$1,000 off MSRP which has been marked up $5,000.

 

Wow - where are you? We just put a deposit down on an incoming RTL, and got approved for the 2.9% they’re running until January 3rd. Wondering if the 0% will be a possibility. Ours should be in sometime soon.

We did get $1500 below MSRP, though, and dealer cost on a bunch of accessories. So we’re fairly happy.

 

Central Ohio. These "specials" just appeared today. I didn't see any of these yesterday when I looked. You might check back with some local dealers around you. Plenty of RL's sitting on the lots here.

 

I thought the 3-day right to exchange a pre-owned Honda vehicle was interesting. Not a Black Friday deal though. Interest rate offers must be a regional thing, because in Denver, we only have 1.9%.

 

Yeah, I’m in Michigan, but buying in Wisconsin, and all I’ve seen is 1.9% for a new 2022, or 2.9% for a 2023, good until January 3rd. I got all excited about the OP’s 0% for 60 months ad, but I already pinged our dealer and he hasn’t seen that. Actually said “fake news”. So it must be regional, or by state…..or something else. 🤷‍♀️

 

Well this is what American Honda Motor Co. has listed on their website for offers in my area. I wonder if the dealers running other special financing options are getting that through Honda Financial Services or a third party lender?

 

I was getting my RL serviced today and walked around the well stocked lot while waiting. Every vehicle had a “$6,000 protection package” tacked on to MSRP. Probably why they had so many.

 

I have noticed that almost every user indicates they are getting new Ridgelines for $1K to $4K under MSRP, but I can't seem to get the dealers in the middle Tennessee area to give me a price that is not only at MSRP, but then add about $5K or $6K over that after their "add ons". I am trying to buy a 2023 RTL-E but the prices they are quoting are $53K to $54K out the door (including TT&L).

Do you mind if I ask which dealer you got yours from and how much you finally paid (and how you were able to negotiate the price to something that is within reason)?

 

Check out this article by Tom McParland:
https://jalopnik.com/we-regret-to-inform-you-jeff-bezos-is-right-dont-buy-a-1849807990

 

Bernardi's (Buy Discount OEM Honda Parts Online - Bernardi Parts Honda) is doing 15% off plus free shipping right now.

Bernardi's price isn't as cheap as other sites but the 15% discount plus free shipping really makes up for it. Get your fluids if you need them.

EDIT: So I checked the website again...no free shipping on fluids! DANG!

 

Thanks one9kilo. Just dropped a couple Benjamin’s on them. Great tip!

 

I was hoping to see some nice discounts on items for the Ridgeline, not on an actual Ridgeline. Tonneau covers, bedrug, etc. Nothing extraordinary this year, as far I have noticed. 10% off a tonneau cover and a bedrug are not really deals.

 

That could be because only the rare few that got good deals are willing to share what they paid. The vast majority who are paying above MSRP may be choosing to remain silent. People like to brag about how little they paid, but are less inclined to share their deals the worse they are. I've noticed then when prices started rising about a year and a half ago, activity in the "how much did you pay?" threads slowed dramatically. Ridgeline sales are up, but the number of people reporting how much they paid is down. To me, that's pretty telling.

 

That could be because only the rare few that got good deals are willing to share what they paid. The vast majority who are paying above MSRP may be choosing to remain silent. People like to brag about how little they paid, but are less inclined to share their deals the worse they are.

This is a lot like the family members I have who like to gamble. Quick to tell you the story of the big hand or jackpot they won, but neglect to tell you what the difference was between what they left with and what they started with.

 

Okay, I will bite. We are buying a 2023 RTL, with the package that includes the hard cover (function package plus?) for $1500 below MSRP. We also got the dealer to sell us accessories at dealer cost (most of which we will install ourselves, so we’re paying roughly $1600 for $3400 worth of stuff). O’Malley Honda in Wausau Wisconsin. They’re about 4 hours from us.

For $6k you could travel quite a long way to find a better dealer.

 

Nice one

 

Photo used for illustration purposes only. 0% APR up to 60 months based on all new and unregistered in-stock 2022 Pilot, 2022 Passport, 2022 & 2023 Ridgeline. With approved credit by HFS, must finance 80% or less of MSRP and additional money down may be required to offset negative equity. No other offers apply. Expires Jan 2, 2023.

 

View attachment 432638
Photo used for illustration purposes only. 0% APR up to 60 months based on all new and unregistered in-stock 2022 Pilot, 2022 Passport, 2022 & 2023 Ridgeline. With approved credit by HFS, must finance 80% or less of MSRP and additional money down may be required to offset negative equity. No other offers apply. Expires Jan 2, 2023.

I cannot find this anywhere. 😭

 

Indeed. I remember my father boasting several years ago that he won $18,000 at a casino and bought a new motorcycle with it. What he didn't reveal is that he lost an order of magnitude more than that oven the years. I took $20 to a casino on my 21st birthday, left with $75, and never went back.

 

haha yeah, we got to the casino with $20. If we win we leave immediately. Last time we won $40 (and the $20 investment as well) and left immediately. Otherwise it's easy to say. I won this lets spend it and then you lose both amounts.

Personally, I believe real estate is a better investment. lol But it's long term not the 10 minutes you spend in a Casino.

 

That might be a dealer-specific promotion because Honda's website doesn't match for that dealer's ZIP code.

 

Maybe they need to be a particularly high-volume dealer or something

 

I haven't seen a "high-volume" dealer in nearly two years.

 

This is depressing cars are not worth it. For reference local Honda dealer here has no lease specials but shows prices to finance for 60 months.

HRV LX front wheel drive $424
Ridgeline BE $806.

The BE is listed at 47k which is in the ball park of the average price of a new car today. Then there's tax insurance, gas and maintenance.

I don't understand how folks can qualify to finance these amounts. The BE looks like a mortgage P&I from 25 years ago. At least you have a house that has a chance of increasing in value. Sad, different world now.

 

Yeah most people are going to have to have longer terms just to buy new or used. Pretty insane a household would have to divert 100% of their income for 41 weeks to afford a vehicle. And this was published in June '22. Probably worse now.

 

Yeah, talk about digging a deeper hole that some folks will never get out of.

 

I'm no economist and I'm not nearly as smart as I think I am, but is the automotive industry destined to crash and pull the rest of the economy down with it?

MSRP or higher + high interest rates + 10-year loans means to me that most buyers are going to have to keep their vehicles a lot longer. Buyers won't be able to afford their next vehicle until much further into the future which means automakers will end up with a glut of inventory which means deep discounts. Am I totally off my rocker for thinking this way?

 

I don't think so.

I think there is a faction of buyers out there who can afford these high prices, and they have fueled a demand since well before the pandemic started (hence the RTL-E outselling all other G2 trims, probably since its inception). Automakers have been prioritizing building and selling higher-trim vehicles to meet that small target market demand.

Then there's another faction made up of those who are trying to keep up with, or out-do, their neighbors, even though they can borderline afford it, or probably not afford it at all. They are hedging their bets that they have solid employment and income in future years that will support their current wants. It is extremely easy to justify buying more than one can realistically afford.

And then there is the vast majority who absolutely cannot afford a new vehicle. They will be forced to utilize older vehicles and keep the used vehicle market strong. Those folks are now driving those reliable cars from the late 90s and early 2000s.... times will be getting tougher as newer vehicles that enter the used market may be more difficult to repair, and independent knowledgeable mechanics become harder to find.

If I were someone who could not afford a reliable vehicle, I would be comsidering no vehicle at all. I'd be looking for work close to home where I could walk or bicycle to work, or somewhere in a city where mass transit was available.

 

If someone is financing 100% of a vehicle, they are setting themselves up for trouble. Yes, the situation is bad right now, but I also believe you need to look at your personal situation and not buy more vehicle than you can afford. I would hope that 99% of buyers are not committing to the payments cited above. Hope.

We are financing part of our new Ridgeline - more of it than we’d like, but that is where we are. We didn’t anticipate the broken frame/corrosion recall on our ‘06 back in June when we bought a brand new car. We looked into used trucks, anywhere from a beater to get us through for a couple of years, to a certified pre-owned newer one. You just don’t get much for your money on a used vehicle right now, unless you get lucky - prices are still too high for it to make sense, for us. We are both retired, and didn’t want to take the money out of our retirement funds with the stock market the way it is right now. Next fall the I-bonds we bought recently will have matured, and we’ll be able to pay off the RL then. And the plan is to keep it forever, so theoretically we will be all set for vehicles for a long time.

If we COULD get 0% on it, we’d be ecstatic.

 

Regarding 0% offers, which is pretty wild considering the times, I'm wondering if dealers have the ability to work with Honda Financial to select the rates they want to offer. So if they standard rate from HFS is say 2.9% for well qualified buyers can the dealer say, "We want to keep our 'Market Adjustments' and offer 0% so we'll pony up $x,xxx to buy the rate down."

I also noticed that these 0% deals require 80% of the deal to be financed which I don't remember being a stipulation when i got 0.9% on mine in 2020.