Experience at Honda dealer

My current credit union is from 5.35% for 48months. I picked up my Accord
about 3 1/2 months ago for 4.74% w/Honda financing. I walked in there with
a pre-approved loan from my credit union, and they beat their best offer by
a quarter point. It really pays to walk in there with a pre-approved check
and see what they are willling to do.

-Dave


"Nicholas Coday" > wrote in message
...
>I think you got reamed on the interest rate. 2 weeks ago I got 5.74% after
>the rate was increased through my credit union. Honda financing could not
>come close to that rate
>
> --Nicholas
>
> pichula wrote:
>> I went last week to a Honda dealer to trade in my car for a new Accord
>> Value Pack (VP, base model). I was surprised by all their tactics to
>> get the most out of my money. I don't blame the salesperson because he
>> was nice and helpful, but I think the sales manager went a little too
>> far in his methods. I also have to say that after the deal was done,
>> they were all nice guys and very helpful with all the process. I'm
>> going to enumerate the things I consider bad tactics because they were
>> just too many:
>>
>> 1) When I told them I wanted the Value Pack, the manager said that it
>> had no power windows. That I better choose the LX or EX. That's not
>> true.
>>
>> 2) When I came back next day he said that VP had no Cruise Control. I
>> checked the car I wanted to buy and I noticed the cruise control was
>> there.
>>
>> 3) When we were negotiating the price he showed me the invoice price, I
>> said the invoice price I saw at edmunds.com was lower. When he noticed
>> I was not accepting that price he showed me that there was about $200
>> marketing charge and accepted to remove it. Nothing bad about this part
>> because I think dealers usually try to add these hidden charges without
>> telling customers.
>>
>> 4) After negotiating the price for my trade in and the price of the
>> Accord VP, he came with a blank page (where all the totals are
>> calculated) for me to sign. I said I wanted to see the final numbers
>> before I sign the page. I said I cannot sign a blank sheet for them
>> later to add the totals. They accepted.
>>
>> 5) Then he came with the same sheet with a total amount higher than
>> what we negotiated. I told them that we had to subtract the amount I
>> get from my trade in. At this time the manager pretended to be
>> exasperated with me, like if I was asking for too much. He said that he
>> would do it later and refused to write it in the sheet. So I took the
>> pen and had to do the subtraction in front of him and underlined the
>> final amount. He accepted that amount.
>>
>> 6) At about 9:00 PM (they were already closed but there were still a
>> few customers finalizing their deals), I was tired but happy when the
>> manager brought the paper work describing my monthly payments. Let me
>> say that I have very good credit (over 700), and the manager told me he
>> was going to run my information with about 15 banks and get me the best
>> deal. Not true, he got me financing with Honda. How can he run my
>> information with 15 banks and come with a loan from honda financeing?
>> Maybe I'm missing something here. Anyway he got me 6.6% interest which
>> I consider too high but I still accepted. Maybe I should have got the
>> loan with my credit union.
>>
>> 7) He showed my monthly payments at about $35 over what I estimated,
>> and handed me a pen to sign. I asked me how can it be so high? Then he
>> said I was getting the 7 years/100K miles warranty. When I insisted in
>> how much it costed, he said $1600. He said if I don't take the warranty
>> I'm taking a big risk if the car breaks. I asked him how can he tell me
>> these are the best cars in the market and now he's telling me that I'm
>> taking a big risk because they can break. Finnally he accepted to
>> remove the warranty and I got the payment amount I wanted.
>>
>> I remember at a Chevrolet dealer in 1998 I had a very good experience
>> buying my chevy Malibu, I still remember the name of the Chevy sales
>> person (Mike), I can't believe at Honda these guys gave me such a hard
>> time.
>>
>> After the negotiation, the manager and sales person were very nice and
>> helpful.
>>

"Brandy Alexandre" > wrote in message
...
> Nicholas Coday > wrote in
> rec.autos.makers.honda:
>
>> I think you got reamed on the interest rate. 2 weeks ago I got
>> 5.74% after the rate was increased through my credit union. Honda
>> financing could not come close to that rate
>>
>
> I got 5.1% in October. When I still complained about the monthly
> payment, they increased the loan from 60 months to 72 without
> increasing the rate, which should have been at least a point higher.
> Of course, my credit score was 808, so your mileage may vary.
>
> --
> Brandy Alexandre®
> http://www.swydm.com/?refer=BrandyAlx
> Well, would you?

Yes, the business mgr offered to increase the months to reduce my payments
too, but that would mean extending the length of the loan and increasing the
amount of interest I'd have to pay. He tried doing this so I would go for
one of the extra packages they try to sell. I wanted to the the lowest
bottom line cost, so declined the offer.

Here are a couple of good sites for auto and other finance calculators:
http://www.bankrate.com/brm/rate/calc_home.asp

Or you could go here for the auto payment calculator and fill in your
numbers:
http://www.bankrate.com/brm/auto-loan-calculator.asp

It really helps with figuring out what you need to pay ahead of time so if
they do the financing for you, you'll know if they added other things to the
final cost.

Hope it helps!
-Dave

pichula wrote:
> I went last week to a Honda dealer to trade in my car for a new Accord

big mistake. sell your car private party first. unless its some piece of
crap you wanna unload quickly.

> Value Pack (VP, base model). I was surprised by all their tactics to
> get the most out of my money. I don't blame the salesperson because he

all salesmen are out to get as much money as possible. ive only met ONE
honest one, who was truthful and straightforward. he probably no longer
works there

> was nice and helpful, but I think the sales manager went a little too
> far in his methods. I also have to say that after the deal was done,
> they were all nice guys and very helpful with all the process. I'm
> going to enumerate the things I consider bad tactics because they were
> just too many:
>
> 1) When I told them I wanted the Value Pack, the manager said that it
> had no power windows. That I better choose the LX or EX. That's not
> true.
>
> 2) When I came back next day he said that VP had no Cruise Control. I
> checked the car I wanted to buy and I noticed the cruise control was
> there.

half the time the salesmen dont know **** about the cars they sell. they
arent enthusiasts.
>
> 3) When we were negotiating the price he showed me the invoice price, I
> said the invoice price I saw at edmunds.com was lower. When he noticed
> I was not accepting that price he showed me that there was about $200
> marketing charge and accepted to remove it. Nothing bad about this part
> because I think dealers usually try to add these hidden charges without
> telling customers.

and prices DO change. what edmunds says and what the dealer says may
both be right, or wrong. "invoice" doesnt mean much anyway- its just a
number to make you feel better than if you paid full MSRP. which a lot
of people do.
>
> 4) After negotiating the price for my trade in and the price of the
> Accord VP, he came with a blank page (where all the totals are
> calculated) for me to sign. I said I wanted to see the final numbers
> before I sign the page. I said I cannot sign a blank sheet for them
> later to add the totals. They accepted.

smart guy. personally, at that point i mighta walked. theyre sleazy for
handing you a blank document to sign.
>
> 5) Then he came with the same sheet with a total amount higher than
> what we negotiated. I told them that we had to subtract the amount I
> get from my trade in. At this time the manager pretended to be
> exasperated with me, like if I was asking for too much. He said that he
> would do it later and refused to write it in the sheet. So I took the
> pen and had to do the subtraction in front of him and underlined the
> final amount. He accepted that amount.

yup- theyre assholes
>
> 6) At about 9:00 PM (they were already closed but there were still a
> few customers finalizing their deals), I was tired but happy when the
> manager brought the paper work describing my monthly payments. Let me
> say that I have very good credit (over 700), and the manager told me he
> was going to run my information with about 15 banks and get me the best
> deal. Not true, he got me financing with Honda. How can he run my
> information with 15 banks and come with a loan from honda financeing?

because they make more money when they sell you a loan through honda.

> Maybe I'm missing something here. Anyway he got me 6.6% interest which
> I consider too high but I still accepted. Maybe I should have got the
> loan with my credit union.

yes- ALWAYS have cash down instead of a tradein, and always have
financing lined up.
>
> 7) He showed my monthly payments at about $35 over what I estimated,
> and handed me a pen to sign. I asked me how can it be so high? Then he
> said I was getting the 7 years/100K miles warranty. When I insisted in

jesus mary and joseph- these guys are MAJOR assholes.

> how much it costed, he said $1600. He said if I don't take the warranty
> I'm taking a big risk if the car breaks. I asked him how can he tell me
> these are the best cars in the market and now he's telling me that I'm
> taking a big risk because they can break. Finnally he accepted to
> remove the warranty and I got the payment amount I wanted.

good for you! i like running that line by em, myself... since hondas and
toyotas are so "good"

what dealership was this, anyway?

Bozo wrote:
>> You have three transactions: new car sale, old car sale, and money
>> sale. Letting one guy quarterback all three of them is crazy.
>>
> Not always true. For example if he really needs the sale he may be
> prepared to reduce the sales price a little IF he gets the finance as well.
>
> As to the trade-in, you may get a few more dollars with a private sale,
> but sell to the dealer and no haggling etc
>


id only trade in something i wanted to unload quickly, like if the car
had a knocking rod, or a failing tranny.

Gordon McGrew wrote:
> Others mentioned keeping the new car and trade-in deals separate.
> Part of that is knowing not only what is a good price on new car
> (which you seem to have done) but also knowing what is a fair price on
> the trade-in, what Car Max would pay you for it, and what is a fair
> private party sale price.

i thought carmax bought strictly at low blue book tradein value.

Hi,
Just to add some info on my trade-in. Although some say negotiating my
trade-in and the new car at the same time was a mistake, I still think
I got a decent price for my trade in. The blue book (kbb) amount for
trade-in was 18,800 (in good condition, not excellent) and they payed
me 20,500 (that's what I asked them). The front bumper had a dent, so
it needed to be changed, the tires needed to be replaced, etc.

Anyway I'm sure they got the difference back with my new car. I just
found out about a person in California that got the exact same car VP
automatic tranny for $600 less (he got it at below invoice). It seems
invoice price doesn't mean much anymore.

Somebody asked me for the name of the dealer, I would prefer just to
say that I'm in Southern Ohio. Actually these cars are built in Ohio,
so I think I should have gotten a better price than the person in
California.

Anyway, let me add that at the dealer they had the Kally Blue Book web
page (kbb.com) in their PCs for any customer to check on their trade-in
values. I tried to access carpoint.com but the browser sent a message
"Access Restricted", or something like that. They also printed me the
value of my trade-in from kbb. com to show me. My question is, if they
are so willing to show kbb.com values, is kbb more on the dealers side?
or on the customers side? or are they neutral as Consumers Report. I
didn't trust very much those trade-in values they showed me.

In article >, "Elmo P.
Shagnasty" > wrote:

> In article . com>,
> "pichula" > wrote:
>
> > Somebody asked me for the name of the dealer, I would prefer just to
> > say that I'm in Southern Ohio. Actually these cars are built in Ohio,
> > so I think I should have gotten a better price than the person in
> > California.
>
> Nope. Not at all. That's not how it works. The transportation fee is
> set in stone, and it's the same in Ohio as it is in California.

Believe it or not, some (if not all) of the Honda cars sold in California
were built in Japan. I have a 1999 Accord and I found out that it was
built in Japan. One poster told me that it was less expensive to import
them from Japan than it was to transport them on trucks from Ohio. The
poster was probably guessing--I don't know the real reason. I do know that
special pollution control equipment is on all new cars sold in California.
The reason that my car was built in Japan instead of Ohio might be related
to the pollution equipment.
Jason

--
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Jason wrote:
>
> In article >, "Elmo P.
> Shagnasty" > wrote:
>
> > In article . com>,
> > "pichula" > wrote:
> >
> > > Somebody asked me for the name of the dealer, I would prefer just to
> > > say that I'm in Southern Ohio. Actually these cars are built in Ohio,
> > > so I think I should have gotten a better price than the person in
> > > California.
> >
> > Nope. Not at all. That's not how it works. The transportation fee is
> > set in stone, and it's the same in Ohio as it is in California.
>
> Believe it or not, some (if not all) of the Honda cars sold in California
> were built in Japan. I have a 1999 Accord and I found out that it was
> built in Japan.

----------------------------


The 'J' on the front of your VIN is the proof that it came from Japan.
It's also printed on the stickers on the driver's door pillar. I've
never owned a non-J, but I'm in Canada.

'Curly'

SoCalMike wrote:
> Bozo wrote:
>
>>> You have three transactions: new car sale, old car sale, and money
>>> sale. Letting one guy quarterback all three of them is crazy.
>>>
>> Not always true. For example if he really needs the sale he may be
>> prepared to reduce the sales price a little IF he gets the finance as
>> well.
>>
>> As to the trade-in, you may get a few more dollars with a private
>> sale, but sell to the dealer and no haggling etc
>>
>
>
> id only trade in something i wanted to unload quickly, like if the car
> had a knocking rod, or a failing tranny.


I've been able to get rid of two junk cars for decent trade ins in the
past. I love screwing dealers. My sister traded in a Neon that died in
fog of smoke as they drove it away from the front door, after she had
signed the papers.

On Sat, 26 Nov 2005 22:12:37 -0800, SoCalMike
> wrote:

>Gordon McGrew wrote:
>> Others mentioned keeping the new car and trade-in deals separate.
>> Part of that is knowing not only what is a good price on new car
>> (which you seem to have done) but also knowing what is a fair price on
>> the trade-in, what Car Max would pay you for it, and what is a fair
>> private party sale price.
>
>i thought carmax bought strictly at low blue book tradein value.

I don't know exactly how they calculate the value but at least they
give you a bona fide offer to use as a basis. If the dealer discounts
the new car price and tries to screw you on the trade-in, at least you
have a minimum price that you know you can get for the old car.