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Comments
If you feel really argumentative, go and post that you think Sienna is only 10% better than the Ody and it's not worth the money for you. Guarantee you will get some response.
Andrew can hook you up with a Honda parts web site for your cross bars and stuff. You can get these cheaper than your local dealer.
You should go to the Sienna price paid board and look for some dude name blandfordm as he claims he can't find any Atlanta deals less than $1K off MSRP and that's his rationale for getting a Sienna.
If you wife need a van now, waiting for a new Quest doesn't make any sense, does it? And with the brand new radical design, how secure are you in that there's no bugs. Odyssey may not be the latest and greatest, but in its fifth year, I'd bet there's less problems than a brand new design in the Quest. But I'm out of my league in tech talk, I'll let the "collective wisdom" handle that part.
Good luck on whatever you decide.
That is funny, everything you just said is what I have have been saying over at the Ody - Sienna forum. Then I was labled as a "bitter Ody owner". For the definition of "Bitter Ody owner" go there and read up on it, as someone complained we were all long winded, and you would fit right in.
Yes I too purchased the Midnight Blue EXL RES just 2 weeks ago, because I couldn't stomach the price difference of $5k-$7k in order to get the Sienna. Just as I have been posting, I may not have the latest and greatest, but I walked away with a better bargain, still came away with a safe reliable minivan.
Keep us posted
The color is Sandstone.
In the end the Alabama dealer won by about $250.
My only advice to other "internet buyers" is to e-mail the dealers directly to cut out any intermediaries and fees and to be very upfront, almost blunt about what you will pay. The icing on the cake for the dealer is that you are ready to buy immediately with no wasted time or delays for financing, etc. Interestingly, it looks like the only dealers willing to get real competitive all had two of my model and color in stock. Also, in my case my process started only yesterday morning.
I'll confirm satisfactory delivery on Monday. Once I get delivery I will respond to the question as to who the competitive dealers were.
Hey, do you think anybody's out buying Odys at Dublin HOnda this weekend, IN THE RAIN? I see their inventory count went down today from yesterday, 38 to 37, big WOW!
Good news is I got my PeopleFirst application approved in less than 24 hours, is that normal? Most likely will sit on it though and "wait", no big hurry, also not colorblind, just prefer the black but I can live with just about anything for the right price.
Had to drop into the office today, so back to my taxes, later!
Yeah, it was raining buckets out here today (at least by CA standards). This after being in the 70's just few days ago. Go figure.
Oh, yes, back to van talk. People first advertises themselves as being really simple to get approved, like in 1 hour or less. If you're a Costco member, you can get peoplefirst through them for 0.25% less. The drawback with people first is on the backend that in order to "fund" the money, they are more strict in their procedures and not all car dealers like to work with them.
I had a peoplefirst loan also, but be sure to check whomever you intent to do business with that they accept People first, some takes them, some don't. I forgot if Dublin's position on People fist, but I was told outright by Autowest Honda and Capitol Hondas amongst other that they don't take People first. Ask first or else you'll be unpleasantly surprised when you get to the finance managers office.
Here's a web site to read up more on car financing tips: http://www.carbuyingtips.com/carintro.html
Let me know if you need more help and stay dry.
Finally, I made the purchase for this price. I live in the Chicago area and have been researching LX pricing for two months. This was the best deal I could get in the midwest. I saw some dealers advertise LX in Boston for invoice.
Had car payments before, so didn't make any sense to wait for the prices to go down further. As for the Sienna, I liked the drive and some features offered in LE over Ody LX (rolling windows for 2nd row, keyless, CD, roofrail). Figured I could get remote start/CD installed at Best Buy for $400 and will be better off with a much more reliable and PROVEN minivan.
Absolutely love the van, so far!!!
I asked for a price quote @ edmunds.com & drivechicago.com, received several quotes. Only one was better than $2000 of MSRP. I have not negotiated with dealers at all. I just went with the best quote. Delivery took less than one hour. The best car buying experience I have ever had.
I was looking for Sienna 04 and due to the waiting list, Price and lack of Nav., I have
decided to look for Ody 03. I live in Richmond, VA and could travel upto Philly or SC to get a
good deal. What price is reasonable for
Ody 03 EX - Leather with Nav. Color no problem.
Looking forward to your valuable suggestions,
I thought you sailed off into the sunset and is never coming back after you asked for collective wisdom help but got me instead.
You want to say the name of the dealership (per the Edmunds rules, no name, phone..etc) just so the "hundreds of lurkers" out there can benefit from your experience?
Can't really help you in the pricing front in your area as I don't recall seeing too many posts for prices in your area the past few months. But I know in some areas of the country, the Ody now are being heavily discounted whereas 4 months ago I was looking at MSRP or above here, now people are talking $2K plus off.
Good luck.
However I insisted, and I contacted tons of dealership around a 60 mile area from me, and finally got the deal that I want.
My tips to you since you aren't sure what people are paying in your area. Insist on what others have been getting. Don't get frustrated it will take some time and energy to convince the dealers. Use the 04 Sienna and the 04 Quest to your advantage.
For example, if your car tax is 6.5%, then you'll be paying twice the amount of tax I paid. Thus if you get $2K off MSRP, you would still be paying $1,000 more than I did. So if you want DVD RES, negotiate that into the deal and also negotiate the Tax, Title, Tag into the deal. For example, if I live in Texas where the tax is twice that of Oklahoma, I would be expecting $3K off MSRP instead of $2K off MSRP since I would be paying about $2K for T,T,T instead of $1K. Also, if you want Honda Care Extended Warranty, I believe the going rate is about $750 so NEGOTIATE that into the deal! You are the BOSS!!!!! It is YOUR money!!
You tried Oakland Honda? In my previous experience of working with them, they sound like they're willing to negotiate with you. They always asked me to come in that night to talk prices. With a pregnant wife and an active 2 year old, I don't think so. I'm not going anywhere until I see the price in writing. I even had my dealership deliver my van to my front door for free because we didn't want to go to the dealership.
But maybe you can catch them in a sales mood in 2 weeks.
Everyday you can wait is another day of more Sienna hitting the road and one less competition for your Ody. So it really depends on your timing and patience.
Good luck.
BTW: Did you delete your own posting? Because it looked like I replied to your original posting in 3702 and there's no 3701?
Sometimes I delete duplicate messages (usually happens when you post and then refresh your screen without going elsewhere on Town Hall first). But I try to clean up the later duplicates not the original.
Finally, occasionally our server will hiccup and lose messages. No recent complaints that this has happened. In any event, the messages are supposed to renumber so there's no gaps, like the mysterious 3701.
More housekeeping details than you wanted, I know :-)
Steve, Host
Thanks for the info.
I know either you or the original poster can delete their own posts (wouldn't be utter chaos if we can all delete each other's posts?).
It's just I remember that name and I replied to him awhile back and now I went back to see his original question and I can't find it. So if you read my post as is, you'd think I gone off the deep end and started talking /replying to myself referring to an non existent post...
Beats me what happened to the other message :-)
If you want real chaos, think what would happen if you could edit other's posts. It's tricky sometimes even with the 30 minute edit window for editing your own posts. Hosts can only edit their own posts in that 30 minute window too (otherwise I would have fixed my renumbering comment).
Steve, Host
I know someone who emailed me back to thank me for the information I emailed them in regards the dealer I purchased from and other dealers in our area. He then told me he was able to get $1k off of MSRP. I didn't want to be rude and say that's it, but at the same time I was shock because that was only 50% of my discount.
I spoke to my salesman the other day to find out how my leads were doing and if he was happy with them. He thank me, and he also instructed me just to tell them to call him and not mention any price. This leads me to believe that there is no way he would be able to offer that discount to anyone else at this time.
Again to you and everyone else, if you can wait than do so, it can only help you. Don't get too stuck on numbers, decide on what discount will it take for you to pull the trigger. Don't worry about how much the salesman is making, just make the deal, get your number, pull the trigger and drive off into the sunset.
BTW, easier said than done. Good luck.
Andrewtran71 for the excellent response.
I got a MSRP deal from a local dealer and MSRP -
760 from a dealer 120 miles away. All the other
nearby dealers gave the same MSRP rates for EX-L
with Nav (no DVD). Sales tax is 3.2% so, I am
on the same level of AndrewTran71. I have
received MSRP - 1K from a MD dealer, which I am going to followup tomorrow.
Because we bought the unit from an Alabama dealer who delivered the car to our door and we did all of our negotiations over the internet and phone we never actually set foot in a dealership during the whole process! We did visit a dealer a couple of months ago to take a look but tonight was the first time I had ever driven an Ody even though I had already paid for it. I though the Ody drove great! That this was my first drive may sound crazy but to me there were only two real choices- the Sienna and the Ody (this summer will include the Quest). After I realized that the Sienna we would be happy with would run about $5,000 more than the Ody (given today's markets and limited Sienna discounts) I did not need to drive the Ody to decide to buy. Plus I had ridden in my brother in law's Ody several times.
In looking at the Ody versus Sienna page tonight I was somewhat surprised to see some buyers indicating they are paying only 2% over invoice for Siennas. To be honest, I don't really believe they are getting these deals- it makes no sense unless they are ordering to wait for months (this statement may create a stir). Here in Atlanta, most dealers have between 0 and 2 Siennas on the lot- not the conditions conducive to discounting. One Toyota salesman I had spoken with when the Sienna was introduced in March recently told me that the demand for the new Sienna was greater than his dealership had anticipated and there would be no significant discounting for a few months. Further, for buyers subject to the Southeast Toyota Distributor Sienna program the only way to get the Sienna options we wanted would be to overbuy and get the XLE Limited (or do a special order).
Anyway, back to my Ody purchase. Hopefully Steve will not get angry for my listing of dealers. We bought the Ody from Sunny King Honda in Anniston Alabama. Here in the Atlanta area the closest competitors were Honda Carland (somewhat surprisingly) and Carey Paul Honda. The big disappointment was Gwinnett Place Honda- they must have 30 Odys on the lot but they did not come within $800 of my purchase price. Sunny King is known for having pretty good deals. They have to in order to entice Atlantans to buy from a dealer 100 miles away (although few Atlantans actually travel there as they will deliver to your door). But in the end, I don't think the buy was dealer specific as much as timing- I found dealers who had the model and color we wanted and were in the mood to move the product when my e-mail came in.
PS- I was able to get the final price to come in about another $300 from the original quotes by playing the leading 3 dealers off one another.
Good Luck to everyone else. I really learned a lot from the Edmunds pages.
Rboyd4 - Congrats on the Ody! Like it says in the discussion header (I know, no one must read that stuff up top), it's fine to mention dealer names. We just don't want people to tout individual salespeople and fill the discussion up with "bird dog" fee posts. Kind of like what Lapvn is hinting at :-)
Steve, Host
What are you going to do with all the money you saved from not buying the Sienna?
Harry is going to buy 100 boxes of diapers.
I am going to try to take a family trip.
Your $5k figure is right in the area where I have been SCREEMING about in regards the pricing difference with the Sienna, and I got labled a "Bitter Ody Owner."
Again CONGRATULATIONS. And if you are like me, you will be up late night posting on Edmunds because after two weeks I am still excited about my Ody.
Like I said in 3702, I don't understand how Dublin can sit on that many Odys (37 plus) and not making deals. They've been at this level at couple months now. Oakland sound like they're willing to do thing with you, but I'd imagine you have to prepare to a haggling deal as they were aggressive in calling me/emailing me weekly and say "come in now with any deals you get from other dealership and we'll beat it."
Would you mind letting me know which Chicago area dealer you bought the LX from for $500 over invoice? We're going to be looking for an LX in the next month, and aren't far from Chicago. Thanks!
Like you said, there's certain element of luck in getting deals on any given week (depending on their mood/ internal sales target). As I have communicated with various people in my area, the dealer with the highest inventory doesn't always imply the biggest discounts. Some other dealership prefer the "fast turnover" business model where as soon as they get an Ody in, they email/call all their contacts and see if they can move that in 7 days or less. So it depends on the dealership you pick and luck on getting the color your family likes.
We too bought over internet/phone and had the van delivered to our house. But our dealership was only 20 miles away. I think yours is across Stateline, so how far is that drive? I assumed you looked at all the requirements of GA's DMV for bringing cars from out of state?
As for the Sienna, you can say anything you like about the Sienna on "this side of the fence" and nobody will give you flak as them Sienna boys have no interest in finding out what we all paid for our Odys, even after I told them to come over here to check out our claims that Ody owners are saying the gap is $5K. But if you want some "controversy", go over to the Ody versus Sienna board and post your statements and I guarantee that you will get reactions. But for lapvn, Andrew and myself, that's the "fun" part of it and being labeled "bitter" Ody owners is just part of the ammo we love to use against them.
Given the pricing of Sienna is so regionalized right now, your savings can range from $3K to $5K on the EX and higher model. But then Odys prices are regionalized as well. So everyone needs to do their homework before they sign on the bottom line on what the savings is worth to them. For me with a newborn in 2 months (still haven't picked a name yet, spending too much time debating with the Sienna boys), the savings is 100 plus jumbo boxes of diapers from Costco for my new son. With your $5K savings, that's enough to buy formulas/clothes/toys to boot...
I called several Central Florida dealers and Classic Honda had the best price: $1000 off MSRP with no dealer add-ons or fees.
The dealer had to trade for my van so I ended up with $900 off MSRP. This dealer has an internet department with internet sales people. They know how to negotiate with savvy customers.
I got my color and model in three days time.
My wife loves the van.
But seriously, before April, I have never even saw an add in the news paper for the Odyssey, much less any discounts. Now, I'm seeing adds for $2K off MSRP on every Odyssey model! Guys, sometimes I feel like if we could have waited until June, we probably could have gotten $2.5-3K off all Odyssey models. But what we need to focus on is the fact that the Odyssey is a well proven quality vehicle that has aged well into it's final years before the redesigned model, which like all newly designed vehicles such as the Sienna may have a few bugs to sort out. Congrats to all of us who got a good deal on our Odysseys.
NAVs for everyone! Oh, and no car tax!!!!!
As stated above, the dealer is Sunny King Honda they list Anniston Alabama at their location but technically, I think they are in Oxford. Oxford is roughly midway between Atlanta and Birmingham on I-20. They also have the distinction (I think) of being the closest Honda dealer to the Ody plant.
Bmartin5, I think if you go to Honda.com and search for this dealership you can pull up their webpage. I simply used the dealers "quick quote" feature to e-mail for a price check (almost all Honda dealers have this on their webpage). I was very specific in these e-mails about what I wanted and what I wanted to pay. The dealer also has 1-800 number- its probably on their webpage. As to delivery area for free I have no idea but I know they at least deliver to a 100 mile radius. If you get a great deal, maybe you could meet them halfway.
Harryfat- I am not sure of the exact distance but I would guess the dealership is about 100 miles from my house so the Ody did have a few miles on it when delivered. However, there are positives, with them driving to me- what is the likelihood of a bait and switch after the dealer drives 100 miles to get an Ody in my driveway? As to title issues- buying out of state issues, I don't think there are any real issues. The Alabama dealer is applying for our Georgia title. My sister who is also in the automotive business did not identify any problems with buying a vehicle out of state.
Lapvn- we have a 6 week old plus a 2.5 year old so we could apply the savings to diapers but I suspect my wife will find another "use" for the savings. After owning the Ody for a few days I am more convinced than ever that we did the right thing- the Ody is so good I am not sure what the extra $4,000 to $5,000 on a Sienna would have gotten us except a few niceties such as memory seats, roll down second window, etc. The only meaningful improvements IMO is the 60/40 rear seat, the traction control, and the more complete airbag package. These are all good incremental improvements that I am sure the new Ody will have in a year or so but are they worth say, $4,500 more? I think not. Plus we have a proven model with several years of production under its belt. As good as Toyota is, I am confident there will be a couple of inevitable problems with a new model.
andrewtran- I agree about ads for Odys- it was about 4-6 weeks ago that I first even saw an advertisement for the product. Earlier, it was selling so well the dealers did not need to advertise. As to future pricing, I also agree, by July/August with the new Quest also in the mix, I would suspect buyers to be able to beat my deal by a few hundred more.
Well, tomorrow we get to really try the product out- 535 mile road trip with the whole family. Already tonight I loaded the Ody up "clampett" (sp?) style with all of our "necessities." Amazingly, it all fit in the cargo area.
Couple of last notes- our annual insurance premium is only $641 which is almost exactly the same as my wife's '95 Altima (same exact liability coverages). This is amazing- a new $28,000 product insures for the same as a $4,500 used car! My insurance guy tells me that minivans are real inexpensive to insure- I wonder if it works that way for SUVs? The Ody does have a timing belt- I did not know that until delivery. As a Nissan/Infiniti guy I assumed that all the Japanese manufacturers had gotten away from timing belts (both my '92 Infiniti and my wife's Altima have timing chains). Not sure what timing belt replacement costs in an Ody but I am sure it is several hundred dollars. If you are a long term hold like me, having this replacement expense at 105,000 miles versus not having the expense for a Sienna does tend (in the long run) to reduce the price gap compared to a Sienna. Does anyone have any thoughts about the timing belts versus chains issue? Is Honda about the only one left still using them?
At this point I am a happy customer with no second thoughts although I will probably look at the Quest when it comes out just to see....
Net/net, 2003 Ody EX, Leather, DVD, MSRP of $30,360, her price $27,860. The 7/100K 0 extended warranty was $950. They also gave her a very good number on her trade. The dealership was professional, no hard sales tactics, etc. . .very pleasurable - John Eagle Honda in Dallas.
Adam
Just a note on your clampett style packing. The other night we went to BJ and fit everything we purchased nice and easy, all in the cargo area. I was somewhat disappointed, there was no mystery in it.
If we were still using our "egra" we would have been worried about how and if everything we bought would fit in the car. And let me tell you, that "egra" has some hidden space that we pack it in there. I think the car somehow expands the more stuff we put in it. With the Ody, I just pile it on and its done.
You do realize that Edmunds charges you per the word you type and host Steve gets a % of that in sales commission? With your long post, better be ready to whip out that VISA when Edmunds sends you the bill.
I was just nosy/curious on how far dealerships will deliver for "free" before they charge you a fee? Wasn't looking for an "exact Yahoo mapping of 114.7 miles from dealership to home" reply. This way in the future if others wanted to know the range of free delivery, they will have an idea.
Like I said over on the Ody versus Sienna boards (you should post your purchase there with your price savings and have them Sienna boys trying to dispute your "big savings". Loads of fun), there's certain value to be placed in having a van for the Easter break vacation with the family. Seems to me most of the lower priced Sienna deals are for "later delivery" vans in June or later. Last I heard, you can't pack the family on a 500 plus miles trip into a piece of paper from the Toyota dealer promising "you will get a van in 2 months". There's certain intangible value to be placed in having a van NOW.
Any rate, congrats on the van and happy family vacationing.
Sorry wasn't much of help in your van buying process as my knowledge of FL dealership is nil. But glad you got a great deal and enjoyed the experience.
I know in your earlier post you had mentioned you were looking at the Sienna and Quest, was it a tough choice for you? As I'm sure many people are probably struggling with the same decision making process, so if you can share what/how you decided on the Odyssey (the process is more important than the actual decision), others may benefit from your experience.
The whole deal was done over the phone/internet. I did get dealers to play off of each other, but they are catching on and some would not send fax or e-mail quotes to be used for this purpose. I purchased at the Honda Dealer in Dublin, California. Use the Fleet manager or his assistant. They were excellent. After consummating the deal on the phone,I went in the next day to complete all paper work. It was all prepared and all I had to do was check out the vehicle. Once again many many thanks to those who have contributed in the past few months. You made a difference.
Since many of you are shopping for diapers... The fleet manager pointed out how the back area could be used as a diaper changing station. It's covered, fold the seat over and its padded, or fold the seat into the well and it's flat. I hadn't even thought about it. Makes sense...... I used to use the trunk so I didn't have to crawl into the back seat.
Happy Easter and Happy Shopping!
Congrats on the new van! And this time you didn't even delete your own email, you're getting to be an old pro at this.
Glad you were able to get a deal out of Dublin. They gave me a much higher quote a month ago when I bought mine. But I guess I didn't' have the patience to go back and forth to knock them down. I just went with my two lowest quotes and then played on that.
You da man getting a van for your wife's birthday. Glad my wife doesn't read these boards or she'll want something nice/expensive for her birthday as well. Maybe lapvn or Andrew are nicer husbands and they buy their wives fancy stuff for their birthdays. But I'm sure Andrew would have tried to persuaded you to get the NAV...
Haven't tried the diaper change in the van yet. But others have suggested that as well. When the new one arrives in 2 months and I take my $4000 in savings from not buying a Sienna and buy the 100 boxes of Costco size diapers, then I will put it to the test.
Again congrats. What's the color of the new van? so when I see you on 580/880 with Dublin plates, I will honk. Or I could honk at EVERY Ody with a Dublin plate...
Don't be stranger and stay around here for a while to help other newbies...
Lapvn is the NJ expert in pricing, so I will let him answer your questions. This being the Easter holiday, the board is pretty quiet. You will have to wait until Monday for him to reply. Good luck.
Great on price, you should feel quite pleased knowing that you negotiated a good and fair deal.
Now that you have made your purchase we'll expect you to hangout and help out ;-).
Here's a toast to you and your family on enjoying your new ride.
PS - I'm the one with the Marin Honda plates...
thanks in advance.
I was a little disappointed as to gas mileage on my 535 mile journey on Thursday. Got about 21 mpg-driving about 80 mph on interstates in the South (may have been a headwind as we were heading due West). Of course the Ody has less than 1,000 miles on it so once the engine is broken in the mileage may pick up. My brother in law says his road mileage is about 23 mpg using the older Ody with 210 hp.
Looks like bmartin5 beat my deal by about $200. I suspect in a few weeks the posts will reflect purchases of EXL-RES in the mid $27s.
Love the van no problems or defects.