Honda headquarters and Mr. Roger Penske since Penske Honda took advantage of their name and they should feel shame. I have not done this since it is not my personality. But your post just make me recalled my terrible buying experience and maybe I really should do something to protect other customers and let Honda as well as Mr. Roger Penske knows what Penske Honda did using their name, should I?
I offered $28,244 they countered with $28,500 and said if we were here on the 31st they could have done $28,244, but the $500 incentive was over. We agreed on $28,420.
They didn't have the color we wanted in stock so they were going to pull it from another dealer for no cost.
Now I see the incentive is on again for this month.
The guys in the internet dept there are great. I've purchased my last Accord Hybrid there last year at $1000 under invoice.
Just purchased the 2006 Odyssey EXL RES & NAV over Memorial Day weekend. Paid Invoice -$500 and 10% off of Fog Lights and Day/Night Mirror. Also financed the whole thing with nothing down with American Honda Finance at 4.99% APR.
Very simple and painless deal. I might even say nice and fun. Looked up various nearby dealers inventory at honda.com and dealer websites, and found one that had the exact vehicle in stock. Called up dealer's Internet Sales Manager and made the offer over the phone. Made an appointment and bought the car in a total of two hours at the dealership. Came back that afternoon and drove it home.
Some of my ground rules: 1) I never buy from the dealer I test drive at and figure out what I want. 2) I only contact the Sales Manager after I know exactly what I want. 3) If the dealer I call does not have the exact vehicle that I want in stock, I move on to the next guy. 4) Any hint of dishonesty, bait and switch, I never do business with that dealer again and warn all my friends and family.
As a Chicagoland resident, you are the first person I know of who has believed that they had a good buying experience at Planet Honda in Matteson, Illinois. Furthermore, I know many women and minorities who have had horrific experiences at Planet Honda. In this forum, many members posted that dealers were offering the deal you received without Honda's dealer's incentives. Since Planet Honda lied to you about the existence of the incentive program, how can you believe them about anything else. Did you get a fair amount for any trade-in? What was your finance rate? Were you steered into an expensive extended warranty? Was the vehicle loaded with marked-up dealer installed options? Is the vehicle new or a demo? The incentive program ended at midnight on May 31st and resumed at 12:01 on June 1st. It was cruel for Planet Honda to tease you with the alleged disappearance of the "phantom" incentive. At Planet Honda, I have seen Civics marked up by $5,000.00 over sticker price. Planet Honda's skill was not to give you a good deal, but to convince you that you got a good deal. When you examine all of the components of your sale, it is highly unlikely that you bought any vehicle from Planet Honda at $1,000.00 under invoice. Our members should never shop at Planet Honda in Matteson,Illinois.
Do you think the dealer modiify the ODO meter? Because for 49 mile on the VAN, how can it possible be pre-owned for several months?
Did you got the carfax report for that former VAN?
I am a little bit scared by this situation, because I always see the VAN has some miles on it from 30 to 80 miles. The dealer just say that is come from other person's test drive. How can I distinguish it?
I did run the carfax, the van was sold last Nov. as carfax reported. I also confirmed this with local DMV that the van was used not new one when I bought it!
Anyway it is long story and may not belong to this forum. If you like you can go to forum disscue the good and bad dealers. I posted whole story there. I can email you the link if you like.
I am opening my email account in this forum. Can you please send me your link via email. I realy want to understand something this issue, because I plan to go to Penske Honda in next 1 or 2 weeks. Maybe, I should avoid them if I can not make everything clear.
We are in Twinsburg and are looking at purchasing the basic EX-L within six months. Could you advise what dealer you purchased from? Also, what is the reason for your first ground rule?
I clicked your name, but your email is still private.
Anyway, I do not know how can you make everything clear. If the dealer want to cheat, there are lost of ways to do that.And most of time you may never find it out. In my case, if I did not go back for programming keys, I will never find out the problem! Or if I go back several days/weeks later, they modified the paperwork at service department. I will never know what happened to the van.
So great price is important, Dealership reputation is also important if not more. My friend told me there was a law suit coupld years ago againist Penske Honda and the customer won. I do not know exactly what it was. But their reputation is questionable ( plus our experience ).
From my experience with them. The service department was great! sales department was horrible. They may looks very nice when you are there for buying. After that , it will be another story. The sales general manager was very rude to customer as well as his sales man ( we did watch how he treat his man during that day). The general manager was kind of nice, but most of case no one will buy car from him directly. And he was also tried to play around even with all the problems. He also turned down our reasonable request and give us a less acceptable offer.
Anyway, if you really want to go there, it is fine. They have more that 40 odyssey in stock now. I believe 99% of them should be fine without problem, but any sign shows up for that 1%. Becareful and Good luck!
PS:I suggest you do not deal with the internet director, he was the cheater!
I had not signed the contract with them yet since they were pulling the color I wanted from another dealer. I just picked it up. This morning they called me and told me that the incentive was back on and changed the price to $28,225. Yesterday the incentive program was not listed on the TMV on this website and today it was. I don't believe they lied about the incentive program since several of the other chicagoland dealers were saying the same thing yesterday. Maybe they were all lying. I've only dealt with the guys in the Internet Dept at Planet and they have treated me well. I think it is just a matter of doing your diligent research and being prepaired before you go to any dealer. I will continue to buy from them. I haven't seen too many other people get the deal I got on this vehicle and I feel darn good about it. There is no hail damage or any other damage. I got a 4.6% 60 month loan from alliantcredit union and I'm selling my old vehicle myself. There is no marked up options. They even told me if I wanted the olive interior all they could find was one with additional options that I didn't want so I stayed with the gray interior. The vehicle is new. If I get a warranty it will either be through my credit union or www.myhondawarranty.com.
Renton Honda. Nobody is doing invoice *in* Seattle metro. Have to go outside. Best quote I've received was from Gladstone Honda in Oregon. Anyone have experience with them?
Do you think the dealer modiify the ODO meter? Because for 49 mile on the VAN, how can it possible be pre-owned for several months?
Here is one way. I purchased a 2006 Midnight Blue Odyssey EX-L in September. The dealer in Spokane, WA did not have one, but the dealer in Couer d'Alene, ID (about 35 miles away) did have one. They drove it in so the van had about 45 miles on it when I first saw it. My wife and I took the van out for a test drive, liked it and purchased it that day. (A Saturday). On Monday morning I phoned up my Insurance agent to get the van insured. I pulled out the window sticker and was SHOCKED to see a 2005 Odyssey EX-L. The dealer in Coeur d'Alene had sent all of the information for a 2006 Midnight Blue EX-L to the dealer in Spokane, but had delivered a 2005 Midnight Blue EX-L. I went ahead and got the insurance on the van I had possession of(2005) and a couple of days later traded the 2005 for the correct 2006 that we were supposed to get. When I returned the 2005 it had maybe 100 miles on it and was "used" having been registered and insured under my name. It was all a very interesting experience. I love the van. It drives great and gets great mileage. However, its birth was a little rocky.
Just curious...you actually registered it with DMV and insured it knowing that in a few days, if that, you'd be getting the 2006??? I think the question is how one could own a vehicle for a few months and only put 49 miles on it.
I changed the setup before I post former text. But it is still private even after 4 hours.
May be we need to wait until tomorrow?
Thanks for your reminding. Because I am thinking if a VAN with 49 miles on it already pre-owned for several months, the dealer even can sale me a VAN with 20 miles on it, butalready pre-owned for some time also.
Maybe, I need to check some other dealer during this weekend. The local dealer of mine can only go with invoice -500 so far. I need to drive about 100 miles to Penske Honda. That's why I need some clear information before I and my family drove there and hanging there for the whole day.
The women and minorities,who were disrespected and harangued by Planet Honda personnel, were prepared, through diligent research, before they visited Planet Honda. Maybe if they contacted the internet department first,like you, they would have been protected, from sexism and racism, by relative anonymity. It is interesting that you contacted "several other dealers" and Edmunds to verify Planet Honda's allegation that the incentive program had expired. You do not seem to trust Planet Honda either. Would Planet Honda had been so eager to share some of their incentive from Honda, with you, if you had signed the sales contract? You were very lucky that Planet Honda did not have your desired color in stock yesterday. You appear to have received a good deal. Congratulations. But according to this site, your deal could have been equalled or beaten by Crystal Lake Honda, O'Hare Honda, Grand Honda, and Continental Honda. These dealers do not challenge their customer's diligent preparation with trickery. And, the aforementioned dealers do not believe that customers who do not appear to be tech savvy deserve less respect than the tech savvy customers.
I contacted "several other dealers" to get the best deal I could. I live 5 miles from Matteson so I prefer to buy from the local guys. I got quotes from everyone else and then went into Planet which bested all the other offers. I'm sorry to hear that you know some people that had a bad experience. You can't tell me that there are no slimy salesmen at any of the other dealerships you mentioned. I just wanted to post my experience and price paid. End of my 2 cents.
I am appreciate you sharing your experience and price paid with the forum. Since no one else has ever posted anything positive about Planet Honda in Matteson, Illinois,it seemed your post may have been planted by the dealer. Your experience is still a bit confusing. It appears to change in whatever way it needs to change to put the dealership in a favorable light. The following are some of your more suspicious or confusing points: 1.)In your first post, you stated that Planet Honda agreed to sell you the van for $28,420,and they would have sold it for $28,225 if the incentive program had not expired. Members of the forum promptly informed you that the program was still active for June. Later, you posted that you had not signed the contract yet, so the dealer called you to reduce the sale price to $28,225. 2.)In your second post, you wrote,"I don't believe they lied about the incentive program since several of the other chicagoland dealers were saying the same thing yesterday." It seemed like you contacted the other dealers about the incentive program. "However, in your third post,you state,"I contacted "several other dealers" to get the best deal I could." 3.) In your second post, you said that you"only dealt with guys in the Internet Dept at Planet." Yet, in the third post, you state ,"I got quotes from everyone else and then went into Planet which bested all the other offers." This seemed to be in response to my allegation that I know women and minorities whom were treated with disrespect at Planet Honda. When one person brought them a deal from another dealer to best,the person was ridiculed in the middle of the showroom floor about their perceived lack of money or employment. I would list the ridiculing manager's name if it was allowed on this site. So in one day, on June 1st, you contacted and received offers from several dealerships,made a personal visit to Planet Honda's internet department,and agreed to a price and car exchange with Planet Honda. All of these events would have had to happen on June 1st for Planet Honda and several other dealers to have plausible ignorance about the incentive program. While the alignment of these events is not impossible,they appear to be probable if the buyer has a personal relationship with someone at Planet Honda. Regardless of how it happened, I am glad you shared your buying experience with the forum. In the future, I will be looking to see if any other members have a positive experience with Planet Honda. Thanks.
I purchased my vehicle at Jack Matia Honda in Elyria. I would never buy anything from a Ganley dealership(longer story :mad: ). I bought a car for a friend at Jay in Bedford before. Maybe the closed descent dealership to you. They don't have much of an inventory and may not be able to deal aggressively. Try Rick Case. They are a larger volume dealer. I could have bought the same vehicle at other dealerships (except Ganley, AVOID!) for the same price if they had the exact same vehicle in stock. That is your key to a good price, particularly when buying a new car, not the dealer.
Now for rule number one. When you are just beginning to look you are not ready to call the Sales Manager and tell him or her exactly what you want. Most Managers don't want to spend more than 2 minutes making a initial verbal deal, and 10 minutes setting it up. Also, the more knowledgeable and firm you sound on the exact vehicle you want and the exact price you are willing to pay, the more likely the manager will recognize you as a person with industry insight and one who will uphold your part of the deal.
Your part of the deal is to know exactly what vehicle you want, what accessories or options you want, what exterior and interior color combinations you want, and exactly how you intend to pay for it, before calling the Internet Sales Manager.
So its OK to go into any dealership and test drive with the first sales person. Better yet call the dealership and ask for any sales person, and schedule a test drive. Remember that you are just test driving and tell them you have to look at other minivans before talking numbers.
If you ever come back to that dealership you are for ever tagged as the customer of the sales person that helped you first. It is almost impossible to deal directly with the Sales Managers once that has happened. At least its a hassle. If you have ever experience sitting around while your sales person goes and talk to their manager, you know what I mean.
That is why, when I am ready to buy, I start a new relationship, at a different dealership and this time it is directly with the Internet Sales Manager or the Sales Manager.
What time frame do you recommend when ready to buy? Do you email the Honda dealerships and get prices a week ahead of time or just a couple of days? Do you email 5 or 6 dealerships a few weeks prior to your target buying time? Just curious as I would like to buy sometime between June 28th and July 4th and wondering when exactly should I start getting some email quotes.
I could do it now, but not sure. I wonder because if I say I want to buy within a month will that have an impact price quotes. I have six Honda dealerships within 35 mile range to compare prices with when making the best deal possible.
Find the van that you want, see what dealership has it, decide on a fair price, and then go and make an offer when you are ready to buy it. Simple process for everyone. Price quotes usually are only good for several days, not a month out.
Eamil for quotes in late June, say starting around June 23 - the impact will be greatest when you say that you intend to buy NOW. Ohio has had excellent prices, many offered by stores in your area.
Some Honda stores list their inventory on-line and some don't. Bear in mind, though, that what you see may not be up to the minute accurate.
Figured I'd write since info from these boards helped me get what I think is a very good price. Just purchased an Odyssey EX-L last week from Union Park in Wilmington Del. The salesman was very helpful and straightforward. Got the van for 26,858 + dest, 249 dealer options, 95 processing fee and TTL. I got the price by asking if they would match a quote of 26,909 from Open Road. They also matched the 1,284 warranty price others have noted for the 8/120/0 Honda Care warranty. I went with them because they offered me a reasonable value for my trade in ($250 below the KBB 11,500 valuation). I definitely recommend them.
At the same time, I do not recommend Burns in Marlton, NJ. They reluctantly agreed to match the Open Road quote (after offering me something like invoice plus $500). However, they then told me my 11,500 trade was worth no more than 9,000 (guess that is how they would have made up the aggressive price). In addition, Burns does not sell the Honda Care warranty - they sell one by a different company which they tried to explain was better since it offered something they called "adjustment coverage." Since my father-in-law was burned for $2,000 with a Triad warranty, I would stay away from any non-mfr warranty.
First let me say that this forum was extremely helpful and thanks to all for invaluable infos posted here. Just picked up the oddy EX-L, RES and Navi today for less than 33,000 out the door. I think the key to the whole car purchasing is, as many posters have posted, the internet. Finding a "high volume" dealer(s) that want to move the cars is the key. I used the invoice-3%-500 and called up the internet manager and i told him a friend of mine got this deal from their dealer. He laughed and he said he could give me the price as well. Hassle free and haggle free. Kids love the RES and their new spacious mini van. Thanks for all the help.
Got it at Norm Reeves Honda Cerritos. I paid 30,100 for the car before tax and doc fees. MSRP on this bad boy is over 35,000. Invoice is i believe 31,700ish. I told them i didn't want any accessories like wheel locks and mudguards (which they tried chargin 500 bucks for and he agreed it's over priced), i told him take it off then, he said he couldn't remove them, so i took my 2nd choice ext color with 1st choice interior color. I sent out email for quotes to over 10 dealers around here but they were the most serious. If you're in the vicinity, avoid, Scott Robinson Honda; i got the impression that they believe customers are absolute idiots with no knowledge. Many auto dealers try selling you with options (like wheel locks, etc) that the dealer puts on after it arrives from the mfgr. plant. If you like them, i suppose pay the inflated price for it (and that's one way for them to make profit) but i'd rather buy aftermarket parts from pepboys or on-line for pennies compared to hundreds dealers are chargin.
With financing, i got a nice quote from my credit union at whopping 4.49R% for 5 years. I took this to the finances and obviously they couldn't beat it. And ofcourse the finance guy tried selling warranty/alarm package to me but i didn't get it. I was a bit apprehensive about not getting the extentended warranty with all the electronics that come with RES/Navi but i calculated i'd be 500dollars + in 7 to 10 years if i take the money and invest in non-aggressive ING savings (more if invest in stocks). Plus, i know i will be more financially stable in 10 years that i can afford to drop a grand to fix the car should any electronics go bad. Why pay now when i can pay the same amount later. Honda can make money off another person.
Good luck and let me know if you need additional info.
Got a good deal from the honda dealer out in roseville, ca. Gitt the quote through edmunds, 1K below invoice on a EX-L RES. They had a good selection of colors, and the salesman was great. Let me testdrive it and then ran around making sure the paperwork was moving as fast as possible. They would not come close to the hondacare warranty, but MISC fees were plenty low.
I called the Internet Sales Manager on Friday. Bought the car next day, Saturday. A dealers willingness to offer you a good price is always dictated by supply and demand, which can change daily. So a month is too long. Echoing other replies, a day or two days before you are ready to buy, I would start calling. I prefer calling over emailing. Emailing is impersonal. Just a personal preference.
Looking to buy from any dealer within 50 miles or so of Northern Virginia by the end of June. Anyone had luck in this area? Which dealers are giving the best deals and biggest inventory? And are phone calls or emails working best?
The sales manager said that the longer the vehicles are on the dealership lot, the more likely that dealer "options" will be tacked on. This, as he states, is to compensate for $ loss (not gained) while the car sits on the lot.
My car was virgin, with no options. The car came 2 days ago prior to my purchase.
I also have to apologize to Blackexv6 who was only following the thread started by Luckydog6 who bought his EX NAV from Faulkner in Central PA for $31k (almost $700 below invoice). In reply to that message, Blackexv6 reported a purchase for a NAV for $32k from Piazza in Pottstown PA (about $300 above invoice).
Community sharing of all these buying experiences has been very helpful. Knowledge is indeed power.
I was wondering what price quotes people have been receiving for a Touring w/RES and NAVI. Although I live in New Jersey, I guess prices w/o TTL from around the country should provide me with a good benchmark. I've e-mailed 7 dealers. Any advice would be greatly appreciated!!! My sister-in-law recently purchased an EX-L in the Boston area for around $2000 less than the Edmunds listed invoice, so I'm hoping there are good deals to be had!!!!
I paid $33,947, including destination for a Touring/NAVI/RES in the Chicago area a couple weeks ago. That's $1500 under the invoice and I haven't seen anything better than that around here since. I would assume you could get that deal just about anywhere, but maybe not? By the way, I saw an ad from one dealer for that amount and simply called a dealer closer to me and asked if they would sell me the Touring at that price. They said, yes and I picked it up a day later. Simple transaction. Personally, I would pick up the phone and call your nearest or most liked dealer and start there rather than wait for email responses if you are serious and ready to buy.
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I agreed with you “I still don't understand why they are so stupid.” I have to say the Penske did very good job for cheating on my case, but they did not do it flawless and we are luckily enough to find out the problems. If they did not miss the two keys and print out the service record with original warranty date started from 1st buyer and body shop record. We are still driving the “pre-owned” fixed van and no way to find it out. I have to say the sales department and the internet sale director did all they can do for cheating. But they forgot to make story flawless at service department.
Penske just 'offer' themselves for a potential expensive law suit. I agree. But I am an easy going person and never want to beat people to death. (Actually my job is saving people’s life). And I have two very good friends work at Longo and Penske Benz ( they are all belong to Mr. Roger Penske) , both of them are sales managers too. This might be another reason “lured” me to Penske Honda. And they suggested us the settle with Penske Honda to save the PENSKE’s big name. So after we were cheated, we still tried to contact with Penske Honda directly to solve the problem without suing them. Even when the sales general manager was very rude; we still tried to give them a chance to work it out. Finally the general manager was kind of nice and solved the problem. Although it was not very satisfied to us, at least he was trying to solve the problem ( or avoid the law suit ). We drove away with replaced basic touring model without further complaint. Actually if I like, it will not be a hard job for me to punish the dealer. I am working at Beverly hill area. We have more than 9000 customers each day. Some of them become very good friend of mine and willing to help me in all kind of things. And our office people have very good relationship with almost all the local as well as national media. If I sue the Penske Honda and publish the story on the media, even I lose the case (which is very unlikely). They will lose much more customers. From this point the General Manager was smart or at least not as stupid as sales general manager. Some other friends suggest me to send the story to Honda headquarters and Mr. Roger Penske since Penske Honda took advantage of their name and they should feel shame. I have not done this since it is not my personality. But your post just make me recalled my terrible buying experience and maybe I really should do something to protect other customers and let Honda as well as Mr. Roger Penske knows what Penske Honda did using their name, should I?
They didn't have the color we wanted in stock so they were going to pull it from another dealer for no cost.
Now I see the incentive is on again for this month.
The guys in the internet dept there are great. I've purchased my last Accord Hybrid there last year at $1000 under invoice.
The $500 dealer cash has been extened through at least July 5.
Very simple and painless deal. I might even say nice and fun. Looked up various nearby dealers inventory at honda.com and dealer websites, and found one that had the exact vehicle in stock. Called up dealer's Internet Sales Manager and made the offer over the phone. Made an appointment and bought the car in a total of two hours at the dealership. Came back that afternoon and drove it home.
Some of my ground rules:
1) I never buy from the dealer I test drive at and figure out what I want.
2) I only contact the Sales Manager after I know exactly what I want.
3) If the dealer I call does not have the exact vehicle that I want in stock, I move on to the next guy.
4) Any hint of dishonesty, bait and switch, I never do business with that dealer again and warn all my friends and family.
Good Luck!
Many thanks for your sharing experience and reminding me.
Can you please let me know how many miles on you former Odyssey EXL?
Thanks
52 miles drove off the parking lot after purchasing.
5xx miles returned and replaced.
If any of you see a sage brush EX-L with mileage 500-600 at penske honda, it is not a demo van. Do not be fooled by dealer.
The incentive program ended at midnight on May 31st and resumed at 12:01 on June 1st. It was cruel for Planet Honda to tease you with the alleged disappearance of the "phantom" incentive. At Planet Honda, I have seen Civics marked up by $5,000.00 over sticker price. Planet Honda's skill was not to give you a good deal, but to convince you that you got a good deal. When you examine all of the components of your sale, it is highly unlikely that you bought any vehicle from Planet Honda at $1,000.00 under invoice. Our members should never shop at Planet Honda in Matteson,Illinois.
Do you think the dealer modiify the ODO meter? Because for 49 mile on the VAN, how can it possible be pre-owned for several months?
Did you got the carfax report for that former VAN?
I am a little bit scared by this situation, because I always see the VAN has some miles on it from 30 to 80 miles. The dealer just say that is come from other person's test drive. How can I distinguish it?
Appreciate for your sharing.
I did run the carfax, the van was sold last Nov. as carfax reported. I also confirmed this with local DMV that the van was used not new one when I bought it!
Anyway it is long story and may not belong to this forum. If you like you can go to forum disscue the good and bad dealers. I posted whole story there. I can email you the link if you like.
I am opening my email account in this forum. Can you please send me your link via email. I realy want to understand something this issue, because I plan to go to Penske Honda in next 1 or 2 weeks. Maybe, I should avoid them if I can not make everything clear.
Thanks
Thanks.
Anyway, I do not know how can you make everything clear. If the dealer want to cheat, there are lost of ways to do that.And most of time you may never find it out. In my case, if I did not go back for programming keys, I will never find out the problem! Or if I go back several days/weeks later, they modified the paperwork at service department. I will never know what happened to the van.
So great price is important, Dealership reputation is also important if not more. My friend told me there was a law suit coupld years ago againist Penske Honda and the customer won. I do not know exactly what it was. But their reputation is questionable ( plus our experience ).
From my experience with them. The service department was great! sales department was horrible. They may looks very nice when you are there for buying. After that , it will be another story. The sales general manager was very rude to customer as well as his sales man ( we did watch how he treat his man during that day). The general manager was kind of nice, but most of case no one will buy car from him directly. And he was also tried to play around even with all the problems. He also turned down our reasonable request and give us a less acceptable offer.
Anyway, if you really want to go there, it is fine. They have more that 40 odyssey in stock now. I believe 99% of them should be fine without problem, but any sign shows up for that 1%. Becareful and Good luck!
PS:I suggest you do not deal with the internet director, he was the cheater!
I got a 4.6% 60 month loan from alliantcredit union and I'm selling my old vehicle myself. There is no marked up options. They even told me if I wanted the olive interior all they could find was one with additional options that I didn't want so I stayed with the gray interior. The vehicle is new. If I get a warranty it will either be through my credit union or www.myhondawarranty.com.
Here is one way. I purchased a 2006 Midnight Blue Odyssey EX-L in September. The dealer in Spokane, WA did not have one, but the dealer in Couer d'Alene, ID (about 35 miles away) did have one. They drove it in so the van had about 45 miles on it when I first saw it. My wife and I took the van out for a test drive, liked it and purchased it that day. (A Saturday). On Monday morning I phoned up my Insurance agent to get the van insured. I pulled out the window sticker and was SHOCKED to see a 2005 Odyssey EX-L. The dealer in Coeur d'Alene had sent all of the information for a 2006 Midnight Blue EX-L to the dealer in Spokane, but had delivered a 2005 Midnight Blue EX-L. I went ahead and got the insurance on the van I had possession of(2005) and a couple of days later traded the 2005 for the correct 2006 that we were supposed to get. When I returned the 2005 it had maybe 100 miles on it and was "used" having been registered and insured under my name. It was all a very interesting experience.
I love the van. It drives great and gets great mileage. However, its birth was a little rocky.
I changed the setup before I post former text. But it is still private even after 4 hours.
May be we need to wait until tomorrow?
Thanks for your reminding. Because I am thinking if a VAN with 49 miles on it already pre-owned for several months, the dealer even can sale me a VAN with 20 miles on it, butalready pre-owned for some time also.
Maybe, I need to check some other dealer during this weekend. The local dealer of mine can only go with invoice -500 so far. I need to drive about 100 miles to Penske Honda. That's why I need some clear information before I and my family drove there and hanging there for the whole day.
Appreciate.
Your expeience is very interesting. And glad to hear you got waht you want finally.
But in atuzai's case, if the car was pre-owned for 6 months, how it is possible there is only 49 miles on it if the dealer did not make up the meters?
I test drove a Odyssey in my local dealer and the VAN has about 50 miles on it before I put about 15 miles on it.
It is interesting that you contacted "several other dealers" and Edmunds to verify Planet Honda's allegation that the incentive program had expired. You do not seem to trust Planet Honda either. Would Planet Honda had been so eager to share some of their incentive from Honda, with you, if you had signed the sales contract? You were very lucky that Planet Honda did not have your desired color in stock yesterday. You appear to have received a good deal. Congratulations. But according to this site, your deal could have been equalled or beaten by Crystal Lake Honda, O'Hare Honda, Grand Honda, and Continental Honda. These dealers do not challenge their customer's diligent preparation with trickery. And, the aforementioned dealers do not believe that customers who do not appear to be tech savvy deserve less respect than the tech savvy customers.
1.)In your first post, you stated that Planet Honda agreed to sell you the van for $28,420,and they would have sold it for $28,225 if the incentive program had not expired. Members of the forum promptly informed you that the program was still active for June. Later, you posted that you had not signed the contract yet, so the dealer called you to reduce the sale price to $28,225.
2.)In your second post, you wrote,"I don't believe they lied about the incentive program since several of the other chicagoland dealers were saying the same thing yesterday." It seemed like you contacted the other dealers about the incentive program. "However, in your third post,you state,"I contacted "several other dealers" to get the best deal I could."
3.) In your second post, you said that you"only dealt with guys in the Internet Dept at Planet." Yet, in the third post, you state ,"I got quotes from everyone else and then went into Planet which bested all the other offers." This seemed to be in response to my allegation that I know women and minorities whom were treated with disrespect at Planet Honda. When one person brought them a deal from another dealer to best,the person was ridiculed in the middle of the showroom floor about their perceived lack of money or employment. I would list the ridiculing manager's name if it was allowed on this site.
So in one day, on June 1st, you contacted and received offers from several dealerships,made a personal visit to Planet Honda's internet department,and agreed to a price and car exchange with Planet Honda. All of these events would have had to happen on June 1st for Planet Honda and several other dealers to have plausible ignorance about the incentive program. While the alignment of these events is not impossible,they appear to be probable if the buyer has a personal relationship with someone at Planet Honda.
Regardless of how it happened, I am glad you shared your buying experience with the forum. In the future, I will be looking to see if any other members have a positive experience with Planet Honda. Thanks.
Now for rule number one. When you are just beginning to look you are not ready to call the Sales Manager and tell him or her exactly what you want. Most Managers don't want to spend more than 2 minutes making a initial verbal deal, and 10 minutes setting it up. Also, the more knowledgeable and firm you sound on the exact vehicle you want and the exact price you are willing to pay, the more likely the manager will recognize you as a person with industry insight and one who will uphold your part of the deal.
Your part of the deal is to know exactly what vehicle you want, what accessories or options you want, what exterior and interior color combinations you want, and exactly how you intend to pay for it, before calling the Internet Sales Manager.
So its OK to go into any dealership and test drive with the first sales person. Better yet call the dealership and ask for any sales person, and schedule a test drive. Remember that you are just test driving and tell them you have to look at other minivans before talking numbers.
If you ever come back to that dealership you are for ever tagged as the customer of the sales person that helped you first. It is almost impossible to deal directly with the Sales Managers once that has happened. At least its a hassle. If you have ever experience sitting around while your sales person goes and talk to their manager, you know what I mean.
That is why, when I am ready to buy, I start a new relationship, at a different dealership and this time it is directly with the Internet Sales Manager or the Sales Manager.
Good Luck!
I could do it now, but not sure. I wonder because if I say I want to buy within a month will that have an impact price quotes. I have six Honda dealerships within 35 mile range to compare prices with when making the best deal possible.
Some Honda stores list their inventory on-line and some don't. Bear in mind, though, that what you see may not be up to the minute accurate.
At the same time, I do not recommend Burns in Marlton, NJ. They reluctantly agreed to match the Open Road quote (after offering me something like invoice plus $500). However, they then told me my 11,500 trade was worth no more than 9,000 (guess that is how they would have made up the aggressive price). In addition, Burns does not sell the Honda Care warranty - they sell one by a different company which they tried to explain was better since it offered something they called "adjustment coverage." Since my father-in-law was burned for $2,000 with a Triad warranty, I would stay away from any non-mfr warranty.
Knowledge is power.
Just got a red Ody on Memorial Day for "sale price" of 2.6+% below invoice.
Congrats for your new van. Can you please let me know which dealer you went for this deal?
I am in South Calif also.
Thanks
Got it at Norm Reeves Honda Cerritos. I paid 30,100 for the car before tax and doc fees. MSRP on this bad boy is over 35,000. Invoice is i believe 31,700ish. I told them i didn't want any accessories like wheel locks and mudguards (which they tried chargin 500 bucks for and he agreed it's over priced), i told him take it off then, he said he couldn't remove them, so i took my 2nd choice ext color with 1st choice interior color. I sent out email for quotes to over 10 dealers around here but they were the most serious. If you're in the vicinity, avoid, Scott Robinson Honda; i got the impression that they believe customers are absolute idiots with no knowledge. Many auto dealers try selling you with options (like wheel locks, etc) that the dealer puts on after it arrives from the mfgr. plant. If you like them, i suppose pay the inflated price for it (and that's one way for them to make profit) but i'd rather buy aftermarket parts from pepboys or on-line for pennies compared to hundreds dealers are chargin.
With financing, i got a nice quote from my credit union at whopping 4.49R% for 5 years. I took this to the finances and obviously they couldn't beat it. And ofcourse the finance guy tried selling warranty/alarm package to me but i didn't get it. I was a bit apprehensive about not getting the extentended warranty with all the electronics that come with RES/Navi but i calculated i'd be 500dollars + in 7 to 10 years if i take the money and invest in non-aggressive ING savings (more if invest in stocks). Plus, i know i will be more financially stable in 10 years that i can afford to drop a grand to fix the car should any electronics go bad. Why pay now when i can pay the same amount later. Honda can make money off another person.
Good luck and let me know if you need additional info.
Thanks for your information in detail.
Appreciate.
Now, on a different topic. I talked up Jack Matia. Here is reality. They have saddened me in how their service department handled my vehicle today. My experience is posted in another forum at edmunds.
Good Luck!
The sales manager said that the longer the vehicles are on the dealership lot, the more likely that dealer "options" will be tacked on. This, as he states, is to compensate for $ loss (not gained) while the car sits on the lot.
My car was virgin, with no options. The car came 2 days ago prior to my purchase.
I also have to apologize to Blackexv6 who was only following the thread started by Luckydog6 who bought his EX NAV from Faulkner in Central PA for $31k (almost $700 below invoice).
In reply to that message, Blackexv6 reported a purchase for a NAV for $32k from Piazza in Pottstown PA (about $300 above invoice).
Community sharing of all these buying experiences has been very helpful. Knowledge is indeed power.