I'm seeing videos on YT about very slow sales, so have prices come down. I'd like to get about 8% off MSRP.
Don't buy their line of crap. Look up Honda Ridgeline sales and you will find they vary from around 33,000-50,000 units a year. Last year, 2023, was a high with over 50,000 units sold, at this time they're over 37,000 units for 2024. Not numbers like Ford's two lower buck units, the Maverick and Ranger, but consistent and not oversupplying the market. So I'm not seeing any big cuts in Honda's prices. Probably better financing rates to push sales. I had .09% on our HR-V and I have 2.99% on the Ridgeline. You might get 8% off if you catch the dealer right, but it will still probably have the freight and prep cost if that much is knocked off. But it certainly can't hurt to try. The supply is good, not over supplied, but they are available.
For what it is worth, the freight and prep are real costs to the dealers, they're not all profit. Most manufacturers will also list a freight cost, because they charge the dealers the same even if the dealer is a few miles from the plant. The dealer in Florida pays the same freight as the dealer in Marysville Ohio selling the same model. The prep really depends on what the dealer has to do and what their hourly rate is. When I sold motorcycles we charged exactly what the freight cost on the bike and a specific prep cost based on what should be the time to do the work. We usually talked out the door numbers, showing how those numbers were arrived at, but the bottom line is what counts. With a bit of research and talking with some sales people one dan find out what freight and prep should cost to avoid being fed a line.
Last fall I was going to have to wait for a while when I bought my 2023 red RTL, the next one had a deposit. I got a call after about a week or so, seems the customer backed out on the red RTL that came in, so they got with me. In 2020 we had to wait around two or three months to get my wife's blue HR-V. The sales guy kept calling about once a week to try to get her to take a white or silver one they had in stock. She wouldn't do it. The HR-V was produced in Mexico, the Ridgeline was U.S. Took a bit of time from Mexico, not as long to get the U.S. vehicle.
Seems Ford has overshot on their Bronco. I just read where they are now past the "new hot item" sales and sales have dropped a lot. Ford is shifting workers to other lines now, stopping with Bronco building. I didn't check on the Ranger or Maverick on sales. Both the Maverick and Toyota Tacoma sell a lot more units, but from what the numbers show, Honda knows its niche and doesn't go overboard to try to claim more sales that aren't assured to occur.
Maybe Honda learned a lesson in motorcycle sales back in the 1980s when they and Yamaha battled for the market, missing that it was really soft. There were 81-83 model Hondas and Yamahas selling for nearly 50% off in 1985-86. They lost their asses on that fiasco. Honda just keeps selling what they make, supply roughly meets demand. Keeps the used Ridgeline value up.
