Which San Francisco bay area dealership offers the best price on a Fit Sport Auto?
#3
08-10-2010, 11:22 PM
Be sure to use only the internet department and I believe there is no haggling (internet dept works hourly not on commission) and paperwork fees seemed low, and delivery was smooth with no BS.
Be advised that their Internet department is completely separated from the regular walk-in sales department with different staff, rules, and even a diff building (don't deal with the regular sales).
http://www.yelp.com/biz/anderson-honda-palo-alto
here are the yelp reviews, notice that a lot of the 1-star bad reviews are walk-in or telephone sales, while the 5-stars are dealing with the internet dept.
Get your testdrives and any decisions/questions sorted at another dealer and be prepared to just buy from the Internet department.
They also are the area's Costco partner, but their "Costco" quote turned out to be higher than their going internet rate a year ago.
Fit's are so far on the low end of the market there's not going to be too much wiggle room in pricing anyway (dealership can easily jack up their fees to make up the difference.
You should also consider convenience. It makes no sense to choose a dealer 50miles away to save $100. The several trips you may need to take to handle paperwork,delivery or any warranty problems, can easily chew up whatever small saving you were trying to achieve, not to mention the inconvenience factor.
Last edited by raytseng; 08-10-2010 at 11:40 PM.
#5
08-11-2010, 10:16 AM
I got mine from Thomas Ho at Hopkins Honda in Sunnyvale. Can't remember what I paid, but it was the lowest price I got in the south bay (including Anderson Honda). Super easy to deal with and he's a Fleet manager. He had me in and out of the dealership in about an hour.
I'm actually going to be buying another Honda from him this Friday.
Read the Yelp reviews. Others who bought their cars from Thomas Ho agreed.
I'm actually going to be buying another Honda from him this Friday.
Read the Yelp reviews. Others who bought their cars from Thomas Ho agreed.
#6
08-11-2010, 01:46 PM
From what I remember, if you go through Anderson's website, they're upfront and just send you an email with the current price right away.
In comparison, usually every other dealer will call you or ask you to call them so they can try to "sell" you the car over the phone and probably fudge numbers here and there (dest incl, not incl. for example).
Also the Fleet manager usually is the same dept as Internet sales as well. Basically it's the department where they don't actually need to take you on a test drive or "sell" you on the car itself.
#7
08-11-2010, 02:35 PM
Yup, after going through their website Omar, GM of Sales emailed me back and gave me that quote w/c was over $100 lower than SF Honda. Went over there and they have more than 10 (Silver Gray) currently in stock. Ricardo Aguilar, the Internet Manager then dealt with me to close the deal.
#8
08-12-2010, 03:10 AM
$16,500 for a sport auto seems like a great price to me. Local dealer here in Eastern WA couldn't/wouldn't do that. TrueCar says Invoice is about $17,500 and "true" dealer cost is about $17,200. Sounds like some great deals in other areas.
#11
08-20-2010, 04:07 PM
I got mine from Thomas Ho at Hopkins Honda in Sunnyvale. Can't remember what I paid, but it was the lowest price I got in the south bay (including Anderson Honda). Super easy to deal with and he's a Fleet manager. He had me in and out of the dealership in about an hour.
I'm actually going to be buying another Honda from him this Friday.
Read the Yelp reviews. Others who bought their cars from Thomas Ho agreed.
I'm actually going to be buying another Honda from him this Friday.
Read the Yelp reviews. Others who bought their cars from Thomas Ho agreed.
Thomas is the SHIT!
My family has always gone to Thomas for all our Hondas at Hopkins. We've bought over 20+ Hondas from him.
It's funny too because everyone who works there is all standing around looking for people while there is a line to go to him.
#12
08-20-2010, 07:40 PM
The big dinger is CA tax which is going to be around 9-10% these days depending on your county.
Then estimate perhaps a couple hundred for mandatory fees for registration and license.
There is a limit of $55 in dealership paperwork fees, and hopefully you don't get scammed on any other fees if your dealer is honest.
Spend a few minutes the phone and they'll break it down for you.
Here is the CA DMV calculator that breaks down the mandatory fees:
https://mv.dmv.ca.gov/FeeCalculatorW...VehicleForm.do
Here is Edmund's article on this:
http://www.edmunds.com/advice/buying...4/article.html
Then estimate perhaps a couple hundred for mandatory fees for registration and license.
There is a limit of $55 in dealership paperwork fees, and hopefully you don't get scammed on any other fees if your dealer is honest.
Spend a few minutes the phone and they'll break it down for you.
Here is the CA DMV calculator that breaks down the mandatory fees:
https://mv.dmv.ca.gov/FeeCalculatorW...VehicleForm.do
Here is Edmund's article on this:
http://www.edmunds.com/advice/buying...4/article.html
Last edited by raytseng; 08-20-2010 at 07:54 PM.
#15
08-20-2010, 11:37 PM
I received an email from Grace Honda which offered $16,200 for a Fit Sport. Will Thomas Ho at Hopkins Honda in Sunnyvale meet or beat that price? Can he get you the color you want? I need a white Fit Sport auto.
#16
08-21-2010, 03:27 AM
My father works for a Honda dealership and that is where I am buying mine in a week or so. My understanding is that they only have a couple hundred dollars mark up from their cost, so anywhere you go should be pretty similar. Where you will see the difference in price and they really try to get you (on any car in fact) is with the service contract and any accessories. I'm not saying that service contracts aren't worth while, but that is where you should try to negotiate and where you might want to shop around as the price for the car it self should probably be pretty comparable store to store.
#17
08-25-2010, 01:52 AM
Link to online article:
How to Buy New Cars Below Dealer Invoice Prices
Two Reasons NOT to buy at or near dealer invoice:
Reason one: Dealer invoices have up to two to three percent holdback that is usually reserved for fleet customers. The general public is not aware of this inflation.
Reason two: The manufacturer also offers rebates and delivery allowances in the range of a few hundred to thousands of dollars that is supposed to come off the price - Again easily stolen by a dishonest dealer.
Combining the hidden holdback with many rebates offered by the manufacturer, there can often times be a difference of $2000 or $3000 between the invoice price and actual dealer cost. If you purchase a vehicle at invoice prices - with a $3000 difference - the dealer makes $3000 on the vehicle. Many dealers will easily settle for a $1500 to $2500 profit. If they do, and you purchase the vehicle correctly, you will be well below dealer invoice!
How to Buy New Cars Below Dealer Invoice Prices
Two Reasons NOT to buy at or near dealer invoice:
Reason one: Dealer invoices have up to two to three percent holdback that is usually reserved for fleet customers. The general public is not aware of this inflation.
Reason two: The manufacturer also offers rebates and delivery allowances in the range of a few hundred to thousands of dollars that is supposed to come off the price - Again easily stolen by a dishonest dealer.
Combining the hidden holdback with many rebates offered by the manufacturer, there can often times be a difference of $2000 or $3000 between the invoice price and actual dealer cost. If you purchase a vehicle at invoice prices - with a $3000 difference - the dealer makes $3000 on the vehicle. Many dealers will easily settle for a $1500 to $2500 profit. If they do, and you purchase the vehicle correctly, you will be well below dealer invoice!
#19
08-25-2010, 02:42 AM
Why this and the previous link are good as a historical background, they are outdated with the additional information in this modern 2010 internet.
Go to http://www.truecar.com and look at the charts and see "real" sales data .
If you're a diligent bargainer/deal hunter you should come in near the very left side of the bell curve.
No more guessing or calculating what should be your potential lowest price you have a sample of actual results taking into account actual market forces and not just hypothetical calculations.
For a popular car, you are not going to get dealer cost, let alone invoice, you might even have to pay MORE than MSRP and get on a waiting list.
Similarly for a unpopular car or at the model year switch, dealers may take a loss just to clear off the car.
Last edited by raytseng; 08-25-2010 at 02:55 AM.
#20
08-25-2010, 04:08 AM
Keep in mind there are other dealer costs such as insurance. Every month a car sits on the lot they have to pay insurance on it. a lot of the time they have different deals with the insurance companies so that they don't pay for the first month or something like that. So it is in there best interest to keep cars moving off the lot. If one car has been sitting on the lot, chances are they are more willing to go down in price or even take a loss.
What does this mean for you? Go to the lot a few times, over a good period of time and if you keep seeing the exact same car, you have a bargaining point. Of course this takes patience, and when it comes to buying a car most of us usually don't have any. We want it and we want it NOW.
What does this mean for you? Go to the lot a few times, over a good period of time and if you keep seeing the exact same car, you have a bargaining point. Of course this takes patience, and when it comes to buying a car most of us usually don't have any. We want it and we want it NOW.