PDA

View Full Version : Getting the best price on a new car - how?



KrisM
05-01-2010, 12:05 AM
We're still debating Taurus X and Odyssey. I have questions about the Odyssey though and getting it for a good price.

The stock is really low. The first dealer I visited had none for me to drive. The second had only 1. Yesterday I noticed the first had 22 listed online and I asked my mom to go take a look at colors for me. The dealer is near her and the colors online are awful to look at. Well, all 22 are "presold" and aren't really in inventory and they still have 0 to sell.

If stock is so low or demand so high, do I have any chance in negotiating a price much lower than MSRP? Why would they negotiate if they can sell so many quickly?

DH hasn't driven one and I'm not sure I'll be able to find one for him to test drive. It seems crazy that they're so hard to find! I guess they want everyone to wait and buy the 2011.

Any advice?

katydid1971
05-01-2010, 12:14 AM
We have had great luck emailing every dealership within 100 miles and asking for their best price on the exact car we want. We have saved $1000+ on our last two cars but drove two hours to get them. You can ask your local dealership if they will match your lowest price mine hasn't both times but its worth a call IYKWIM. Hope that helps.
BTW we have an Oddy and LOVE it!!! ;)

saleenl
05-01-2010, 12:30 AM
We're also looking for an Odyssey and I've read of people having great experiences with the American Express car buying program (http://amexnetwork.zag.com/main.html). It looks like it's just a branded version of a website called Zag (http://zag.com/). I haven't tried using it yet, so I don't know for sure how well it works. I like the looks of it, though! I plan on trying it first when we are ready to buy. We don't really want to buy until June or July, but I am worried about not finding the 2010 we want. We can't wait until the fall to buy a van, so we might just buy it sooner than we had planned in order to get the color and options we want.

niccig
05-01-2010, 01:28 AM
We have had great luck emailing every dealership within 100 miles and asking for their best price on the exact car we want. We have saved $1000+ on our last two cars but drove two hours to get them. You can ask your local dealership if they will match your lowest price mine hasn't both times but its worth a call IYKWIM.

We did the same. I worked out the exact model, colour, etc. and then I emailed all dealers around us asking for best price out the door. Some didn't reply, others did. I asked if the model they had came with accessories, I did not want any accessories eg. roof rack etc, as I read that they add on more than if you go to parts department or buy online. Some dealers said they couldn't remove the extra "package", I didn't deal with those. One dealer was up front from the beginning, had car in stock (important), and said they could remove extra alarm and bluetooth. We got there, they tried to bait and switch us for another salesman rather than the person I had emailed. I refused and told them I would only deal with X. He finally came out, honoured the emiail, tried to push the alarm/bluetooth/extended warranty a little, but backed off when we said no.

It did help that from my emails I knew what other dealers had on the lot and the price. I made sure he knew that I had emailed/spoken to other dealerships in the area, and he was first we called, but would only get our business if he would honour his email price. Basically siad that we were buying a car that weekend, either from him or another dealer that I had been emailing with.

DH was pleasantly surprised that there was no haggling, we got it for a significant amount under MSRP, and no extras thrown in.

I used tips from this site to prepare for the purchase http://www.carbuyingtips.com/carintro.html they go over scams they can use eg. they go to talk to "manager", but set intercom on phone so they can hear what you're saying to your spouse. I don't know if this is true or not, but when the salesman left to go check with someone, DH asked me "what will we do if he doesn't honour x." I said "well y dealership has it in blue and z dealership has it in white and I don't care about the colour, so we'll go there." Like the Lowes commercial about the couple practicing their negotiations before buying appliances, Dh and I talked about what was/was not a deal breaker, before hand. I had done all the research on the car/buying process, so I was the one to do most of the talking and refusing "no, I don't want bluetooth, it's a dealbreaker if it stays on the car. etc". Dh would then chime in too.

If stock is really low, you could have difficulty negotiating. Try the email route, as you might find that the Internet Sales team is NOT the same as regular salespeople. At our Honda dealer it was different, and he just wanted a sale, any sale. Make it clear you will be buying, but only coming in to sign paperwork.

You could try what my BIL did. He went in to buy the car and everytime the salesman came back after talking to his manager and gave a new amount, my BIL would excuse himself saying "I have to now call my manger, my wife." and he would go outside and call her, chat about something, come back in and say "no, my wife won't go for that price. Can you do better? No, you can't, well she doesn't even want me to get this car, and she wants me home, so if you can't negotiate more, then I'll just go" It worked for him. I prefered email as no face to face bluffing - I'm terrible at poker.
HTH

codex57
05-01-2010, 03:24 AM
First, check the carsdirect.com price. That will give you a "baseline" price for your zip code. The theory is if that's the lowest you can find, just buy it there. In my experience, any dealer will match or beat the carsdirect.com price tho.

If you have a bit more time, go look for forums for the car you're interested in. There's usually a thread where people post what price they just bought. Edmunds.com usually has a thread for every model, but some of the more popular vehicles have their own dedicated forums.

Once you've got a pretty good idea what a good price is, I'd then e-mail all the dealers within a certain mile range. Frankly, I'd go beyond 100 miles. It's worth the gas IMO. Since I'm in NorCal, I'll also check out the SoCal dealers. That's basically a 400-500 mile radius. I don't bother with Oregon simply cuz SoCal has so many dealers I've got better odds there.

You basically e-mail all the dealers what you're looking for. Not everyone will respond. You take the responses and then play them off each other. Shouldn't take long before you get a winner.

mytwosons
05-01-2010, 06:58 AM
We priced out what we wanted on edmunds.com and then used their email feature to request quotes. Did all the rest by email. Next time we do it, I will set up a new gmail account just for that purpose; I'm still getting spam from a few of the dealers, even after telling them to remove me from their list.

KrisM
05-01-2010, 06:58 AM
First, check the carsdirect.com price. That will give you a "baseline" price for your zip code. The theory is if that's the lowest you can find, just buy it there. In my experience, any dealer will match or beat the carsdirect.com price tho.

If you have a bit more time, go look for forums for the car you're interested in. There's usually a thread where people post what price they just bought. Edmunds.com usually has a thread for every model, but some of the more popular vehicles have their own dedicated forums.

Once you've got a pretty good idea what a good price is, I'd then e-mail all the dealers within a certain mile range. Frankly, I'd go beyond 100 miles. It's worth the gas IMO. Since I'm in NorCal, I'll also check out the SoCal dealers. That's basically a 400-500 mile radius. I don't bother with Oregon simply cuz SoCal has so many dealers I've got better odds there.

You basically e-mail all the dealers what you're looking for. Not everyone will respond. You take the responses and then play them off each other. Shouldn't take long before you get a winner.

I've done both of those things. For an EX-LCarsdirect says about $30,200 and people at Ody Club forums are paying around $28,200, so quite a bit lower, IMO. I'll try the emailing game and see how it works.

I truly can't imagine driving 400 miles with 3 kids crammed in a Saturn to buy a minivan and driving back! I could go more than 100, but not that much :).

KrisM
05-01-2010, 07:02 AM
You could try what my BIL did. He went in to buy the car and everytime the salesman came back after talking to his manager and gave a new amount, my BIL would excuse himself saying "I have to now call my manger, my wife." and he would go outside and call her, chat about something, come back in and say "no, my wife won't go for that price. Can you do better? No, you can't, well she doesn't even want me to get this car, and she wants me home, so if you can't negotiate more, then I'll just go" It worked for him. I prefered email as no face to face bluffing - I'm terrible at poker.
HTH

Tha'ts pretty funny!

Email will definitely be easier. Thank you for the tips about once we get there.

The only other cars we've bought we didn't have to negotiate because they were employee pricing. So much easier!

KrisM
05-01-2010, 07:06 AM
BTW we have an Oddy and LOVE it!!! ;)
I think this is what we'll get. I really liked the Taurus X and preferred how it drove, but I think in the long run, the Odyssey is more practical and I might end up regretting the Taurus X purchase.


We're also looking for an Odyssey and I've read of people having great experiences with the American Express car buying program (http://amexnetwork.zag.com/main.html). It looks like it's just a branded version of a website called Zag (http://zag.com/). I haven't tried using it yet, so I don't know for sure how well it works. I like the looks of it, though! I plan on trying it first when we are ready to buy. We don't really want to buy until June or July, but I am worried about not finding the 2010 we want. We can't wait until the fall to buy a van, so we might just buy it sooner than we had planned in order to get the color and options we want.
Thanks. I will look into that. I don't have an American Express though.

Good luck finding what you want. There are a couple colors I don't want at all and I'm hoping to avoid those. But, since I can barely find someting in stock, who knows.

KrisM
05-01-2010, 07:20 AM
We're also looking for an Odyssey and I've read of people having great experiences with the American Express car buying program (http://amexnetwork.zag.com/main.html). It looks like it's just a branded version of a website called Zag (http://zag.com/). I haven't tried using it yet, so I don't know for sure how well it works. I like the looks of it, though! I plan on trying it first when we are ready to buy. We don't really want to buy until June or July, but I am worried about not finding the 2010 we want. We can't wait until the fall to buy a van, so we might just buy it sooner than we had planned in order to get the color and options we want.

I just checked that out, and it works for other things, like Overstock.com Cars. So, I did my info and it says there is a dealer 166 miles away who'll sell it for $29,955 and anoher 18 miles away who'll do $30,455. So, a $500 difference to drive an additional 150 miles each way. I wonder if I can do the contact form and then use that low number to negotiate with other dealers and get down closer to $28,000.

Thanks.

ETA: That price includes destination charge, $710, and so is about $1k more than people on Ody Club have paid. Still not a bad place to start with no work :).

scrooks
05-01-2010, 10:33 AM
We just bought our Ody (we actually pick it up today). I used the "get a quote" feature in edmunds.com. We also followed their forum pretty closely for recent pricing. PM me and I'll let you know pricing we got. Most dealers gave us a quote. Ironically it was the closest dealer that gave us the best price- I think they knew we were serious as both DH and I had been in on seperate occasions to test drive. The only haggling we did was on our trade it. It worked well I think... They did find the exact color and model I wanted so I am pretty happy in the end. The price we paid was only a bit higher ($200) than the low prices I had seen on Edmunds.com. They did keep telling us stock was very low but they were magically able to come up with what we wanted in a day! :wink2:

KrisM
05-10-2010, 12:52 PM
First, check the carsdirect.com price. That will give you a "baseline" price for your zip code. The theory is if that's the lowest you can find, just buy it there. In my experience, any dealer will match or beat the carsdirect.com price tho.



We've decided on a color, etc and I'm ready to start getting quotes. For the carsdirect price, is this something you can actually buy through carsdirect? I don't see that at all. It looks like it's just an estimate of what I should pay for it in my zip.

nfowife
05-10-2010, 02:01 PM
we did the emailing thing as well for our Odyssey. I think it's much easier on an Ody because of the model structure- i.e. you know what you are getting with each level vs. the toyota add-on packages. Anyhow, I just emailed all the dealers within about 100-150 miles. Got the lowest price from round 1 and emailed them all to see who could beat it, and so on until I had the lowest price and the last dealer and that is who I went with. Also a few of them tried to get me to come in to negotiate and I refused. I said "I've already test driven the car and know what I want. I am not coming in until the deal is done and I'm ready to pick up the car" and that was that. I didn't mention my trade-in until we arrived to pick up- that is a separate issue from the total price of the car.

ETA that you should only do this email thing if you are ready to purchase within a few days. If you get wishy washy or aren't sure which car you want then you will have a hard time playing ball again if you stop for a while and then want to deal again, kwim? Especially if you are being agressive about the pricing you want.

codex57
05-10-2010, 02:02 PM
We've decided on a color, etc and I'm ready to start getting quotes. For the carsdirect price, is this something you can actually buy through carsdirect? I don't see that at all. It looks like it's just an estimate of what I should pay for it in my zip.


Carsdirect.com is an internet car buying service. Sorta like amazon.com. Sure, you could buy the widget at Staples or wherever, but you can also log onto amazon and buy it there and have it shipped.

Similarly, carsdirect.com works the same way. They actually will ship the car to you. I know a couple people who bought from carsdirect, but that was a few years ago.

What CD does is the same as all those other fleet programs (AAA, Costco, etc). They negotiate a price with local dealers. The same holds for those programs as well. Use their price as a baseline. It's VERY rare that those prices are the best a dealer will do (cuz there's built in profit for the companies running those programs).

Now that CD has been around so long, dealers know about it. It's pretty simple to just walk up to a salesperson, say, "Carsdirect says I can get the car at $X, what will you sell it to me for?" They'll always say they can match it, but the idea is you want to beat it.

That's why I prefer to just e-mail a ton of dealers and have them compete with each other. Don't mention the CD price, but use it to weed out the dealers who are too pricey.

pinkmomagain
05-10-2010, 02:14 PM
Yeah, you're probably at this inbetween time when the factory has stopped making 2010 and 2011 isn't out yet...so for a 2010 it's get what you get. I am going through the same thing right now with the new car I want. I want one now but I'm having a hard time finding the color (w/options) I want. And I only want one certain color. In the process of calling dealers, but I'm not going to tell them the exact color I want...just tell him a coupla colors so he doesn't sense my desperation and we can hopefully negotiate a better price!

KrisM
05-10-2010, 02:16 PM
Carsdirect.com is an internet car buying service. Sorta like amazon.com. Sure, you could buy the widget at Staples or wherever, but you can also log onto amazon and buy it there and have it shipped.

Similarly, carsdirect.com works the same way. They actually will ship the car to you. I know a couple people who bought from carsdirect, but that was a few years ago.

What CD does is the same as all those other fleet programs (AAA, Costco, etc). They negotiate a price with local dealers. The same holds for those programs as well. Use their price as a baseline. It's VERY rare that those prices are the best a dealer will do (cuz there's built in profit for the companies running those programs).

Now that CD has been around so long, dealers know about it. It's pretty simple to just walk up to a salesperson, say, "Carsdirect says I can get the car at $X, what will you sell it to me for?" They'll always say they can match it, but the idea is you want to beat it.

That's why I prefer to just e-mail a ton of dealers and have them compete with each other. Don't mention the CD price, but use it to weed out the dealers who are too pricey.

Thanks for the explanation. I see the "Target Price" listed from them and that they'll email dealers for quotes for me, but I guess one of those dealers might sell it to me at the CD price then, huh? There isn't a "add to cart" or "buy now" button on CD.

KrisM
05-10-2010, 02:19 PM
Yeah, you're probably at this inbetween time when the factory has stopped making 2010 and 2011 isn't out yet...so for a 2010 it's get what you get. I am going through the same thing right now with the new car I want. I want one now but I'm having a hard time finding the color (w/options) I want. And I only want one certain color. In the process of calling dealers, but I'm not going to tell them the exact color I want...just tell him a coupla colors so he doesn't sense my desperation and we can hopefully negotiate a better price!

So far as I can find by searching dealer inventories online, there are 3 in the lower peninsula of MI and 2 in northern OH or IN that I want :). I did have one dealer say they can still order for me though.

I want the color I want :D. I'll work on that first and if I have to make another choice, I will.

KrisM
05-10-2010, 02:25 PM
we did the emailing thing as well for our Odyssey. I think it's much easier on an Ody because of the model structure- i.e. you know what you are getting with each level vs. the toyota add-on packages. Anyhow, I just emailed all the dealers within about 100-150 miles. Got the lowest price from round 1 and emailed them all to see who could beat it, and so on until I had the lowest price and the last dealer and that is who I went with. Also a few of them tried to get me to come in to negotiate and I refused. I said "I've already test driven the car and know what I want. I am not coming in until the deal is done and I'm ready to pick up the car" and that was that. I didn't mention my trade-in until we arrived to pick up- that is a separate issue from the total price of the car.

ETA that you should only do this email thing if you are ready to purchase within a few days. If you get wishy washy or aren't sure which car you want then you will have a hard time playing ball again if you stop for a while and then want to deal again, kwim? Especially if you are being agressive about the pricing you want.

That's my plan. I'm ready to buy and hope to on Thursday. I picked Thursday because that's the day the dealers are open late and I can go with no kids after DH is home. If it's a dealer near my parent's, I could do a weekday as they'd babysit. I'm using nap time now to make my list of dealers and names and draft my email. I'll send the emails tonight after the kids are sleeping so I don't screw it up by not paying attention to something!

scrooks
05-10-2010, 02:36 PM
I want the color I want :D. I'll work on that first and if I have to make another choice, I will.
:yeahthat: I felt like if I was spending that much for a new car I REALLY wanted my color!

AnnieW625
05-10-2010, 02:39 PM
That's why I prefer to just e-mail a ton of dealers and have them compete with each other. Don't mention the CD price, but use it to weed out the dealers who are too pricey.

we did the same thing and went through the internet rep. when we bought our Pilot and even though we only went through one dealer we still saved $6K off of MSRP and I didn't have to think twice about the price the dealer offered me because it was $1K or so less than the CD price. I found that CD gave me a better price than edmunds.com. Consumers Reorts was the same price as CD, but you might also want to use it because prices could be regional too. We also got a price through our credit union, which again was higher than what the dealer offered.

i would go this route for both the Ody and the X.

KrisM
05-10-2010, 02:41 PM
we did the same thing and went through the internet rep. when we bought our Pilot and even though we only went through one dealer we still saved $6K off of MSRP and I didn't have to think twice about the price the dealer offered me because it was $1K or so less than the CD price. I found that CD gave me a better price than edmunds.com. Consumers Reorts was the same price as CD, but you might also want to use it because prices could be regional too. We also got a price through our credit union, which again was higher than what the dealer offered.

i would go this route for both the Ody and the X.

Should have updated...we're getting the Odyssey. And, I am getting the DVD player in it. That was a harder decision, but I think we'll like it and it'll be good to have.

codex57
05-10-2010, 03:42 PM
Target Price means carsdirect doesn't have an official agreement with a Honda dealer for an Odyssey. Prolly cuz you're in Michigan. I'd also check the Edmunds.com forum specifically for the Odyssey and see what people are currently paying right now. I know there is one for the Ody.

Then, I'd still do the e-mailing thing. I got my price on a certain day, but I just told them I couldn't come pick up until another day. No biggie. If they're legit, they'll hold it for you. If you want to put a deposit down, use a credit card and no more than $1,000. I think they had me put down $100 only, and it was for a Lexus. I considered it a reasonable request since it wasn't much and just shows that I'm a serious customer.

KrisM
05-10-2010, 07:48 PM
Target Price means carsdirect doesn't have an official agreement with a Honda dealer for an Odyssey. Prolly cuz you're in Michigan. I'd also check the Edmunds.com forum specifically for the Odyssey and see what people are currently paying right now. I know there is one for the Ody.

Then, I'd still do the e-mailing thing. I got my price on a certain day, but I just told them I couldn't come pick up until another day. No biggie. If they're legit, they'll hold it for you. If you want to put a deposit down, use a credit card and no more than $1,000. I think they had me put down $100 only, and it was for a Lexus. I considered it a reasonable request since it wasn't much and just shows that I'm a serious customer.

Michigan seems to be expensive. It's more expensive on cardirect for my zip than my SIL in NH. And, reading on Edmunds, people seem to pay about $1k more in SE MI than in Chicago and lots of other places :(. I'm willing to drive to save money, but not to Chicago. We'll see how it works out.

Thanks!

WatchingThemGrow
05-10-2010, 08:26 PM
:cheerleader1: Kris! I've been away at the science museum today, just found your thread! So exciting you're thisclose to "the other side!"

Some things to consider based on what we went through.. and some Q's: The very lowest price may not always be the best bet. I played a little bit of the email game stuff, but was satisfied. I made more on my trade by selling it myself on CL than arguing with them would have ever gotten me.
1) Going to a dealership and waiting for your car to be prepped can take forever. They are usually in no hurry. If there is one a little closer to your house, I would highly consider the convenience factor since you have 3 kids. Granted, yours are older than mine, but there may be some little things you need to go back to get installed, etc.
2) IME, the dealerships where I've bought a new car (3 times) have always given extra perks - like washes, loaners, a 2x/year cleaning card, etc. Not sure if the first oil change (at 10K miles) is always free, but ours was at our dealership. Our dealership offered a "new car owner's clinic" one night with pizza, drinks, and snacks, plus a lot of info to help you care for your new car. Not a huge deal, but it was a free dinner, night out, oil change, and wash for me! If we'd driven a distance to get our car, we wouldn't be able to take advantage of these little things b/c having 3 LO's makes logistics a little more complicated.
3) What color?
4) What changed your mind about the DVD?

KrisM
05-10-2010, 08:53 PM
Kris! I've been away at the science museum today, just found your thread! So exciting you're thisclose to "the other side!"


Some things to consider based on what we went through.. and some Q's: The very lowest price may not always be the best bet. I played a little bit of the email game stuff, but was satisfied. I made more on my trade by selling it myself on CL than arguing with them would have ever gotten me.
1) Going to a dealership and waiting for your car to be prepped can take forever. They are usually in no hurry. If there is one a little closer to your house, I would highly consider the convenience factor since you have 3 kids. Granted, yours are older than mine, but there may be some little things you need to go back to get installed, etc.
2) IME, the dealerships where I've bought a new car (3 times) have always given extra perks - like washes, loaners, a 2x/year cleaning card, etc. Not sure if the first oil change (at 10K miles) is always free, but ours was at our dealership. Our dealership offered a "new car owner's clinic" one night with pizza, drinks, and snacks, plus a lot of info to help you care for your new car. Not a huge deal, but it was a free dinner, night out, oil change, and wash for me! If we'd driven a distance to get our car, we wouldn't be able to take advantage of these little things b/c having 3 LO's makes logistics a little more complicated.
3) What color?
4) What changed your mind about the DVD?

Thanks J

The big negative of buying a Honda is the lack of dealerships. The closest one is about 30 minutes and they’ve told me they won’t trade for an Odyssey and they only have 1 in stock right now and it’s neither the color nor level we want. Then there are a few that are 40 minutes in various directions and then a few more at closer to an hour. Basically, none are very convenient. Right now, I have a Chevy and the dealer is about 8 minutes from home and near DH’s work, so if I take my car in, he meets me there and I drive him back to work. He’s gone less than 15 minutes. We’ll miss that.

Most of my trips should be able to be done with only 1 kid, since 2 are in school at least part time. The oldest 2 are also going to camp this summer 2 mornings a week for 5 weeks.

So, since there isn’t anyone super close, I may as well just pick one. I do plan on emailing them all, including the one that said they aren’t trading, just to see and if it’s close in price, I would do my best to pick the most convenient.

3 – Ocean Mist
4 – I realized that the kids are getting older and as that happens, I’ll be able to do more and more trips without DH during the summer. My parents have a lake house up north and while this summer I will still need another adult with me, I think next year I could go with just the kids for a couple of days. Being able to control the DVD from the front made more sense to me. Plus, if I’m packing for 4 of us, I’m likely to forget any parts of portable DVD players I might need J.

Thanks for the thoughts on it! I’m getting pretty excited. I even remembered to call to see how much our insurance will go up with it.

ETA: About the trade - we're trading a 2000 Saturn sedan that needs new brakes, new wheels, new tires, burns oil, and has lost its ABS function :). I'm not sure trying to sell it as is to someone is something we want to be responsible for.

codex57
05-10-2010, 09:42 PM
Yeah, you're not in Honda territory so that makes things difficult.

I wouldn't worry too much about maintenance. Generally, you can just have your local shop do most of it. Prolly be cheaper too. Honda's aren't exactly complicated or require frequent repairs.

How far away is Chicago from you? We drove 2 hours to get our Lexus, altho I was willing to consider SoCal, which is about a 7 hour or so drive away. For $1000 or so, I'm willing to take a road trip. Luckily, the NorCal dealers matched the SoCal prices.

KrisM
05-10-2010, 09:47 PM
Yeah, you're not in Honda territory so that makes things difficult.

I wouldn't worry too much about maintenance. Generally, you can just have your local shop do most of it. Prolly be cheaper too. Honda's aren't exactly complicated or require frequent repairs.

How far away is Chicago from you? We drove 2 hours to get our Lexus, altho I was willing to consider SoCal, which is about a 7 hour or so drive away. For $1000 or so, I'm willing to take a road trip. Luckily, the NorCal dealers matched the SoCal prices.

No, clearly we are in Chysler territory when it comes to minivans! On Saturday we were at the soccer games - 4 soccer games and 2 baseball games going on. The parking lot was full of minivans. There was 1 Odyssey! Crazy, eh?

Chicago is about 5-6 hours, depending on where in Chicago you're talking. If none of the more local places give me a good quote, I'll expand to Chicago. It's really further than I want to go though. I'm not sure I can do it without staying the night, which really reduces the savings!

Melbel
05-10-2010, 10:10 PM
We have had great luck emailing every dealership within 100 miles and asking for their best price on the exact car we want. We have saved $1000+ on our last two cars but drove two hours to get them. You can ask your local dealership if they will match your lowest price mine hasn't both times but its worth a call IYKWIM. Hope that helps.
BTW we have an Oddy and LOVE it!!! ;)

:yeahthat: We have purchased our last 3 out of our last 4 vehicles out of town. It is worth a few hour drive to save a significant amount (we saved an average of $2k and had a lower sales tax rate). At month or year end, dealerships are more willing to come down on price because they are trying to meet sales goals. I had no idea that new Oddys were in such high demand considering the economy.

I would contact dealerships in Chicago and hope that someone closer is willing to match. We found that we got better pricing when there was more than one dealership in the same city for the same manufacturer. When the closer dealerships tried to sell convenience, we stated that we were planning a trip anyway. Good luck and congrats!

cindys
05-10-2010, 10:12 PM
We went thru the Costco Auto buying program when we got our Oddy...

It was a breeze and we love love the van! :thumbsup:

Twin Mom
05-10-2010, 10:31 PM
We got our Toyota through the Costco program too.


We went thru the Costco Auto buying program when we got our Oddy...

It was a breeze and we love love the van! :thumbsup:

KrisM
05-10-2010, 11:03 PM
:yeahthat: We have purchased our last 3 out of our last 4 vehicles out of town. It is worth a few hour drive to save a significant amount (we saved an average of $2k and had a lower sales tax rate). At month or year end, dealerships are more willing to come down on price because they are trying to meet sales goals. I had no idea that new Oddys were in such high demand considering the economy.

I would contact dealerships in Chicago and hope that someone closer is willing to match. We found that we got better pricing when there was more than one dealership in the same city for the same manufacturer. When the closer dealerships tried to sell convenience, we stated that we were planning a trip anyway. Good luck and congrats!

The 2011 Odyssey is a redesign and will be out this summer, so the dealers don't want to have a bunch of 2010s sitting around. Plus, we aren't Honda country in the first place, so I think having 1 or 2 on the lot total isn't unheard of here. The first dealer I visited didn't even have one I could drive!


We went thru the Costco Auto buying program when we got our Oddy...

It was a breeze and we love love the van! :thumbsup:

I did get a quote from Sam's Club, but they were about $2k higher than what people are posting on Edmund's. And, they're actually about $1k higher than Carsdirect.com too. I'm hoping for the lower price!

KrisM
05-11-2010, 07:43 AM
I just looked at some of the Chicago dealers. Wow! They have a ton of Odysseys in stock. One had 90 and I'm betting there aren't 90 in the entire state of Michigan!

I picked 2 and asked for quotes from them, too.

We'll see!

o_mom
05-11-2010, 08:14 AM
You could also try Indianapolis - there seem to be plenty in stock here. About the same distance as Chicago, I think.

dukie41181
05-11-2010, 08:43 AM
I just looked at some of the Chicago dealers. Wow! They have a ton of Odysseys in stock. One had 90 and I'm betting there aren't 90 in the entire state of Michigan!

I picked 2 and asked for quotes from them, too.

We'll see!

My sister has bought 2 Hondas (an Odyssey and a Pilot) and both were from dealerships in Chicago. She had great luck there. Good luck to you!

KrisM
05-11-2010, 03:52 PM
You could also try Indianapolis - there seem to be plenty in stock here. About the same distance as Chicago, I think.

Thanks! I added a couple to my list. So far, I've emailed a dozen places and only have 5 responders, but it's only been since this morning. I have one decent price already, which makes me happy. I'm hoping for a few hundred less than that quote, so we'll see.


My sister has bought 2 Hondas (an Odyssey and a Pilot) and both were from dealerships in Chicago. She had great luck there. Good luck to you!

Good to know!

codex57
05-11-2010, 06:07 PM
Remember, this is just the first round. And e-mail ALL of them. What does it hurt to e-mail?

Then, play the ones who respond off each other.

One of my best offers was from a dealer I normally never would have thought to contact. Unfortunately for them, I got the same quote from a dealer I was more familiar with (well, the location anyways) and they were nicer in the e-mails which is why I didn't buy from that first more unknown dealer.

Melbel
05-11-2010, 06:20 PM
Another thought - when I helped my FIL buy his CRV from an out of town dealer (saving him over $2k), the salesperson agreed to deliver the car to him (about 2.5 hours away; 5 hour round trip). If you have multiple Chicago dealers vying for your business, you may be able to get them to at least meet you half way. It cannot hurt to ask!

KrisM
05-11-2010, 06:53 PM
Remember, this is just the first round. And e-mail ALL of them. What does it hurt to e-mail?

Then, play the ones who respond off each other.

One of my best offers was from a dealer I normally never would have thought to contact. Unfortunately for them, I got the same quote from a dealer I was more familiar with (well, the location anyways) and they were nicer in the e-mails which is why I didn't buy from that first more unknown dealer.

I'll get some more emails out tonight. My best offer so far is more-or-less local (an hour away) and is $31,000. From reading Edmunds in the past month, people are paying between $30,200 and $30,800 as their best dealings, depending on location. I'm hoping that with a pretty good starting quote I can get it a few hundred lower and call it good. I have no desire to drive to Chicago for $300, you know. For $1000, sure :).


Another thought - when I helped my FIL buy his CRV from an out of town dealer (saving him over $2k), the salesperson agreed to deliver the car to him (about 2.5 hours away; 5 hour round trip). If you have multiple Chicago dealers vying for your business, you may be able to get them to at least meet you half way. It cannot hurt to ask!

Very interesting. I will definitely keep that in mind! Chicago is probably 6 hours for me, so a really long round trip to do it in a day. I'm hoping local or mid-Michigan or OH or IN will come in good enough.

Melbel
05-11-2010, 07:06 PM
I'll get some more emails out tonight. My best offer so far is more-or-less local (an hour away) and is $31,000. From reading Edmunds in the past month, people are paying between $30,200 and $30,800 as their best dealings, depending on location. I'm hoping that with a pretty good starting quote I can get it a few hundred lower and call it good. I have no desire to drive to Chicago for $300, you know. For $1000, sure :).


Be sure to consider the relative sales tax rates because it can make a significant difference IME.

KrisM
05-11-2010, 08:22 PM
Be sure to consider the relative sales tax rates because it can make a significant difference IME.

From what I've read, I would get a temporary title and pay no tax when I buy it and then I'd register it here and pay tax here. Is that not how it works? I admit having a tough time finding info on it with Google.

scrooks
05-11-2010, 09:05 PM
From what I've read, I would get a temporary title and pay no tax when I buy it and then I'd register it here and pay tax here. Is that not how it works? I admit having a tough time finding info on it with Google.

I believe that is exactly what happens. My DH bought his last car in Indiana and we live in Ohio. We paid Ohio sales tax when we registered the car here.

Melbel
05-11-2010, 09:42 PM
From what I've read, I would get a temporary title and pay no tax when I buy it and then I'd register it here and pay tax here. Is that not how it works? I admit having a tough time finding info on it with Google.

In Florida, the sales tax % varies by county. Our home county is a higher %, so we benefited by purchasing cars in a county with a lower rate. YMMV, but it is an important aspect to consider when trying to get the best deal. You would hate to be surprised by higher taxes in the 11th hour, or you may end up with the better bottom line deal closer to home. If you are truly comparing bottom line pricing, you can at least make an educated choice. Good luck with your negotiations. :)

KrisM
05-11-2010, 09:50 PM
In Florida, the sales tax % varies by county. Our home county is a higher %, so we benefited by purchasing cars in a county with a lower rate. YMMV, but it is an important aspect to consider when trying to get the best deal. You would hate to be surprised by higher taxes in the 11th hour, or you may end up with the better bottom line deal closer to home. If you are truly comparing bottom line pricing, you can at least make an educated choice. Good luck with your negotiations. :)

Ah! I don't think we have county by county taxes here. Once I got a good quote, I shopped it around locally and I think I'll be good with a fairly local dealer. And, at this point, I'm shopping out-the-door pricing, which includes taxes and fees, etc. It makes it easier for comparing for me.

I think tomorrow is too busy, but I think on Thursday I'll get a chance to get to the dealer and have them look at my trade-in and figure out where to go from there.

I can't wait!

pharmjenn
05-12-2010, 02:48 AM
I bought a car in Vegas and registered it in California. I paid NV sales tax, then only had to pay the difference to California. So it sounds like each state may do things differently.

KrisM
05-15-2010, 07:26 AM
I got a good price, that I'm happy with. I did email about a dozen in Chicago and Indianapolis. It's interesting - all the metro Detroit dealers wrote me back in a style that was just answering my email. All the Chicago dealers had a huge email with various fonts, sizes, colors, parts in all caps, etc. Only 1 of 5 Chicago dealers who responded gave me a price. The others gave me a phone number.

Fortunately, one of my best first quotes was fairly local and I was able to use that to get a couple other places lower. I ended up about $1800 invoice and in line with what others on Edmunds are paying. One guy is now trying to get me to buy from him and lower his price anohter $200. But, he totally irritated me. He also told me my appraisal on the trade wouldn't be valid at all once I drove the car away and I should leave it there (for 4 days until he got me the color!).

I went with the second lowest dealer (only by $100 at the time) and he gave me a higher amount on the trade and also discounted the towing package for us. Plus, his personalilty is so much better than that other guy, I'd rather have him have the sale.

They're working on getting me the color and I am hoping to get it this week!

Thanks for the tips. Going by email was so easy and they way to do it!

WatchingThemGrow
05-15-2010, 07:33 AM
:cheerleader1: you work it girl!

Next step...put WeatherTech mats on your wishlist. I did, then spent the money on a wafflemaker, now our carpets are looking icky.

KrisM
05-15-2010, 07:44 AM
:cheerleader1: you work it girl!

Next step...put WeatherTech mats on your wishlist. I did, then spent the money on a wafflemaker, now our carpets are looking icky.

They're on my list. If I can swing it soon, I will. Otherwise, maybe a birthday present to myself. We don't eat waffles, so I should be good :).

I'm getting a quote on a remote starter today, too.

WatchingThemGrow
05-15-2010, 08:03 AM
I'm getting a quote on a remote starter today, too.plus a hitch? You're going to have a great van!

KrisM
05-15-2010, 08:20 AM
plus a hitch? You're going to have a great van!

My Malibu has a remote starter and I use it all the time in the winter. When it's really cold, I drive DS to the bus stop and leave the others in the car and keep it on for heat. I know this will be us for 3 more years until they're all in school and can stand outside for the bus!

DH thinks we'll want to pull my parent's pop up camper. I'm not as sure. I think we could have just borrowed their Explorer, too. Whatever. If we get the towing package (hitch, transmission fluid cooler, power steering cooler) installed before we take delivery, it's covered under the 3 year 36000 mile warranty.

I'm guessing we'll either get cross bars for the top or more likely Yakima towers that attach to the roof rack. We take so much to NH with us, I think we'll still need the car top carrier :).

I'm pretty excited. I totally cleaned out my Malibu and it looks awesome. DH doesn't like it as much as his Saturn, so I figured he should at least start with a super clean car! It'll be really nice to not have to always switch cars so that if I'm gone he has a car that fits all the kids.

hellokitty
05-15-2010, 09:39 AM
I'm surprised that you aren't getting better quotes down here in ohio. Ohio IS honda country, seeing how there is a plant in marysville and ppl are maaisvely POld that GM closed plants here, so more ppl have been buying hondas than ever before, even in our town that was GM country.