OK,

I'm tired of daydreaming, and stocking TL's on my commute. The kid is about to graduate HS and his gift will be a slightly used '93 Accord with only 128K miles on it. And that means I'll need SOMETHING to drive.

My question is about timing. It's always seems to work well for me to make a deal on the last days of the month, or for that matter the last day of the quarter. Does this hold true at Acura dealerships? I wonder how long the 2.9 financing will be available? I really hate to deal with AHFC, it's just cleaner to show up with my own financing worked out and hand over the check. I just don't feel like I can deal with I'm tied to thier financing. And what does "well qualified" mean anyway?

Finally, I have enough airline miles to fly most anywhere to pick up a new car and enjoy a terrific road trip home. How hard is it to pull this off in reality?

I'll be dealing in DFW, any thoughs in dealers greatly appreciated .... now if I can only decide between the 5AT and 6MT!!

Dan in Dallas

 

Stocking TL's... ...lol...thats the same thing I use to do before I bought mine until I said enough! Now im the one turning heads. And "well qualified" varies from dealer to dealer. I know of dealers that set that fico score of about 700 in stone. Customers with around a 600 can usually be squeezed in by editing ( if you know what I mean ) their monthly gross income. According to 2 different Acura employees which I spoke with at 2 different dealers...the monthly gross income that you state on the credit application is NOT verified unless your fico score is really "low". So essentially if someones fico is 600 and they honestly make $3000.00/month gross...they can state on the credit application that they earn $6000.00/month gross... this amount would not be verified and he/she would be "well qualified". Sounds strange and its not the "right" thing to do but it works. I brought in a blank check which is what I believe is best and I was still asked 4 times if I wanted to go with their financing but declined. This way from the moment you sit down at the table to negotiate the purchase price...the discovery questions of "hows your credit" , "it depends on your credit" or "if only your fico was XXX" etc. are completely eliminated

 

Dan,

I live in Los Angeles and just bought my TL at the end of MArch. It was perfect time because it was end of the month and end of the quarter. Plus, it was raining here in LA, so the end of the month sales were down. I basically got my TL for invoice. I bought it out, so I dont know about financing, but the best thing to do is to get dealer quotes from some dealers in your area. Take the lowest quote to your dealer and tell them to beat the price. End of quarters work very well, but the next end of quarter wont be until June. Not sure if you want to wait that long. If not, then end of the month of april should be sufficient enough as long as you have a good quatoe from a dealer. The cheapest dealer I found in the LA area was Acura of South Bay. Hope this helps. Good luck.

 

I agree: Buy at the end-of-month in poor weather. You'll get Both the car and any trade at better pricing. But have your number and be prepared to take immediate delivery.

Good Luck.

 

I bought my TL end of November last year. It has summer tires on it and since the dealer does want to spend money and get new tires. They were more than eager to deal.

 

Thanks guys .... I'll take a few more test drives and pull the trigger at the end of the quarter .... and I'll pass on AHFC and thier financing.

I'll just show up on the 29th or so with a check , and a few other offers.

Save me a seat .... I'll be in soon!!