tdurham

Hi Everyone...
Well, my new TSX arrived at my dealership this morning, so I'm just waiting on their call for me to come pick it up. This will be my first ever car-buying experience all by myself, so I just wanted to see if there is anything that I should be prepared for, look out for, make sure to do, etc. Definitely pass on the extended warranty and any protection packages? It's raining here today - I remember seeing a thread a couple of weeks ago about waiting to pick up when it's not raining so that you can see any dents/dings/scratches better. Should I care about this?

Also, we've still got to work out the financing, so I might not actually be driving it home today afterall. I intended on selling my old car (the '02 cougar that no one wants, including me), but since I've still got it, I'm going to have to try and get a decent trade in value. Any ideas here? My dealership has a "get an extra $500 for your tradein" coupon, but the fine print says I have to show it to them before they give me a quote, so is this even worth printing out? Won't they just tell me that their original quote was "$xxx - $500"? I'm also undecided on lease vs buy, but I've done tons of research and will have all my numbers there with me so that I can make the best decision. If I can get the 2.9%, then I'll go ahead and buy, but if it gets around 5%, then I'll have to weigh all my options. Are they going to give me a hard time if I end up walking out today and telling them that I'll come back on Monday once I've secured funds from a different bank? I've already put $500 down, so I don't think I'll need to worry that they'll sell it out from under me - right?

Thanks for all the great advice on this site! I would have never gotten this far without you guys.

Whiskers

It sounds like you are more in the negotiation stage rather then the pick-up stage.

txathlete

I bet you are picking it up at David McDavid Acura. They will probably jerk you around with the price when you show the coupon, but just stick to your guns and try to get the best deal you can while at the same time they can make some profit. As for teh trade in car, DO NOT give them your keys or you will be sitting at the dealership the whole damn day. Open up your trade yourself, but DO NOT give them your keys (it's a dealer trick to wear you down). See what other dealers are willing to pay you for your car so you can have something to bargain with.

Buy is always the better option than lease in most cases. If you have a 680+ credit score you should be able to get that 2.9% APR. If your score is close, you can always lie and say your bank is offering 3.9% or something and see if they will match or beat it (especially if it's after banking hours...they can't verify it).

A good price depending on how hot the car is selling is maybe $500 over invoice. Of course, if it's not selling, try to get invoice or below.

Pass on the extended warranty and all that extra stuff. Maybe get road hazard. But DEFINITELY get Gap insurance (usually your bank is cheaper than the dealer's, but only if you finance with your bank or some other lender and not through honda financing).

You definitely want to go over the car with a fine tooth comb and definitely in the sunlight. I bought 2 cars from them and usually ick myself b/c I find stuff on the "new" cars that have to be taken back to be fixed. You're paying $25K+ so it should be perfect to you.

Do all your research (numbers, etc.), see what other people in your area are paying, feel good about the whole transaction and if worse comes to worse, you can alway walk. Don't worry about hurting their feelings b/c they won't care about yours. YOU CAN ALWAYS WALK.

They may tell you that the price quote you are getting is only good for today. I am sure it'll be good tomorrow too. Just another trick played on your emotions.

There are always other dealers you can shop, like Sterling, Acura dealers in Houston, San Antonio, Dallas, etc... if you don't mind a little driving.

So, again if you are comfortable with the deal, go for it. If you have cold feet, go home and think about it and do more research. The car will still be there, they can dealer trade, or just order another one.

The one thing I regret is that when I felt uncomfortable, I should have walked but I didn't. I may have gotten a good deal, but not the best deal. I hope this helps.

tdurham

Gee wsklar... Thanks for all your helpful advice.


However, txathlete did have some great things to say, and I'm happy to report that my new Milano Red/AT/Navi is sitting in my garage! Amazingly enough, the entire thing went off without a hitch (it was David McDavid - good guess!). I guess it helped that I was signing papers at 7:45pm and everyone just wanted to go home. No one even tried to sell me extra protection BS. In fact, I managed to get the extra plood kit for free (I had originally asked for tint, wheel locks, and trim kit, but they only agreed to tint and locks... I imagine they forgot to scratch it off their list or something), but my selling price was the same that I had agreed to last month ($28,900), so I just kept my mouth shut. Woo Hoo. They also gave me $2K more for my trade-in than their original quote, so I'm a very happy TSX owner!!

I'll sign into the new owners thread tomorrow - now it's time to get back out there and drive!

chargergrrl

Congrats, tdurham!
I bought my '05 TSX last Thursday, and am still giddy!

RMATIC09

Hmm...

DubOverdose

I just got my TSX at the David McDavid Acura in Dallas last Thursday (picked up Friday after they tinted windows). I still miss my VW Golf...

goowakjai

Congrats chargerrl! Which one did you end up buying? Did you call up the dealership I told ou about in the combo you wanted? Congrats on your new purchase! I too just picked up my '05 TSX before new years

Whiskers

The point was how can you be ready to pick up if you still need to decide if you are leasing vs financing and whether you are trading in something or not. These things affect pricing.

jlukja

Congrats.

evette

He he I have one of those too! Except it's an '01. Congrats though on the new car! Sounds like everything went very smoothly which is always a plus!

evette

chargergrrl

I ended up buying the non-navi. i did call the dealership you recomended, but their navi price was a bit (IMHO), and they weren't looking to negotiate. I did appreciate the info from you!

Congrats on your new ride!

slo007

No you don't!

Only thing I miss about the VW Jetta I had it is that it was easy to replace the stereo.

tdurham

Here ya go, RMATIC!