I would buy the new car if the difference is not that much. The smell of a new car is well worth it. I would not pay $300 over invoice for the '04 LX. If you look hard enough, you will find one at or below invoice. I bought mine below invoice. All I did was visiting several dealer websites within 200 miles radius. In their websites you usually can ask for a quote. That was all I did and I just went to the dealer that gave me the lowest quote. It happened to be 100 miles from where I live but I saved more than $1000 compared to the quote I got in town.
After messaging with 3 different dealers in PHX, AZ, I purchased an 04 EX Sedan, AT, 4 cyl w/SC airbags and rear wing spoiler, window tint, and splash guard options for $21,693 plus $298 doc fee and tax, title, and license. This was $300 more than other dealers offered due to redondo red paint. Dealer refused to allow advertised 0% financing for first 15K citing financing package was only for non-discounted vehicle. Dealer did offer 2.9% for 60 months with 0 down. Was this a good price for the vehicle? I would also appreciate any comments about the dealer's position on the 0% financing not eligible for a discounted vehicle.
Does the Honda Certified/Extended Warranty make any difference in the equation? Seems to me that long term you would be better off with what amounts to a free warranty. But, I know its not really free, it's built in the price of the car.
I just bought a Honda Accord Coupe V6 EX automatic from Honda of Santa Ana in Orange County, California. MSRP: $26990 Paid: $23634 Doc: $ 45 Tax: $ 1835.12 (7.75%) Licence:$ 210 Tire fee: $5 Out the door: $25729.12
I got 4 year finance at 2.9%, the monthly payment is $491.63.
One-year-old Accords are about the worst deal on the used car market. They hold their value so well, that you can buy a new one for very close to the same price.
I vote new, and don't worry about the warranty for now. Drive the car for a couple of years and you will learn if it is trouble-prone. You can buy the factory warranty three years from now for not much more than you'll pay now.
Just bought a Accord 4 Dr. LX AT last saturday. Added security system, full nose mask for 18900. I only quoted from this 1 dealer. They gave me a 18900 quote over the internet. I went in on saturday and asked for security system and full nose mask for free ($260 value). The sales person came back in 1 min with a "YES".
I had a 01 Echo. They initially gave me 6000 for it. I asked for 6400. They did not hesitate and paid me 6400.
It was the most painless car buying experience. The whole dealer was awesome. Friendly and helpful. There was virtually no haggle whatsoever involved. I knew I could get the car a little cheaper but the dealer was just too nice . Plus, they gave me the 1.9% APR over 36 month without a problem. These are all done in less than 3 hours. I am totally satisfied.
Plus, they took one straight from their warehouse with all the plastics and adhesives on. Only 2 miles on the car.
I have an understanding of how the dealer holdback works, but after reading some of these seemingly too-good-to-be-true deals, it really sparks a question in my mind: How is the dealer making any money on these cars? If cars (like the Accord EXV6, not exactly a Malibu with $$$ in factory to dealer incentives) are being sold for $600 below invoice, how much must the holdback be? Is the "true" dealer cost THAT much below invoice?
Perhaps things like holdbacks/incentives/etc. aren't secret, but I have to wonder since it used to be that buying a car at invoice was considered a good deal...nowadays it seems to be a given you will get a car at invoice and the goal is below invoice.
According to people in the know, these below-invoice prices can sometimes be achieved because there often exists incentives to the dealer that no one save the owner of the dealership is privy to.
End of the month incentives, so-called "turn and earn" incentives, and other dealer cash type deals that can only be revealed through a fax or email type attack. Sometimes a dealer will sell a car at or below invoice simply to insure that he'll get another in return from the factory, possibly banking on the fact that not all consumers are as well-informed as the one who is getting the good deal, and he'll make up the money at a later date.
Fax attacks are the best way to ferret out these deals, because it pits dealerships against each other in a bidding war for your services.
As for Honda, dealer holdback is always 3% of MSRP excluding destination charge, so that doesn't change regardless of the actual sales price.
The above is simply how I understand it, and certainly not gospel truth.
I just got my 04 EX-V6 with Nav for $500 under invoice. I bought on 2/28 so dealer was very anxious to sell me the vehicle before month end. The price was $25541 incl. dest. + ttl. I called about 25 dealers near my home and work and told them that I was looking for the best deal and would buy that day. I just started to make them bid against each other and I got this deal! It was pretty easy considering I did not have to go into any dealership to get a great price. I also got the special honda financial rate of 1.9% for 3 years.
Nice Deal on your EXV6, about $345 over what I paid (if you subtract the moon roof wind deflector and fog lights) but add in everything else but the state sales tax ($23,548.26), see my post #3906.
After reading a number of posts, how did you come up with such a low price? I used an email to about 15 local dealers and asked for their best price on an Accord V6 EX in desert mist. I really did not negotiate, just took the lowest price I got back -- however I knew this was a good price -- Vehicle + destination $23,181.00, or a little more than $1000 under invoice $24,244. They made some of the money back with fees so they didn't loose money after adding in the hold back. The only catch was I was told I had to buy by Feb 29. What can I say, spoke with the wife and she said get the car. I must say being the end of the month did help, as johnny420 pointed out above, there were probably other factors involved that still made it a reasonable sale for the dealership.
As chris_w above talks about the Malibu -- we were seriously considering getting a Maxx loaded. However even with a $1,000 GM rebate and a second $1,000 coupon for a test drive, the best the Malibu was still about $400 over this deal and you don't loose $8,000 in value the first year as with the Chevy. The Maxx does have some nice features not found in the Accord, however you look inside the Accord EX you experience a very nice vehicle -- take a look in the Malibu and tell me what you see. But hey - we purchased the Accord so we're biased.
The dealer doesn't care if you pay cash, or finance through your own sources. He gets cash either way. If you finance through the dealer, he makes a bit more money, as he gets a piece of the action from the financing company.
Bought my black ACCORD 4DR EX V6 WITH NAVIGATION and Protection Package(dealer quoted for 500 but reduced when showed quote from other dealers for same 3 things) worth $237/-(wheel locks+ splash guards + trunk tray) on Feb. 29th '04 ..FOR 25,400 PLUS Taxes and registraion...Out of door 27,776. Hope this helps folks trying to search for a " good buying price" If edmunds/kelly blue book pricing is the yardstick then I paid under invoice(approx $1275 .)The purchase was made in the San Francisco Bay Area.Also got Honda's 2.9%APR financing for 60 mths. kbb /edmunds MSRP :::::::::::::::::$28,890 Invoice:::::::::::::::$26,041(incl.destination for zipcode 94555) PRICE PAID::::::::::::$25,163
If you paid $27,776 OTD, you got hosed. In the Washington DC area, I paid $25,741 ($25,251 + $490 destination) + taxes, title, and registration through College Park Honda. I paid $27,371.00 OTD, and that price included wheel locks, cargo tray, and mud guards.
We got our 04 EX V6 with Nav in December 03, which included mud guards and wheel locks, OTD was around 27,900.00, so does that mean we got hosed also? Well, I would disagree. In the NYC area try getting one in Red and close to what we paid, very difficult. The silver, white and common colors are very easy to sell. In the entire NYS area we tracked a couple down with the red color. Many of them had over 100 miles on them already and I wasn't about to buy a vehicle that had that high of a mileage. We found one that had 3 miles on it and yes we could of negotiated a slightly better pricing, but everyone deserves a profit and besides that, we were not hassled, anything forced upon us and most of all the customer service that we received from our HONDA dealership was better than we received when we got our Lexus. But feeling hosed, I wouldn't call it hosed, I would call it fair, being hosed is paying MSRP.
Financing is 60 mos. @ 3.84% (or 3.87%)...some oddball interest rate right under 3.9%...heh heh.
Definitely didn't do as well as most others on this board when many appear to be paying below, at, or maybe pocket change above invoice this time of year. I'll be doing internet bids next time for sure!
Buying experience at David McDavid Honda in Irving, TX: We got a serious salesman who had a lot of patience to the many changes of mind my wife went through on what color she wanted, etc. Their after-market saleswoman was professional and courteous. She didn't pressure us, nor act upset on virtually everything (except tint) we turned down. Sales managers were friendly enough. The financing guy tried to play us for stupid at first on the interest rate and warranty (that we were trying to refuse)...used "payments" to rationalize everything. After we got him under 3.9% on 60 months, though, he was still the same friendly, folksy guy. No attitude from him. I was impressed that they still had a woman up there well after close (like after midnight) going over things about the car after we finished financing. I've heard David McDavid Honda's "after the sales" service is great, and that they've really straightened up their act both on the sales and service sides since an ownership change. I'd definitely recommend them from what I've seen and heard.
Damn nice car for the money! I've had an '81 Accord, a '95 Civic, and my Mother had an '87 Accord and a '98 Accord. They've come a long, long way. I can't get over the styling/finish inside. (fyi- My wife and I test drove a Cadillac CTS and were so sorely unimpressed with its interior. For months, it was at the top of our list of cars to look at. We wrote it off after looking at it for 45 minutes to an hour. Its VERY cheap looking inside. Think Chevrolet Cavalier).
Gatrhumpy you paid $341 more than Tarun on the base price, so it's a little hard for you to say he got hosed. State taxes are a separate issue that absolutely are not used in a valid car buying comparison. Many posters on this board have no clue what they truly paid for a car, because a trade was involved in the deal! Many people paid 1,500 to $2000 or more than they should have, because they were not given fair market value on their car as part of the deal. It's always better to sell a car outright, rather than trade it in financially. In order to really know what a car cost you, it should include price of the car including options (hopefully less than invoice), destination, and any dealer added processing fees. State taxes, title, tag, tire deposal fees, etc. do not come into play, because they all vary state to state and must be paid by all consumers that live in that particular state. Now of course if your dealer gave you a great price way below invoice and gave you close to retail on your trade, you did get a great deal!
If a trade is involved, then the sale price of the new car really means nothing. Who can say what the car would sell for without figuring the trade allowance?
I believe many of the figures on this board, but if the deal involves a trade, then the numbers are useless.
I've done both in the past several months. I was pretty happy with the cash I got from selling my '95 Civic outright, but it was a pain in the butt dealing with the many phone calls and appointments, never hearing back from some people after they expressed initial interest, people wanting to haggle (which I wouldn't do), a few test drives, etc. After a couple of weeks of this, I felt like I had literally "worked" for most or all of the money I made over what I would have gotten for trade.
My wife's '98 Malibu, on the other hand, wasn't going to be an easy sell, so we opted to trade it in. We did bring them up $500 from their initial trade offer, but we still got about $700 below what the trade value is supposed to be. Because we could have easily put several hundred into it had we kept it, because we got a tax break ($125) for trading it, and knowing that this car wasn't going to be as easy as the Civic, it was a no brainer. It really boils down to whether your car can sell itself, or if just makes more sense to take a loss and have it be someone else's problem.
First of all, like you said, selling your own car can be a real pain. You have to wait by the phone, deal with joyriders, flakes and non buyers...just like we do.
Then they will want to grind you down on the price, they may need to arrange financing etc.
You will have strangers on your doorstep who may decide to sue you (and win!) when the transmission fails three months later.
But, yes, you can get a higher price...maybe.
In states like ours with a sales tax credit, it may REALLY not be worth the headaches. Here in Washington State, we have a whopping 9.1% sales tax on cars.
You want 10,000 for the trade we offred you 9000.00 for?
Do the math.
Now, on older cars that aren't worth much, yes, you can usually do better selling these yourself.
I think my subject line, "It's Always Better...", was misleading. I was quoting an earlier post and arguing each side, but yeah, I agree with you, isell...depends on the situation whether its "worth" it or not, be it financially or otherwise.
Dear BD 21, Thanx for ur post........Taxes etc. are not negotiable..there fore the base price should be the best measure of a good deal..i.e. price before taxes,registration licence etc. BTW BD21, do u think 25400 was a good deal for my 2004 EXV6 WITH NAVI 4-DR( 2 MILES OLD WHEN BOUGHT)...Appreciate ur answer!! (I am in california..Sales tax 8.5%)this cost includes splash guards,wheel locks and trunk tray.Also is a tire & rim protection worth 150 bucks for 6 yrs??pls advise.
>>what was the dealership that quoted the price of $25541?
There were several dealers, you just need to know how to talk to them so they understand that this is going to be a internet deal. Also, you only talk with the internet sales managers. Here are some that quoted me $25541. Open Road Honda, Edison (ask for Johnny Van-Huy, he will definitely give you that price, you might have to reject his first offer and have him call you back). Planet Honda & Autosport Honda. I bought from Madison Honda, madison, NJ b/c they were willing to give me the most for my trade in. However they told me they normally do not give that price. This deal was done b/c it was month-end and they must of had a special incentive to do this. Your best bet will probably be Open Road & Planet. Open road is a large volumn dealer so they are always eager to negotiate and will definitely go under invoice on any accords or civics. Hope this helps!
No, isellhondas can not respond to your question. Check the Membership Agreement (link on left) or the Rules of the Road (link at top) for the details.
Not too hard, if one goes in with pre-determined numbers. Details:
CASH PURCHASE
1) Know what price you'll settle for if selling to a private buyer. Deduct about 5% max to arrive at your "preferred / target trade-in value." 2) Determine target price for new car using Edmunds new car prices. Refine with actual buyer's prices in Edmunds townhall. Generally, unless it's a hot seller, target invoice. 3) Deduct target trade-in value from target new car price for net purchase price. Get payoff if applicable, and additionally deduct this. Resulting amount is net purchase price. 4) Add applicable Tax, Tag and Title. Exclude profit enhancers like doc fees and other non-mandatory (meaning, other than local / state taxes) fees. 5) Shop month-end, closing hours, and / or thru dealer's internet salesperson
FINANCED
Referencing above formula, add 3) and 4) to determine net amount financed, and - using online calculator, choose APR which you can get from local bank and/or any promotional APR of carmaker (1.9%, 2.9%, etc.) - arrive at monthly payment.
Negotiating at the dealership, hold ground on the monthly payment and no. of months parameters.
Buying my wife's car, I knew what my target monthly payment was using the above formula (I had a trade with pay-off, too) and successfully staved off dealer's gouging attempt.
Unbelievable, but dealer's first monthly payment offer amounted to what would have been a $9k profit on the car (in effect, an 03 EX-L for US$30,500 !!!).
Proving that a car dealer can brazenly take advantage of the unprepared buyer. And sadly, why they have that kind of reputation.
If a trade wasn't involved, you did very well. Look at post 3980 and add use Edmund's used car calculator to the process to determine your private sale price. If you come close to that target price as credit for your trade, then all is well.
...for response. In the absence of price regs / controls, online forums like this can level the playing field somewhat. Shared experiences can be valuable to someone.
I am looking to buy a navigation model Accord sedan (still wavering over 4 cylinder vs 6), and was wondering if most people have experienced that these models are generally low in stock? If so, how severe is the problem? Has anyone found that it took several weeks, perhaps even months to wait for the right car to be in stock (with the right deal of course)?
I ask only because I am trying to decide if I should start asking for quotes a little earlier than I plan to buy, to allow time for not only the right deal, but for the actual car to be in stock...
Last thought / question: how long do dealers typically honor their quotes? In other words, suppose I was to obtain an internet quote today that I was happy with but wanted to actually buy in 1-2 months. Or maybe I have to wait 1-2 months for the car to be in stock. Do they usually honor a quote for this long? Thanks!
Navigation models sticker-price for a couple of thousand dollars more than non-navigation models, therefore the demand is lower. The dealers need to move stock so they don't order as many, and you may have to wait a week or two, or shop elsewhere. It's definitely worth the wait though.
Experience says that the quote is usally for a specified time (maybe a week) and will change according to conditions. However a good salesperson will contact you days or even weeks later, if a condition emerges that makes their quote sound even better, if you seem serious and let them know you're still in the market. At least that's in the Washington, DC metro area.
No I can't say where I work. Posters here have been able to find me however.
As far as going through the internet when buying a car, this subject has literally been beat to death. There is no "best" way to buy a car. Just because someone happens to come through the internet it doesn't catagorize them as a "special" customer in any way.
In fact, an in person customer who is ready to buy a car will get our attention a lot more than a faceless internet shopper.
Still, some people just feel more comfortable behind a keyboard and that's O.K. too.
You need to go to a high volumn dealer to check out their inventory for the Navigation system ones. When I bought my car the dealer had 3 V6 w/ nav. and maybe 3 I4 w/ nav. Of course they had a lot more Accords w/o nav. When I was looking I could find any color I want that has the navigation system within 200 miles. The dealers in town didn't have that many cars with nav. system. I test drove both 4 cyl and 6 cyl. IMO both are good. The 4 cyl is very light on its feet and feels like a smaller car. The 6 has a lot more power. I chose the 6 because I like more power and I'm used to drive 6 cyl all my life.
I was just wondering since you are a dealer, if you could shed light on something for me. I am looking for a LX sedan AT with side airbags. I have heard and seen that these are hard to come by. Has it been your experience that those harder to come by cars/trims are more negotiable because the dealer doesn't want to get stuck with it weeks/months later? Or do they know that someone will buy it for a higher price because they aren't likely to get it elsewhere and therefore the price is not as negotiable?
I had sold my car already, so was ready to buy in a few weeks (no rush to replace the sold car).
I went to see if I fit comfortably in the '04 Accord with the moonroof--had to take that on an EX to get side curtain airbags which I wanted. The car had enough headroom, so I indicated that I'd consider buying the EX-L Accord.
The dealer insisted on making an offering price which, of course, was initially much too high. I still preferred to buy from that dealer who is only a half hour walk from my home. So I just told the manager that I had been on the internet and knew approximately what I should pay--that is, cut the cr*p and maybe I'll buy.
Their next offering price was what I actually expected to pay at the time, so now I have the car which has been excellent (my first Honda).
Maybe an all-internet purchase works well, but doing homework on the internet before visiting a dealer is DEFINITELY a smart move IMO.....Richard
I'd say one to two days max. You can always start the process over or try to start where you left off, but if the quote truely is aggressive they'll usually tell you how long it's good for.
also, it's best to get a vin# with a quote if you're looking for a certain color and equipment.
Comments
why not offer 18000 on a new 2004 LX auto-- the previous post got one for 17999, allegedly.
or offer... 16500 on the 2003.
am i nuts?
Thx for all the info in previous posts, it really helped me in shopping for MY ACCORD.
Does the Honda Certified/Extended Warranty make any difference in the equation? Seems to me that long term you would be better off with what amounts to a free warranty. But, I know its not really free, it's built in the price of the car.
So, $300 over invoice is too much for an LX?
MSRP: $26990
Paid: $23634
Doc: $ 45
Tax: $ 1835.12 (7.75%)
Licence:$ 210
Tire fee: $5
Out the door: $25729.12
I got 4 year finance at 2.9%, the monthly payment is $491.63.
The car I got had 13 miles when delivery.
I vote new, and don't worry about the warranty for now. Drive the car for a couple of years and you will learn if it is trouble-prone. You can buy the factory warranty three years from now for not much more than you'll pay now.
I had a 01 Echo. They initially gave me 6000 for it. I asked for 6400. They did not hesitate and paid me 6400.
It was the most painless car buying experience. The whole dealer was awesome. Friendly and helpful. There was virtually no haggle whatsoever involved. I knew I could get the car a little cheaper but the dealer was just too nice
Plus, they took one straight from their warehouse with all the plastics and adhesives on. Only 2 miles on the car.
-as big a scam as there is out there
someone said it's worth maybe $50-100
try .50 - $1.00 (serious!)
save your $$ and have the thing detailed a few years from now when it's in need of some TLC
thanks
Perhaps things like holdbacks/incentives/etc. aren't secret, but I have to wonder since it used to be that buying a car at invoice was considered a good deal...nowadays it seems to be a given you will get a car at invoice and the goal is below invoice.
End of the month incentives, so-called "turn and earn" incentives, and other dealer cash type deals that can only be revealed through a fax or email type attack. Sometimes a dealer will sell a car at or below invoice simply to insure that he'll get another in return from the factory, possibly banking on the fact that not all consumers are as well-informed as the one who is getting the good deal, and he'll make up the money at a later date.
Fax attacks are the best way to ferret out these deals, because it pits dealerships against each other in a bidding war for your services.
As for Honda, dealer holdback is always 3% of MSRP excluding destination charge, so that doesn't change regardless of the actual sales price.
The above is simply how I understand it, and certainly not gospel truth.
Johnny
under invoice.
It was rather an excruciating negotiation.
GL
After reading a number of posts, how did you come up with such a low price? I used an email to about 15 local dealers and asked for their best price on an Accord V6 EX in desert mist. I really did not negotiate, just took the lowest price I got back -- however I knew this was a good price -- Vehicle + destination $23,181.00, or a little more than $1000 under invoice $24,244. They made some of the money back with fees so they didn't loose money after adding in the hold back. The only catch was I was told I had to buy by Feb 29. What can I say, spoke with the wife and she said get the car. I must say being the end of the month did help, as johnny420 pointed out above, there were probably other factors involved that still made it a reasonable sale for the dealership.
As chris_w above talks about the Malibu -- we were seriously considering getting a Maxx loaded. However even with a $1,000 GM rebate and a second $1,000 coupon for a test drive, the best the Malibu was still about $400 over this deal and you don't loose $8,000 in value the first year as with the Chevy. The Maxx does have some nice features not found in the Accord, however you look inside the Accord EX you experience a very nice vehicle -- take a look in the Malibu and tell me what you see. But hey - we purchased the Accord so we're biased.
The dealer doesn't care if you pay cash, or finance through your own sources. He gets cash either way. If you finance through the dealer, he makes a bit more money, as he gets a piece of the action from the financing company.
kbb /edmunds
MSRP :::::::::::::::::$28,890
Invoice:::::::::::::::$26,041(incl.destination for zipcode 94555)
PRICE PAID::::::::::::$25,163
We got our 04 EX V6 with Nav in December 03, which included mud guards and wheel locks, OTD was around 27,900.00, so does that mean we got hosed also? Well, I would disagree. In the NYC area try getting one in Red and close to what we paid, very difficult. The silver, white and common colors are very easy to sell. In the entire NYS area we tracked a couple down with the red color. Many of them had over 100 miles on them already and I wasn't about to buy a vehicle that had that high of a mileage. We found one that had 3 miles on it and yes we could of negotiated a slightly better pricing, but everyone deserves a profit and besides that, we were not hassled, anything forced upon us and most of all the customer service that we received from our HONDA dealership was better than we received when we got our Lexus. But feeling hosed, I wouldn't call it hosed, I would call it fair, being hosed is paying MSRP.
thanks
MSRP: $26,890
Invoice: $24,244
Paid: $24,750 (including mud guards, wheel locks and trunk liner)
Added lifetime tint: $210
Financing is 60 mos. @ 3.84% (or 3.87%)...some oddball interest rate right under 3.9%...heh heh.
Definitely didn't do as well as most others on this board when many appear to be paying below, at, or maybe pocket change above invoice this time of year. I'll be doing internet bids next time for sure!
Buying experience at David McDavid Honda in Irving, TX: We got a serious salesman who had a lot of patience to the many changes of mind my wife went through on what color she wanted, etc. Their after-market saleswoman was professional and courteous. She didn't pressure us, nor act upset on virtually everything (except tint) we turned down. Sales managers were friendly enough. The financing guy tried to play us for stupid at first on the interest rate and warranty (that we were trying to refuse)...used "payments" to rationalize everything. After we got him under 3.9% on 60 months, though, he was still the same friendly, folksy guy. No attitude from him. I was impressed that they still had a woman up there well after close (like after midnight) going over things about the car after we finished financing. I've heard David McDavid Honda's "after the sales" service is great, and that they've really straightened up their act both on the sales and service sides since an ownership change. I'd definitely recommend them from what I've seen and heard.
Damn nice car for the money! I've had an '81 Accord, a '95 Civic, and my Mother had an '87 Accord and a '98 Accord. They've come a long, long way. I can't get over the styling/finish inside. (fyi- My wife and I test drove a Cadillac CTS and were so sorely unimpressed with its interior. For months, it was at the top of our list of cars to look at. We wrote it off after looking at it for 45 minutes to an hour. Its VERY cheap looking inside. Think Chevrolet Cavalier).
Don't believe everything you read on the internet or you may get very frustrated trying to match some of these prices.
I believe many of the figures on this board, but if the deal involves a trade, then the numbers are useless.
regards,
kyfdx
Edmunds Price Checker
Edmunds Lease Calculator
Did you get a good deal? Be sure to come back and share!
Edmunds Moderator
My wife's '98 Malibu, on the other hand, wasn't going to be an easy sell, so we opted to trade it in. We did bring them up $500 from their initial trade offer, but we still got about $700 below what the trade value is supposed to be. Because we could have easily put several hundred into it had we kept it, because we got a tax break ($125) for trading it, and knowing that this car wasn't going to be as easy as the Civic, it was a no brainer. It really boils down to whether your car can sell itself, or if just makes more sense to take a loss and have it be someone else's problem.
Then they will want to grind you down on the price, they may need to arrange financing etc.
You will have strangers on your doorstep who may decide to sue you (and win!) when the transmission fails three months later.
But, yes, you can get a higher price...maybe.
In states like ours with a sales tax credit, it may REALLY not be worth the headaches. Here in Washington State, we have a whopping 9.1% sales tax on cars.
You want 10,000 for the trade we offred you 9000.00 for?
Do the math.
Now, on older cars that aren't worth much, yes, you can usually do better selling these yourself.
Ouch! about the 9.1% in Washington.
Thanx for ur post........Taxes etc. are not negotiable..there fore the base price should be the best measure of a good deal..i.e. price before taxes,registration licence etc. BTW BD21, do u think 25400 was a good deal for my 2004 EXV6 WITH NAVI 4-DR( 2 MILES OLD WHEN BOUGHT)...Appreciate ur answer!! (I am in california..Sales tax 8.5%)this cost includes splash guards,wheel locks and trunk tray.Also is a tire & rim protection worth 150 bucks for 6 yrs??pls advise.
There were several dealers, you just need to know how to talk to them so they understand that this is going to be a internet deal. Also, you only talk with the internet sales managers. Here are some that quoted me $25541. Open Road Honda, Edison (ask for Johnny Van-Huy, he will definitely give you that price, you might have to reject his first offer and have him call you back). Planet Honda & Autosport Honda. I bought from Madison Honda, madison, NJ b/c they were willing to give me the most for my trade in. However they told me they normally do not give that price. This deal was done b/c it was month-end and they must of had a special incentive to do this.
Your best bet will probably be Open Road & Planet. Open road is a large volumn dealer so they are always eager to negotiate and will definitely go under invoice on any accords or civics. Hope this helps!
:-)
CASH PURCHASE
1) Know what price you'll settle for if selling to a private buyer. Deduct about 5% max to arrive at your "preferred / target trade-in value."
2) Determine target price for new car using Edmunds new car prices. Refine with actual buyer's prices in Edmunds townhall. Generally, unless it's a hot seller, target invoice.
3) Deduct target trade-in value from target new car price for net purchase price. Get payoff if applicable, and additionally deduct this. Resulting amount is net purchase price.
4) Add applicable Tax, Tag and Title. Exclude profit enhancers like doc fees and other non-mandatory (meaning, other than local / state taxes) fees.
5) Shop month-end, closing hours, and / or thru dealer's internet salesperson
FINANCED
Referencing above formula, add 3) and 4) to determine net amount financed, and - using online calculator, choose APR which you can get from local bank and/or any promotional APR of carmaker (1.9%, 2.9%, etc.) - arrive at monthly payment.
Negotiating at the dealership, hold ground on the monthly payment and no. of months parameters.
Buying my wife's car, I knew what my target monthly payment was using the above formula (I had a trade with pay-off, too) and successfully staved off dealer's gouging attempt.
Unbelievable, but dealer's first monthly payment offer amounted to what would have been a $9k profit on the car (in effect, an 03 EX-L for US$30,500 !!!).
Proving that a car dealer can brazenly take advantage of the unprepared buyer. And sadly, why they have that kind of reputation.
Have you conceeded this strategy is a good one? or just tired of beating a dead horse?
I ask only because I am trying to decide if I should start asking for quotes a little earlier than I plan to buy, to allow time for not only the right deal, but for the actual car to be in stock...
Last thought / question: how long do dealers typically honor their quotes? In other words, suppose I was to obtain an internet quote today that I was happy with but wanted to actually buy in 1-2 months. Or maybe I have to wait 1-2 months for the car to be in stock. Do they usually honor a quote for this long? Thanks!
Navigation models sticker-price for a couple of thousand dollars more than non-navigation models, therefore the demand is lower. The dealers need to move stock so they don't order as many, and you may have to wait a week or two, or shop elsewhere. It's definitely worth the wait though.
As far as going through the internet when buying a car, this subject has literally been beat to death. There is no "best" way to buy a car. Just because someone happens to come through the internet it doesn't catagorize them as a "special" customer in any way.
In fact, an in person customer who is ready to buy a car will get our attention a lot more than a faceless internet shopper.
Still, some people just feel more comfortable behind a keyboard and that's O.K. too.
I went to see if I fit comfortably in the '04 Accord with the moonroof--had to take that on an EX to get side curtain airbags which I wanted. The car had enough headroom, so I indicated that I'd consider buying the EX-L Accord.
The dealer insisted on making an offering price which, of course, was initially much too high. I still preferred to buy from that dealer who is only a half hour walk from my home. So I just told the manager that I had been on the internet and knew approximately what I should pay--that is, cut the cr*p and maybe I'll buy.
Their next offering price was what I actually expected to pay at the time, so now I have the car which has been excellent (my first Honda).
Maybe an all-internet purchase works well, but doing homework on the internet before visiting a dealer is DEFINITELY a smart move IMO.....Richard
You can always start the process over or try to start where you left off, but if the quote truely is aggressive they'll usually tell you how long it's good for.
also, it's best to get a vin# with a quote if you're looking for a certain color and equipment.