Did you recently take on (or consider) a loan of 84 months or longer on a car purchase?
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I just got a phone quote for $20,400 for the car mentioned in the topic
any ideas if this is a good price?
fair deal? In so-ca...
There are apparently many large franchise operations operating all across the country pulling this stuff using the same pitch lines-they even had a Honda dealer in Dallas.
Course we smarties would never be hoodwinked by people like this cause we prowl this board. One of the never never things to do was to let the dealer have anything to do with financing-big mistake as they can steal big time with all kinds of bogus charges and unreal credit terms. Be careful out there.
My car cost $28380 with tax, title and wheel locks (which in hindsight I probably didn't need. Live and learn. ) The price for the car itself was $26500, and I thought that was a pretty fair deal. (Cars Direct was asking $27411 at the time for the same car.) Even if I spent a few more days traveling all over the place haggling, I probably wouldn't have saved more than another $100 or $200, and I think there's a very good chance that I wouldn't have saved anything. And when the Toyota dealer told me he wanted $30500 for a Camry with navigation, the Accord really started to look like a good deal.
The experience was pleasant at the dealer. I didn't really feel pressured at all. The only thing they tried to do was sneak in disability and unemployment insurance into the final contract price, which added about another $1700 to the car price (or about an extra $30 a month for the 60 months of the 3.9% financing.) I caught it right away, and they didn't give me any problems about removing it.
As Bburton3 said, you have to check every number. I brought my Pocket PC with me when I negotiated the deal and downloaded a free interest calculator to make sure the numbers added up. They did once I got them to remove the extra insurance charges, and I left a happy camper. The car is absolutely amazing. This Accord is my first new car and my first foreign car, but I think I'm hooked on Hondas!
My car cost $28380 with tax, title and wheel locks (which in hindsight I probably didn't need. Live and learn. ) The price for the car itself was $26500, and I thought that was a pretty fair deal. (Cars Direct was asking $27411 at the time for the same car.) Even if I spent a few more days traveling all over the place haggling, I probably wouldn't have saved more than another $100 or $200, and I think there's a very good chance that I wouldn't have saved anything. And when the Toyota dealer told me he wanted $30500 for a Camry with navigation, the Accord really started to look like a good deal.
The experience was pleasant at the dealer. I didn't really feel pressured at all. The only thing they tried to do was sneak in disability and unemployment insurance into the final contract price, which added about another $1700 to the car price (or about an extra $30 a month for the 60 months of the 3.9% financing.) I caught it right away, and they didn't give me any problems about removing it.
As Bburton3 said, you have to check every number. I brought my Pocket PC with me when I negotiated the deal and downloaded a free interest calculator to make sure the numbers added up. They did once I got them to remove the extra insurance charges, and I left a happy camper. The car is absolutely amazing. This Accord is my first new car and my first foreign car, but I think I'm hooked on Hondas!
Sales price - $20,698.58
Destination - $490.00
Sales tax 6% - $1271.31
Title - $21.00
Out the door @ $22,480.89
First contact with Lanier Honda was by e-mail, then a test drive. We drove this & the Nissan Altima. Went back and forth a few times but price & features made the Honda the clear winner (Nissan places were unwilling to deal much for the 3.5 SE).
I e-mailed several other Honda dealerships for their best price, quoting my pricing research and my wish to avoid excessive doc fees & other extras, but my message to my contact at Lanier was simple - they gave me two test drives, no pressure, and I gave them the first opportunity to sell me a car.
Dealer fees (doc, secure etch) were "included" in the price. No hard sell from F&I - I already had financing and I politely refused the extended warranty.
They ordered the car for me after they couldn't find it in the southeast. $500 down in early November, and it was waiting for me when I got back from Thanksgiving vacation!
Extremely pleased with both the buying experience & the car!
After reading the posts, I probably got taken on the extended warranty. I paid $1,500 for warranty which I normally never get but I thought with the Navi I might just have some problems later on. Anyway in the contract it states, if you do not use the warranty in 7 years then Honda refunds the $1,500.00 I live in TN and shopped a few places but I really do believe if I would have taken more time I could have gotten the car a little cheaper.....
23,168.94 car price Plus $75 wheel and tire protection, $45 doc fee, $5 tire fee, $1717.56 tax, $201 license. Total $25212.50 financed at 2.9% for 48 months. Car had 13.5 miles on it.
My strategy:
Used Edmunds to select three different cars to test drive. Went to the local dealer with my wife and we drove and picked out the exact make, model and color we wanted. Emailed 10 dealers within 90 min drive for price quotes. Took two lowest quotes and emailed two new dealers with large inventories. The dealer I bought from had 5 of my first color choice and 4 of my second color choice so they were than willing to go $300 under cost to move inventory (that is their story).
The delivery process was slow but great. Soft sell on extended warranty stuff. Overall a great experience.
This car could use memory for the power seat and mirrors so multiple drivers have their settings saved (our 91 Lexus LS400 has it), Auto locking doors (Ford has), Nicer looking gauges instead of the HUGE speedometer. Other $995 drive off lease prices right now are Civic VP 2 door $125, Civic VP 4 door $135 (all 36 month quotes). So for the person in message waxman Nov 29, 2003 10:00am who was quoted $347 with 0 drive off DON'T DO IT!
TW
Assuming it is a genuine HondaCare warranty, you can purchase it from any dealer (that is my understanding). There are some that provide pricing online (do google searches). For an 04 V6 I have seen $975.00 for 7/100K with $50 deductible.
"I really do believe if I would have taken more time I could have gotten the car a little cheaper" - everyone thinks this. Just enjoy the car!
I checks edmunds but they dont seem to have that info.
thanks
http://www.handa-accessories.com/
Cars Direct wanted 21,433; the dealer let us have it for 21,300 plus tax/title, and on top of that they took our Volvo in trade for a fair price -- a pretty good deal, we think.
Drove the V6 but I thought I'd probably almost never need the extra power, my wife couldn't get comfortable in the leather seats (too slippery), and we're both into lower emissions and higher MPG.
We've had only average luck in the past with Toyotas, and when you add in the Honda resale factor, our choice was pretty clear-cut.
$24,743 +$90 fees is not a very good price. You're almost $600 over invoice. The way things are lately, you should be able to get a car for invoice or very close to it. I paid 23,500 for the same car 2 weeks ago, but I lucked into a great deal with an overstocked dealer giving me all of their 3% holdback. If you do decide on the Honda, email all of your local dealers and tell them to email you their out the door prices on a *specific vehicle*.
Go to a dealer once to take a test drive and commit to *nothing*. Make your deal by email and and go to the best dealer to test drive *your car* and sign off on the paperwork. If the dealer tries to bump you (charge more than agreed)--walk.
Barry S.
These aren't distressed merchandise and that is an excellent price.
Maximas are nice too, but they will depreciate at a much greater rate. Nothing like that Pontiac did though.
Finally, if you are looking for a "perfect" car, a car that never has any problems, these do not exist. Both of these models are very reliable with the edge going to Honda.
And...you don't need to hide behind your computer as someone suggested. Nothing wrong with simply walking in. If you think a 600.00 profit is too much, you can always offer less.
Good luck!
Thanks!
Darren
Because the 2005 Accord will still be a carry over car from 2003/2004 the differences will probably be only in options or other small changes. It's likely that side curtain air bags will be offered throughout the Accord line--not just on EXs as currently, for example.
Discounts should be at least $1500 to $2500 on a car costing over $20K but unless you keep the car a VERY long time, it might not be worth the discount to get a one year old car--there's no free lunch in year-end buying. If too many people try to compete for leftover cars, the price difference won't be worth it and you'd be better off with the newer car.
When you really think about it, all else equal, all Accord-priced cars should get about $100 to $200 cheaper every month from the time the new model is introduced because the car won't be a current model as long. Buy an '04 Accord today and you'll have it only 8 months before mid-August when the '05s appear.
Of course, if the economy strengthens and there's a rush to buy Hondas, there might be fewer good deals.
If you do your homework (Edmunds is a BIG help) and know what a fair price is at the time you want your new car, your deal should be very good--don't be afraid to walk away if a deal doesn't meet your reasonable requirements. Buy the car when you want/need it and don't worry too much about market timing a car purchase.......Richard
Nothing evil about profit at all. I have no problem with a 3% profit or a 100% profit. Of course, isellhondas didn't mention the dealer holdback of 3% of the base MSRP. So, 3% might be correct, or it could be 6% depending on how long the dealer has had the car (see http://www.edmunds.com/advice/incentives/holdback/index.html ).
But as I mentioned, I don't have anything against a healthy dealer profit. But you don't need to sweat the details. The dealer owns the car and is not going sell it to you if he doesn't want to--no need to worry about how much profit is involved. Your dealership is intimately familiar with his bottom line--otherwise he'd be out of business.
"...you don't need to hide behind your computer....Nothing wrong with simply walking in."
Nothing wrong unless you don't mind wasting time and money, that is. Welcome to 2003--people buy stuff over the internet! They sit in their comfy homes and research, shop, and buy. You can shop for a car by driving all over town from dealership to dealership, but it's an exhausting, frustrating experience--I know because I've tried it that way. You can also drive to a single dealership and pay whatever their final price is--maybe slightly less exhausting, but dealers are experts at putting you off balance and wearing you down so they get the price they want. Nothing illegal or wrong about it--thats just the way things work with car sales.
Or you can send out a email to every nearby dealer and ask them to send you their best out-the door price. Each dealer will send you a price that works for them. The dealers that don't send prices get crossed off your list--they want to play games with you. Since you're reading this forum you should have a good idea of what other folks are paying. If the price seems good, go for it. Too high? Email what you're willing to pay--if it's unreasonable, the dealer won't agree to sell.
Dealers can sell hot cars at prices way over MSRP--more power to 'em. What you don't want to do is pay more than you need to.
Barry S.
I can't resist responding to your comments on holdback however...again...*sigh*
Holdback is NOT PROFIT! It *helps* pay for flooring and advertising.
Whenever people insist on dredging up holdback they need to be reminded of the MASSIVE overhead required to open the doors. Nobody seems to think or care about that and that's fine.
As far as e-mail "quotes"...most dealers have quit responding to these long ago. If using e-mail is right for you, I would suggest making an offer instead of asking for a quote to shop.
We pay attention to serious offers.
My best advise is to ask your family, friends and neighbors for a referral. Maybe they can send you to a store and a slaesperson who treated them well in the past. I realize this may sound old fashioned to some but it works well!
The salesman did tell me the Honda had only been on the lot a couple of weeks (graphite pearl). He also quoted the add on rear view mirror would be $360 extra (I know,after checking, that is a rip off price!), but, he would wave the installation fee and the $90 fee----making the final cost of the car $25,103-----I think (know) I was being "duped" big time!!!
This why I decided to use this message board-----I need guidance!!!
I have not made any "deals" yet ------do not want to be taken advantage of. What should I offer for the Honda EX V-6 ($24,743 was the salesmans quote ,NOT getting the add on rear view mirror)? I would like to purchase the car after Jan.1.
Any suggestions will be appreciated. Thank you.
thanks to all of the people who helped me in understanding different options to consider while buying a car.
well last night I made the bold move and made the deal. I bought the Accord, sedan, auto, ex, 28 miles with no curtain airbags for $20,600 + TTL
Can some one comment on it if thsi si a good deal. This also included mud flaps and wheel locks
21300 - 300 - 150 = $20,850 which is still higher then $20,600 I paid
j/k
I am glad that people in this forum educated me and armed me for a good deal
thanks
I'm sure someone else will try to rain on your parade by telling you paid too much. this happens often in these forums.
My advise (to everyone) is after buying a car or anything else, to simply enjoy it. Life is too short to agonize over a few dollars.
Salesman Alert !!! Salesman Alert !!
Salesman in da house
just kidding isellhondas.
I am glad and will be enjoying my car
happy holidays people
Seriously, I'm happy with my deal, too. As a rule of thumb, I'd say anything close to invoice represents a reasonable profit for the dealer and a fair deal for the buyer. Personally, I'm not out for the last penny.
wow, that is more than $1000 under invoice. am i missing something?
NO, YOU ARE NOT MISSING SOMETHING!!! A GRAND UNDER INVOICE. Roseville beat my second best offer from Hayward by $500, at 23,243 or $1000 under invoice. Hayward then offered 23,188. Roseville countered with a free tire and wheel warranty instead of lowering the price. I went with Roseville because my wife wanted to go to the mall and they had a lot of cars to choose from. At the time about 25 Ex V6's and 9 in my first two color choices. My internet manager was great!
Thanks,
Jeannine Fallon
PR Director
Edmunds.com
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The price was negotiated through email and on the phone and they also delivered the car to me at work, on a trailer too, only had 10 miles on it. Signed the papers at my work in 15 minutes and I had a new car that I bought sitting in front of my computer.
It was 21,900 with mud gaurds and door edge guards. They were already installed but I wasn't too picky about them since finding a silver manual EX-L made it a little harder to find without addons. They also offered just ordering straight from the factory too in case I didn't want that stuff.
- Kyle
"quotes"...most dealers have quit responding to these long ago"
Now THAT is just plain hokum. The whole Edmunds system is set up to get you email quotes. I got an email box full of them when I used Edmunds...and it was good sayeth the consumer. Of course, some dealers don't like quotes. Why? Because they know they have to start with a low price or another dealer will undercut them.
I got a great quote from a nearby dealer and I went in and paid *his* price. I didn't try to beat him up and he only gave me a $100 bump--that was cool with me. My point is that I got the best price the fastest way using email through the Edmunds system.
Now I do wish you the best this season--may you sell many cars--all at MSRP--just not to the folks on this forum :-)
Barry S.
That's just a theoretical example, though. It's possible that $600 over invoice is the going rate in Northwest Missouri. Maybe you'd consider driving to St. Louis or Chicago to save $500--the wider you cast your net, the greater the chance of getting a better deal.
In the meantime, read voraciously on the Edmunds site--lots of great information here.
Barry S.
MSRP: 26,400 + 490(destination charge) = 26,890
Residual Value (RV) = 60% of MSRP = 16134
Negotiated price = 24,900
Down payment = 2000
Net cap cost reduction (NCC) = 22,900
Money Factor (MF at 4% apr) = 0.00166
Desitnation charge = 550
Calculated Lease Payment: [(NCC + RV) x MF] + [(NCC - RV) / Term] = 253
Negotiated Lease payment = 265 + tax per month for 36 months with 12k miles with total $2665 down with all the fees.
Accessories: Cargo Tray, Mug Flap, Wheel locks
I really like the Honda Accord with the V6, 240 hp engine, but I'm a little leary of the price. Therefore, I'm wondering if I can get a good price for a pre-owned one?
What is the real value for paying for a Honda anyway. Edmunds put a value to it but doesn't explain how they derived the value.
P.S. Is it correct to assume that a 2003 model will be two years old in October 2004, when the 2005 Accord models start rolling into the Honda Dealership's parking lots?
~D
We are new to the Honda discussion and we are wondering if anyone can recommend us to an honest dealership in the NYC area that will sell us an Accord at a very good price? Also, what are some of the prices everyone has paid or heard that was paid for the 04 Accord EX V6 w/Navigation.
Thanks For Everyone's Help