Honda Dealership - To Haggle or not to Haggle? (Durham: sales, buying)

[Jamerican]

Guys,

I am in the market for a 2008 Honda Accord EX, but am a bit new to the new car haggling with the sales personnel. Does anyone out there know where I can get the best deal on the above mentioned car? I am in Durham and need to know if anyone here has ever dealt with Crown Honda at Southpoint. Any pointers and/or how to deal with these folks?

MSRP on this car is listed at $23,860, and Invoice is $21,621. For those of you tough negotiators out there, would it be unreasonable for me to offer $600-$700 below invoice, or would that be a bit of a stretch? Any tips or pointers would be appreciated.

[sneezecake]

This will probably get moved to automotive.

But, you should submit requests to multiple dealers online, see their prices, play the best off one another.

Also visit Edmunds townhall talk forums for the Prices Paid - Buying experiences subgroup for your specific car - you can see what amount above or below invoice the best internet shoppers are getting around the country.

[seattlenextyear]

Always haggle and always bring a printout with the MSRP/invoice price on it. Luckily, you're a man, so you have that in your favor.

[NcerfromNY]

be careful on all sides -- you may get the price you are seeking, but then get a terrible interest rate (which will end up costing you more in the long run) or they may hose you on the trade -- as other posters have intimated: know your stuff going in, make the offer, have financing in place if you can, and know the value of your trade if you have one. Then, you will walk out a happy customer with a big wonderful H on your new car keys.

[mm34b]

Honda dealers normally don't have a problem selling their mainstream cars like the Civic or Accord. No need to heavily discount to move unsold inventory. Ford, GM and Chrysler Corp. is another story. The economics of supply & demand pricing still apply here.

[tluv00]

You can try but I am sure there is a line of buyers out the door....especially with the models that have good gas mileage. The best time to haggle for a Honda is when a new model year comes out and even then it's difficult. My suggestion is to shop Honda dealers, pit them against one another and then maybe, just maybe you can get a decent deal. But you can tell by the resale values that there is not much price drop in the newer models by bargaining.

[Dire Wolf]

We didn't have a problem getting TMV pricing on an Accord at Cary Auto Mall.

[Sayantsi]

You're best bet is understanding the invoice price and any dealer hold back being offered. In the case of an Accord EX however, there may not be much, especially as these are popular cars.

Best bet is see what Edmunds.com lists for any current offers, call dealerships and ask to speak with the Internet sales managers, and tell them you're shopping for the best price. Get a number on paper (or email print out) before you head off to any one dealership.

[NCBoyMommy]

We just purchased a Pilot two weeks ago and we used Edmunds to find out the True Market Value (what people were paying in this area) then we requested quotes from all the dealers in the area and then haggled with them to beat each others price. We were able to get our new car for $8000 under MSRP.

[Dusty Rhodes]

YES, haggle, we just got a CRV got several grand off the price by walking out when they said they couldn't go lower, told them we "would find someone who would", we would call back in a few days to ask if they were willing to drop price and interest, we never really argued or said what we wanted in a price, just kept saying theirs was too high and so was the interest rate, both came down, took a little time, but it worked.