Hi all.

Here's my situation.

I have not bought a car since 1991 ( Nissan Maxima ).

Having lived overseas since 1997, I've either had a company vehicle, or, currently in Bangkok, no vehicle at all.

I'm moving to Las Vegas next month and, even though I've not test driven anything yet, I'm leaning toward an RDX FWD Tech for all the reasons everyone writes about here.

I've played email ping pong with a dealer in Las Vegas, and here is where the negotiation stands after his 3rd price quote:

$37,800.00 w/body side moldings & all season mats
599.50 documentation fee
28.25 NV title transfer
3110.35 Sales Tax
———————————————————————
41,538.10 total cash, lease or finance

KBB has the car w/ options before TTL at $37, 604.

TrueCar has it at: $37,797.

TrueCar estimates the price has DROPPED $625 in the last 2 months in Vegas.

So, I think I'm very close on the price.


Here are a few negotiation questions:

The dealer wants me to make a deposit in advance of my arrival to "hold" the car. Is this normal? Would it be refunded if I drove the car and decided not to buy it?

What additional items should I try to negotiate?

Oil changes? How many?

Additional accessories?

Sirius / XM extensions?

He has offered free lifetime car washes and priority for loaner cars, but I'm guessing they are standard items, right?

One last question: Are there any other accessories worth purchasing?
I'll be doing mostly highway driving by myself without a whole lot of baggage / storage in the rear.


Thanks in advance for any guidance.

And thanks to all the contributors here for all your experience.

Cheers,

cmasia

 

ok, a couple things. Are you talking to only 1 dealer? It sounds like he's given you a fair price, but you may want to shop around to dealerships within 100 miles to see if they can do better. Let them compete with each other.

It sounds like you're doing the right thing getting the deal upfront online before showing up trying to haggle.

 

Hi GBF.

Thanks for the note.

There are 2 dealers in Las Vegas. I thought I would negotiate first with the dealer closer to where I'll be living, but you're right.

Now that I have a decent offer from one dealer it's time to try the other.

I appreciate your comments.

If you can think of any other negotiation "tools", let me know.

Cheers,
cmasia

 

cmasia....I am not in the US so I can't comment on the price but stay away from the lifetime car wash. You are better doing it yourself.

As far as other accessories, I would suggest the cargo tray. It is really handy to not have to worry about getting your rear cargo dirty in case you would need to put something there that could soil the carpet.

In my opinion, Sirius/XM sucks as far as audio quality and to an extent, the programming. While the second one is purely subjective, most will agree that the audio of the XM is not all that amazing. Rather than negotiating a deal with the dealer on XM if you are determined on getting it, deal directly with XM/Sirius and there are a few threads on how to get some amazing deals.

Best of luck and safe return home...

 

The 'deposit' to hold the car is not 'shady' per se; but likely unnecessary and a sales gimmick to make you feel obligated. I don't think I would even consider a deposit on a vehicle I hadn't driven and thought might not be 'the one'.

If you feel you have reached the bottom line with the first dealer, you could give that quote to the second dealer and ask him to make it worth your effort(time, distance. etc) to deal with them(2nd dealer). Paid maintenance program, accessories you desire, etc...rather than dollars off, might be easier to negotiate...OR...play it cool and say you are shopping dealers and will go with the lower(est) quote, not mentioning you already have an offer in hand. Deal with the internet manager if you can at the second dealership.

Just a tiny, tiny downside to buying at the first of the month...IF you are moving that quickly. End of the month and end of the quarter are STILL hard dates for sales managers and floor sales people. Might not be a huge difference, but there is often some wheeling and dealing at the end of each accounting period.

Make sure the bottom line is what you are quoted...doc fees and other items may vary; but it is the bottom line that you will be paying.

Also, unless you have your own financing(or cash), consider having the dealer work up a financing program for you.(Shouldn't be over 2% APR unless your credit is in the tank).

I have the wheel locks, body side molding, aftermarket all-weather mats and cargo mat and window tint. There really are no accessories 'needed', but some you may want. I'll go out on a limb and say unless they offer a considerable discount on any accessories you want, you can do better outside of the dealer(based on the info and prices folks mention on this forum).

Don't be afraid to listen...prices often go down when the customer is quiet. Don't be afraid to walk away. There is NO deal that is only good TODAY.

Good luck!

 

And...sorry, I'm a little sleepy...does that bottom line quote include the '$895 destination charge? If so, that's a considerably better price than that figure PLUS destination(duh). That's one that dealers seem to leave off when giving a quote.

 

Weather, anything, including Sirius/XM, is better than listening to non-stop advertising and moronic DJ bantering on AM and FM radio. For $15 per month, I'd take satellite radio with no advertising.

Cmasia, the dealer can't do any deals on Sirius XM. They are a separate company. I will tell you the traffic and weather "upgrades" are a waste. Your cell phone will give you the same info. I tried it for a year, and will not renew those features. I would try to get the rear cargo mat, and the roll up cargo cover when you purchase the car. The cover you can get yourself for around $100 if they don't budge.

 

rosen...and why not use your own music selection like mp3 or CD's? I wasn't suggesting AM/FM but I have over 1500 songs on my USB stick and that is enough music entertainment for me. That being said, I was quite clear in saying that the content of XM/Sirius is all subjective....what I was trying to be quite clear was on the "quality" of the audio....

My 2 cents of course....

 

You're lucky to have 2 dealers close by, the next nearest one to me is a 3 hour ride. Most accessories are cheaper on line and simple to install. Good luck!

 

Hi Weather.
It took a while, but I have the car radio balanced as far as sound goes. There are many settings you can adjust to get the audio to sound OK. The sound insulation in the RDX is not great, so you get a lot of outside road noise. It's not an Audi A8 with a $6K Bang & Oluffson sound system. My wife listens to AM talk radio in her car. All I was saying is, I'll pay to not listen to advertising.

 

Hi all. Thanks so much for the informative replies.

Weather, thanks for the tip on the cargo tray.
Sirius XM has 2 attractions to me, as I will be doing lots of driving between Vegas, Phoenix, San Diego, and Los Angeles.
More variety of stations and Major League Baseball.
I'll see if I can trade the car washes for some oil changes.

Coach Rick, I arrive in Vegas on the 4th of March and will need a car right away. I looked at a rental for 4 weeks for the very reason you suggest, but I decided against it.
I was thinking the documentation fee he quoted was the destination fee, but I've emailed him for clarification.
I'm planning for the 1.9% financing over 60 months, with as little a down payment as I can get away with.

Rosen, I will use the cargo tray as a further piece of negotiation.
May I email you privately regarding the sound system?

5 Acuras, lucky indeed. Acura of Las Vegas is very close to where I will be looking for a home, while Findlay of Henderson is only about 20 miles away.

Cheers,
cmasia

 

Cmasia, yes you can e-mail me about the sound system.

 

All Acura dealers offer free car washes after every service, so don't feel like they are making you feel special by giving car washes for life. I'm one of those that specifically asks NOT to have the car washed.

 

Let's talk deposit for a minute.

This is a run-of-the-mill car with a zillion of the same ones available to every dealer.

The deposit has no legal implications for the dealer. It doesn't require them to "hold" the car for you or keep them from selling the car to someone else.

The sole purpose of a deposit (like another poster said earlier) is to make you feel an obligation to buy the car from that dealer. You are no longer "looking at cars" because you've already picked one out and that's the one you're going to buy even if the dealer suddenly "remembers" some additional costs he "forgot" to mention earlier.

Virtually every car has SiriusXM. Before you sign up, read up on the horror stories about their billing practices.

Some sort of cargo liner/mat is a must, as are the all weather mats (either OE or WeatherTech).

No Acura dealer is required to give you a loaner or wash your car but many (most?) do. Around here, we call the courtesy wash the "courtesy scratch" because most dealers run it through a carwash that adds swirls.

Going to the closest dealer may not be the best move. With any luck, you'll see the dealer every 7500 miles or so and driving across town to the other dealer might be worth it if they have a nicer dealership, have a better loaner policy and so forth.

I bought my first car at a dealership an hour away. They are open every day from early morning to late at night and have more loaners than most dealers have cars for sale. They don't even bother with appointments and don't really care where you bought your car - if your service deserves a loaner then you get one. They are also directly across the street from a mall where you can hang out for an hour or so if your service will be short.

The cars are all the same, the pricing is all the same. The only difference is amenities and service after the sale.

 

Try to negotiate around $36,500 since it's only Feb..if you wait another 3-4 months, you can get it even cheaper since they will start selling 2015s

In May 2013, I got the 2013 Acura RDX AWD Tech with remote start for around $35,600 plus doc fee plus taxes with 0.9% for 60 months.

btw, that doc fee seems higher...I paid around $165 in Ohio

I think you can do better.

 

It is so easy to say "I paid $$$" and "you can do better" but your situation is completely unlike the OP's. You aren't in the same geographic area nor are you in the same (or even similar) marketing areas.

I've found that you can generally do a bit better that TrueCar/USAA/buying clubs, but most are pretty close.

Processing fees are generally capped by the state and depend on how far the state is in bed with the auto industry.

In MD, the processing fee is capped at $99. In Colorado it was capped at $699.

Everything except for state mandated fees (title, tax, registration etc) is a candidate for negotiation. While most dealers won't "negotiate" the processing fee, they will often reduce the price of the car by that amount. That way you get the deal and the dealer can say "we ALWAYS charge the processing fee.

MD ($99) and VA ($399) are right next to each other and customers from one state regularly buy in the other - but the VA knows they have a $300 disadvantage out the door so they will be more likely to give a better price on the car to compensate for that when faced with a buyer who isn't afraid to shop around.

 

ceb- now most of the dealers in VA are charging a $499 processing fee and most of the MD dealers are charging $199. still at a $300 disadvantage in VA.

 

NC also charges $499 processing fee-the acura dealer I use or have used hand-wash the cars and I must say do a excellent job. Not all acura dealers offer car washes. I know as we went to one that did not. I was hoping they did as the car was filthy. We were on a cross country road trip. Ended up going to a car wash.

 

As far as car washes do other luxury brands (Lincoln, Cadillac, Lexus, Infiniti, BMW, Audi, Mercedes) off these or is it per dealer like Acura?

When I think of the luxury brands vs the common brands (Honda, Toyota, Nissan, Chevy, Dodge, Ford) I think of the extras like car washes, loaner cars, and other small perks that you expect with a higher priced car.

 

I think it depends on the dealer-The Hyundai dealers I used had car washes, loaners cars, etc. It is not just so-called luxury brands.

 

If you stay local doing it yourself is a good thing-I prefer roadtrips so letting someone else wash it is for me.

 

When we had the serious drought in Atlanta('07), our Lexus (and Volvo) dealer(s) had to stop with the free washes...like gettin' beat with a stick!!!

I'll admit our Volvo dealer's car wash(manual) is no detail; but I've been pleasantly surprised at the result from our Acura dealer(only two service visits so far). With spitting rain every third day this year, I'll happily let the dealer wash the RDX when I go in for the 18k mile service in a week or two.

 

hand wash/auto swirl wash....all the same. i've seen the chamois' the "wash guys" use....no thanks.

there are some mainstream dealers that offer loaners and car washes....it all depends on the dealer (how big they are and what "extra services" they offer). when i had my old honda, the couple of times i went in for service, they washed the one time and not the other.

personally, i dont' want anyone else touching my paint. some people don't care...so have at the free dealer installed swirl option. (this is not directed at you nj2pa2nc).

again....no one touches my paint except me. i've seen what the dealer does to the car....my SA and i laugh about it (half joking and half serious). then again i'm on an extreme end of the anal nature of my car's appearance (enter-weather...)

 

^^ I can relate to your anal'ness. Although you have me beat in your ability to bring back the shine and your skills, I make up in preserving my babies and limit their exposure.

No doubt that I agree with you....NO ONE will ever wash/wax my vehicles.

 

Y'all come on down to central Texas where the drought enters its sixth year. Lake Travis is down ~40 feet! We aren't allowed to wash our own vehicles at home...except during an exceedingly narrow time frame. That, coupled with the fact that I don't share your passion for my leased vehicle(and haven't kept a vehicle over 3.4 years since 2001) means it's off to the car wash I go! Got a place that hand washes and dries...good enough for me. Clay and wax a couple times a year and I'm good to go.

I shall live vicariously through your mirror-like finishes and detailing details!...if you don't mind

 

ONR rinseless washes with 2 bucket wash system. uses a whole 6-7 gallons of water to wash your car. problem solved.

 

if you are many miles from home in a motel/hotel and your car is filthy-it is easier to go to a car wash where the undercarriage gets washed and the interior vacuumed. Especially great after driving on salted, dirty mushy roadways. IMO

 

^^hey do whatever makes you happy. i'd just wait until i got home to deal with it.

 

thanks-trying to do that but it is hard-spend lots of time on the beach. That makes me happy. Miss the cross country roadtrips. Highly recommended.

 

Hi all.
Here's the latest on my email negotiation.

As suggested, I got the second dealer in Vegas involved.

His best quote is the DRX FWD Tech with front and rear all weather floor coverings, body side molding, and rear cargo tray out the door for $40, 749.

That's $789 less and includes the cargo tray not in the higher quote.

A much better deal, and not that much more distance.

The 2 dealers stack up well against each other, so we'll continue to see how it goes.

The clock is ticking on my days in Bangkok, and I hope to own a new RDX by March 8.

Thanks again for all the comments and suggestions.

And a special thank you to Rosen for your detailed email on your experience.

Cheers,
cmasia