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Honda Element Prices Paid and Buying Experience
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The daft one
Vehicles are transported by freight when they come from the factory to the dealership, but having been a car salesman not too long ago, I know for a fact that when doing a dealertrade the cars are typically driven from one dealership to the other and it's not completely uncommon for someone to reject the vehicle afterwards. Honestly, if you like the car, I say go for it.
my wife and i are going to look at an element, same model as yours, also at west hills honda in bremerton. same price. we are looking for a sunset orange and they have two in stock right now plus the low financing.
everything worked out well - just two phone calls from the east side of the sound where we live.
only glitch which couldn't be helped was we had planned (hoped, thought) that maybe we could register and license the car in utah where we also have residence and thereby get a lower sales tax of 6.25% instead of seattle area of 8.9% - 9.3%.
but they said the state wouldn't let someone pay the tax in another state even if they have residence there - IF they have a residence in washington too.
we are purchasing another vehicle from dave smith in kellog, idaho and there it's no problem i guess since we have no residence in idaho.
but it's still a good deal and convenient for us since the only other dealers that offered similar price were in salem/beaverton or salt lake city which would involve a lot more driving and time too.
and the west hills dealership is very professional unlike the other dealers i talked with in the seattle area proper.
mike
mike
Barry in Santa Rosa, CA
More importantly, if you're comfortable following OEM instructions, I recommend these options from handaaccessories.com:
Side Rails - 8 bolts per side
Roof Rack - 6 bolts per side
Carpeted Mats - 3 screws
Cargo Mat - no additional parts
Bumper Guard
Wheel Locks
It would've cost 2-3x more if I had my dealer put these on. I had all of the above installed on my car within an hour.
Happy Shopping!
Andy
As far as the 2WD vs. the 4WD: Why do you recommend the 4WD (or.."all wheel drive") over the 2WD? Since I live in California and don't drive in the snow, save for a possible occasional trip to ski in the Sierra, how would I benefit from the 4WD option. It costs more, and the brochure states that the gas mileage drops off by 2 miles per gallon. I could see adding the 4WD option if I lived in wet/snowy weather all the time, or if I planned to do some off-roading, but such is not the case. Also, is it possible that if I ever sell the vehicle, I would get a better price because more people want the 4WD option? Or, does the 4WD just handle better?
Thanks, Barry in California
For some reason it seems like everyone's invoice price across the US is different. I know the invoice in and around Metro Detroit is about $20,585 including destination. Add to that the $170 doc fee, tax, title and plate, and you're looking at a little over $22,000 - IF you get an invoice price. My question is whether or not it's actually fair to ask for less than invoice. Yeah, we know the dealer is making money regardless, but I feel bad asking for less than invoice. The markup on Honda vehicles is only about $2,000, which doesn't seem unreasonable. What's the "hold back" that you guys are talking about?
I hope I don't sound like an idiot, but I guess I'm just really in the dark about what's fair, to everyone involved. Thanks for the info in advance.
Another thing to keep in mind is that, while the Element doesn't have many options, it does have "accessories" that, especially when installation is taken into account, can vary a lot in price from dealer to dealer. For example, if you're considering buying fog lamps or a roof rack--two fairly common accessories--when you purchase the vehicle, you have to be sure you're not overpaying for those (and their installation) in order to subsidize a lower purchase price. Good luck.
so far the lowest price i got was $20,485.00 that includes Destination charges($515.00)
at Mt. Kisco honda, here in New York.
The Tax, doc, and dmv fees are not included. IM sure the Tax is going to be like $1,600.00. tax here in NY is a killer!
Anyways that price i got from them im going to show it to my Local Dealer and see if they could beat it and get a better price, which im sure they will.
I just have a Question for you all...... Does the 05 E , EX come with the alarm?? if not im going to haggle for that too. and later on ill buy the accessories online either from ebay or handa-accessories.com
Thanks!
Keep haggling - you'll get your price.
Andy
In this discussion, most members are seeking pricing information or which dealerships are good. To ask those who already own the vehicle what kind of experience they're having, visit our regular Honda Element discussion, and owners will be happy to give you feedback.
kirstie_h
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I paid $17,995 including destination fee. No trade-in.
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The qoute for a 2005 Element LX 2WD Auto is $18,227 drive out qoute (includes TT&L and other fees). Dealer says that it is $17,000 and the fees are $1227.
Is this a good deal?
If anyone recently bought one in Dallas, please email me and share with me your experiences
K.
Of course I plan to negotiate for better, but I am curious about reactions from others here...
Also - I've met with a rep at this same dealership twice & test drove this & the CR-V. I then used an internet pricing service & this dealership was one of the 4 that responded. What are the ethics of this? I now have 2 reps at the dealership.
Thoughts appreciated!
TDI Blues
I had shopped other SUVs and went in to test the CRV. I went in on Thursday night to test drive and brought my car in at 8:30 a.m. on Friday for an appraisal. They gave me good numbers but I told them I had to leave on a trip by 10:30-11:00 and I would add about 800 mile to the odometer by Monday. The dealer got the paper work finished, let me borrow a service car to go home and finish packing and I had everything signed and was drivng my new car, washed, tire shine, full tank, out of the lot at 10:45 a.m.!! Absolutely the BEST car buying experience I have ever had.
Today (7/30/2005), I went to a Honda dealership in Massachusetts (a big one in Norwood) and bought my new 2005 Honda Element EX AWD model with automatic transmission. After the negociation, my final price was $20,200 + state sales tax (at 5%) + $198 doc fee + $65 some fee. For your information, the list price (MSRP) of the 2005 Element EX AWD w/ auto trans is $22,240. It has just about every thing usesful.
I didn't get any free floor mat or other freebies, though. I did get the 3.9%, 60 months auto loan rate from Honda. Honda offers this rate till Sept 1st.
Now please tell me did I pay too much on the doc fee? How much should it be? I told the dealer I could get the any necessory doc from the government next Monday. So I could save this fee. But, he insisted that it must be done at their dealership. I knew it was a way they to make extra money on me, but I was too tired and just paid them. Thanks for listening.
p.s. on the way home (about 25 miles distance), my first driving impression of this vehicle is good.
However, the front windsheld bins did have blocked some front view (having a blind spot in the front each side). So be careful about this problem, and see if you can get used to it when you consider buying the Element.
No pressure, just nice people. good selection for clearance sale, but get internet
quote first.
Good luck! I love driving it!
I'm looking for the best deal on an Element in either Mass, New Hampshire, or Vermont- which dealer did you use and where is he? Does anyone else have an invoice-or-better deal? If so, where?
There is a larger volume dealership in Northampton (Lia) but I couldn't even get a dealer to take enough time to let me test drive when I went in. They were having a sale and were very busy on the day I was there, but even so . . .
I believe that their sale is over now, though.
Thanks in advance!
-Diego
In retrospect there were 2 things that hit me: 1) The dealer was able to get me better financing than I was able to get independently. I initially went through HFS online and got a "pre-approval". I would NOT recommend this to anyone else. The dealer got me a better deal by calling HFS directly. 2) I did a LOT of research on different vehicles before I bought. While the Element fit all my criteria, I wasn't convinced that it was THE vehicle that I wanted. After this weekend of mountain-biking and running errands, I couldn't be happier! If you are looking but on the fence as I was, ask your dealer to let you drive one for a weekend.
Final thought: the 5spd is a lot of fun- very peppy compared to the auto, and has excellent gear spacing/ratios so you're never having to push the car to get power. 21mpg so far, and loving it! Currently looking for accessories at Handa Automotive.com... anyone getting things cheaper elsewhere?