Thanks for the earlier responses. Since I posted earlier, I saw my first SOP at the dealer's, and I've decided I'm more a SOP-type than a GG-type. If I'm going to drive around in a box, it may as well be a bright box. Anyway, I'm totally hooked and I'm going for the SOP 4wd EX. The dealer has one due in before the end of the month that I could get.

So, here's the question: Dealer will go $600 below MSRP, and I was really hoping to go more like $1000-1200 below. Is it worth it to keep shopping? My nearest large urban areas with multiple dealers are 3-4 hours away so my options are to try that or to look on line. Are E's more available in large mid-Atlantic cities (e.g., Charlotte, Richmond, DC area)?

Thanks for the help! This is a great site- I've gotten lots of useful information while browsing the threads.

Foxtail - Let me put things in perspective. At this time, you're getting a deal great number us would kill to have. I paid sticker and many more paid sticker plus. If you can get exactly what you want (the highly sought -after SOP), by all means go for it. You won't regret it.

For $600 I would sooner go with a local dealer that you can establish a good relationship with, which comes in handy when you need repairs and maintenance done. When I bought mine, I kindly told the salesperson that "I'm not interested in trying to get rock bottom dollar and leveraging him against competition" and so on. "My preference is to go through you because you're local and I expect you'll take good care of me the next time I come in."

Long story short, he came back with $800 off MSRP and I felt that was fair. Besides, what I've been reading suggests this was a fair price for both me and the dealer.

I don't believe car sales has to be the dollar haggering ordeal that so many dealerships make it today. In the end, you always get what you pay for...

Godspeed,
-Droidian

I personally would go with the local dealer....the relationship you build with your dealer will become priceless over time....consider maintaining your E and scheduled and unscheduled up-keep.

We got our 4WD EX Eternal Blue Pearl Auto from an excellent dealer that I know we will develop a longtime relationship with.....plus they took $700 off of sticker....and gave me $300 for my POS trade in that they originally told me to sell on my own....but said that they would give me $300 to help make the deal.

Bottom line....we live in St. Louis and considered buying from a dealer in Chicago....but decided that we would rather spend an extra few hundred dollars and deal with a local dealer that we can get to in 10mins 24 hours a day 7 days a week.....I think it really came doen to a greater peace of mind....as if buying a Honda wasn't enough :)

Both responses have reinforced the way I was leaning. I like this dealer- both the salesman and the sales manager- and if I buy and do the maintenance at the local dealer, they include 10 yr/100K mi power train warranty. Plus I would prefer to buy locally.

It's so nice to find a vehicle that I can get excited about owning. I love my aging Saturn ('95 with 162K miles), but it's time to move on. This is just such a cool car!

Foxtail, you sound just like me a week ago. I thought I wanted GG, then saw an SOP and really just had to have it. I was literally on the way to a dealer in a larger city, when I found a smaller dealership that had 1/2 dozen E's in stock, including the exact SOP AWD auto EX that I wanted. When I ran the payment numbers, driving to a dealership that I had no intention of ever going back to, just to try to save a few hundred more made no sense. I elected to get exactly what I wanted from a dealership known for it's service department, and close enough to me that I'll actually use them.

Try this as an experiment. Run one of the financial tools that takes into account your trade, (if any), your downpayment, and computes monthly payments based on sales price and interest rate. Run it with both an MSRP minus $600 based price and then with a MSRP minus $1200 price. (or whatever) When I did that, I came away convinced that over the length of the average auto loan, the difference wasn't enough to agonize over.

Yep, natural, that's me. It's approaching a craving, but I'll have to restrain it, as the car I want won't be here for about 2 weeks.

I've pretty much decided to stay with the local dealer. I'm heading there in the morning to finalize the deal. Still hoping for a little more flexibility, but I'll go with it regardless. (Please don't let my sales manager be reading this!) And I'm going to promise myself not to agonize when I hear that people in Chicago can get the same car for $2K less.

Reading the posts here have been both good and bad. Good, of course, because I've gotten lots of helpful information, and learned that many are paying MSRP+, so I am getting a good deal. Bad, because I of course don't want to hear that others are paying less. :(

So, thanks to all for the advice. Hopefully, the next time I write, I'll have signed on the line and will be waiting for my SOP. Then, my next post will be for advice on the best way to install XM.

Foxy, ya gotta just forget what others pay and do what feels right for you. Look at it this way: Chicagolanders may save a good chunk on E's, but they can't just drive to the beach or the mountains whenever they have a few extra weekend hours. Coasters, whether East Coast or West Coast, have always paid a premium to live where we do. This is no knock on Chicago or any other place, just an observation about how little it matters in the big picture when some boffo posts about getting his E at a bit less. So what? I'm sure that there are or will be people that got/get them for free. I don't much worry about not being Bill Gates, either. :-)

Oh, hey. What's the XM thing? Don't get that one.

I meant XM radio, Nat. I've had it in my Saturn since last summer, and have been trying to figure the best way to install it in my soon-to-be-E. I bought an in-dash XM ready system in my Saturn, but since the EX comes with a CD player, I'll have to add on an XM system...which gives me the perfect excuse to upgrade to a Delphi SkiFi system. All of which is probably totally incomprehensible to anyone who isn't an XM fan. Sorry!

Anyway, XM is satellite radio. Absolutely wonderful. My husband wanted it, so I bought his for him as a birthday present last year, thinking it was just another boy-toy. Got mine 2 weeks later.

Here in Chicago we have very nice beaches that run well over 8 to 10 miles along the coast. Our neighboors like Indiana Dunes and Wisconsin dells provide plenty of beaches and mountains.

We also have the finest resturants, museums, art, diverse cultures and shopping! :wink: