djinkognito

I'm about to buy a 4G TL from an Acura dealership and I've never bought from a dealer before.

What kind of extras should I expect to be sold on? Any advice or tips on how to make the experience as painless as possible?

Stew4HD

They will go all out on selling you service plans, extra warranties, Lo-Jack and other things. Just say "No Thanks!"

justnspace

iTrader: (1)

Dealerships are never painless experiences.

be ready to sit for a couple of hours discussing pricing.

set expectations up front.
for example: "I would like this car at this price point"

012TL-GLM

Preparation is key

Come to the table with all your documentation from KBB, Edmunds, Cars.com, whatever you like to use for pricing.

Make sure if you have a trade you know exactly what its worth and don't budge on the price

When they question your research have your smartphone ready to show them exactly what you're seeing.

If you're keeping the car a long time the extended warranty isn't such a bad thing, but you can get them to come down on the price.

Remind them of their competition, you can get up and walk out anytime and head over to the XZXXYYYY dealer and get a better deal

Then, when you're signing the last page, have 2nd thoughts, and get an even better deal.

Put the pressure on them, not the other way around

Buffa

All this just brings back memories. Before I go off on a tangent, a good answer for high pressure warranty sales is simply, "If I was buying an unreliable car, maybe, but I'm buying an Acura right?" Stay away. I've done the math, and rarely do you come out ahead buying those.

So anyway, anyone else ever have this theory: every sales writeup form has a pre-printed dollar amount for "documentation/administrative fee". I swear, I think it was $195 for my last car. Ridiculous. My theory is they have a few "versions" of those in the drawer. If you got a great deal on price, out comes the $200 admin fee. If they screwed you, maybe you'll get lucky and they'll pull out the one with $65 preprinted instead. Next time I may look in the drawer to see if I'm right, when they're off chatting with the manager, lol.

potmilkz

everyone is missing the key thing..

make sure you are already approved by your own credit unit before going.. why go blind.. bring your key weapons.. dont settle with dealer financing.

docboy

Don't be afraid to walk out. The moment they see you fall in love with a car (doesn't matter which make or model) you are their prey.

Again, don't be afraid to walk out. Stand firm on your price. Everything is negotiable, no matter how small or large. Get a price, and walk out. They'll call you later and ask for your business. I guarantee it.

C8N

This is really good advice if one is financing.
Another aspect of where dealers make their money is from financing.

sluzynsk

There are a few extras you may want, and you can probably get them thrown in. The splash guards and all-weather floor mats, for example, are both really nice to have. My dealership defaults to putting them on all their cars. I had a good deal going and didn't push it but it certainly can work to say "but I don't want those" and see if they throw them in just because they don't want to bother with taking them off the car.

lmc

Find a competitive similar car and pursue at the same time.let both dealers know you are comparing both cars. Possible model might be the Infinity G series.

Use Truecar.com to get an understanding of price ranges in your city.

07Acuradude

Walk in with a PAL (pre approved loan) from a credit union. That way you dont have to deal with any shenanigans in the finance managers office. He will tell you he can get you a better deal but just say no thanks.

If you have more than 1 Acura dealer in your area email the internet sales guys (all salesmen on one email) and have all the dealers compete for your business. Make them do the work.

If you are a member of USAA they will negotiate the deal for you if the dealer is part of there network of over 4000 dealers. All you have to do is tell them the dealer and VIN of the car you want. My buddy did this when he bought his new Dodge truck and he got a great deal and was only at the dealer for like 30 minutes. Everything was done for him already.

Mr Marco

^ this is some of the best advice on this thread.

Remember, these people are not your friends, don't be afraid to step on someone's neck.

Mr Marco

False. Actually in many cases the dealer CAN get you a better interest rate than your credit union. They have a dozen lenders they can go through, verses the credit unions single fixed option.

07Acuradude

It isnt all about an interest rate. Yes they can get you a better rate but to the average person that doesnt know any better or that doesnt do research, they will get them by adding more months of payments or will throw in extra BS "fees" that arent neccessary.

Mr Marco

Again, False information. There are no hidden fees in a good contract. I recommend everyone READ the contract before they sign it.

Mr Marco

A reputable dealer will not slam that sort of stuff on a customer. In fact, the only issue you may face would be an extended warranty. Which, is always a suckers bet.

nj2pa2nc

dealers sometimes over 0% financing including acura.

07Acuradude

You guys are right. A dealer has never pulled a fast one on a customer buying a new car in the finance department. My bad.

nj2pa2nc

Yes there are dealers that do that but then again they can deal with bsing customers. They lie about their income, their job, etc.

SeismicGuy

How then have you bought cars in the past?

Also how have you been a forum member since 2008 and never posted?

Anyway what I would do (and have done) is first lurk around forums like this to see what folks are paying for cars in your area. Then do all of your web-pricing comparisons (carsdirect.com truecar.com, etc.) See if there are any car buying resources like Costco, Auto Club, etc. Then do as much contact with dealer(s) via email as you can and try and deal directly with the internet sales guy.

Then when you finally go in and settle on the deal decide in advance what things you do or do not want that the finance guy or contract guy will try and sell.

Good luck.

Ruby

Nice color combo on your 4G.

RenoTL

I would re-read all the posts above. There is some really excellent advice given here. You just need to control the negotiations - not the other way around.

KeithL

Here in GA the admin fees run $599 I immediately count that as part of their profit, and will cap them at $500 over invoice giving them $1100 in profit, although I have gotten some deals at invoice.

Nick_TX_TL

Good refresher, since I'm about to pick up a new 13 advance. Will be the first new vehicle I've bought in about 15 years.

lmc

I want to share my Costco experience in the past 45 days. I went that route and the dealer offered me what appeared to be a good price, but once I compared with TrueCar.com and some comments on this forum, I learned that it was not so easy and you should not assume that everything is prenegotiated based on CostCo.

The CostCo discount was around 8.6% in the first showroom floor meeting but in the end I did get almost 15% discount.

As a side note, no one had to get nasty to get a good price. I was open and honest with my salesperson and he was very professional; so it does not have to be adversarial, but it is true that only you can truly look out for you.

lmc

Once again, this is my experience during my purchase in the last week of May 2013.

I expressed interest in the Advance package but indicated that I would settle for the lower price Tech package as the value of features to cost was too high.

In the end, they negotiated more aggressively on the Advanced which I bought (and love). My sales person did admit afterwards that the car had been on the lot for several months which may have encouraged the discounting.

(After the transaction, I learned from this forum that the inside of the driver door will show when the car was manufactured . . . that might be a hint of how long it has been on the lot . . . but that is my speculation.)

Nick_TX_TL

I have a question. What if they don't have the model you want on the lot but can get it from an alternate source? Does that kill a lot of your negotiating power, since they have to go through another dealer?

Stew4HD

In a way, it does but still worth trying. Are you talking to Sterling McCall?

07Acuradude

If another dealer has what you want they can do a dealer swap if the other dealer wants something from there lot to trade it for.

Nick_TX_TL

Yeah, just started. Buddy of mine that works there introduced me to the guy. Looking through Group 1 auto and they only have 1 model that I want, Silver Moon/Ebony, but it's in Oklahoma. Trading in an 03 Accord Coupe EX with 109K miles.

Stew4HD

I got mine from them and had to get the one I wanted from another dealer. I didn't have much leverage to deal because I was buying the first '12 Advanced BWP they had sold and the model was only out a couple of weeks.

Good luck in your dealings. Please stop by parts are and tell RayGina Hi. She's the concierge.

They are good people there

Nick_TX_TL

Yeah, I know RayGina. I'm hoping with all the deals I should be good for a 13. Especially with a trade in.
I agree, they are good folks over there. I've taken my car there every time it's needed something done.

Stew4HD

Well, if they want your biz, they will work with you. Use the info above and shoot for it. They may try and get you to pay transfer/transport costs... a road trip could be in order!

By the way, Hi neighbor!

SeismicGuy

I agree but just wanted to make the point that there were the "usual" sources to check first just as benchmarks before doing your actual face-to-face final negotiation. There are a bunch of tools out there and you need to do your homework.

By the way--what happened to the original OP???

djinkognito

thanks for all the insight.

I have USAA and they quoted me about .7% less than what the internet sales guy came up with. I do feel like I'll be giving up the ability to say I'm ready to walk out of here since I plan on going a few hours out of town to the dealership that has the MBM/umber color I'm looking for. Does anybody have any experience with trading in and purchasing out of town?

SeismicGuy

What town? And you won't be finding any new MBM so you are apparently looking for a pre-owned vehicle?

djinkognito

right, a 2010, CPO. Philly

justnspace

iTrader: (1)

wow! look at all these sugar land people!!!
the only thing i hate about Sterling Mccall is that they drill the license plate frame into EVERY SINGLE CAR.

you are left with two holes if you ever decide to run without a front plate.

Stew4HD

I don't worry about the holes, since it's the law in Texas to have the front on. I don't want to give DPS any reason to pull me over