The "invoice" price I posted above is what should/will be on the Edmunds.com site. I've read that this "invoice" price shown is still not what the dealer truly pays for the vehicle. That would explain how people have gotten Es for less than this number. The dealer still had to turn a profit, so, this number ultimately can't be correct. As far as the "true invoice", I don't know how you could get hold of that information.
The one I posted is the "invoice" price that I'm referring to about people getting $300-500 below. But, I've read that the supply has to be up and the new model year has to have been out for a while, which the 2010s haven't. Therefore, this good of a deal might not be possible right now. Then again, with the way car sales are, you just never know...
I think that there is something called, "dealer holdback," and it is usually 2-3% of the price of the vehicle. So, yes, the invoice price published on the sites are not what the dealer paid (to Honda) for the car. However, unless they have a ton of E on the lot and it is the end of the year (in this case, if you're buying a 2009 Element at this time), then dealer will be willing to give up the holdback to get rid of their inventory. In addition, sometimes the car manufacturers will give rebates to the dealer to sell a car...and this rebate is hidden and is not the rebate that you see on TV. So, yeah, you will almost never buy a car for the price the dealer paid for it. They ALWAYS make profit...how much of it depends on your haggling skills.
As Elementric stated above, it could be difficult to get E at invoice price at this time if you're looking for a 2010 model. As far as i know, the 2010's are
just hitting the dealerships now. Most dealers only have 2-3 max in their inventory. So, it will be difficult to get them to deal down to their "true" invoice, much less the published invoice. But, i am sure that you can easily get $300-500 below invoice on a 2009 Element...but unfortunately, around Texas, the only Element EX available is the orange color (too radical for my dad) and plenty of Element SC and LXs. So, if you're looking for 2009 LX or SCs, then you have plenty to choose from, but not so for the EX.
