Guys.... I'm looking to buy a 2010 TSX between now and Jan 2011. I have a car right now so I can afford to hunt for the best deal.

Problem is... I don't know where to start? I have never bought a new car and never dealt with dealers...
I know what I want (Silver 2010 TSX with black interior) and my budget is about 26.5 k

I really need some advise on:
1. How to shop the dealers? Can I buy across state?
2. How and where to apply to loan at?
3. What kind of warranty should I be looking for?

Where do I start?
Help a brother out peeps...

 

best of luck with your search. I am about to purchase a 10 tech. I got a few contacts from this site and emailing several dealers close to you seems to be the best way to go. get itemized pricing and have them compete against each other.

I personally got a contact from the honda dealer who sold my wife her car. i was sent right to the sales manager and was in the office for a total of 15 min and got more then i wanted. sometimes it works that way.

right now the financing is 0.9% for up to 60 months, that offer runs through jan 4th. if your credit is good you can do that deal through ACURA.
the new car warranty is 4 years or 50k which ever comes 1st.

 

Shopping for dealers:

- find out which ones have the color and feature you want and deal with them. some dealerships claim they have the car you want when they don't then they try to charge you a delivery fee from another dealer
- try going close to the end of the day and end of the month. most likely they are trying to hit a target and are falling short. this is when they are deperate to make a sale. you will have a bargaining edge here.
- talk to the service department and see what they are like. people typically dont realize that this is an important part in finding a home dealer. the service depots usually treat you better if you bought the car from that location.

Applying for loan:
- just do it at the dealer. the finance rates are much better than what you can get at the bank as a car loan.
- try to negotiate for an extra 0.5% as this is what they offer to repeat customers (past acura owners). this means it is possible for them to budge here

warranty:
- the acura warranty is great and a good quality vehicle. i do not recommend the extended warranty that they will try to sell you.

good luck!

 

Thanks for all the good advise guys.... Is there a way to get pre approved from Acura before I hit the dealer floor?

Im thinking if I have the pre-approval, they might jack with me a little bit less... or am I wrong and should just apply for the load @ the dealer?

 

You can definitely learn a lot about the prices other people paid for their cars on this website (check out the new owners registration thread) - this information gives you great ammunition when negotiating with the dealer. Since the new owner registration thread also includes location, it will give you a sense of how much people paid, when and where.

Costco has a no-hassle price program that your local Acura dealers may participate in. In late September, the Costco program price was 28,911 for a 2010 TSX tech, which beats almost every price I've seen posted on this website. I didn't find out what the base 2010 TSX price was since I wasn't in the market for the base model, but you should definitely check it out if you belong to Costco - it took me about 5 minutes to register online then about a couple days for the dealer to get back to me via email with the quote.

Do not get an extended warranty unless you have a particular concern. Consumer Reports ranked Acura the third most reliable brand in 2010 (#4 was Honda), and most experts say that extended warranties are not economical, but you'll definitely find anecdotal evidence of people who were very happy with their extended warranties. It's like gambling and life insurance - for some people it pays off.

Here's the NY Times article which reported the Consumer Reports reliability rankings:
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/31/au...es/31RELY.html

While on the topic of Consumer Reports - you can use their website to get a report on the Acura TSX prices - invoice, MSRP, actual price to the dealer for various options and accessories. It costs like $15 but may save you hundreds. Definitely worth checking it out - and saves you a lot of time searching the internet for the same information.

Again it's all about making you an informed consumer - and knowing how much the dealer paid for the car and marking up the price could save you lots of money when negotiating.

You can also check out TrueCar.com, which I found moderately helpful, too, when trying to figure out what price to offer the dealer.

Here's a great link from Consumer Reports for free advice about purchasing a new car, including financing, destination charges, etc.
http://www.consumerreports.org/cro/c...vice/index.htm

Accessories: I got the wheel locks, standard floor mats (not all-season), and the titan silver steering wheel trim thrown in for free.

Good luck and great choice!

 

man this is great info... much thanks guys.... i really appreciate it

 

1. How to shop the dealers? Can I buy across state?
I went with whom I felt was the most honest, and I was very happy with the entire experience.

2. How and where to apply to loan at?
Going direct through the dealer (through Honda Financial) should give you the best rates.

3. What kind of warranty should I be looking for?
None for me, but it's a personal decision.

Oh and great color choice!!!

 

Guys.... I was wondering... Instead of showing up @ the dealership... would it be better if I asked for a quote online? Does dealing with them online makes things a bit better?

 

i personally don't like dealing online. it's never panned out well for me. the quotes i get are typically low, or they say say they have the car you're looking for just to get you into their dealership, but turns out, they don't have what you want at all.

however, i do have friends that had good experiences that started out online. they struck a deal over email and all he had to do was go in and put down a deposit.

i guess it's hit or miss.

 

I cannot reply to PMs for some reason anyhow.

I got it out the door 26.5K (destination etc..) remember the 2011 are coming out probably in 2 weeks and 2010s are on the lots. But get ready to negotiate, if you have poker experience you should be fine bring your best poker face to the table and expect lots of play. I like the whole banter so its no big deal for me, also go alone don't bring the wife.

Just relax, be patient don't come in aggressive in the beginning be polite and professional but firm, they will do lots of bluffing, just call their bluff. You have the advantage of knowing home much inventory and demand is out there for the TSX and right now they are playing with a weak hand so take advantage and go for it. Once the economy picks up things will change. In the end everyone shakes hands, all smiles on both sides of the transaction and its all good, everyone wins.


I do have good credit, and I did put 10K down as well.

What would be key is a good history regarding your auto loans and your income as well

I would say if you score 699 or above, good history of autoloans (ie bought a car, payed off the loan with no issues) you should be fine getting 0.9%

Enough income,stable employment cashflow obviously counts.

and some downpayment and you should have no problems.

The 0.9% loan is practically free money since over the 4 year term I only pay 355 in interest which means it makes no sense to pay the loan early especially when you can earn more on the cash in investments during that 4 year period.

 

Thanks alot for the input elsapo... Ill give the dealers in my area a crack next weekend... I need to work on that poker face

Wish me luck boys....

 

Always be prepared to leave the dealership. The good thing is that you have a car and you don't absolutely need a car asap. That works in your favor. If you see them lying or changing the price of something, threaten to leave. They'll usually backtrack (its kinda like a game... which is why I hate buying cars). Anyway, good luck. It took me about 4 hours to buy my car.

 

Alrighty gents.... I was just quoted this for a base 2010 (Any color I desire)....


Car itself 25,600.00
Destination 860.00
Processing Fee 100.00
Total 26,560.00 + TTL


Is it good? Is it bad?

 

Where do you buy it?
It depends on location/region but 26.5K OTD is a good deal.

 

@pinatubo - I'm in the DC area.

 

OK, then you should know that back in Jan '10, we bought the Grigio/Ebony for $27K OTD (everything included) + wheel lock + all weather floormats + no splash guards.
The dealer is on Rt.50 in VA, close to Dulles airport.
Back then, it was a super deal to me.
In term of services, the package included lifetime oil changes, lifetime state inspection, ....
Like I said, it was $27K back in Jan, so now, I do expect it drops more than $500.
But that's just what I think. Reality maybe different.

 

I really need some advise on:
1. How to shop the dealers? Can I buy across state?

The most success I have had to shop dealers if you have the time, and please understand this does take time. I have bought and sold 4 Acura's over the last 7 years. I generally keep my car for 2-3 years then I sell the car outright and then buy a new one. First of all do not trade your car in. Always sell your car outright unless its worth less than a few thousand dollars. I sold my RDX for 25k 3 years ago, the dealer wanted to give me 21k.

Once you sell your car, you have more negotiating power because you have 1 goal and thats to buy the car you want at the lowest price. First rule is dealers never go below invoice price. Invoice price is the price at which the dealer receives the car from the manufacturer. Most Acura dealers will not sell at invoice price, they generally prefer to make money as would most dealers. I always go to www.autobytel.com to see what the Invoice Price is. Now for the car you are looking for the Invoice price is $27, 359. Now if you are looking for a car at $26.5 I would say you need another 1k to make the deal as $26.5 is not reasonable for a new 2010 TSX. You might be better off getting a Certified Pre-Owned Car. 2nd of all the best time to get one is now, the end of year models are coming up which means the manufacturer is giving out incentives to the dealers to move the late models so you will have more flexibility. Your best bet is to go to the 3 dealers closest to you and bid it out, use the other quotes as leverage to get the best deal. Set yourself a goal to avoid wasting time. $200-300 above invoice price is reasonable and obtainable.

You can buy across state, but the paperwork is a hassle and you will still get hit with the sales tax in the state your car is registered in.
2. How and where to apply to loan at?
If you have good credit Fair Isaac above 740 go through Acura because I believe they are offering incentives like 2.9% for 60 months. Otherwise go to your local bank.

3. What kind of warranty should I be looking for?

The factory warranty is 4 years 50k miles. That is more than enough for an Acura. I would not recommend purchasing an extended warranty. Whats odd is the Certified Pre-Owned Warranty is 7yr 100k. If you do high mileage, it might be best to save yourself a few thousand and pick up a car with 20k miles on it and get an extra 50k on the warranty.

 

@ pinatabo - I know which dealer you are talking about. Believe it or not they quoted me 27K this morning (with no bells and whistles) - Over the internet. I think they might drop the price if I go the dealership. However I have heard great things about them and they after sales service thou.

@Will - I'm not above 740 I think I'm hovering around 720s). So Ill check with my my local bank and see what they can do for me. The last thing I want is to be @ the dealers mercy when it comes to loans.

 

720 is still good.

 

$26,560+TTL is a good price.
Just bought my 2010 Base TSX 6MT today for $26,600+TTL (Chicagoland area). Very few 2010 manuals left in my area so I went for it.

If you're not picky on color and want the automatic, you may do better at the end of December after the 2011 come in. They just up the dealer incentive by $500 (it's now $1250) that is to end Jan 4th.

 

720 is not going to be a problem getting 0.9% financing at all, what boosts your score is your auto loan history. if you have at a good autoloan history you are good to go.

 

Here are the most recent quotes...

V4 (NON TECH) --- 26,000 (Including Freight)

V6 (NON TECH) --- 29,900 (Including Freight)


Are these that a good prices for both the V6 and V4?
He will throw in free wheel locks and first oil change....

 

You should try to get life time oil change. I think the I4 price is good.

 

Hi HouseApe,Don't know what part of the DC area you at.Like you, i am still waiting in the sidelines for a good price on a TSX.Last month, Norris Acura in Ellicott City offered $25010 plus destination for a base TSX. Pohanka Acura sent me an e-mail last week with a quote of $24800 plus destination. Last night I received an e-mail from Norris stating that will discount an additional $200 off a quoted price, but I am not sure if it includes a competitor's quoted price. The thing that I don't like buying from a dealer in VA is that they charge a high processing fee, where as in MD is only $100, but I wonder if it can be negotiated. If you don't mind driving far, DHC Heart in upstate NY had the cheapest price for the V6 last month. The price was $28300, and it included the destination price. I called them up about the price and they told me it was legit and there were no additional fees besides the processing fee and taxes and tags. The salesperson said that they were able to discount them because of the incentives that Acura was providing to them. I am not sure if those prices are still in effect but I still have the e-mail quote if you need it.Good Luck,