Tried to Buy a New Car

[FastPlastic]

How much are you going to charge them for advertising their car dealership with the sticker they always put on the back of the car?

Lets see, most people keep there car for about 4years so that's 48 months. Mind you ecomodders typically keep them longer.

48months X $4.15 a month = $199.20.

So how about we call it even?

[RH77]

It sounds like the right decision was made to walk away.

For those interested, I could write a limited review of the 4 times I drove the Insight (for a total of probably 30 miles) With rentals, I have more time to drive, think, and write -- but I do have enough info and a gut feeling to at least choose the Insight.

So, we really hadn't gotten as far as $x cash down or anything. We didn't talk trade or anything.

By the way, is the transport fee common? This is on top of the $710 destination charge.

We also asked to see the "Invoice" and was shown a spreadsheet and prices in pretty purple pen (which is when the Manager stepped-in -- who looked like a high school student, by the way). We were rational and told him that we understood that the markup is thin on these cars and that they need to make some money on each unit. The Math on their invoice and the info we had, didn't add up to a reasonable figure. Perhaps it's too small of a dealer, and maybe they don't get the volume deals the big guys do, who knows...

FastPlastic- That's the first thing my Dad always does when he buys a car: takes off anything with the dealer name. Supposedly, back in the day (before adhesives were probably robust enough), they would drill holes in the trunk-lid to mount the shiny, chromed dealer name. I remember a story where the contract stated, if the car ordered had holes in it, the deal's off.

I do the same thing now, but it's much easier -- generally a license plate frame or vinyl decal comes right off. The first thing that's going on there: an EcoModder sticker

So, to conclude the thought, I can count at least 5 more Honda dealers within a 30-minute driving radius (and tons more further-out). At the end of the month, we'll try a few more. If it doesn't work, that used Prius sounds tempting...

RH77

[MetroMPG]

With 5 dealers in the area, it should be doable....

"Here's the offer: we're willing to pay $x, all in, or we're going to keep shopping. Thanks, and please call me by the end of the day."

[99LeCouch]

BS on the fees. They should be scraping to sell you a slow seller. Maybe they figured you were someone who would buy anything with "hybrid" on it at an insane markup just because it's a hybrid.

[Christ]

high bread.... is what they were thinking was on your mind.

[Sean T.]

Tell them you want to SEE the car. Ask what dealership it is at in "Nebraska". Call there and make a deal with a salesman at the dealer where the car is. Have the wife drive you there, you drive the car back?

[NeilBlanchard]

Yeah, I'd look for a leftover 2009 Prius.

[cfg83]

Bicycle Bob -

Originally Posted by Bicycle Bob

Dealers count on customers loosing track of one of three factors: New car price, Trade in price, and Finance charges. One technique is to hammer them on the prices, until they are all set to sign, soaking you on interest, and then switch to cash.

My smart co-worker did something similar. Instead of cash, he had a pre-approved loan from the credit union. When they thought they had him at their interest rate, he switched to his own.

Here is another trick I learned. The "deal" cars that are "one only at this price" can be had if you are the first person on the lot. You can track the trend of advertisting at a certain dealership. Be there at 4 AM with still-wet-ink newspaper in hand, and the (stripped down base model) car is yours ... unless the crazy cat lady is there, she won't give up that car without a fight.

CarloSW2

[orange4boy]

I'm going to back up Darin here. Let someone else take the depreciation hit and all those dealer chisels and get a used Prius. Or at least a new 2009 Pri.

My honey and I test drove the 2010 insight and it's got less room, it's noisier, and it has less highway pick-up than my 2003 Gen1 Prius. Did you sit in the back seats? I'm 5'11" and my head was touching the headliner. I had to lean a bit to the inside to keep it from touching. I couldn't look outside without crouching. That and it's a brand new model. It is usually better to wait for the next couple of model years till they sort out the kinks.

That said, it does seem to overall be a good car and less $$$, it just suffers in comparison to the Prius.

Just my hopefully not unwelcome two bits.

If you do go the used route you might try an auto broker. My sister got her cherry Honda Oddessy and saved $4000 off the going rates for similar vans. It was sitting at the back of a Dodge dealership. I think he charged $300. Don't know if they do this for new cars but you might try. I'm sure businesses use them to buy fleet vehicles.

Another trick is to get the dealerships competing with each other for the sale.

And the advertising junk... what a load of BS. They are fishing. Tell them this...You will be happy to waive your advertising fees if they remove all the Honda logos from the car.

[JonnyG]

Originally Posted by cfg83

RH77 -

$200 for advertising?!?!?!?!? What a joke. Just tell them you didn't see the wonderful life-changing ad, so you aren't going to pay for it.

What my car friend tells me is to go at the end of the month, because that's when the dealership is desperate to make sales. For the same reason the end of the year is *the* best time.

CarloSW2

One time my dad bought a car at the end of the quarter and got $4,000 off a $25,000 car.