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Go to the 'Dealer Holdback' board, and let the salespeople there pile on you about how it's not profit for the dealership, they need it to pay the light bill, yada, yada....
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Find me at kirstie_h@edmunds.com - or send a private message by clicking on my name.
2015 Kia Soul, 2021 Subaru Forester (kirstie_h), 2024 GMC Sierra 1500 (mr. kirstie_h)
Review your vehicle
EX: $27627
EXL: $29648
EXL with RES: $31086
While this is below MSRP this is still not as close to invoice as I want. Any advice anyone or know of any dealers that are willing to deal?
At the end of January I started looking again and saw that College Hills Honda in Wooster, OH (in the Northeast part of the state, near Akron), was offering all in-stock Odysseys at $100 over invoice (reduced to 1 cent over in early February). Although they didn't have any R&N Touring models, I thought...hmmmm...and so began a search for one. Previously, I had considered an R&N a poor value given its prevailing street price compared to that of the base Touring.
First stop was at Park Honda in Akron. They had one in stock and offered it at invoice when informed of College Hills' pricing.
Next was Hugh White Honda in Columbus - where we've bought 3 new Hondas since 1998 from the same salesman. They offered to match Park's price.
Now, this was complicated by the fact that I had not one but two late model trades. As it developed, though, all stores contacted offered essentially same combined money (within $500) for the cars on trade (and those numbers were, if anything, a tad on the generous side).
Then I headed for a brand new dealer outside of Columbus in Marysville (yes, the same place where Accords are built). Was able to negotiate with the owner who bettered White's numbers. Went back to White and they (barely) beat Marysville's offer. This made the transaction (including trades) $900 more in my favor than the original offer from Park.
To double check the numbers, I then went to John Hinderer Honda in Newark (also just outside Columbus). While they would match the trade figures I'd gotten at White, the best they would do on the new unit was 3% over invoice.
After all that I was still undecided about whether to make the deal until last week when Honda raised prices. While the MSRP on a Touring R&N went up (like all Odysseys) $200, the invoice jumped $600! THAT finally got me off the fence and I concluded the transaction last night with Hugh White.
Purchase price was $34,558 (the "old" invoice price). Included in that price were splash guards, fenderwell moldings, all weather mats, and a cargo tray (about $400 worth of accessories). The doc fee (limited by state law) was $100. Title fee was $15. And that was it - no sales tax was levied as Ohio allow a credit for trade value.
Fortunately, the vehicle was built earlier this month and came with the latest Nav release (version 4.13A). I don't know the VIN breakpoint for this release but anyone contemplating an R&N should check to make sure the vehicle has the newest DVD.
I would recommend Hugh White and would encourage anyone looking for a good price to contact them (and/or any of the other stores I've mentioned). Others here have also had good luck at Jay Honda in Cleveland and The Honda Store in Youngstown.
I quoted by internet and the lowest offer that I got so far is $28,810, it is a good offer? Please help and I will definitely buy it next week. Thanks!
later
As isell has posted, there are very few buyers who want the LX model.
Willey Honda also has a Demonstrator 2005 Ocean Mist Metallic Ody EX-L-NAV that can not be sold. It is to be used only by people who want to test drive the 2005 Odyssey and can not be driven home at night by the salesmen.
Anyway, it Edmunds $27034 invoice correct or is it the old invoice?
If so, what is current invoice?
My question is...how do you get them to offer such great prices? In my experience, I get a lot of pressure to 'if you will take THIS one off my lot TODAY, then we will give it to you for X'. It appears that you were able to get a great offer and make it out the door to use that offer to make a better deal at the next dealer.
I'm in Houston, where the offers that I'm getting are closer to MSRP than Invoice. Unfortunately, I can't go to your dealers, but some strategy tips would be helpful.
One other Q: Is NAV firmware version visible somewhere?
over time. It has been extremely helpful in determining pricing,
availability and regional differences. Now it's my turn to share and hopefully
help others.
I recently purchased a Silver Pearl EX-L at Invoice from a local
dealer, John Holtz Honda, in Rochester, NY. I was very pleased with my buying
experience and would encourage others to consider buying from them,
especially through their Internet Salesman. He treated me
in a highly polished, and professional manner throughout the process and
we quickly settled on a price for a straight cash deal. There were no
surprises like high doc. fees, pushing dealer installed options,
warranties, etc. I also had an older trade-in that we couldn't come to terms
on. But that also worked out since I sold it to the first buyer for
significantly more that I was willing to take on a trade-in. I probably
should have bought a lottery ticket too!
I think several factors helped me secure this deal. First, I e-mailed a
request for quote to almost 40 different dealers throughout the region
encompassing about a 250 mile radius. I took the suggestion from
someone in this forum to state in that request that I was familiar with the
vehicle's MSRP, Invoice and Holdback and what I'd be willing to pay,
which in my case was "slightly" over Invoice. I was amazed how many
dealers quickly engaged and were forth coming with reasonable and competitive
offers. Within a couple days, and numerous e-mails and phone calls, the
process settled out and I had several dealers at Invoice, a few others
less than $500 over Invoice and about ten dealers at $500 over Invoice.
Many of those deals had no other back end fees, just normal NYS
registration fees. To top it off, the majority had the vehicle in stock (and
sometimes even several).
The only thing I'd do differently next time would be to solicit from
fewer dealers because I felt obligated to correspond with everyone - even
those dealers that were "fishing" or didn't have competitive quotes.
Forms letters helped, but the tweaking still added up. As noted by
others, a number of dealers won't engage, or do so much slower than others,
which is hard to predict. One upside was I got a great snapshot in time
of this vehicle's availability in my general vicinity. If anyone in
this forum are interested in my experience with others dealers in this
region, I'd happy to share what I can. Ultimately, I only struck one deal
and therefore can't say much for other dealers beyond the quoting
process. That said, there were clear differences, beyond price, which
shorten my list considerably.
Good luck to those of you positioning to buy a new Odyssey. We've only
had ours a short time, but it certainly seems worthy of all the
accolades.
Garcia Honda (Albuquerque, NM) – visited in person and were quoted $29,500. They have a “no haggle” program, and aren’t kidding about it – they would not negotiate with any other offer we brought them.
Perfection Honda (Albuquerque, NM) – horrible! We were referred to them through the Costco auto program (what a joke -- $500 off MSRP). They wanted to sell me a specific car on their lot with $500 of options I’d never pay for. Said they could “go down” to $30K and wanted me to call my husband so we could “wrap up this deal.” Deal!? I was there, very pregnant and with a toddler, and I walked away as fast as I could. When we came to them with other offers later, they claimed they could go under $28K, but never came through. Much good cop/bad cop drama between the salesperson and sales manager. Tiring.
Berger Honda (Clovis, NM) – in phone negotiations, went down to $27,700 (provided in writing) and offered to deliver the car to ABQ for $50. Unfortunately, the salesperson wasn’t very responsive (slow to return calls, etc. until he heard we were going elsewhere) and they didn’t have our first choice color.
After waiting on Berger a bit, I emailed a few other dealers in the state with their offer and asked if they could match it:
Borman Honda (Las Cruces, NM) – emailed back within an hour offering $27,600 and our first-choice color (Sage Green Pearl). Seemed too good to be true, but they faxed a Purchase Order with the VIN, etc. Wouldn’t take a deposit, but my husband drove down early this morning to pick up the vehicle. Completely clean transaction – no hassles whatsoever.
Hanson Honda (Farmington, NM) – emailed back within an hour saying they’d match $27,700 but as of today (4 days later) still hasn’t told me what they have in stock.
Roswell Honda (Roswell, NM) -- emailed back saying they couldn’t match the price, and anyone selling at $27,700 must be bluffing.
The whole process took about a month. Very pleased with the outcome. Perhaps this info will be useful to those looking for Odysseys in Arizona/Colorado/Texas – if you don’t mind driving!
Normally, I use the internet methods described in the posts immediately preceeding this one and they have worked much the same to good affect.
Either way, one must strive to accomplish the same thing - to get dealers to compete for your business. There is always a store somewhere that is (for whatever reason)truly motivated to sell.
You can determine the navigation system information either on-screen or by examining the disc itself by ejecting it from the player under the driver's seat.
The prices went up on Feb 14th and web sites are still showing the old invoice price.
Thanks
On Wednesday night I filled out forms on 40 differnt dealer websites seeking quotes (thanks to the Google toolbar "auto-fill" function and some cut and paste, this was actually pretty easy). I put in very specific information about the color and options I wanted (none) and also included the fact that I was shopping at 40 dealers and would buy within days at the lowest price offered - including doc fees.
By Thursday at 5 pm, I had 3 offers to buy the car at old invoice - $27,548. I went ahead and bought the vehicle at Crown Honda in Charlotte and paid a $299 doc fee. I balked a little bit at the fee so the internet manager offered to throw in their detail package, which gives me 6 free detail cleanings over the next 3 years. They also threw in wheel locks, but they apparently do that for everyone.
The paperwork was done and we were out the door in less than 90 minutes. I was also able to secure the 3.29% financing from Honda Finance with the President's Day special because they extended that offer thru the 24th.
Nice added surprise was when we realized that this van had arrived at the dealer with the new pricing. Assuming that all the information out there is correct, that means that at $27,548, I actually got the van for $400 under invoice. Couldn't have asked for more.
Out the door for $27,548 + $299 fees + ttl. All in all, a great experience. I'd highly recommend the internet department at Crown Charlotte. Email me if you'd like the salesperson's contact information (my address is in my profile).
Honarable mention goes to AppleTree Honda in Fletcher, NC and Honda Cars of Rock Hill, SC. Both were offering invoice prices, but were slower to respond to my request.
Give Jack-o-Diamonds in Tyler an e-mail. It took a few days for the guy to get back with me but he threw me an awsome deal. I'm getting a Touring R&N for $575 over invoice. No haggleing involved. I put down my deposit and he is trying to locate one for me now.
The best deal I could muster up in Houston was Streater-Smith in Conroe, $2000 of msrp. Forget McDavid at this time they would only budge $500 off msrp. Everyone else wanted msrp.
Caveat-Since your are looking for a different base model then your mileage may vary.....
Slyk
However, I owe it to our dealer to let everyone in the Portland/Salem/Eugene area know about the fantastic service and price we got from the INTERNET MANAGER at KENDALL HONDA in Eugene, OR. My price was so good I was told not to tell anyone else. I live in Portland and it was well worth the drive to Eugene to pick it up. Everything was handled via email and phone and like other people have mentioned, other dealers in my area said the deal was too good to be true, but it wasn't at all. I was sick and tired of the games the dealers in Portland like to play and was very happy to give my business to Kendall's Honda. I believe they've been mentioned else where on this board, and now I see why! They're the best.
If you'd like the name of the internet manager or any other info, please let me know. My email is in my profile. Thanks again and best of luck to all those buying...Odysseys are the best!!!
I tried looking up your email in your profile, but it is marked as private.
I am in the Northern California/Oregon region and am shopping for the EX-L RES+NAV.
Which trim level and color did you get?
Can you give a ball park price range that you paid like $500 below Invoice, Invoice, or $1000 above Invoice?
Thanks!
I was looking for an EX, and I received offers as low as $27,500. In general, Houston seemed to have the most competion, but I got my absolute lowest quote from Freeman Honda in Dallas. Despite this, I ended up going with Greg May Honda (26K, $27,860 OTD) in Waco as I found their internet department to be very responsive and they worked with me to get the color I desired in an expedient manner and with low miles. Overall, it was a good experience, and I am very happy with my new car.
I appreciate everyone's contributions to the board. It has been of great assistance.
Thanks, Slyk
Not all dealers are willing to trade, either in general or in a specific situation. Also, a particular stores may do significant trading with one or more other stores that can sometimes work to your advantage (see below).
Trades can be arranged before a car hits the ground, i.e., a vehicle can be re-routed during shipment from the factory to a different store.
In my case, my relationship with my selling dealer was so good that they offered to let me personally pick up the vehicle from the dealer to which it had been originally shipped (for unrelated reasons this did not actually take place). Not only that but it was a unit they were "owed" (having apparently "given" the other store a comparable vehicle at some time in the past).
Perhaps most importantly, if you are getting a car via dealer trade, expect that it will have a few miles on it - flat-bedded trades are not typical - because it will usually be driven between the trading stores.
Thanks!
I am requesting your best quote on a 2005 Odyssey EX-L. I do not want any add-ons. Please itemize your quote as to items such as document fee, etc. I am familiar with the MRSP, Invoice and Holdback.
I am looking for a with the interior. If you do not have this color in stock, please advise when it will be available.
I'd also tell them that you are ready to buy now.
I am looking for anyone with some experience purchasing a 2005 EX-L with DVD & NAV in Orange County, California. Specifically, what dealership was helpful and what price (before tax and license) did you pay.
Thanks for you help!
--DJ
If you're within a few hours drive, I would say it's worth contacting the internet sales manager.