[greatstar]

Hi all,

1. I got an on the road cost in the low/mid 24K for the EX 4WD. (No accessories from dealer). I want to buy and install the accessories and electronics myself. Will save you money and relatively simple.

2. Consumer Reports and Edmunds Cost reports match pretty closely and seem to be worth the expense for the information.

3. Be wary of dealers who don't give you a cost breakdown in their initial offer and just give you a number. With the information you could get a good price, but you're working against the salesperson to get there.

4. Only two dealerships gave me a cost breakdown and only one started with the invoice rather than MSRP. That's the one I bought from as they demonstrated respect in believing their potential customers had done the research and were not uninformed.

5. Don't be afraid to ask for the price you think is right. Just be sure to have done the work through Consumer Reports or Edmunds to have a justification. I felt squeamish about asking for the invoice, but pricing is so convoluted with holdbacks, incentives, etc. you really don't know how the dealer makes his money. Honda is pretty bare bones with their dealers but rest assured, the dealer will not make the deal if they're losing money.

6. Finally, trust you gut. If you think you're being hustled/hurried, you probably are.

Good luck out there!

greatstar

 

[greatstar]

Ps

Also beware of dealers who charge a vehicle retrieval fee to get the trim line and color you want. Often dealers will give invoice level pricing for models on the extreme low and high end in an unpopular color to attract customer interest and then charge an exorbitant car retrieval fee ($500) to get the trim line and color you most likely want. There should be no car retrieval fee if less than 50 miles and even then it shouldn't be more than $100.

 

[YachtRocked]

Also try Autoland.com

As I said in another post, as a satisfied customer and having no other relationship with this credit-union owned auto broker, nor having a credit union account (since I wasn't financing and paid cash), check out autoland.com. They found the color and 4wd I wanted in about 10 minutes at a very fair price, and I had my Elephant within a week. Meanwhile the dealers were still dkking me around. Just an N=1 sample, your mileage may vary.