[captmiddy]

Hello All,

My first post and right after joining. I went truck shopping about 3 weeks ago, and about 1 week after trying out a Ridgeline (yes that is backward but I was bored while having my wife's Civic Hybrid serviced). I tried a Colorado, Canyon, Tacoma, and Frontier (yes two of those are the same car, one had leather). And kept coming back to the Ridgeline, took my wife to try the Ridgeline and she liked it also. At first I just wanted the RTS, but when I played with the Nav system and the fact that the full power seats and heat didn't come till the RTL models it sort of swayed me quickly. So now I am on the path to finding a good price. At first the dealer I was working with wanted to sell me a dealer demo for 32878 with Chrome grill, chrome bumper highlights, mudflaps, and foglights. This seemed pretty good, it was $5000 off MSRP but came with the ~6000k miles they had put on it. Today I talked to another dealer over the phone (internet sales) and offered 32850 which is roughly $1000 over Invoice. So now I am at that price and have held the red RTL Nav that they have in stock. What I guess I am asking is if anyone in the MA area knows of a dealer who is willing to go closer to Invoice on an RTL Nav. So far everyone seems reluctant to even talk to me when I mention the 32850 price. I know this isn't going to include any options at all, but I did get a coupon for 20% off on all accessories.

Also is $32850 really that good of a price? I have seen that some people are getting $500 over Invoice with Mud Flaps and such, so maybe I am being too wimpy in my negotiations.

 

[Tux]

Capt, I don't know much about the MA area dealers but I can tell you this, if you have a dealer who gave you 32850 as their starting price, you can talk em down, even if they are the internet sales person, they'll still negotiate. That's the exact price my dealer started at and I told him this, you get me at 32k and it's a done deal. If you let them know you're ready to buy and you'll be in if they get you your price, they'll start dealing. Another idea you might want to take into consideration is the 4th of July weekend, which will be a BIG sales weekend. If you can wait, that may help pull some deals into your favor. I did mine on the Friday of Memorial day weekend and the internet sales guy I worked with even said the holiday was a big portion of the negotiation, as they really wanted to have at least one sure sale for that weekend. My number was 32k but I didn't quite get there but very darn close to it. Hoewever, it doesn't hurt to work them now. You probably wont get invoice but if you pick a number above it, like 32k it gives them something to work with and never be afraid to walk away.

Don't worry about the accessories, you can generally find dealers online that'll sell to you parts for less like our sponsor HandA-accessories.com. Another alternative is hondacuraworld.com. If you're handy install it yourself or some have found body shops to do the install and others have even taken their cheaper parts back to the dealer to install.

If you plan to go for the warranty, don't buy it from the dealer. Look in the member profiles for the name 'christn' and he'll get you a honda warranty for $25 over cost which no one can beat.

Good hunting, you should be able to get a cheaper price. I'd stay away from that dealer demo.

 

[captmiddy]

Well I sort of pushed myself into that price, I don't think I can haggle that price much with this person. Not that I couldn't shoot for a better price from another dealer. I should be getting a call from the Costco rep at another dealer tomorrow, and that will sort of determine where I go from here. I think that the price I have is okay, and I have already sent mail to christn regarding the warranty.

I noticed that you are going to put the camera in yourself. That looks like rather a chore. I can see doing the fog lights, the mud flaps, even installing an aftermarket DRL kit, but that camera install looks ugly, taking apart part of the driver's seat, and pulling up the molding by the door, and that was about as far as I got to read on it before I thought maybe that wasn't a self install thing for me.

As to the demo, it is off the plate, my wife smacked me upside the head until I came back to reality. It was the color I wanted, the style I wanted, so it was really attractive. But I only put about 6000 miles a year on my car so that was one full year of added depreciation for me.

 

[ridgeNH]

Is Peters Honda in NH too far.
I think I know the dealer you are taking about.
When I was looking, they had in the paper 2500 off list and I called and found out that it was a demo.
Did you do an Edmunds quote?

I got 500 over invoice, for the Ridge RTL.

The Nav is Nice if you want the back camera, but I have see people with Pocket PC and GPS units work well, and it is not stuck in one car.

They sent me email today not realizing that I had bought one, sounded like they wanted to deal. When I picked up my Hitch last week they had the same three Ridges there from two weeks before.

Gas prices are keeping people on the side lines I think.

RidgeNH

 

[comquat1]

I went in to deal on my Ridge and ended up being very straightforward with the salesman. I said I want an RTL with navi and a hitch package (i didn't care if it was honda, curt or whatever) for $32,600 (edmunds invoice plus 500 destination and 500 profit - i'm in sales, i feel the salesman has to make a bit along with the promo $ that i'm sure the dealership throws at them for moving a car or truck). They came back with $33,000. I said, "here's my phone number, call me when you are ready to sell it at that price. By the way, I've got a 9am tomorrow with so and so Honda (their closest competitor), I'm telling you they will get a sale if they agree to $32,600." I couldn't even begin to get out of my seat and he was five feet away from me going towards the manager's office. He came back and agreed to that ammount before t,t,l of course. They ended up putting on a Curt hitch which looks great to me, and i know that they made a bit more money off of me because of that. Be bold and be serious, don't frog around with pricing if you are not preapproved and have your trade in taken care of. I didn't owe anything on my trade so I sold it myself, got $1000 more than I was offered at the dealer. Just my two cents. Good luck.

 

[ridgeNH]

How much did the charge you for fees..etc?

Do you think the salesman got the 500 dollars?

I think they need to make a living, When I picked up my Truck, the dealer had more than a few people picking up cars. The Auto companies are making money, the dealers are making money.

RidgeNH

 

[SSquire]

I got mine for $500 over down here in RI. Let me know if I can help you out.

 

[comquat1]

I think i had $180 fee and $20 for the license transfer, I wasn't going to hassle on that. I believe the sales rep got somewhere between 15%-30% of the $500. Alot of dealers have a sliding scale for commission. Like if they sell up to 10 cars a month they'll make 20% of profit, and anything over that they might make 25% of profit. Plus, I am 99% possitive that the dealer has what we call in sales "spiff money." this is cash the sales guy gets that alot of times is under the table. Maybe on a hot car they'll offer $100 or $200 in spiff cash and they might pay it same day. I've got it in my industry, but I use it to offset making less, I really don't care, I just want to move alot of product for a fair margin. Selling less for a brief period is just an incentive for the buyer to act fast in my book.

 

[jch]

What I did captmiddy, which yielded me what I feel as a good deal, was to:
Get prices on Edmunds.com for Ridgeline (invoice, MSRP, Destination)
Get price on Edmunds for trade-in value of trade
Go to Honda.com and plug in my zip code
Write down names and numbers for all Honda dealers within a 90-mile radius (I started a spreadsheet with columns for Dealer, location, Phone, contact, RL$, Trade$ etc., so I could keep everyone who would be calling back straight. I was glad I did when the return calls started pouring in with numbers! I even set up macros to keep tabs of bottom line, “beatin’ on trade” etc.)
Start calling and asking for best price on Ridgeline with the package I prefer and price on my trade.
Start pitting them against each other. (Joe’s Honda I willing to give me…)
Then, I took the best deal to the dealer I wanted to purchase the truck from and asked him to match (in speaking with these salesman/women I got a feel for the ones who were interested in working with me, and the ones who just want a sale or to move on. If you start putting them through hoops, they start showing their true colors).
I don't know if this is a textbook approach but this worked well for me and has also worked on past purchases. I ended up with a fantastic buying experience with a great dealer and salesman who was on the ball, listened to my needs, promptly called back with all the demanding info I asked for. He went the extra mile to make everything right. In the end, he threw in an accessory I requested and threw on an additional one as a nice surprise, a couple free services, first couple inspections free…! Anyone looking to purchase in PA I have the dealer and contact for you!
BTW: How did you get a 20% off accessories coupon?
I hope this helps.

 

[captmiddy]

http://www.bernardihonda.com

Go to the specials and then click web specials. There are coupons there for web specials, one is 20% of MSRP on accessories till June 30th.

 

[Ultra-HOG]

How is the relationship and the service with the dealer that you purchased your Civic from? If they have treated you well since the purchase, there certainly is value in knowing that they are likely to treat you the same or better as a repeat customer. If you purchase your new vehicle from a far away dealer to save a few dollars, I would not expect them or your present dealer to go above and beyond the minimum when you really need them the most. That is where your return on a reasonable additional investment can really make a difference to you. If it sounds like I am building a case for rewarding your local dealer with your loyalty and your dollars, I am, guilty as charged - but only if, given the opportunity, they have earned your confidence. If they have let you down, all bets are off. In that case, it sucks to be them, and they deserve to loose your business.

 

[captmiddy]

Ultra-HOG,

I won't use their service department anymore. They charged me $130 for the first oil change on my Civic, this should have cost only about $60 according to other dealers in the area. I have since started taking my car to a closer dealership, but their sales department used to be horrible. It has become much better, but they are such a high volume dealer that they won't deal below a certain number at all. They figure that the next guy in the door will buy at a higher price anyway. But I agree, if the dealership near me was good in both respects, I would buy from them and continue to bring my car in. The reality is that there are 4 dealerships within 30 minutes of my house, so this really isn't about a locality thing.

 

[shovelhd]

Wow. We pay $19.95 for an oil and filter change for the Pilot from the purchasing dealer. They also top off the fluids, vacuum and wash it.

 

[Ultra-HOG]

Wow captmiddy! I hope that they use their $130 that they charged you very wisely since it is apparent that there won't be any more where that came from!

 

[bellteck]

$130???????????????? OIL CHANGE?????????????? Talk about Price Goudging !!! Geez.

What did you get for $130? and what did she look like?

 

[jeffiam]

$130???????????????? OIL CHANGE?????????????? Talk about Price Goudging !!! Geez.

What did you get for $130? and what did she look like?

LLLOOOOLLLLL...............OOOOOOOOOOOOH BOY!!
but seriouly folks.................thats a "bastard" of a service dept.......there is just no excuse for overcharging someone, especially like that......holy wow!!
.............uuuhhh, so what DID she look like?????? phone number?

 

[Featser]

I went in to deal on my Ridge and ended up being very straightforward with the salesman. I said I want an RTL with navi and a hitch package (i didn't care if it was honda, curt or whatever) for $32,600 (edmunds invoice plus 500 destination and 500 profit - i'm in sales, i feel the salesman has to make a bit along with the promo $ that i'm sure the dealership throws at them for moving a car or truck). They came back with $33,000...

All this trouble for $400 ?!?

 

[Southern Yankee]

Hello All,

My first post and right after joining. I went truck shopping about 3 weeks ago, and about 1 week after trying out a Ridgeline (yes that is backward but I was bored while having my wife's Civic Hybrid serviced). I tried a Colorado, Canyon, Tacoma, and Frontier (yes two of those are the same car, one had leather). And kept coming back to the Ridgeline, took my wife to try the Ridgeline and she liked it also. At first I just wanted the RTS, but when I played with the Nav system and the fact that the full power seats and heat didn't come till the RTL models it sort of swayed me quickly. So now I am on the path to finding a good price. At first the dealer I was working with wanted to sell me a dealer demo for 32878 with Chrome grill, chrome bumper highlights, mudflaps, and foglights. This seemed pretty good, it was $5000 off MSRP but came with the ~6000k miles they had put on it. Today I talked to another dealer over the phone (internet sales) and offered 32850 which is roughly $1000 over Invoice. So now I am at that price and have held the red RTL Nav that they have in stock. What I guess I am asking is if anyone in the MA area knows of a dealer who is willing to go closer to Invoice on an RTL Nav. So far everyone seems reluctant to even talk to me when I mention the 32850 price. I know this isn't going to include any options at all, but I did get a coupon for 20% off on all accessories.

Also is $32850 really that good of a price? I have seen that some people are getting $500 over Invoice with Mud Flaps and such, so maybe I am being too wimpy in my negotiations.

Send the dealer a link to the other posts in this forum. Then email 10 other dealers near you.

 

[captmiddy]

Well I tried about 10 other dealers within about 50 miles of my house. Only about 5 of them even had RTL with Navi, and none of them wanted to part with them that far under MSRP, only one would even match and that was for a Black one and I wasn't interested. I have also changed my mind about their service department to some extent and will try going back one more time to see if I will use them going forward. Apparently my wife made a mistake when she called for the appointment and picked the wrong level, and I didn't go in with her when she dropped it off, I just came behind her to take her away while it was in for service. The filter for the Hybrid Civic is rather pricey and makes up the majority of that cost by itself. The filter shouldn't have been replaced till this last service visit.

When I called this dealer I did tell them I had a place willing to sell me one at 33k so the 150 they came under was good enough, and was better than the 32879 for the Demo vehicle. So I probably boxed myself in a little. I did get them to match the $25 over cost for the Honda Care, well actually I didn't, he insisted on letting me have it for that after I gave him the website. Which means christn may get some email. I also got a good price on the accessories installed, they took 20% off the installed cost for each one. I also got a lojack system at $600 about $100 off the regular price. So I was real pleased even if I got about $1200 under what I originally wanted for my trade. My total came up $2000 under what the best alternate offer I had on the table would have been. They even had an arrangement with my credit union so they could directly finance me with my credit union. All and all anything extra I paid was worth the pleasant experience.

 

[comquat1]

All this trouble for $400 ?!?

I had time on my side, I wasn't going to give them anything more than what I felt they deserved. I didn't need a truck that day, that week, or that month, so if they wanted a sale they needed to meet my offer. Also, $400 in gas will take care of you for 1 month in gas with how much I drive. I like giving money away, but only to churches and charities.