2007 RTL w/nav Pricing

[TooLucky]

Would appreciate anyone's experience with purchasing a 2007 Honda Ridgeline RTL Crew Cab AWD SB w/Navi. How low can they go? Thanks!

[Nailing Malarkey]

Originally Posted by TooLucky

Would appreciate anyone's experience with purchasing a 2007 Honda Ridgeline RTL Crew Cab AWD SB w/Navi. How low can they go? Thanks!

Does this help?

34,940 Sticker MSRP 2007 RTL-navi (plus 595 Destination fee)

------
31,164 Dealer invoice
+595 Destination charge
-2,000 Honda Marketing support for inventory on hand before 9/31
-1,039 Honda hold back of 3% MSRP
=====
28,720 True dealer cost for vehicle

32,500 Exact Out The Door cost to me including taxes (6.5%), dealer fees(599) and tag(150)

This dealer loads up their cars with accessories and they had to find one at a sister dealership. It came with wheel locks and rear splash guards. Guess they could not find a completely accessory free unit.

This was two weeks ago and the $2,000 hidden rebate may be different. I used Edmund's.com to find the current incentives from Honda. Note: As I understand it Honda never gives rebates directly to consumers on the principle that it depresses resale values and raises expectations of future rebates.

The salesman showed me his month to date sales sheet. My sale was listed at -$1,953. i.e. it was 2 grand below their target average. I was helped by the fact that I also bought an 07 Odyssey EX-L-Navi/Ent at the same time.

It also helps to shop for your salesman. Apparently, and this might just be my dealership, the salesman's income is based on several factors, making quota, Sales Rank etc.

His commission floor is $100 i.e. the minimum he makes on a sale. But our two cars put him in first place and over his quota and as he explained to me that both of those give him a bonus of $150 on each car he sells that month. He had I think 9 sales including mine, half way through the month. So my sales moved him closer to a $2700 bonus and I'm sure that made him more hungry.

One good rule is to negotiate only the bottom line out the door price. Figure your offer based of the dealer's true cost as calculated above add in what profit you think is fair then taxes and license fee. Tell them this is the amount you will write on the check. Otherwise you may think you have negotiated a deal only to see them add on Dealer prep, Document and other undisclosed fees.

Sorry this post took on a life of it's own. My own experience might not be typical.

[dhoov19]

My experience was not quite as good as Malarkey's but I felt like I got a good price. I e-mailed several different dealers in my area (Central Ohio) and kept playing them off each other for a lower price. I was up-front in my negotiations and told them I was simply shopping on price. My goal was to get the lowest number and then give the first opportunity to the dealer where I had purchased my last 3 cars.

The dealer I had the previous relationship with would not match the $33,100 out-the-door price that I was quoted from another area dealership. (They told me that since I did not have a trade-in and had my own financing that they could not go that low on the price. They were about $450 higher in price and would not budge, even for a long-time customer. I think they could have, but chose not to, so I will not be back to that dealership for service, repairs, and certainly not to shop for my next Honda.) Got that off my chest---now I feel better---at least I was until I saw Malarkey's price.

Happy hunting!

[MoosePond]

I'm going to be using James Bragg's well-regarded "Fighting Chance" techniques http://www.fightingchance.com later this month and will be glad to post my results here once I've concluded the deal. In preparing for this new purchase I've done a lot of online research on how to get the best "deal" on a new vehicle and believe that his "fax attack" offers one of the most viable approaches out there as it takes you out of having to negotiate with any car salesmen or be "to'd" off to a sales manager.

I intend to fax my request for quote to about 40 Honda dealers in the metro NY/southern New England area and will post my results here.

[DJPaine]

Originally Posted by Nailing Malarkey

This was two weeks ago and the $2,000 hidden rebate may be different. I used Edmund's.com to find the current incentives from Honda.

Hey Nailing Malarkey,

Can you point me in the right direction as far as finding dealer rebates, kick backs, etc. on edumnds.com?

Thanks!

Dan Paine

[ralawhorn]

Formal Black RTL w/ NAVI = $

[csimo]

Originally Posted by ralawhorn

Formal Black RTL w/ NAVI = $

Way too high!

You should be able to buy a 2007 RTL w/navi for $30,553 in areas with a $1500 incentive and $30,053 in areas with the $2000 incentive.

[FL_Ridge]

Originally Posted by ralawhorn

Formal Black RTL w/ NAVI = $

The price looks good.

Keep in mind. If you're comfortable with the price, that's all that matters. Someone is always going to pay less, or more than you.

If you focus too much on the price you'll lose sight of the value and it may get in the way of your enjoyment and long-term love of the vehicle.

[TexRidge]

Originally Posted by csimo

Way too high!

You should be able to buy a 2007 RTL w/navi for $30,553 in areas with a $1500 incentive and $30,053 in areas with the $2000 incentive.

So---is the dealer supposed to stay in business?

[csimo]

Originally Posted by TexRidge

So---is the dealer supposed to stay in business?

At the prices I quoted the dealer is still making $1000 - $1500 profit.

The car buyers responsibility is to get the best deal possible... a dealer is not going to look out for your interest. Don't worry, the dealer will take care of their own interest, and you can't force them to sell you a vehicle they don't want to sell you.

You can buy a new Ridgeline RTL w/nav for $30k, or you can pay $35k if you want... either way it's the same vehicle. I'm not willing to pay $5k for a dealer to like me a little better. There are a bunch of people who are willing to give the dealer thousands of dollars in their attempt to buy a friend.

Most people are not prepared to deal with the car buying experience. They have no experience with negotiating. Not much else in our normal buying cycle requires negotiating. The dealer on the other hand spends many hours training their managers and salespersons on the art of negotiating. It's like driving the sheep to the wolves.