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What should I know before buying a New Honda at the dealership ?

  

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A few months ago I had a terrible experience at a Hyundai dealership, they tried to sell me a Tucson with dozens of extra fees and the people were just mean and disrespectful. They actually had rehearsed a whole show with 2 more employees in order to convince me to buy this car. Also Kia was going to add an extra $10K just for fees on a car that costed $23K

Thankfully, they both messed up so much and made me change my whole perspective. I decided to just buy a good car that will last longer and hope for a better experience at the next dealership.

Long story short at the end of this week I'll visit my local Honda Bosak Dealership which I had a good experience with the last time.

Capital One has approved me for a 7.5% MSRP on a Honda HRV 2022, it comes out at 340/month for 84 months.

However should I expect them to add more fees on top of the price they have on the website that would increase my monthly payments and what are some fees I should notice or even deny to pay ? 

I am sure they will probably blame everything on the car shortage and add a bunch of fees. Please help me, I am very new to this

 


5 Answers
4

Aside from being aghast at the idea of going into debt for 7 years for a car, I'd say what you want to do right off the bat is walk out of any dealership that adds a "market adjustment" to the sticker price. You probably won't be able to get a deal below MSRP these days but you should not have to pay higher.

Ask to see the "out the door" price of the vehicle with everything itemized. Don't let them switch you into talking in terms of payments, talk total price. Don't let them know you have arranged your own financing until the end. If the sales droid presses you, tell him/her you will only discuss that with the F&I manager in a secure location.

If they try to ding you crazy prices for Trucoat, undercoating, pinstripes, etc., walk out. When you do finally present that you have your own financing arranged don't let them talk you into using their bank unless they can definitively prove that your total cost at the end of the loan will be lower. (Once again, don't look at payments, look at the total price.)

Go over all paperwork with a fine tooth comb and a calculator before signing anything. Search youtube for "car buying tips" - there's lots of information out there, for example:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g53DkNWRgDE

Actually those bozos at the Hyundai dealership probably did you a favor in pushing you out of there, one of their cars would probably start falling apart while you were still paying it off.


3

340/month for 84 months.

This is a bad idea, never stretch out car loans for that long.

 

Learn the technical info about the cars you're looking at, for example I would NOT pay MSRP on a CR-V

https://www.motor1.com/news/586678/new-honda-pilot-and-cr-v-debut-in-2022-accord-hybrid-in-2023/

Honda is launching the next generation of this car, and they currently don't offer it with a great engine.

Also CR-V base models tend to be a bit bare, they tend to lack things like CarPlay / Android Auto and have only 4 speakers that don't sound great - usually you'd want one above the base (maybe the base is right for you, it really depends on what you need)

 

Personally, I'd recommend going for a Corolla Cross - cheaper, has an (arguably) better powertrain and the base model already has all of the extras you could want (IMO)

 

 

My biggest advise would be to decide everything in advance how much TOTAL are you willing to pay? what add-ons/features do you need? and most importantly what exact car do you want.

Personally the last time I ordered a new car I went into the dealership, told them exactly what car I want, in what trim level, in what color, with what add-ons and agreed to talk with them about total price.

 

 

Don't use excuses as arguments (as one would do with friends or family), it's best to be direct with them.

 

 

When you know what you're looking for, and you know how much you're willing to pay total, it's much harder for them to mess with you.

Also, just as a side note, this is very insignificant but IMO it's best to get cars in the color they're advertised in if it doesn't cost extra and if you like it (It tends to look better after 10-15 years when the design has aged)


3

It doesn’t matter what dealer you go to. They are going to try and extract as much money from you as possible, while making it seem like it is low monthly payments. 

Heed the advice above. Excellent advice. 

Learn to walk away. Heck, practice walking away. It’s hard to walk away from conversation or negotiation, but know how to do it. 

Compare dealers in the area. Some dealers have strict MSRP pricing. Some dealers add a market adjustment which is just more ways to extract money from you. 

Once you are done with sales, and agree on a price, they will move you on to a different person to do paperwork. 

That person is going to try and upsell you all kinds of warranty stuff, and added stuff. Don’t fall for it. 

Ask to see all the paperwork before signing. These days, they try to explain the paperwork, and have you sign electronically. Read the fine print. 

 


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At the end, they will likely try to sell you an extended warranty. Some people like them for piece of mind, but others see them as a waste of money (and a nice source of profit for the dealership). Don't be afraid to say no, and walk out if you have to.

The only things added to MSRP should be taxes and tags. I'm not sure if the delivery fee is included in MSRP or not.

Definitely ask for the out-the door price from multiple dealerships, and walk out if that gets exceeded.


1

Okay so this is my exact experience buying multiple brand new Honda vehicles from a Honda dealership in WA State (and I know probably an experience this smooth isn't that normal with dealerships especially in this market). I'll just go based off of my first purchase since all were the same after it too.

Last year I purchased the new 2022 Civic Sedan from this dealership; new body style and one of Honda's two more expensive colors. First thing is going in person was a lot more helpful than calling or emailing; it showed them I am a serious buyer (and I knew I am able to easily get up and leave if needed). They didn't have anything on the lot which is very normal these days so I had to buy from their incoming allocation. The salesperson I worked with from first moment used official dealership paperwork even for giving me the quote. They were selling all cars at msrp which is the new normal price these days. They were only adding a dealer prep fee and some paint protection which I told them I don't want and that the prep fee shouldn't be there. The salesperson removed both right away.

Since it was incoming unit I instead asked for trunk tray and the floor mat I wanted and he added those instead. Everything was written on an official dealership paper sales order and signed by me and sales manager (official dealership paper in my state makes it legally binding and I could sue them if they wanted to play games). Written on the paper was vehicle price (msrp), trunk tray and floor mat price, and doc fee and tax and registration as a percentage. I put a $1000 deposit to reserve the vehicle and the purchase was depending on me inspecting the vehicle before taking delivery.

F&I office no useless sales tactics even though they knew I was going to pay cash; I got the cashiers check for the final OTD price and all done.

So in this market best bet at getting at msrp is buying from incoming allocation instead of on the lot unit. be prepared to go in and walk out if needed. Get a signed sales order. Putting down a deposit is nothing unexpected these days. And you should only pay tax, doc fee, title and registration (you can check what the numbers should be for your state/city).

BTW, there is the new 2023 body style coming for the CR-V so if you care about the body style. Also, don't be surprised if the msrp increases at some point; the Civic Sedan is $900 more than when I purchased last year.


Link to post I made here on experience with initial purchase; some things to watch out and are red flags included in it too. Hope it helps!
https://carkiller.com/scottykilmer/qa/interesting-but-negative-dealership-experience/#post-178392


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