finalheaven

Yea i needed to get my anger out in a place that everyone can read. I went to Downey Acura today. Was talking to a korean by the name of James Park. He was intent on saying that it sold ONLY for MRSP. I went to Downey in the first place to talk to JD. A recommendation by TWong1200 (you have a pm from me) Anyways by chance that day he had a day off.

Then his supposed supervisor was talking me. He showed me a paper in a folder which had the full MRSP and INVOICE price on it. Then next to it it said -400. Which he said was the guideline that every salesman in there followed. Only 400. So i asked him i guess everyone else who got better deals here must be lying. Then he went on to bullshit that oh that was last one. Acura's Sales were down all over america so that was allowed but not anymore. WTF is that. Come on give me a break. I thought their sales WENT UP.

After that i just picked up JD's card and called him up on his cell phone. He listened to what i said and told him i will be contacting him back. The dealer i was first working with is now looking for a black on black that i want. So when he gets it i'll just go talk to JD or something. Sigh...

Jason

What does james being Korean have to do with anything?

Sorry about your experience, it does sound like they are full of shit. Just do the right thing and not go back there. And you should tell JD that he now has to get you more off than you wanted if they wish to get your business, a penalty for their bullshit.

swami

Dudes...TSX's are HOT items right now. My deal was from the end of May. My salesman tells me they'll honor it only because I put a deposit down. There not dealing anymore...I have a sneaking feeling they'll try to hose me before it's all said and done. The other bad thing is our sales tax went up a percent as of July 1st. Story of my life. If they try to jack the price, I'll buy a Mazda 6S or something. I'm tired of waiting for this freakin car.

swami

In defense of the salesdorks of the world, of which I'm a member. There occasionally comes a machine that requires no discount. Believe me when I say, their few and far between. Usually your giving stuff away because nobody wants it. For every one of those must haves, there's ten nobody wants me. If something cool is coming, I try to pre-sell everyone I can. It comes down to supply and demand as much as I hate to say it. I sell motorcycles and ATV's before ya ask, and it's a want thing with this stuff. Same as the car business.

Sarlacc

Because the TSX is so new you cant expect to get a huge discount, but go read my post on page 2 of your original sat. dealers thread. Read and try it, I garuntee youll get somewhere. You have to TAKE control from them. Dont let them corner you, dont let them head you off. Anticipate what they are going to say and beat them to it. Its like catchinga deer in headlgihts.

And it LA its easy to do cause all sales staff here are robots. I used to sell hondas back east and at least we were trained and knowledgable. IF anything I learned how to buy cars.

Seriously, read the other post and try it. Report back when you do.

tony626

u should try Thomas Acura in covina. talk to vincent. he gave me a pretty good deal for my tsx.

finalheaven

Oh i meant no offense i am korean as well. My parents went with me and they just choose a korean guy to talk too so they can ask questions as well.

finalheaven

I don't mine them saying that they cannot go under MRSP because there will be others. Saying that other dealers are stuck to that 400 dollar discount then when i bring up another fact they try to LIE their ass off to get around it then i get mad.

Im willing to pay mrsp if that was my only option. But living in LA gives me a huge advantage. There are tons of dealers and salesmen who would love to give me a deal jsut for me to buy the car. However i do realize they need to make money as well but once you lie to me its over..

jackspat2

First of all, that excuse is wrong. And 2nd of all, you don't tell your customer that business is bad so you can't give him a deal. Either give him a deal or not, no excuses besides the car is a hot item or whatever. Perhaps the dealership is not doing well. Acura doesn't get the price the dealer sells the car for.

the_peel

Well, I'm not going to bash dealers or anything, but I'll give some ideas as to what worked for me.

I went in telling the dealer that I had a friend of a friend who worked at another dealership who was offering me $2k Canadian discount off MSRP AND $1800 Canadian for aero package and rear spoiler.

Ofcourse, the dealer kept saying, "that's an impossible deal! We'd be losing money! If you can get that deal, I'd buy from YOU!"

He kept asking me who this contact was, and I kept saying that I didn't know offhand, but I can check tomorrow. I basically kept telling him that I was not in a rush and that if he can't get me the same deal as this other guy, then I would go home and call the contact tomorrow.

5 HOURS went by and he went to ask his manager for approval. Rejection. I said, "ok thanks. I'll go home, make my phone call tomorrow." He said, "hold on". He went to speak to the manager for another 15 minutes.

In the end, his bluff didn't work, the manager approved my offer and I didn't have to budge an inch from my initial offer. ...would have been nice not having to spend 5 hours negotiating, but in the end, I think it was worth it.

Also, I think the fact that I went in near the end of the month helped, cuz the manager said something about accepting the deal because they needed to meet a car sales quota or something like that.

Good luck!

finalheaven

yea i'll make sure to do that.

Brad

I test drove a TSX at one dealer. As we drove, I mentioned price, and he was "firm" about MSRP. I mentioned a buying service that my credit union offers to try to help find the lowest price. He was firm about MSRP. I got a quote from my credit union's service, and then I obtained "Quick Quotes" from dealers all around the San Francisco Bay Area clear over to Sacramento. I'll culled the dealers who jerked around without a Qucik Quote or those who "added crap" that I did not specify in the quote. In the end, the two most upfront and direct dealers offered quotes $500-800 below MSRP with accessories at dealer invoice. I visited the dealer with the best quote. It was no-nonsense. He gave me a complete printout of the price plus all legally required fees, such as license, registration, doc fee, and sales tax. There was no padding, like the PURELY arbitrary "advertising fees" or "association fees" that some other dealers try to pull that does NOTHING but milk more money out of the customer. Now that's a pure unadulterated BS fee. But this dealer did not pull that con. Relieved, I put a deposit down.

Since then, both the "test-drive" dealer and the "$500 off MSRP" dealer have contacted me to offer to meet the deal.

I don't like playing games. I know the TSX is hot and in limited supply. The "test drive" salesperson was a very nice and knowledgable guy to talk with, and he offered me an excellent test drive--nearly 13 miles in all kinds of traffic. But I have difficulty with a salesperson who clearly says, no, no, no to anything below MSRP but then doesn't mean it.

Sarlacc

He was saying no no no, cause he wanted commision commision commision

accsuperstar

yea i was at the dealership today buying my tsx and they tried to charge me 2400+ for the body kit and spoiler installed???

its a good thing my friend works there and i can get a discount on the accessories

siliobear

Sorry to hear about your experience with Downey. I checked them out 2 weeks ago and they only offered $400 off. But they also had a change in sales staff the day I went (the guy who I originally spoke to, but wouldn't verbally quote, quit the night before and I had some newbie dealing with me). Plus they were low on inventory. Sounds like supply and demand is the name of the game right now.

hondaboy_tsx

Couple of weeks ago, the dealership out my way had three TSX's on the lot...just sitting there for someone to buy. They must not be too hot around here in PA...

MrChad

This is the best car purchasing technique I ever used and it works 3 for 3 so far.

The following conditions help:
1. Needs to be nearing the end of the month.
2. You need to finance your car someplace other then the dealership.
3. You need to be pre-qualify for the car loan.

Figure out the exact amount you want to pay for the car to the penny. I usually use 1-2% above Invoice out the door as listed per edmunds.com. I never include tax, title and license--I'm mean.

Write out a personal check for the car you want on the lot. Head into the dealership about 1/2-1hour before it closes on a weekday night. The later the better.

Play stupid and ask the sales manager of your choice if a "blah-blah-ya" is on the lot. Tell him you will pay $XXXX for the car. He will say no and you wip out the check (blank as for the name) and lay it on the table.

Tell them, "I will pay this to have this car tonight and not a penny more the check is yours."

If they say no, walk away, they won't let you. And play dead serious that this is the amount you will pay.

So far I have purchased 2-Hondas and 1-Mitsu this way, boy do I love to do that

My other favorite way to purchase a Honda (Car) is cold call the sales manager at the dealership over the phone. Most have an internet sales guy listed on their web sites. Call them up give them a price and haggle over the phone. This way is not as much fun or as effective as No. 1 , but I've had some really good success with this too buying cars for my friends

You just have to be patient and visit all the dealers you can to know the inventory. Come the end of the month you will get the car you want, for the price you want.

Sarlacc

Mr. Chad has the right Idea.

Again its all about taking control and keeping.

Speed Demon

Hondaboy, they're selling out over here in/near Pittsburgh. All the dealers have 1 or 2 max on the lot, and the incoming cars are being sold before they hit the lot. Needless to say, I am paying sticker price for mine coming in 3 weeks... I think part of the problem is that the dealers around here are only getting 4 or 5 cars per month, not 7-10 like dealers in larger cities.

I'm curious; would you care to share the colors/configs of the TSXs you saw on the lot? Do you know if they are still there?

MrChad

Park Acura (Akron, OH) was having a hard time selling 3 of there TSX's.

1-auto (is not a Navi) -blue
2-manual (navi? not about these two.) -silver and grey

CG, the Electric Blue, and a Silver.

They had been getting at least one a week, the TL & MDX were still the best selling cars they had.

My buddy who works their said they were going for below sticker MSRP. Around $2000 below MSRP before tax, title, and license.
I was up and bought the factory wheels from the one in the show room for my buddy (moda_way). The showroom car was sporting the 5-star Modulo style wheel now.

Give them a call. www.parkacura.com 330-644-1300

Sarlacc

I dont believe they were going for $2000 under MSRP because there isnt that much mark up in the car is there. One way Honda has kept th eprices lower on their cars is to rasie the invoice cost while keeping the MRSP low. Sucks for sales guy making commision ( i know i was there) but I think I remember Hondas generally having a 1600 mark up in them.

Im at work and too lazy to go check the actual invoice cost. They might be selling them at 2000 below the dealer markup price.

I remember Park, it was an OK place. I used to sell at Chesrown down in Medina when i was back east.

MrChad

I bought my sister's Accord for her at Chesrown.
Chesrown and Park have been the only 2 dealer ships I've ever been able to really deal with. The rest really don't care to I guess.

I only know what my buddy behind the part counter tells me. (For selling price.)

The one car sat outside for a bit before moving into the showroom. I had to clean a good bit of rust from the rear of the wheels.

The only thing I recall is my buddy said the TSX wasn't moving any faster then the other cars from the lot. And since they were selling me the TSX rims from the demo car I would be inclinded to believe him. And the car was a 6-speed.

If they are selling that fast in your areas just wait for a month or two. At some point sales will level off and dealer inventories will again return to some point of normal. If this car becomes a hugh seller honda will bring more over, after all it is just a UK/JDM Accord--this is a Honda bread and butter car. I'm sure they would love for this to become the next big thing for Acura.

Jaeger

Up here is Toronto I test drove a TSX then asked them to work out some figures on a lease - which they did, based on MSRP. I asked how much I could expect off and was told CDN$1,500 right off the bat. Stands to reason I could hope to do better yet when ready to sign on the dotted line.

Cheers,

Jaeger

swami

That's strange cuz I emailed them about a SSM and was called by Daryl Hartman I think his name was. He said they had a SSM, 5AT coming and what would it take to get my business. I told him what my local dealer was doing for me, which amounts to about $1300.00 off. He said they couldn't touch the deal. I guess maybe their dealing on in stock stuff only.

hobbestec

When I was shopping around the dealers only seemed to make deals on what they had on the lot, or what they knew was on it's way. If they had to order the car from the factory they didn't want to deal much anymore.

Sarlacc

cause they cant. honda/acuras monthly allocation is determined by HoA. The only a dealer may get to pick is the trim level or color. So a dealer wants to sell what they have because a TSX left over on their lot is another TSX the factory will not send them.

Thats why buying a car at the end of month yields better deals and why dealers are so keen to get rid of on the lot stock.

spOOge

If you are deal hunting Consumer Reports provides a fairly comprehensive dealer cost breakdown on any current model car for about $10. They provide information on how much the dealer pays for the base model from the factory as well as every individual option so you can get a solid idea of what absolute rock bottom pricing is before you hit the dealership.

Sarlacc

why pay ten bucks when you can look it up on kbb.com or edmunds for free?

sides a dealer has to tell their invoice cost of you ask. if they say no then you need to walk out right away.

Bobby Gz

not entirley true. i just ordered mine (ABP/6mt/navi) 2 weeks ago and was able to get $1000 off the sticker. He told me 4-6 weeks to build it and another 4-6 weeks to ship it, so ill end up getting it the end of september. The trick is to deal directly with the manager (eliminate the middle man).

barney

mrsp less 7% equals dealer invoiced cost. this does not take into account the other 2 to 3% backfrom the factory.

jcg878

I also had to order mine and was able to get near $1000 off at a dealer that couldn't keep them on the lot. We were able to get the only 2 acura dealers in the area (NC) to compete with each other. I don't know why they did it, since the dealer we bought from sold them very quickly - I watched 5 come and go while I waited for mine - but who am I to argue??

I think the other 2-3 % back from the manufacturer is the holdback, which they get if they move the car within 90 days. I tried tossing that at my dealer and he replied with 'well, we have to make up for the cars that sit around, like CLs.' Touche, I thought, except they only had about 4-5 CLs around the lot.

MotownTSX

HA! This logic is funny!

Acura sales are slipping so we are making sure not to budge on our prices and keeping them at MSRP???

WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA?!!!

That's not going to sell any autos....

MotownTSX

Dude, this is ridiculous....FIVE FRIGGIN' HOURS?!!!!!!!!

You spend 30 minutes, 45 tops negotiating, then you walk. End of story. If they try to hold you up, give the salesman your number, tell him to only call if you can match my offer, and leave. Done.

MotownTSX

Man, MrChad!!! That is scary...that is exactly how I did mine!

End of month, late at night (8:30 p.m. ), was pre-apporved, and whipped out my check.

Got $4550 off the asking price.

YAHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!

So guys and gals, it really does work! Try it!!!

LeeLee

Methods similar to this is so effective I don't know why people don't do it more often.

The number one complaint I hear from all of these expose type stories on car salesmen is the ratio of buyers versus browsers. To show a car dealer a check with low-ball numbers written on it is like giving a Big Mac to a hungry fat guy on a diet: he may have huge fits of internal conflict and may even regret it later but he is going to eat it NOW. Because given the statistics of how many people "waste" their time by just browsing or haggling, a locked-in chance to earn money, however thin the profit margin may be, will not be turned a way. Sure someone else will buy the same car for more, but this is an extra sale that doesn't take away from the dealer's ability to make future sales. So instead of one fat sale, he can have one fat sale and one thin sale. The only time when this doesn't apply is when the car is in very very short supply, such as the Lancer EVO, or the first two years of the current Odyssey.

After having said all that, I've never used the check method but I've purchased two cars and got a offer on a third car using the cold-call method. The first car was a '98 Accord EX V6, which was selling everywhere with a $2000 "fair market value adjustment" markup above MSRP. There was exactly three of these in the Northern VA, DC, and Suburban Maryland area. I cold called a dealer and offered to buy one for about $2200 off MSRP. The negotiations literally took all of 30 seconds over the phone. The second car is my dad's 2003 TL-S purchased in March of 2002. The new Black Anthracite color had just came out and my dad really liked it. I called around all Acura dealers and offered 30,000 even including freight for it. Most dealers laughed at my offer, except for one, which had the exact car I wanted, except for a $500 spoiler. We accepted the spoiler and the dealer also threw in a trunk liner, cargo net, mud guards and wheel locks. The best offer I had heard of up to that point on a 2003 TL-S was $500 off MSRP.

The last car was a TSX but the deal fell through due to a lack of available cars. But I had negotiated $1200 off on a ABP 6MT No-Navi back in late April. The order had been placed and I was just waiting for a car to show up. But by late June I still didn't have a car, with the dealer giving me various excuses for the delay. By July, I got married, and my changed priorities (house first) meant I'd be driving my old car for one more year. Maybe there will be a TSX-S by then...

Anyway, take control of the situation. Even if you just walk in, don't ever show that you have any wiggle room. Find the car you want on the lot and figure out exactly how much you want to pay for it. Leave and go home to research and calculate it if you need to. Then come back with an offer or simply call in an offer. Be realistic about your offer, because the dealer will not sell you a car if he is not making money. But as long as you know the offer is a reasonable one, be firm about it. If you have doubts about your negotiation skills, just write the number down and repeatedly say "No, this is how much I want to pay and I will buy it TODAY." Spending more than 30 minutes haggling on the price of a car is time wasted, IMO. If you are not close to a deal at the 20 minute mark, get up and leave.

Jason

Good points Lee. I'm sorry you had to drop out of the TSX. That's too bad.

justinjsw

All this brings up a good point...What is a reasonable offer to the dealer? How far are you willing to drive to get the lowest possible price? Would you drive 200 miles round trip to save 200 dollars?

What if you found a TV at Best Buy for 299.00 dollars...drive to Tweeter and found the same TV for 329.00...would you 1) Drive back to Best Buy to buy that TV for 299.00 or 2) Tell Tweeter you saw the TV for 299.00 at Best Buy and you want to pay that price?

When you sell your car or your home do you sell to the highest bidder or the lowest?

When you sell your car and it needs a 60K tune-up...Do you 1) Tell the buyer you have already completed the service even though you haven't or 2) Tell the truth?

Jason

I'd drive 50 miles to save $10. I'd go back and forth between dealers to beat them up and get them to beat each other's prices until the cost was next to nothing. I'd lie like a dog to get any sale, regardless of the service needed. In short, I am the average consumer.

swami

Hey Jason...Just turned 100 miles today of pure driving bliss. I was a bad boy and exceeded 4000 rpms on a couple of occasions though. I feel for ya havin to wait another 2 days.

Crazytree

DOWNEY ACURA IS THE ABSOLUTE WORST.

I had PHIL over there get verbally abusive with me over the phone and the internet manager WALTER basically call me a liar... then call me back and try to get me to come back in. I'm actually going to make a formal complaint with ACURA AMERICA.

THOMAS (COVINA) ACURA IS THE WAY TO GO.