tcu2003
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Post by tcu2003 on Mar 6, 2013 22:27:06 GMT -5
Anyone have any tips for getting the best deal on a new car? DH's car was totalled in an accident about 6 weeks ago, and we're finally ready to replace it. We're going to get a Honda Odyssey minivan - we've test driven several minivans, and this is the one we like best. There are 2 Honda dealerships very near to us - we test drove at the one in a neighboring town about 15 miles away, and there is one in our town, so maybe 5 miles from our house (they generally have horrible customer service reviews, so we went to the other one first) - I don't know if this helps or hurts us when it comes to buy, but we're not stuck with just one dealership. Anyway, DH and I are both horrible negotiators, so I'm not expecting we'll get a steal of a deal, but I also don't want to get hosed. Good or bad, we're planning on probably paying cash, and we're getting a 2013 model. Tips?
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Mar 6, 2013 22:44:30 GMT -5
I would go to cars.com & do some research on what's out there (say within 100 miles or so). See what the online dealers will do for you & then take their offer to the dealer you want to buy from.
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AgeOfEnlightenmentSCP
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Post by AgeOfEnlightenmentSCP on Mar 7, 2013 0:45:06 GMT -5
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AgeOfEnlightenmentSCP
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Post by AgeOfEnlightenmentSCP on Mar 7, 2013 0:45:46 GMT -5
But hurry- they're only going to build 499 of them.
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tcu2003
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Post by tcu2003 on Mar 7, 2013 7:56:26 GMT -5
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tcu2003
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Post by tcu2003 on Mar 7, 2013 7:56:53 GMT -5
I would go to cars.com & do some research on what's out there (say within 100 miles or so). See what the online dealers will do for you & then take their offer to the dealer you want to buy from. Thanks, oldtex! I'll check that out.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Mar 7, 2013 8:49:57 GMT -5
go to edmunds.com and use the internet buying feature. The website will also tell you what you what fair market value is for the vehicle in your area.
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AgeOfEnlightenmentSCP
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Post by AgeOfEnlightenmentSCP on Mar 7, 2013 9:18:36 GMT -5
I finally traded my 1997 Honda Civic (205K miles) last June and bought a 2012 model. I had $19K to shop with, and I could have had just about any late model used Civic (Hey, I stick with what works) I wanted- including the hybrids, etc. However, they threw .9% financing at me for 60 months. My total finance charges over 5 years (cost of the money) is four hundred some odd dollars. So, here is the decision I faced: Yes, new car will (and did) depreciate dramatically, but to buy a depreciated car would cost me $17K to $19K right then and there. OR, I could buy new- keep my money in the bank, and let the finance company absorb a the depreciation on the dollar over five years. $19K is worth $19K today. But $1 60 months from now is no longer worth $1. My guess is the hit they'll take on the dollar is far worse than the hit I'd take on the car- to say nothing of the highest and best use of that cash.
Point here is, I don't know how much money you have lying around for a car purchase- but if you're like most people, you may not be able to pay cash (maybe you can?) and if not, then your finance rates are going to likely if not certainly be better on a new car. New car financing is damn near free right now.
I of course, am biased towards Hondas- so whether new or used, I say get a Honda. However, Toyota and Nissan are also great reliable cars. I would steer clear of American label cars altogether. Yes, they've gotten better- but as I always say when the quality of American cars is touted as having gotten better: do you want a car that used to suck but is now better? Or do you want a car that never did suck and still doesn't?
Consider fuel economy, but do not buy unleaded gasoline futures. You don't need to pay $7,000 to $10,000 up front for gasoline savings that dribble in over the next decade. (I'm describing the economic proposition of hybrids). Not only that, but the maintenance on hybrids can be killer.
Finally- shop around. Even if you're certain of what you're going to do- sleep on it. Don't fall for the false urgency close- this is the only one, I have others looking at it, this price is only good today, etc.; and don't take a car home with you (puppy dog close). Take your time, and make the decision that's right for you. I personally jerked the dealership around for a week before buying my car, and the day of the purchase I changed the color from gun metal grey to "Dyno Blue" (because IT'S BEAUTIFUL) and I snapped up $1,500 (retail) in accessories- floor mats, a rubber all-weather trunk liner, and leather seats (the other car had cloth and I really didn't care about that so I told them get one with cloth or sell me this one and eat the cost- today, or I'll just go find a dealer with one ready to go).
LEAVING- a willingness to walk away (that has been demonstrated over a period of days) is powerful- it's THE most powerful tool you have.
Beware of other negotiating tactics like telling them another dealer has a car for a lower price- the fact is that dealers will never give you a firm, let alone written offer for you to shop with; and many dealers are part of large companies that own BOTH dealerships you're shopping at anyway- even if they have different names. This would surprise a lot of people- but there are few stand-alone dealers. So, if you bluff- they know.
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AgeOfEnlightenmentSCP
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Post by AgeOfEnlightenmentSCP on Mar 7, 2013 9:19:54 GMT -5
Spend 10 bucks and buy the audio book of Herb Cohen's "You Can Negotiate Anything". I've never had any other training (other than practice)- that's all I know, and it's enough.
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tcu2003
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Post by tcu2003 on Mar 7, 2013 10:13:08 GMT -5
Thanks. We can pay cash - which is DH's preference, but if we got a super low interest rate, I can probably talk him into financing. We're definitely not in a hurry as we've already been waiting 6 or so weeks. I do know the 2 dealerships near us are not owned by the same corporate group - BIL works for a Rock Hendrix Chevy dealership, and one of the Honda dealerships is owned by that same group and one is not.
Thanks for the book tip - I will check that out.
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wewillsee
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Post by wewillsee on Mar 7, 2013 10:44:54 GMT -5
+2 on Edmunds.com. That is how I bought our new Odyssey in 2007. Worked very very well. I went to where I got the best price, not necessarily the one closest to my house.
Hope you have as good of luck as we have had. 70,000 miles and the only repair was a new strut for the back hatch of $100 or so. Maintenance includes oil changes, a transmission service, a cooling service, and new tires last year and that is it. Still on the original brakes. This is by far the most reliable vehicle I have had. Best $35K (with tax and towing items) I have spent vehicle wise. We have the EX-L with the DVD but no navigation.
We did the 3.9% financing for 60 months at the time and paid it off in about 56 months. I would think now the worst you could do is 2.75% since that is what banks and credit unions are offering. Honda's sponsored financing might be even better - they were the best deal at the time.
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Bob Ross
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Post by Bob Ross on Mar 7, 2013 10:52:24 GMT -5
Go to the dealership on the last day of the month. Salesmen will be trying to hit their monthly quota and / or bonus, and will be more likely to give you a better deal because of it. The later in the day, the better, although you want to give yourself at least some time to negotiate. Keep in mind that many saleman will stay late in order to get that final sale.
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giramomma
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Post by giramomma on Mar 7, 2013 11:00:58 GMT -5
Go to the dealership on the last day of the month. Salesmen will be trying to hit their monthly quota and / or bonus, and will be more likely to give you a better deal because of it. The later in the day, the better, although you want to give yourself at least some time to negotiate. Keep in mind that many saleman will stay late in order to get that final sale. This. We bought a car once on Dec 28th. We got an awesome deal on it. Not only was it end of the month, it was the end of the year. (I know you can't wait that long.) Would you consider a certified used ? We got a good chunk off of our minivan. It was about a year old and had 30K on it. For a Toyota, I considered that pretty much brand new. (A previous Toyota we had lasted 17 years). We still got most of the warranties on it and have been super happy with it.
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phil5185
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Post by phil5185 on Mar 7, 2013 11:02:43 GMT -5
Dealerships don't have access to cheaper money than anyone else - they simply modify the deal to meet a customer's preference. Ie, if you ask for 0% financing, they add $2000 to the price and give you 0% - or if you insist on a low out-the-door price they apply the real cost-of-money, maybe 4%.
If you have plenty of time, I've got the best deals by ordering from the factory. You pick your options, color, etc and the dealer orders it. So he has no cost involved, it is sold (to you) before it is unloaded off the truck - no lot charges, no salesman commission, no financing while it sits on the lot for 4 weeks, etc. So they can share some of the hold-back profit with you (the dealer invoice has some built-in profit).
Doesn't apply in your case - but I don't trade in our old cars, I sell them privately.
As for financing, I 100% finance for 60 months. I leave our own money invested in our taxable (11%) fund, plus I add the $4000 or $5000 that I get for selling the old one. The goal is to double the $30k car price plus the $4k to $68,000 in about 7 years - for that I'm wiilling to pay $3000 or so interest over 5 yrs.
I like your van choice - we bought it's sister, the toyota - only because Honda didn't have AWD - great vans.
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bean29
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Post by bean29 on Mar 7, 2013 11:02:45 GMT -5
I used the consumer reports pricing tool. The edmunds pricing is pretty much the same. They say if you get a price in the range these sources quote you got a good deal. I did better than their price and got the .9 financing. Like Paul I bought a Honda.
Considered a Ford, but my last car was a Ford and Have your ever heard FORD stands for Fix or Repair Daily? I was told that by my Grandma's brother when I was a young adult. I didn't listen for a long time, but I could not get it out of my head when I was making this purchase. When we were closing the deal on my Honda and they tried to sell us a warrantly I also looked at DH and told him the warranty cost about what the 5 year cost to own was in the pricing models so I was pretty comfortable saying NO.
Good Luck.
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bean29
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Post by bean29 on Mar 7, 2013 11:12:41 GMT -5
Dealerships don't have access to cheaper money than anyone else - they simply modify the deal to meet a customer's preference. Ie, if you ask for 0% financing, they add $2000 to the price and give you 0% - or if you insist on a low out-the-door price they apply the real cost-of-money, maybe 4%. If you have plenty of time, I've got the best deals by ordering from the factory. You pick your options, color, etc and the dealer orders it. So he has no cost involved, it is sold (to you) before it is unloaded off the truck - no lot charges, no salesman commission, no financing while it sits on the lot for 4 weeks, etc. So they can share some of the hold-back profit with you (the dealer invoice has some built-in profit). Doesn't apply in your case - but I don't trade in our old cars, I sell them privately. As for financing, I 100% finance for 60 months. I leave our own money invested in our taxable (11%) fund, plus I add the $4000 or $5000 that I get for selling the old one. The goal is to double the $30k car price plus the $4k to $68,000 in about 7 years - for that I'm wiilling to pay $3000 or so interest over 5 yrs. I like your van choice - we bought it's sister, the toyota - only because Honda didn't have AWD - great vans. This is probably true, but I was looking at small SUV's for 6 months. I knew the Consumer Reports bottom line pricing and figured I was saving $5,000 by going with a 2012 with .9 financing vs a 2013 in the color I wanted and 3. something financing. I took the 2012. I really wanted a different color but not for 5,000. I also got Rear entertainment. Good for resale, but we have yet to use it and probably never will.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Mar 7, 2013 11:52:43 GMT -5
Buying a car is actually a very easy transaction if you follow a few basic rules
1. do your negotiations over the internet by email...you have a written record of exactly what was promised, and you can compare dealer to dealer
2. work with the sales manager at the store....ask for sales manager when you call to get his/her email address....do not work with sales staff....
3. have the two dealers send you a copy of the manufacturer invoice for the closest model that matches what you want in their stock (you want in stock vs them going out to find you exactly what you want...they will charge extra for that if they have to dealer trade it in)
4. tell them you want their BEST price and that you are shopping their number...you want to be fair, so price in their required profit....some dealers will lowball you....give you a number that is so low it is impossible to beat.....they figure they can "bump" you when you get to their store....make sure you tell them there will be NO ADDS to their price other than taxes and tags...put that in your final email telling them they won the bid
5. if you have a trade...leave that out of the deal until the price for exactly what you want is already completed
6. complete negotiations with number in hand....go to store, do paperwork and pick up unit
easy peasy
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kent
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Post by kent on Mar 7, 2013 12:55:58 GMT -5
In addition to the other advice provided, you migh want to read this article from Edmunds: [a href="http://www.edmunds.com/car-buying/confessions-of-a salesman.html"]http://www.edmunds.com/car-buying/confessions-of-a salesman.html[/a] Also the latest issue of Consumer Reports, April 2013, just arrived and it's their "Best & Worst Cars for 2013" issue - it might prove to be of value/
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whoami
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Post by whoami on Mar 7, 2013 13:11:44 GMT -5
Our credit union offers a car buying service. I'm not sure exactly what they do, but I believe they handle all the negotiating etc. I hate buying cars. We are looking at getting one at the end of the year most likely, and I want as little involvement with the negotiations as I can get.
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wewillsee
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Post by wewillsee on Mar 7, 2013 13:37:05 GMT -5
If you are a Costco member, you might want to check out their car buying service. I know nothing about it but it might be worth an investigation.
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archrival
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Post by archrival on Mar 7, 2013 14:17:59 GMT -5
Also try truecar.com
That website gives you the actual $ quoted.
This way you should definitely negotiate under the the $ amount presented.
ETA: In my neck of the woods, a Odyssey EX-L is $31,211.
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swamp
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Post by swamp on Mar 7, 2013 14:32:51 GMT -5
whatever deal you get, someone here will tell you that you could have done better.
So someone paid $500 less on a $40,000 vehicle. Good for them.
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Bob Ross
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Post by Bob Ross on Mar 7, 2013 14:35:57 GMT -5
whatever deal you get, someone here will tell you that you could have done better. So someone paid $500 less on a $40,000 vehicle. Good for them. I paid $600 less.
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tcu2003
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Post by tcu2003 on Mar 7, 2013 14:36:43 GMT -5
Also try truecar.com That website gives you the actual $ quoted. This way you should definitely negotiate under the the $ amount presented. ETA: In my neck of the woods, a Odyssey EX-L is $31,211. Good to know - especially since we want the EX-L option.
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bean29
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Post by bean29 on Mar 7, 2013 15:30:59 GMT -5
Also try truecar.com That website gives you the actual $ quoted. This way you should definitely negotiate under the the $ amount presented. ETA: In my neck of the woods, a Odyssey EX-L is $31,211. Yeah Consumer reports gave me $31634 for an EX-L in my neck of the woods. I am not quite sure what archrival means so I looked up the truecar price and the estimated Truecar price is $32145. So I guess he is trying to tell you to do better than the truecar price.
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jk70
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Post by jk70 on Mar 7, 2013 17:31:25 GMT -5
tcu: just bought my wife a new honda fit and 2 years ago I bought a used Honda Odyssey. Anyway...some tips on a good deal: - Find out the invoice price (edmunds, cars.com, etc.) Do not worry about the MSRP or sticker price. That's what dealers want you to negotiate off of. They want you to work down from the MSRP. You should work up from the Invoice price.
- Next find out the dealer incentives (I think Honda pays dealerships 2% of the MSRP..you'll have to look this up - should be on edmunds, too). The invoice minus the dealer incentive is their true cost
- Don't tell them you may finance or that you may pay cash. they usually try to steer you away from the price. Just tell a dealer that you are worried about the price first. Ignore their talks about financing, etc.
- Take the true cost, add in destination charges (you can't get around this one) and that is the base to start from.
- You will get charged tax, title, and last, document fees (I call fraud fees). You can negotiate the doc fees but understand that they can't actually get rid of the doc fees (it would open them up to lawsuits). What they will do, if you are successful, is take the price down by the amount of doc fees. So, if you get a price of 30,000 and doc fees are 300, and you're able to "get rid of them" - the dealer will make the car price read 29,700 and charge you 300 in doc fees.
- Check for finance rates with your bank (s) first, before you go thru a dealers financing; even if they have great deals. Bank of America quoted me a 1.89% new car rate for 60 months. I didn't need to use it b/c Honda had deals (just ended I think) for 0.9% financing which I got. Just don't ONLY rely on the dealership for financing.
- And, as someone else said...start with the internet and research. I bot my Honda Fit all via email. Be careful of "internet pricing"...the site will show you the MSRP and that you can get special internet pricing. Remember, forget about the MSRP. You're working form the invoice price. But it's a place to start.
Sorry for the long sermon
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Sum Dum Gai
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Post by Sum Dum Gai on Mar 7, 2013 17:53:55 GMT -5
If the salesman doesn't pull the "I'll need to clear that with a manager" thing at least three times during the negotiation you aren't asking for a low enough price. Now after you get it all signed and drive home, have the wife come back the next day asking about all the little charges on the paperwork. Dealer delivery fee and whatnot. It's best if she can break down and cry while emotionally arguing that she got cheated, regrets the whole thing, and just wants to cancel the deal. If you have little kids make sure she brings them. That should knock the price down a bit more.
Oh, and negotiate price completely before you talk financing. If they ask, say you're paying cash. Negotiate the price completely, then ask just because you're curious, what kind of rate they could do on financing if you wanted to use your cash on hookers and blow instead.
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tcu2003
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Post by tcu2003 on Mar 7, 2013 22:44:37 GMT -5
Too funny - my car is a Ford Escape, and I love it. I've had it for 8 years now, and had no issues - just regular maintenance. DH will be inheriting it once we get a minivan.
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tcu2003
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Post by tcu2003 on Mar 7, 2013 22:53:30 GMT -5
tcu: just bought my wife a new honda fit and 2 years ago I bought a used Honda Odyssey. Anyway...some tips on a good deal: - Find out the invoice price (edmunds, cars.com, etc.) Do not worry about the MSRP or sticker price. That's what dealers want you to negotiate off of. They want you to work down from the MSRP. You should work up from the Invoice price.
- Next find out the dealer incentives (I think Honda pays dealerships 2% of the MSRP..you'll have to look this up - should be on edmunds, too). The invoice minus the dealer incentive is their true cost
- Don't tell them you may finance or that you may pay cash. they usually try to steer you away from the price. Just tell a dealer that you are worried about the price first. Ignore their talks about financing, etc.
- Take the true cost, add in destination charges (you can't get around this one) and that is the base to start from.
- You will get charged tax, title, and last, document fees (I call fraud fees). You can negotiate the doc fees but understand that they can't actually get rid of the doc fees (it would open them up to lawsuits). What they will do, if you are successful, is take the price down by the amount of doc fees. So, if you get a price of 30,000 and doc fees are 300, and you're able to "get rid of them" - the dealer will make the car price read 29,700 and charge you 300 in doc fees.
- Check for finance rates with your bank (s) first, before you go thru a dealers financing; even if they have great deals. Bank of America quoted me a 1.89% new car rate for 60 months. I didn't need to use it b/c Honda had deals (just ended I think) for 0.9% financing which I got. Just don't ONLY rely on the dealership for financing.
- And, as someone else said...start with the internet and research. I bot my Honda Fit all via email. Be careful of "internet pricing"...the site will show you the MSRP and that you can get special internet pricing. Remember, forget about the MSRP. You're working form the invoice price. But it's a place to start.
Sorry for the long sermon Thanks, jk. Looking at edmunds, the invoice price for the Odyssey EX-L $33,034, and the "true market value" for my area is $32,397 (which includes a destination fee of $830 - which does match the destination fee that one of the salesman told me). Looking on edmunds, it says there is a dealer incentive of dealer cash of $1000 - so does this mean I should be able to get an extra $1k off the purchase price, or something else? And if that's the case, does that mean I want to work up from $32034? Sorry for the myriad questions - just trying to make sure I understand this correctly.
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tcu2003
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Post by tcu2003 on Mar 7, 2013 22:58:19 GMT -5
Also try truecar.com That website gives you the actual $ quoted. This way you should definitely negotiate under the the $ amount presented. ETA: In my neck of the woods, a Odyssey EX-L is $31,211. I just looked at the truecar website and they want a phone number - not something I really want to give out to them. Do they do anything with your phone number?
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