2013 and earlier-Honda Accord Prices Paid and Buying Experience

luis1306 · July 2002

Hello everyone. I'm having problems here in Miami, FL trying to get the car above in stick. All dealers have told me that they can get it for me from another dealer in the state. I want to get the best possible deal before the 2003's come out, but I'm wondering if inventory will last until late August. I have an offer for $16000, just add tax, tag and title. Should I go for it now, or risk it and try to save more many later? Any comments would be appreciated.

jmcmeans · July 2002

My best advice to anyone considering an extended warranty is to get one which excludes what it will not pay for instead of one that lists a long list of things they will pay for. It always seems that whatever you have broken is not on their list. Most major companies exclude basically the same things batteries, bright metal. certain brake parts etc. Just go onto a couple web sites offering warranties and look at their top of the line warranty and you can get a pretty good idea of what they all exclude. Good luck

adamr2 · July 2002

Bunk, it isn't as complicated as you may think. Forget the fact for a moment about reinvesting you money. Look at it this way: Assume you are looking at a 3 yr/36,000 mileage limit lease: A lease is simple, you pay $X dollars a month, usually a down payment, and misc other fees they hit you with. You should get from them a TOP (total of payments) figure, which should include everything. Assume that at the end of 3 years, your car has 36,000 miles, and no real damage that they can charge you with. At the end of 3 years, you turn your car in, say thank you very much, and get nothing in return. Assuming for example, $1,000 down, $750 initial fees and $350/month. All total, you would have paid $14,350 for your car.
Now looking at the buy, lets assume the total out the door price cost you $23,500. If you took out a loan @ 4.75 and paid it off evenly after 3 years, assume total loan interest over the 3 years is $1,750. Your monthly payment would be about $700. Total cost is $25,250.
Under leasing you paid $14,350, under buying you paid 25,260. However if you bought the car, at the end you now own an ex v6 coupe. You paid about $11,000 more in the buy option. So will the car be worth more than 11,000? I would think so, since in this example, it only has 36,000 miles. If you put on more than 36k miles, you would have to pay probably 15 to 20 cents a mile under the lease. Under buying, there is no additional charge obviously. Where the real savings comes in is if you keep the car lets say 6 years. Under leasing, you would have to lease a whole other car. Assume the same payments, after 6 years you would have paid $27,000 to lease. Buying you would not have paid anymore money, and still wind up with a 6 year old accord v6 with 72,000 miles. The benefit of leasing is you now got to drive 2 new cars instead of one, and in 3 years would be driving the latest accord. I can go on and on about the differences, it all comes down to you predicting what you will be doing with the car.
Hope this helps and didn't confuse you more. Feel free to ask more questions.

adamr2 · July 2002

I am in favor of getting an extended warranty, the max available which is a 7 yr/100k mile one. With all the latest gadgets and computers in cars today, one thing goes can set you back $500-$1,000 easily. It is also piece of mind, knowing that many things are covered. You can definitely negotiate on price with the dealer on this.

bunk · July 2002

First let me just say thank you thank you thank you!
Ok, but you pay interest on the lease also? I had a Honda salesman tell me he could get me 2.9% on a lease, but not on a buy?
Something that I am concerned with, being someone that has never leased, is that I don't know how anal they are when turning in a lease. I have had people tell me about how when it came time to turn in there leased vehicle, the dealers would stick it to them with charges for wear. I also had people tell me they have never had a problem. I was told that if you lease again from the same car company they will not give you a hard time about charges when turning in a lease, but if you are ending your leasing with them they will stick it to you. So the immeasurable is what extra charges they may take on for wear. I take pretty good care of my cars, but I do have the usual wear occuring. My cars do not remain immaculate.
Anyway, from what you have last told me it looks like leasing ends up being more, but you get a new car every three years.
I was offered 2.9% if I purchased an accord in three years. Since I am interested in the new 03 accord, but need something now, I am just trying to figure out if it is better for me to buy it in three years or lease it. I would not go over the lease miles and would keep the car in at least decent shape. If I buy it I would be able to use it as a trade in value for the new car, but I dont' know how much dealers stick it to you with a trade in. I don't know how much in general they take you down from what blue book is and ...... we I do see that in a way I am going over the same things and many of them are just a matter of preferance and a matter of how well I take care of the car and how far I travel. I did get a lot out of your help though!!!

lucillem1 · July 2002

I live in the southern NH area and am looking to Buy a 2002 0r 2003 4cyl Honda Accord with leather any time soon
Does anyone know of any good deals at what dealers there may be. Also what's new with them in 2003. Is it worth the wait. I will be selling a 1997 Accord SE with 55,000 miles on it unless someone can convince me that I will get a good deal in a trade.

raybear · July 2002

There is $1250 dealer cash so now's a good time to buy an Accord. You're wise to sell your trade in yourself, the difference is likely to be thousands more than you'd get in trade.

clairiz · July 2002

Hi,
Does anyone know a good dealership in North Carolina or Southern Virginia? I live in Greensboro, NC and the dealerships the local areas are not giving me the time of the day. I"m willing to travel up to any 3 hours radius distance. Can you please post the dealership name and the salesperson whom you got a good deal from.
P.S. to Ronsteve: What is the name of the dealership you got your 2002 accord from? Thanks

clairiz · July 2002

Hello,
Can anyone tell me if $18500 (excluding tax, title, license, and DOC with the out the door price at $19400) for a 2002 honda accord SE V4 a good deal in North Carolina and Southern Virgina? Or Can I do better than that? Any input is appreciated.

raybear · July 2002

With the $1250 dealer incentive you may be able to do better. I'm not sure what the dealers are offering down your way.

cattman · July 2002

L.A. Area - $21375.00 inc. dest., before fees

audi2honda · July 2002

I just got an offer in southern california before taxes of $21,600 for a 2002 EX V6 with leather and spoiler. This included destination fee. I think this is a good deal do you?

cattman · July 2002

... you can do better, by a few hundred...
ps, on the EX V6 the leather is standard equipment

audi2honda · July 2002

thanks, what dealer in LA? Did you get the spoiler? another dealer offered me the same price minus the spoiler and told me it would be $700 more.

jimmyx2 · July 2002

Raybear - where did you see that a dealer cash back of $1250.? Does it cover all regions? I have been looking at websites to find the dealer rebates/incentives and have not seen that or any really. Edmunds, car.com, did not have it.
I am also looking to buy an accord - maybe SE but would prefer to wait until August when I'll need it. I am concerned about waiting too long and missing a good price or even that there will be cars. The dealers are advertising that they have many on the lots here in MA but would Honda clear the lots and sell to one large buyer?

jmcmeans · July 2002

Today I was quoted over $1300 for zero ded 7/100000 on Accord in South Florida. I know I have seen post here showing much lower rates for same policy. I asked if they could do better on the rate and was told that Florida state law forbids cutting rates on warranties. Does anyone know is I am being told the truth. How can I check.

ronsteve · July 2002

I got mine from AutoPark Honda in Cary. Just do a search for them on honda.com. The internet sales guy is Mike Jurasek. I even traded in my old car, and the whole process, i.e. buy, trade, and finance was very straightforward.

clairiz · July 2002

Hello all,
I just came back from another dealer in North Carolina. He is offering me a 2002 Honda Accord EX V4 sedan for an out-the-door price of $20,000 (approx $19215 as the invoice). Is this a good deal or not or can I do better?
Thanks
all inputs appreciated.

nicegirl · July 2002

This may be oversimplified, but I just compare leasing a car to renting an apartment or renting a house and buying a car to buying a condo or buying a house. If you rent, you can move around to different places, but if you buy, it's your own place and once you pay off the mortgage, you can keep it. If you can afford a little higher monthly payment in the beginning, and you buy a car, then in the long run, you'll save money in the end if you keep the car for a while and don't have an itch to drive the newest thing every few years. So, if you're interested in saving the most money in the long run, I would buy. If you just want to drive a new car every few years and you don't want to or can't afford to pay more right now in the short run, in order to save money in the long run, I would lease. The most economical, although, I suppose more boring method, in the long run, that I favor is buying and keeping the car until it either no longer runs, or until the repairs become too frequent or too expensive. That's what I did with my last car and what my dad has done with all of his cars. Now, I can't wait until I can stop throwing money down the drain renting an apartment and buy a condo, but I digress.

cds12 · July 2002

if you cant wait until you stop throwing money down the drain renting an apartment and but a condo?

why did you just buy a brand new accord?

it makes me laugh when i drive by apartments, trailers etc. and see a brand new vehicle in the driveway. but i digress

raybear · July 2002

Jane, I work for a website that locates cars for buyers. We get the information from our dealers.

luis1306 · July 2002

Raybear, what's the URL for the website you work for?

raybear · July 2002

Not supposed to post it here, but you may be able to guess it from the email address in my profile.

The $1250 dealer cash won't show up on my site anyway, it was just announced to the dealers recently. The Civic has $250.

nicegirl · July 2002

A car is much less expensive than a house and that's why I can afford to buy a car now, but will not buy a condo or house until 1)I can make a sizable downpayment and thereby decrease the interest I will have to pay in the long run and 2)I know that I will be living in it for long enough so I won't have to deal with the hassle of trying to sell it in a couple years.

caboy · July 2002

I saw in one ad in Southern California, the dealer offer LX accord for $14988 + tax and fee. I wonder if it is the good deal out there? Does anyone know if this model come with ABS? Thanks

bunk · July 2002

Thank you both for your input. Can I ask you this now, if I think I want to drive a new car in two to three years and need a new car now and can buy it off in three years at 2.9%, is it better to lease or buy??

bunk · July 2002

Can anyone please tell me what kind of lease prices are out there for the EX V6? I am looking at a three year. Just give me the figure with 0 down if you can so that it is easier to compare.

cajun626 · July 2002

I don't know how far you are from ATL, but I picked up a SE for $17,400 there a few weeks ago. You should be able to get them lower than $18K in your area.

cajun626 · July 2002

$1300 is crazy. FL law prohibits cutting warranty rates? Hard to believe, but every state has quirks like that. If you still want the warranty go to a non-Honda X-warranty company. FWIW I paid $550 for a Honda 7/75K ext. warranty, and I've seen others on here who paid similar rates.

bunk · July 2002

Florida is particularly different than any other state when it comes to anything dealing with warranties. I worked for a nation wide camera company and we could not see extended warranties in Florida, but could any where else in the U.S. If I were you I would call another Honda dealership and ask them how much there extended warranty is on that same car, compare prices, and then ask them if they can go lower. That should tell you plenty.

nicegirl · July 2002

Honestly, I don't know. Maybe if you know that you will definitely want a new car in 2-3 years, you are better off leasing.

adamr2 · July 2002

I have read some of your messages on this and other honda message boards on edmunds. It seems you are very confused as to what to do. You are stuck between buying the current 02 or waiting for an 03. I was in the same spot as you, unsure of what to do. I opted to buy the 02 accourd coupe EX for $4,000 under sticker. People are getting them even lower now it seems. I couldn't be happier with my purchase. Yes, the 03 will have more bells and whistles, and better numbers. At first they may sell at sticker, then a few months later may be discounted for $1000 under sticker. So in the end, I still saved $3,000. As for the horsepower, if the new one does have 240 horses, so what? Worry more about the torque rating anyway. The current ex v6 does 0-60 in probably 7.5 seconds. Maybe the new one will be 7.2 or so. How much of a difference is that really? I really like the current body style, so for $4000 off, I thought it was a good buy. I also do not want to buy a car in its first model year. Even honda has problems with this.

First let me say, some of your messages about concerns with the 02 on acceleration, road grip and tires: stop analyzing the numbers so much. I don't know who ever told you the 02 has a problem with tailspin or road grip, because that is crazy. Granted it does not hold the road like my prelude did, but it rides great. Granted, I only have 250 miles on the car and have not yet pushed it due to the break in period. But there are no concerns at all in this area.

You also seem to be agonizing on the buy vs. lease issue, although it seems mainly because you feel that you want to drive the next gen model car in 3 years? If your intent is to keep the car only 3 years, and you don't have a problem keeping to the mileage limit of a lease, I say lease the car.

One other question I think you asked was about the interest piece of a lease price. In order to calculate a lease price, the bank considers: purchase price, interest, and residual value. But you don't need to worry about any of this. If you are strictly shopping for a lease, you simply search for the lowest monthly payment, period. Don't worry about how they got the monthly payment.

This msg board is more of a what price did you pay board then a buy vs. lease board. If you have more questions on this, feel free to email me at: akieth@aol.com.

gudde · July 2002

I HATE to go to a dealer! But I need a car--
I plan to buy 2002 Honda Accord EX V4 Sedan.
I would like to know what you paid? Should we buy warranties? How much I should quote below the list price (excluding tax and title)? Someone quoted 3000 less.

Should I wait for 2003 models? What may be the price difference?

bunk · July 2002

" I don't know who ever told you the 02 has a problem with tailspin or road grip, because that is crazy."

Quotes from edmunds.com (these are not the only comments I have seen on this) :

1- Push the Accord in the twisties and the soft springs become apparent with flaccid body lean and a skitterish rear end  so much so that the Accord finished dead last in the slalom portion of our performance evaluations.
2- A few traits we don't normally associate with Hondas made an unwelcome appearance on our test car. The most annoying was the coupe's factory tires that nearly neutralized its cornering ability. We're used to standard equipment tires that are somewhat noisy and squishy, but the MXV4 Michelins wrapped around this coupe's 16-inch alloy wheels were just plain useless in terms of adhesion. Driving with any amount of enthusiasm through tight corners resulted in exorbitant front-end plow as the tires gave up with little warning. The tire problem compounded yet another virtue we don't normally associate with Hondas: slow steering and inadequate power assist. When negotiating quick left-right transitions, it was possible to "over run" the power steering, creating a momentary spike in steering-wheel resistance that required a healthy increase in effort to overcome. This was an uncommon occurrence, but it happened more than once and, when combined with the slow steering ratio and slippery tires, greatly reduced the car's driving pleasure. Since we experienced no tire or steering problems when testing Acura's version of the Accord coupe (a '98 3.0CL) last August, we're not sure if the culprit is brand, model, model-year, or test-vehicle specific.

bunk · July 2002

Thank you once again. You really do make sense and are helping me more than you may know. I agree that I have taken certain liberties in using this board for a discussion that does not directly relate, but if I could respond once more before closing our current conversation on this board, I would like to say that I see your points clearly. Part of my confusion on the lease or buy issue is that I do wonder if I decided to buy (within three years) if it would be financially beneficial to me compared to leasing (for three years)? I am attracted to buying because I would just feel better about knowing I owned the car I was driving and was not renting it and because if I ever decided I just wanted to keep the car instead of trading it in in three years, I could. I don't like buying for the previously disgussed reasons such as tieing up so much money on a down payment and larger monthly payments. I know that you can lease and maintain the option to buy at the end of the lease, but from what I have heard that is a rip off. I don't know if you will chose to comment on this anymore, but I really do want you to know that I appreciate how clear and specific you have been in your advice. With that said HOW MUCH SHOULD I BE LOOKING AT FOR AN ACCORD V6 EX COUPE W/ SPOILER? My best quote so far was for 23400 out the door. That is with spoiler, 6% tax, and all other fee's, is this good? What is a good price on a lease right now? The best I was offered was $350 for a three year 15000 miles per year.

bunk · July 2002

I swear this is the last addition to this conversation, but I wanted to add to my asking about leasing or buying that it seemed to make sense to me that buying might be a bit better when considering a Honda because of there great resale Value. Does this make sense? Will the resale value of the 02 drop dramatically when the 03 comes out?

raybear · July 2002

Raghava, there is $1250 dealer cash on Accords right now. This is a great time to buy. Many dealers will give up their cash just to move the unit, so you should expect to pay around $1250 under invoice right now. If you live in an area not heavily populated by dealers expect to pay more, if there are lots of dealers expect to pay a bit less.

adamr2 · July 2002

Your welcome on the advice. Again, feel free to email me if you would like to talk about this further. Believe me, I thought my purchase through for many months before I did it. And I am an accountant (CPA) so I ran the numbers all different ways. I think there are only 2 main reasons to lease a car (in my opinion of course)-1) you definitely want to drive a new car every 3 years or 2) you do not have the money available to pay for a new car purchase. One other benefit of leasing we did not discuss is that you almost always will have a car under warrenty. But that can be alleviated by buying an extended warrenty. I am a big buying fan, but every other memeber of my family is a leasing fan. However they want a new car every 3 years.

From a strict financial sense, I think buying will almost always prove to the best avenue. The only possible exception is if you buy a car that loses its value quickly, and you want to sell it after 3 years. Your true value of buying is if you keep the car say 6 years. If you only want to keep it 3 years, it may be a toss up as to which is better. There are a lot of intangibles, one in favor of a lease is that you will tend to do less repair and maintenance to the car, knowing you will be getting rid of it in 3 years. Maybe you will change the oil as the book says, 7,500, instead of 3,000 miles. You wont have to replace tires and probably brakes. You probably won't take the car to the dealer for maint, you will take it somewhere cheaper. Again, I put all this down on a spreadsheet to compare the 2. Sometimes you can get a great lease price, which also may make it closer. I can not comment on what a good lease price is, as I have never shopped for one.

I also apologize for saying your comments about tire grip and cornering on the accord were crazy. I never saw those comments before. Most reviews of the accord coupe I have read have been real good. Just remember, they did a slalom test. Are you really going to do this? I haven't pushed my car yet, as it is too new. I will be curious to see how it handles. My prelude was awesome, so this accord has some tough competition. I have heard that the tires are not the best. But hey, maybe I will replace them a little early. However for me, for general driving, so far I love the accord coupe. I have read that the acceleration is very good. It won't beat most sports cars, but it really isn't a true speed sports car.

Price of buying, your out the door price sounds real good. I paid $24,875 with spoiler, honda fog lights, mud guards, chrome tips, sunroof visor and wheel locks. Add the chrome tips at least, it will make a huge difference. Maybe take your best deal, and tell the dealer if he throws them in you will buy.

Not sure if the resale value of the 02 will go down when the 03 comes out. I imagine it will. However you are not worried about the resale value after year 1 as you are after year 4, where it may even out somewhat.

audi2honda · July 2002

Two days ago I bought an Accord EX V6 with a spoiler for $21,600 including desintation but before TTL. This was in Orange County California

I also got the 4.75% financing

kq1011 · July 2002

Is $18,800 a good price?

clairiz · July 2002

Cajun26,Thanks for your input. I appreciate it.
Instead of a accord 02 SE, which was what we initially planned to get, we went for an accord 02 EX V4 automatic sedan becuase we really wanted the side airbags (which the dealer cannot add on the SE. They can only be added on by the manufacturer) We got a quote over the internet and emailed the quote to several car dealers in our areas. Holy moly, we got dealers fighting over who got the better deal. they called and emailed us. They were throwing in freebies. Finally, we settle with a local dealer for an out-the-door price of $19685 (plus mudguard,pinstripe, sealant, oil change x 3 all for free). We could have gotten it for $19600, but we didn't like that dealer due to their saleman's arrogance. Any inputs with the deal we got? Thanks

mj725 · July 2002

I too debated whether or not to wait for the 2003. I assumed in Honda fashion that it would be a while before I would be paying under msrp. I decided go with the 2002 in hopes of getting a deal. After emailing several dealerships in the Washington d.c. area, I was able to get a deal of 21,400 before tax tag title (with trim, mudguards, wheel locks, and moon roof reflector). I also did not pay destination. Hope that helps.

caboy · July 2002

Hi clairiz,
What part of the country are you in? Did you trade - in your vehicle? Looks like you have very very good deal. I bought my SE v4 for 19000 out of the door (w/o mudguard,pinstripe, sealant, oil change x 3 ). I live in sothern California. I wonder anybody outthere having better deal.

dallasboy · July 2002

Here in Dallas the drive out price is about $20,100 but the APR is not 2.9% anymore. I don't know if they'll offer this kind of APR again this year.

jrsmooth · July 2002

Clairiz, THAT IS A GOOD DEAL (as of today). I think we are in the same boat; I was thinking getting a SE, now I am eyeing an EX, and $19,000 is the price I am looking for OUT OF DOOR. I live in Washington DC and I will take delivery on July 24th. Thank you all for your input.

jimmyx2 · July 2002

When you say out the door exactly what charges are you including? I am still hoping to wait until August to buy because that is when I will need the car but I have been checking the prices in the Sunday Boston Globe. The prices are the same as they were in June but now the MSRP they are advertising for a SE is 22,810. How has the MSRP gone up? I know others have said that there is a dealer incentive of $1250 and a possible additional of $250 if they meet a quota but the prices in the paper are not reflecting this. Maybe they are not that eager to sell!

clairiz · July 2002

caboy: I bought my car in NC
jimmyx2: The out the door price was $19685 includes Tax (3% state tax) + Title + License + destination fee + DOC ($150). I also noticed that the MSRP went up a little bit in these couple of days. I guess it's a supply and demand. There are a lot of people waiting to get a good deal before 2003 Accord comes out. Another reason is Japanese Yen went up 10% compared to 6 months ago. 6 months ago, US$1 = 140 Yen. Currently, US$1 = 117 Yen. So, the buying power of USD is less than before. Although only 20% of the car is actually manufactured in Japan, but still, it adds up to the price.

Again, it depends on the car dealers in different areas. Some dealers might have gotten their inventory 6 months ago.

bkhalil · July 2002

I just bought the 2002 honda Accord Exv6 and
pick it up tomorrow and was wondering If I should
get the extended warranty?????? they want to charge 1,300 for the 7/100,000 (Honda Care Warranty), does anybody have any idea on how much I should pay for this type of warranty and If I should buy it.

Thanks

brsr · July 2002

clairiz,

Which dealer you went to? My wife just got a price from a dealer in Cary for 199xx out of door with nothing extra.

Thanks.

brwjr · July 2002

Can anyone give me an idea on what is a fair price
on a 2002 accord se in rural Virginia? I have checked with 3 local dealers and so far the best price quote I have received is "will sell at invoice". I feel it should be lower according to edmunds TMV or am I mistaken? Thanks for any info.

2013 and earlier-Honda Accord Prices Paid and Buying Experience

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