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Car Buying Advice - Buying a 2017 Accord Coupe EX - Please Help!!!
Hello everyone! I haven't purchased a car in about a decade (since my 2008 Civic) and I'm looking for advice and information. Everyone here seems very knowledgable and helpful, so I'm hoping for some input on some questions.
About me: located in Southern California, interested in getting a black 2017 Accord EX Coupe. Getting a new car is not "necessary" or needed right away, so I'm looking to try and get a great deal. I have cash available to pay in full, but also have an 820 FICO and I'm potentially interested in their 0.9% 60 month financing. Looking to part ways with my 2008 Civic Coupe with 72k miles, but since money or time isn't really a concern, I'm thinking private sale is the way to go rather than dealer trade-in. Anyway, some of my questions:
Pricing - I see the invoice prices and "fair" prices online, but what should price should I really be aiming for if I'm willing to wait and shop around? And I'm assuming the negotiated price is typically before all the fees and taxes, so what should I expect all of those additional fees to be so I know if I'm being ripped off?
Model/Timing - I understand the Accord Coupe is being discontinued. So does that mean prices will be higher because it's the final model, or lower because dealers are trying to clear out stale inventory on a discontinued model? And is there any specific time that's best to buy? I've heard end of month, end of quarter, mid-week, etc. And is there any specific month or holiday coming up with special cash-back offers or anything?
Where to buy - Is it worth it to go visit multiple dealers? Or is it a good idea to just send emails/online messages to all nearby dealers stating what I want and asking for a price? Any tips on this?
Financing - I'd rather do financing and their 0.9% 60 month offer sounds good, but are there any hidden drawbacks there? Loan fees, underwriting fees, etc. that actually make it more expensive? And if I were willing to put $5k or $10k down, does that change anything?
Options - There are a couple potential options I was interested in (like the rear backup sensors, wireless phone charging dock, auto-dimming rearview mirror). How flexible are they on prices for those? I see the MSRP on their website, but I'm wondering how that would factor into the price and if it would be worth it.
Trade-in - I have a 2008 Civic Coupe with 72k miles, and I'm thinking I can get somewhere between $5k - $6k for it via private sale. I know dealers always pay significantly less, so is it even worth bringing that up? Any advantage to it being a Honda going to a Honda dealership?
Anything else I should know? Thanks in advance for reading and providing any feedback or suggestions!
About me: located in Southern California, interested in getting a black 2017 Accord EX Coupe. Getting a new car is not "necessary" or needed right away, so I'm looking to try and get a great deal. I have cash available to pay in full, but also have an 820 FICO and I'm potentially interested in their 0.9% 60 month financing. Looking to part ways with my 2008 Civic Coupe with 72k miles, but since money or time isn't really a concern, I'm thinking private sale is the way to go rather than dealer trade-in. Anyway, some of my questions:
Pricing - I see the invoice prices and "fair" prices online, but what should price should I really be aiming for if I'm willing to wait and shop around? And I'm assuming the negotiated price is typically before all the fees and taxes, so what should I expect all of those additional fees to be so I know if I'm being ripped off?
Model/Timing - I understand the Accord Coupe is being discontinued. So does that mean prices will be higher because it's the final model, or lower because dealers are trying to clear out stale inventory on a discontinued model? And is there any specific time that's best to buy? I've heard end of month, end of quarter, mid-week, etc. And is there any specific month or holiday coming up with special cash-back offers or anything?
Where to buy - Is it worth it to go visit multiple dealers? Or is it a good idea to just send emails/online messages to all nearby dealers stating what I want and asking for a price? Any tips on this?
Financing - I'd rather do financing and their 0.9% 60 month offer sounds good, but are there any hidden drawbacks there? Loan fees, underwriting fees, etc. that actually make it more expensive? And if I were willing to put $5k or $10k down, does that change anything?
Options - There are a couple potential options I was interested in (like the rear backup sensors, wireless phone charging dock, auto-dimming rearview mirror). How flexible are they on prices for those? I see the MSRP on their website, but I'm wondering how that would factor into the price and if it would be worth it.
Trade-in - I have a 2008 Civic Coupe with 72k miles, and I'm thinking I can get somewhere between $5k - $6k for it via private sale. I know dealers always pay significantly less, so is it even worth bringing that up? Any advantage to it being a Honda going to a Honda dealership?
Anything else I should know? Thanks in advance for reading and providing any feedback or suggestions!
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Answers
Pricing: you will want to consider holdabck and other credits: https://www.edmunds.com/car-buying/dealer-holdback/. We usually recommend starting 2-3% below our True Market Value (TMV) which is the estimated average price a car is selling for in your area. New car incentives might get better the longer you wait but remember, the inventory dwindles down and you'll have less to choose from. Used cars are a little different but there isn't really a benefit for waiting month. Try to find a car that is around 45-60 days old on the lot. You'll never know exactly what a dealership paid for the car but around that time frame they are feeling the pressure to get rid of the car.
Model/Timing: Prices are most likely going to be incentivized to sell. There wouldn't be any reason to raise the price. Remember, there are incentives from the manufacturer passed directly to the consumer (Rebates, Low APR, etc.) then there is the discount of MSRP. Dealerships are always going to try to maximize their profits. It will still take negotiating no matter what. End of the month is a great time because the dealership is motivated to hit their sales goals (and so is the salesperson). End of the quarter and end of the year are great times too as most dealers have goals set for those intervals. The only issue with buying a new car in the last few months of the year is that you might have limited inventory to choose from. Unfortunately, we don't know what the incentives will be like in the future.
I would get multiple dealerships involved competing for your business. The best deal is going to happen on the showroom floor for most people. You can communicate via email to narrow the competition down but most likely you'll have to be at the dealership to get the "best" deal.
Financing: There really isn't any hidden fees just the interest that you will pay. Confirm that there are no early payoff fees but typically there is nothing that you need to worry about. Dealer's get a kickback for getting you finacne so this might give you leverage to negotiate more off the car. It's not much of a kickback but if it can save you another $100-300, it might be worth bringing up.
Options: Honda has set trim levels. So whatever is standard on that trim level is all you can get (https://help.edmunds.com/hc/en-us/articles/206103007-Options-for-Honda-and-Acura). You can see what trim levels have what options here: https://www.edmunds.com/honda/accord/2017/sedan/review/
Trade-in: You will typically always get more if you privately sell it but you have to go through the hassle of selling it and dealing with potential buyers. We typically recommend going to a Carmax and having them give you an offer as a gauge for what your car is worth. You could always sell it to them outright or bring the written offer to the dealer and have them match or do better to earn your business.
I would recommend reading the articles that we have on our Advice page as you have a lot questions that can be answered by the articles we have in there.
Thanks so much for the feedback and resources, I really appreciate the help!
good luck................ John