How to get the best deal....

[cbondhonda]

I am always asked by many customers nationwide for Car-Buying advice, so here are my “2 cents”…

1st of all….see what numbers you can get by phone or email….the more info/numbers you get this way the more you can shop without leaving your chair….plus it gives you time to see honestly how “cool” that dealer will be to work with.

2nd….dont be in a rush, even if you are. Act as if you have all the time in the world and your shopping everything from kia’s to Benz’s.

3rd….dont discuss what numbers you want. I repeat….DONT DISCUSS WHAT NUMBERS YOU WANT. Once you give up your hand, its hard to keep a poker face.

4th…..work the deal as if you are paying cash before talking finance or trades.

5th….Car Math is just like 1st grade math:

a) For every 5k you finance, you are going to pay around 100 bucks a month for it over a 5 year term.

b) For every year under or over 5 years on financing…either add or take away about 35 bucks a month.

c) For every 1000 you either put down in cash or trade equity….or add to the loan because of negative equity…take away or add 20 bucks to your 5 year loan per month.

d) Your rate (or APR) Doesnt matter THAT MUCH on your payment like a lot of people think!! 1% in RATE = 11 to 6 dollars a month on a 24-72 month term respectively.

6th…..To get financed from tier 4 (worst) to tier 1 (best)…you HAVE to have a 580 to 720 beacon score. Anything lower and be happy you got a loan…but be prepared to pay some crazy rates.

7th…. if one dealer couldnt finance you…chances are NONE OF THEM CAN no matter what they might say……you hopping from place to place will only make your score worse. Pull your own credit and go shopping that way.

8th….and possibly the most important……..Don’t do all the talking!!!!!

The more you talk, the easier you are for many “Car Dogs” to read. Negotiators do it for a living….regardless of how smart and savvy many people think they are. They (we) (Me) are professionals at what they- we - I do…we feed our kids with this job…and we hear every kind of story thats possible to come up with when it comes to weeding out “Real Customers” from people who are just “Playing the Game”…..and the more you talk or act like you have read every book on car sales…especially if you haven’t….the more you are giving yourself away. By knowing everything you can before you walk in the door (as much or more than the Dealer you are working with) and making sure they (we) (me) doesn’t know that….the better.

And not being truthfull and saying that you got a 2.9 rate at so-and so credit union is the first way to tell a salesperson thats worth his salt that you have no idea about what you are doing….especially if that isnt true!!!

We see rates all day. We see the best credit to the worst credit and we know what it takes to get whatever rates are avilable. Also, a dealership like mine uses over 30 lenders to get people bought. So that means I know what local rates are available by 7:30am every morning. The reason I want to know that is because this tells me what people need to get bought….and that helps me make money because that helps me get more people in a car that otherwise might not get done….or know that they could go for a new car when they thought they couldnt.

So the moral of the story is very simple….find the car(s) you want…compare them through info sites, drive each one…and do your own math. Walk in the dealer, give them your math, tell them the rate tier you qualify for and tell them to clean and gas her so you can get your new car on the road…..just bring a pen to sign with and you are in and out within an hour or so and I (we) can go help someone else get into their new baby as well.

At least thats how I like to do it!

Of course not all dealers are that easy to deal with…so search till you find one that is!!

Chris

[scarletSI]

great info!

[2fast4u2]

[SiRyan]

JP. Nice! Only if I knew this before I bought my car. Anyways, I spent about 5 hours at the Dealership trying to get a deal done. I actually stood up and almost left until he got me the last #'s. I basically got my car for a little over 21K(06 Si) base.

[new06Civic]

Originally Posted by cbondhonda

"How do I get the best deal???" Well here are my 2 cents..

Chris

Hello car salesman, how many pricing threads have you started?

You never give us the dealership invoice price of the Si at the other price thread. For me, I do not need it but I thought that it will be very helpful to others. It'll give us more power to negotiate if we know the insider price, and we will know if they are bullshit us.

I ordered the Si Sedan w/ nav and it should be here this weekend.

[cbondhonda]

Originally Posted by new06Civic

Hello car salesman, how many pricing threads have you started?

You never give us the dealership invoice price of the Si at the other price thread. For me, I do not need it but I thought that it will be very helpful to others. It'll give us more power to negotiate if we know the insider price, and we will know if they are bullshit us.

I ordered the Si Sedan w/ nav and it should be here this weekend.

Because of forum rules....i could NOT give that info until I became a sponsored Forum .....which just happened today....and regardless of what advice I have tried to give YOU in particular....you seem to think you know more than I.....so good luck in your purchase.

Chris

[cbondhonda]

Also just wanted to say....pics of ANY CAR are available at request....

I wont be going back to work until the first of feb....give me enough time to get well enough TO work....so ill start a pic thread ASAP!!!!

Chris

[AznMTboy]

Chris, I got a question for you?
You say that dealer wants you finance so they can get more money from you. So I'm thinking if I were to negotiate to finance by having them lower the OTD price say about 1 or 2k, or like some rebate offer if any. Then After done financing and everything. Then pay all cash to the Honda finance department. Would that mean that there would be no interest yet? because say Like after month I pay in full. so it only the interest for that one month right?

PS: what is the dealership invoice on the Si with Navi and other option.


thanks

[Vince]

Originally Posted by AznMTboy

Chris, I got a question for you?
You say that dealer wants you finance so they can get more money from you. So I'm thinking if I were to negotiate to finance by having them lower the OTD price say about 1 or 2k, or like some rebate offer if any. Then After done financing and everything. Then pay all cash to the Honda finance department. Would that mean that there would be no interest yet? because say Like after month I pay in full. so it only the interest for that one month right?

PS: what is the dealership invoice on the Si with Navi and other option.


thanks

You could definitely finance the purchase and then the next day turn around and make a cash payment and pay it off. Rather than that though, it's sometimes very beneficial in negotiating to be able to say "I can give cash right now @ XXXXX.00 price" or even "I can write you a check right now for XXXXX.00".

[new06Civic]

Originally Posted by cbondhonda

Because of forum rules....i could NOT give that info until I became a sponsored Forum .....which just happened today....and regardless of what advice I have tried to give YOU in particular....you seem to think you know more than I.....so good luck in your purchase.

Chris

I do not need advice on 'how to negotiate'. If I can get the dealership insider invoice price, it would be great. I do not need it now, but it will give me a general idea of ‘how much less for dealership invoice price compare to public invoice price’. I ordered the 07 Si Sedan w/ nav at just over invoice price, and I am very satisfied with the price. The price is rough out here, especially when they do not have a car in their lot. The new Si should be here the end of this week..!

Why are you giving out dealership negotiation secrete in here? I am not tried to be smart, but it is very strange for any car salesman to be here to hand out information. What is the benefit to you?

[cbondhonda]

Originally Posted by new06Civic

I do not need advice on 'how to negotiate'. If I can get the dealership insider invoice price, it would be great. I do not need it now, but it will give me a general idea of ‘how much less for dealership invoice price compare to public invoice price’. I ordered the 07 Si Sedan w/ nav at just over invoice price, and I am very satisfied with the price. The price is rough out here, especially when they do not have a car in their lot. The new Si should be here the end of this week..!

Why are you giving out dealership negotiation secrete in here? I am not tried to be smart, but it is very strange for any car salesman to be here to hand out information. What is the benefit to you?

The reason is because our dealership does not work on the same principles as other dealers do....therefore im in this more for the customer than the dealer. What really annoys me though, is when I try to give out the information I have at my fingertips that are absolute facts, and I have someone argue with me on "invoice" pricing like you did in the other thread when you CLEARLY had no idea what you are talking about.

I would rather help people who actually WANT my help than have an arguing match with someone who doesnt know what they are talking about....so once again....since you dont need my help and every time iI have told you what the invoice price of an Si is you argue with me and are basing your answers off of some website that isnt a dealer.....please stop filling my forum with your repeated questions and ill-informed input. If this polite request isnt good enough, Ill have one of the admin guys take care of the situation for me.

Good luck!

Chris

[cbondhonda]

Originally Posted by Vince

You could definitely finance the purchase and then the next day turn around and make a cash payment and pay it off. Rather than that though, it's sometimes very beneficial in negotiating to be able to say "I can give cash right now @ XXXXX.00 price" or even "I can write you a check right now for XXXXX.00".

But also too, keep in mind normal dealers HATE cash buyers....because they lose money on the financing....so this might not neccessarily help your cause....it might even make it worse! But otherwise....when paying off a financed vehicle....you have to pay the TRUE PAYOFF....so make sure you know what that will be 1 month down the road before choosing to do that!

Chris

[AznMTboy]

So let say the car was 20grand, finance and everything total out to be 25grand.
36months plan.

So which mean after 35months it will be a total of 25grand. But if you were to pay it off the next month then it just be that 20grand with the interest for that months only right?

Am I getting the right idea here?


MT

[cbondhonda]

20000 car price x 60 months @ avg credit. = 400 a month for 60 months or 24k over 5 years total paid.

Now for 36 months at say 4.9% or so = 610 a month for 36 months or 22680 over 3 year term.

Now if you finance at this 3year term depending on the lending company...regardless of whether you pay it off in 1 month or 34 months....you still have to pay the full 22680 regardless!!

So finding a lending company that will adjust the total paid just because of early payment is what the key goal should be for what you are wanting to do.

Chris

[Slav]

you were very helpful with your write up and also said if we have any questions then write to you, so here it goes.. i purchased an 06 civic lx coupe, ive recently been payin close attention to the gas mileage and it is horrible, i have stick by the way and ive been driving like an 80 year olld man to see if it was my driving that the gas mileage was so low(20mpg), but its the car.also my front right wheel is makin awful noises, sounds like the brake pad is cracked or somtheing. basically the point is i should have gotten an si. i am going this saturday to look at an o6 si used with under 3000 miles on it, at the same dealership i got my lx btw. im a college student, so i really dont have more than 3gs if i were to trade in. so i guess my questions are
1. should i see if i can get a good deal for the trade in 1st
2. should i bring the car in and complain how it gives me so many problems?
3. how much you think the cost of the trade in should be?
thank you in advance if you can help me anyway you can, the si is my dream car, and i need to make this work somehow.

thank you

[Vince]

Originally Posted by Slav

you were very helpful with your write up and also said if we have any questions then write to you, so here it goes.. i purchased an 06 civic lx coupe, ive recently been payin close attention to the gas mileage and it is horrible, i have stick by the way and ive been driving like an 80 year olld man to see if it was my driving that the gas mileage was so low(20mpg), but its the car.also my front right wheel is makin awful noises, sounds like the brake pad is cracked or somtheing. basically the point is i should have gotten an si. i am going this saturday to look at an o6 si used with under 3000 miles on it, at the same dealership i got my lx btw. im a college student, so i really dont have more than 3gs if i were to trade in. so i guess my questions are
1. should i see if i can get a good deal for the trade in 1st
2. should i bring the car in and complain how it gives me so many problems?
3. how much you think the cost of the trade in should be?
thank you in advance if you can help me anyway you can, the si is my dream car, and i need to make this work somehow.

thank you

If you don't mind my input...not knowing the specifics of how you purchased (the financial details) the 06 lx, you'll likely take an ass raping on trade-in value on such a "new" vehicle. i.e., being what's called "upside down". Complaining about the car giving you problems, and I'm just spitballing here, might be a lack of maintenance and repairs on your part. If you think you have a brake problem, that's on you too fix, not so much Honda's problem. It'd be nice if it came in as a warranted repair though. As fro your trade go over to edmunds.com and use their wizard to find the value of your lx.
Hope this helps.

[Slav]

Originally Posted by Vince

If you don't mind my input...not knowing the specifics of how you purchased (the financial details) the 06 lx, you'll likely take an ass raping on trade-in value on such a "new" vehicle. i.e., being what's called "upside down". Complaining about the car giving you problems, and I'm just spitballing here, might be a lack of maintenance and repairs on your part. If you think you have a brake problem, that's on you too fix, not so much Honda's problem. It'd be nice if it came in as a warranted repair though. As fro your trade go over to edmunds.com and use their wizard to find the value of your lx.
Hope this helps.

well as for the lx i paid in full for it and it only has a little over 7000miles on it, and as for the maintenance ive taken it to the same dealership for the past 3 oil changes i needed. besides all that my car from my point of view should not have brake problems this early in its life so i do not believe i should have to pay for whatever damage. and concerning the 20mpg, is there something i can say or do about that?? and one last thing is trading in the lx for the si is a bad idea altogether? thank you

[Vince]

When you go into trade, know the value of your car (edmunds.com) and you'll have to do some negotiation I imagine to reach a price that both you and the dealer can live with. Most cars are not in "excellent" condition so be forewarned that you probabyl won't get that price, most likely the "good" condition pricing, but you never know from one day to the next.
Brakes are a real iffy item when it comes to warranty, 7K they should be lasting longer than that, but don't expect any warranty coverage. You can certainly have them inspected (normally for free) and just say to them to not do any work beyond that if it's not warranty covered, if that's what you want.
You can also jsut trade it in, hope they don't drive it before the deal is all said and done and your gone in the Si and play dumb if they call you to complain. Not advised though to do that.

[cbondhonda]

Vince is correct on a lot of aspects. Ill work up a mock "Deal" on your car and show you exactly where you stand Slav. Ill get it to you tonight or in the morning!

Chris