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Ready to buy a new one? My proven strategy.

130K views 161 replies 95 participants last post by  joeBoxer 
#1 · (Edited)
Okay you've got Element fever and you want a new one - which at the time of this post is a 2006 (see my previous thread on 05 vs 06 pros and cons which applies to any year-end purchase decision). Here's my proven strategy on how to get your best price. Think of this as a periodic post to help you get the best deal. Remember, car dealers sell dozens if not hundreds of cars each month. YOU buy ONE every few years. Who do you think has the upper hand and advantage in this picture?

To begin, AVOID going to the circus atmosphere of the dealership as an "up" (a customer about to be pounced on when he innocently walks on to the lot) except to make your decisions on exactly what you want. In fact if you must go, do this at a dealer you are sure you won't buy from if possible. I like to do it at the high priced margin dealerships that would never meet my price, just to get back at them for being rippers. They think I'm a stroke - a time waster that will never buy, and because of their policy of making too much on each vehicle (imho), they are right. They'd call me a stroke, but I call them a rip. :D Again, don't go cold into a dealership except to decide what you want.

Once you are positive what you want, my strategy then is to use the FAX BLAST METHOD. You simply fax the Sales Managers of as many Honda dealerships as you can and YOU TELL THEM exactly how much you are willing to pay - it is most important that YOU SET THE PRICE and not waste time fishing for their best price or a quote, also specify the exact color and model you want and make it clear you are ready to buy NOW. You also include the following wording: "I am ready to buy TODAY! Please don't waste your time or mine trying to bump me on the price. We both know you could probably eventually sell one of these to someone else for more than I am willing to pay, but why not sell BOTH of us and roll another unit today?" Some of this is car dealer lingo so use those exact words in the last part. The important point here is that you don't fax, email or call around for quotes. Quotes will always be too high and you risk getting into ego based power struggles with the person giving you their price, which can mean that someone that might have met your price if you were just civil, calm and stated one time what you are willing to pay and stuck to it, will get emotional watching his profits get cut down and down and just refuse to sell you anything at all! Again, you state to them exactly what you are willing to pay. YOU must control the pricing! If you're shopping around by attempting to get a dealer's best quote, you will usually end up paying more than you have to and you will likely have gone through lots of back and forth frustration! Why put yourself through that?

By popular request, I've added what your fax or email should say:
Good morning (or afternoon or evening), it's a wonderful day to sell some vehicles! I'm a buyer for a 2008 Honda Element EX AWD, blah blah blah (exact model, color, transmission option, etc). My research shows me your dealer invoice price on this vehicle including destination is $20,xxx.xx. I am ready to buy one today at $19,xxx.xx plus tax and license. If you would like to move another Element please call me at (your phone number). i am ready to buy TODAY! Please don't waste your time or mine trying to bump me on the price. We both know that you could probably eventually sell one of these to someone else for more than I am willing to pay, but why not sell BOTH of us and roll another unit today? Sincerely, Smart Buyer (phone number and or email address again)
Sometimes you can deal with fleet and internet people and get a comparable deal by email or on the phone but remember sales managers can do house deals (no commissions to anyone working there) and of course they make the ultimate decision on how little profit is enough, based on what their ownership has mandated. So, why not go direct to the source? Remember if you try doing this over the phone or by email that it is still important that YOU tell them the exact price you want to pay. DON'T ask them to give you their best price! If they tell you they can't sell it that low, which they usually do, just say, "Well, I'm ready to buy one TODAY. Here's my phone number if you decide you want to sell me one for this price. We both know that you could probably find a customer to pay more, but why not sell BOTH of us and roll another unit?"

Eventually a dealer somewhere will meet your price if there is a profit in it and the supply is not outweighed by the demand. How much should you try for? Well, I believe $300 under their total dealer invoice price (not msrp!) including destination is a fair deal but I always try for $500 under - if there are incentives (money back to the dealer from Honda - add that amount in). It will be a little tougher to get this with the first few shipments of a new model year or for a brand new, first year model of an in demand vehicle (the old supply and demand equation) but once all the dealers are plentifully stocked up it is definitely doable! Remember too that though we are excited about the E, to the sales manager, fleet and internet manager it's just another unit he is paid to move off the lot and make a profit on. Plus, they have dozens of other Honda models and the E is not their best seller. Avoid showing excited emotions about your purchase until you are driving off the lot. If they sense you are hopelessly smitten, you will pay for it at some point in the transaction! Also, never mention you have a trade-in until you've got a firm price commitment on the new vehicle. Trading almost always means you will get less than you could if you sold it yourself but I understand that some people just don't want to hassle with it. I've sold lots of cars on eBay, Auto Trader or Cars.com with good results but I've also traded in a few too. When I did, I never mentioned my trade until I had a firm deal at my price on the new vehicle. Early in the transaction if they asked if I would be trading, I've just mentioned I would probably be selling it myself. Just an fyi: Car dealerships make way more profit on used vehicles than new ones!

One more tip: Carefully read over http://www.carbuyingtips.com for discussions on the pitfalls of buying a new car. BEWARE when you are signing the papers in the "lie-nance" manager's office!! That's when all your diligent efforts to secure your great deal can come crashing down in a few moments! My personal philosophy is don't buy anything extra, ever - though I wouldn't quibble over mud guards and wheel locks for less than a hundred bucks! Even Honda brand extended warranties can usually be had for less online, though i would never get one of these myself, mostly because i never keep a vehicle for longer than three years.

A few final points: DEALER FEES. In their never ending, creative way to pad their profits, some dealers have what they call "documentation" (or some other made up name) fees as high as $300 or more dollars. NO! I think that up to $50 might be fair but anything over that and it's time to find another dealer unless they agree not to charge them - which I've seen them do lots of time. I would also be okay with paying from $50 to $100 extra if they have to do a dealer trade (depending on the distance) and have to go pick it up at another dealer's store for you. Always beware of transit damage by the way! Don't assume because it is new that it's not had damage. This can happen on trucks or trains during transit or during dealer trades. I always look it over closely when I take delivery and even ask, "Has this vehicle had any transit damage?"

GOOD LUCK and happy motoring in your new E!

Click here to read my 2006 EXP buying experience, which I got for $500 under dealer invoice the first few weeks it came out.

Read this thread too! Very helpful!

PSS - I reluctantly parted with my EX-P on August 19, 2006 - ten months to the day from when I bought it. I sold it for $600 under what I paid for it (minus my extras) - which reinforces the old adage that you make your money on something when you BUY it:
http://www.elementownersclub.com/forums/showthread.php?t=26294
I did however buy my THIRD E recently (pictured in my sig) and will ALWAYS be in da club! ;-)
 
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#55 ·
Thanks for all the info! I'm heading out this saturday to look at some E's for potential purchase! Hopefully I can use your wisdom and knowledge you have imparted here!
 
#57 ·
LeslieM said:
I did ask to see the manager, that's when he let me leave with the vehicle. My husband called and yelled at the guy for treating his wife so badly....and he wrote a scathing e-mail to the president of the dealership.

Oh, and I made him wait a few more days before I took the final check in. Can't wait until Honda calls me! :)
if i was in your position i would have walked before i signed over the title to my trade or gave them any money, theres so many dealers out there its pointless to put yourself through dealing with a a-hole.
i had a very positive experiance buying my E. once i test drove a few different vehicles and decided a E was what i wanted i emailed every dealer in my area asking for a cash OTD price for the exact E i wanted, a 2wd LX manual trans in tangerine. i got one price that was $500 lower then the next closest and called the salesman to make a appointment to go pick the car up. i came in with a cashiers check in hand and he had my E all preped, detailed and ready to go. i was in and out in about 45-50 min.
for anyone in az, i strongly reccomend mike stanley, the internet manager at tempe honda. he said he would beat any written quote, and he will even transfer the vehicle for free if he has to to get the exact one you want.
 
#60 ·
New here...just got our E about 5 hrs ago! I used this method with Edmunds.com invoice up on my screen while I haggled with sales managers. I ended up paying around invoice but it compares to other prices on this thread so I'm happy. I went to the same dealership (that I eventually bought from) last weekend to test drive and see what the Element is like. To satisfy my curiosity I asked for a general pricing quote.

Last weekend walk-in quote: '07 Atomic Blue EX AWD $25,400

Price I paid tonight after bypassing floor salesmen and faxing manager:

'07 NBP EX AWD - $21,900

$3,500K...

Thanks for the advice...If I would have known how to really deal with new car sales I would have saved even more on the Acura TSX I bought in 2004!
 
#61 ·
Thanks all for the great advice. I ended up doing a fax blast asking them to name the best price (3 days before the end of the month). I recommend fightingchance.com. You can find how to do the same thing without his packet, but it was worth it for me, especially since this was my first new car purchase.

Details on my purchase at:
http://www.elementownersclub.com/forums/showthread.php?t=31139&page=2

Thanks so much to everyone for the data. This site is a tremendous resource.
 
#63 · (Edited)
Hello group. I'm just beginning my search for an Element. I'm looking at a 2007 EX 2WD automatic Tangerine color in the Philadelphia PA area. I got one dealer quote for 21205.00 + tax out the door. After doing the numbers crunch it seems that's 178.00 under the invoice. Based on what I've read here, that seems like a reasonable deal, but I have also seen where others have gotten much more under invoice. Should I keep looking for a better deal?

I think I should probably re-post this under another heading. Sorry for the double post.
 
#64 ·
Your proven strategy worked for me -- did not use the fax used only e-mails ended up paying $300 below my price. I paid 20,800. Thanks for your suggestion.
 
#70 · (Edited)
corockymtnbiker said:
What's the consensus on under invoice that one can achieve on a 2007 Element these days? Is -$800 too much?
A new Element is going to have somewhere around $600 as a dealer holdback (3% of MSRP, not list).

That means they buy the car at invoice (not really, but bear with me). After they sell the car, Honda will give them back 3% of the MSRP. This is how the dealership can sell for below what they paid and still make money - they get a rebate, basically.

This royally screws the salesman, so you need to take the approach of going to the manager, IMO.

So the answer is: it depends on what Honda is currently offering the dealerships. At a minimum, it's 3% holdback. But you can't expect them to sell you a car at cost, either. Plus, they don't get holdback returned right away, so it's almost like loaning you the money.

Some people have managed to get prices much lower than that. I'd have to question if they got screwed on trade-in, but otherwise there must have been some other factory incentives going on.

As it is right now, I can't tell you why, but CarsDirect is showing me, for my zip code, a CarsDirect price $950 BELOW invoice for an EX base (manual). Seeing as how CarsDirect makes money on the deal, offering even below that might not be out of the question.
 
#72 ·
joeBoxer said:
eventually a dealer somewhere will meet your price if there is a profit in it. how much should you try for? well, i believe $300 under their total dealer invoice price (not msrp!) including destination is a fair deal but i always try for $500 under.

Thanks for the info. How can I find out what total dealer invoice price is on an 07 Element EX 2WD?
 
#71 ·
joeBoxer said:
eventually a dealer somewhere will meet your price if there is a profit in it. how much should you try for? well, i believe $300 under their total dealer invoice price (not msrp!) including destination is a fair deal but i always try for $500 under.

Thanks for the info. How can I find out what total dealer invoice price is on an 07 Element EX 2WD?
 
#77 ·
jtallen said:
Edmunds.com came in real handy. I used the info and got a dealer to agree to 20,900 on an 07 EX 4WD and that price included the destination charge. $68 for tag & title and 3% for tax. I thought that was a sweet deal. Unfortunately they wanted to screw me on my trade when I got there. It sucks having a gas guzzler right now.
This is very close to what I struck.

$20,992.--, incl. dest. ++, also for a GG '07, 4WD, EX, auto.

I simplified with no trade in and the deal was sweet and straight.

...and there were no posted / official promotions from Honda at the time. Today there is a $500 rebate to the dealer from H of A.
 
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