I'd already made up my mind (after visiting two auto shows and multiple test drives) that I wanted an Element. I live in a fairly large metro area (Cleveland), so I have mulitple Honda dealers to play off one another, which is what I did.
I called five of them, asked who handled fleet sales, and told the guy/gal who answered the phone what I wanted -- 4WD EX, Shoreline Mist, $2,000 in options, a 48 month lease, 15,000 mile/year allowance, gap insurance and zero down payment. I told them I wanted a simple quote.
Within an hour I had a quote from all of them.
I called the lowest one back and told him he'd have to do better, and that I was now going to buy it without any options. The price dropped accordingly and we made a deal that I'm guessing was based on a capitalized cost that is about $800-900 off sticker price.
It took about two hours of my time.
I called five of them, asked who handled fleet sales, and told the guy/gal who answered the phone what I wanted -- 4WD EX, Shoreline Mist, $2,000 in options, a 48 month lease, 15,000 mile/year allowance, gap insurance and zero down payment. I told them I wanted a simple quote.
Within an hour I had a quote from all of them.
I called the lowest one back and told him he'd have to do better, and that I was now going to buy it without any options. The price dropped accordingly and we made a deal that I'm guessing was based on a capitalized cost that is about $800-900 off sticker price.
It took about two hours of my time.
