[joeytri]

Hello all,

I have been hounding this forum for about 4 months now without registering.. just reading really.

Today, after many days of negotiations and long thoughts, I got myself a brand new Ridgeline Black Edition 2017.

I wanted to share my experiences and thank everyone for posting thoughts and helping me with this decision passively.

After numerous calls in regards to finding an RTL-T or RTL-E or Black Edition, I was not in luck here in Marietta, GA. Sales people were saying that they cant keep them on the lot for more than a few hours and they sell like hot cakes. Yesterday I got a call from Curry Honda in regards to one Black Edition that could be sold to me. I went ahead and immediately went down to take a look. Apparently, the owner of Curry Honda was driving it for a few days after it got off the truck and was willing to sell it.

It was decked out. It had 19' wheels from the Pilot (I seriously dont know why they did this.. the wheels on the black edition look better), Running Boards with lights, door trim, protective film installed, Tonneau Cover, wheel locks, light up door panels, all-weather mats and mud guards on all 4 wheels.

They wanted $49,990 for the vehicle. I told them there is no way in hell I'd pay that and wanted the real wheels with it. Their excuse was "its the most expensive truck on the lot and someone will want it with all these editions and wheels". I said .. Okay, you rip them off instead and call me when you have a stock black edition.

Then they decided they would lean a little before I walked out. They took the wheels off and still wanted about 47k for it. I stood my ground and said "I understand this truck is in high demand, but I didnt ask for these additions you decided to install because you thought some rich schmuck would walk in and pay it. I want a black edition and I will pay MSRP for it. Max.

Now, before you laugh, I did a lot of research on how they were being sold around Atlanta. Apparently the average was about $2k above sticker price for a stock black edition, or $45,770. I REALLY didn't want to be that dude that threw money at some dealership because of how popular something was.

MSRP and take off the crap that you want to charge me for.

Many "i can't do that" or "that will take a long time and they are backed up" complaints later, they agreed on MSRP with all accessories EXCEPT the wheels (which I REALLY didnt want anyway).

Total was $43,770.

Then it was financing - I have an 820 credit score and they threw %6.0 at me. Long story short, I walked away because they didnt give me what I really wanted - which was 1.9 at 72 months.

Surprisingly, I was called in the next morning and was told 2.34 at 72 months and you buy the extended warranty for 2200"

That was today.

There was a lot of bickering in between it all that I wanted to skip over, but I did haggle them quite a bit. I have to give them credit though. Curry Honda have some really nice folks there and I did enjoy the experience there. It was better than many dealerships I have been to in my lifetime.

Got 2.34% at 72 months for $43,770 (plus taxes and fees) - 0 down.

I am pretty happy with this. It drives like a Mercedes and it is gorgeous. I am not a truck guy, really. But I wanted to make use of the abilities that a truck delivers (haul arcades, haul lots of gear for photography, etc).. without having to join the "truck bros" - Hopefully that makes sense and doesn't offend anyone.

Just wanted to share. TY all.

 

[joeytri]

Oh.. that last pic is it barely fitting in my 2-car garage lol

 

[ranger519]

Congratulations. I have over 8000 miles on my BE now and love it. Have not heard of a dealer changing the wheels out on the BE - that was interesting. Your experience of finding one seems pretty typical around here - BE and LE trim levels are not on the lots very long if you can find one at all.

 

[DSERVIT]

Did you end up paying 2200.00 for the warranty?

 

[BruceL]

Congratulations. I have over 8000 miles on my BE now and love it. Have not heard of a dealer changing the wheels out on the BE - that was interesting. Your experience of finding one seems pretty typical around here - BE and LE trim levels are not on the lots very long if you can find one at all.

I see one at a dealer near me that did the same thing but not on a BE.

Congrats on the new truck!!!

 

[14v6]

Congrats. At least you got all those add ons thrown in for sticker. Is your garage 1 door or 2 8 foot doors? I have two 8 foot doors and it is tight. One day I know that I'm going to damage one of those mirrors.

 

[Jigaloo]

Great looking truck welcome to the forum! Just be happy it didn't have jsport leveling kit and wheels. An earlier post indicated dealers were charging $6k for that.

Anyway, congrats

 

[outdoorliving]

Congratulations on the new ride! I had a similar experience with trying to find any kind of deal in the Atlanta area. I ended up buying my RTL-E in Mobile, AL. I negotiated for 5 days while the truck just sat on their lot back in early July. They tried the same thing with all the add ons. The final deal was $41,000 for the RTL-E that included the running boards and tonneau cover. I'm pretty sure if I had to do it over again today, I would have a much harder time reaching that deal. The high end models have only become scarcer at the dealerships since that time.

Great job sticking to your guns, and enjoy your new ride. I'm on my way to my local dealership this morning for my 10,000 mile service. Still loving it.

 

[CCDAstro]

Congrats. At least you got all those add ons thrown in for sticker. Is your garage 1 door or 2 8 foot doors? I have two 8 foot doors and it is tight. One day I know that I'm going to damage one of those mirrors.

Yes. Congrats! Sounds like it was fun dealing with that stealer! I am glad that we converted the carport on the end of our shop to a garage last summer. We went with a huge 20 foot x 7 door but it makes it easy to get two vehicles in with room to spare!

 

[tinsoldier]

Congrates. It took me almost 2 months to find my RTL-E in Atlanta. Most of the ones I found either sold for MSRP or more and didn't last more than a week on the lot. Now everywhere I stop to get gas, people would ask about the truck and was surprised at how much the truck costs. .

 

[stevem5215]

Congrats ! I started my deal with my dealer back in August. They tried in vain to get me a Red one from somewhere within driving distance to no success and ended up just ordering it from the factory through a exchange program with another dealers order. It worked out good. And took 8 weeks to come in. I was able to get $1000 off MSRP on mine as part of the "internet" deal I worked with them. I never went to the dealership till it was time to pick it up. All paperwork was done via email and I knew my final out the door price.

With these things in high demand it reduces your chances of getting a "steal of a deal" like I mentioned in a previous post about the Dodge Ram $12k off sticker dealer. But I really think this is a better truck overall for my needs and like someone else mentioned it's really not about buying a gigantic vehicle for hauling my home remodeling stuff. It's about everyday ease of use and the car like factor these offer us. In my case I call it my SUT.

Steve M

 

[bkp]

Congratulations on the new BE! Beautiful ride... I'm in metro Atlanta as well, and things must have changed over the last couple of months... Bought my RTL-T in July, at below MSRP (I won't say by how much -- it'll piss you off). At that time, there was a Lunar Silver, a Scarlet, a Modern Steel, and my White Pearl available at that dealer (Georgia Mall Honda).

I'm also loving the truck... Just got back from a round trip ride to West Palm, Florida... 10 hours each way, and hardly felt it, surrounded by all that comfort... Only issue I've had, is the rear tailgate latch, which you might have read about here, which is minor and fixable...

 

[ArtAuto]

I have also been reading this forum for a few months now. I went through three dealers before I was able to get my RTL-E a week ago. Dealer number one is the closest to my house; Wife and I stopped in one afternoon on a whim. I'd been reading about the new Ridgeline, Wife hates riding in my Ranger, and I can't take my grandson in the Ranger (no back seat, no latch system for his car seat). They had a Black Edition on the lot, so we took a test drive - holy cow! This is a NICE truck! They were willing to deal a little, but I really don't want a black vehicle, so I asked if they could order me a silver or red or blue. Nope, Honda doesn't do orders. Well, how about trading with a nearby dealer? Nope, can't do that either - we all sell everyone we get within days. (In fact, this BE was sold the next day.) Best we can do is wait for one to show up and call you.

A few weeks go by, and no call; I find another dealer fairly close with a red RTL-E listed on their web site, so I call them. Sure, it's available, come on down! Long story short, it was BS - they'd sold it days before and just used it to lure us into the showroom thinking they could sell me something else. We left there pi$$ed.

At this point, I'm pretty disgusted, but Wife calls dealer #3 (Honda of Kirkland (suburb of Seattle)) who had a silver E on their website. It's sold, but they will work to get what I want, however, It'll be MSRP (with no add-ons). I say OK. Sure enough, they trade a Ridgeline they have on order with another dealer on the east coast to get the color and interior I want, and I have an E on order with a delivery estimated to be end of September. They were good about keeping me up to date on progress, gave me the VIN (just under 10K), and called the day it arrived. I wrote 'em a check and drove off with a blue RTL-E. I did have to go to the dealership twice - once to write the check & fill out paperwork for the temporary title, and once to pick up the truck. The sales lady was super nice, spent a bunch of time with me on both visits so I could learn about and later customize the user interface. A very mild low key attempt to sell me an extended warranty - other than that, this was a very straightforward transaction, and I would recommend this dealership. (Yes, I gave 'em all 10's on the survey.)

I love driving this thing! So far I only have a little over 300 miles on it with no problems. I do notice the shake when you stop, although I don't think I would have if I hadn't read about it on the forum. While I was waiting for it, I bought splash guards and the tonneau cover which I installed myself. I'll probably do the tailgate lock as described in another thread too.

Art

 

[DogOnBoard]

Did you mean 20" Pilot wheels (didn't think there are 19" wheels for the Pilot)? I just can't figure out what they thought they would do with the BE wheels they took off your truck (before you made them put them back on)?! Like someone else would want those on a lower trim RL?

 

[PETDOC]

I have also been reading this forum for a few months now. I went through three dealers before I was able to get my RTL-E a week ago........... I say OK. Sure enough, they trade a Ridgeline they have on order with another dealer on the east coast to get the color and interior I want, and I have an E on order with a delivery estimated to be end of September. They were good about keeping me up to date on progress, gave me the VIN (just under 10K), and called the day it arrived. I wrote 'em a check and drove off with a blue RTL-E. I did have to go to the dealership twice - once to write the check & fill out paperwork for the temporary title, and once to pick up the truck. The sales lady was super nice, spent a bunch of time with me on both visits so I could learn about and later customize the user interface. A very mild low key attempt to sell me an extended warranty - other than that, this was a very straightforward transaction, and I would recommend this dealership. (Yes, I gave 'em all 10's on the survey.)


Art

What was the time interval between you signing the contract to purchase the RTL-E and 1) receiving notification it was being built and 2) actually getting vehicle? I'm currently waiting on deep scarlet Pearl RTL-E. Signed purchase agreement 8/31 and was told it may take 3 months.

 

[Border411]

Well done man. I just put down $500 on my truck, and my credit union is cutting the check today. I went through PenFeds "Car Buying Program", which uses Truecar. The exact car was located at the dealership that I was going to buy from anyways, and they accepted the "Savings Certificate" for a another dealership----$2552 off MSRP! Silver RTL w/Gray interior for $33,9xx plus TTL and their processing fee. Picking it up Monday. Could not have been easier.

 

[flyboy76]

Congrats on your new BE. I too have a BE and I am in Marietta also. I haven't seen any new RL's on the road yet and I've had mine two months.

 

[BrandoRex]

I think you're going to be enjoying this truck a whole lot longer than your other vehicles. I've had mine since day 1 and it always makes me giddy to drive it.

 

[ArtAuto]

What was the time interval between you signing the contract to purchase the RTL-E and 1) receiving notification it was being built and 2) actually getting vehicle? I'm currently waiting on deep scarlet Pearl RTL-E. Signed purchase agreement 8/31 and was told it may take 3 months.

819 (Friday) - Initial Phone call to dealer Thursday, Dealer calls back Friday with info on a truck I could have.

8/20 (Saturday) - Contract and $1000 deposit charged to my credit card - email and phone

8/22 (Monday) - Credit card receipt via email received

9/3 Notified my truck started production

9/6 Notified of my VIN and ETA 9/25 - 9/29

9/14 Drove to the dealership to sign paperwork and meet sales person face to face. I forgot my checkbook, so mailed check next day. Was able to spend a half hour or so playing with the dealership owner's RTL-E (which had a broken tailgate! "Part on order...")

9/27 - Notified by phone my truck was ready, picked it up same day.

The whole thing took 5-1/2 weeks.

Art

 

[Jason Newman]

I don't know where the "high demand" is coming from in the southern states. Sounds more like a dealer story to generate some hype/anxiety in buyers. There's two dealers in London. Both have two Black Editions. Both Black Editions have been sitting since they arrived at the dealership. It's been over two months now.