Hi,
I'm looking to buy a used CRV from a Honda dealer and wondered if anyone reading this group has had any success not paying the various fees? (also what are the fees)
All price offers seem to have the magical + + beside it and an "admin fee" usually in the $350 range from the various dealerships have visited. Anyone argued successfully that they won't pay any fee beyond the purchase Price?
- buyer
Why do you tell us the fees? Also what kind of warranty are you getting? And what year and exact model? How many miles?
What you can do is go here: kbb.com, nada.com and cars.com get estimates of what the vehicle is worth. Also, look in the newspaper, at Craigslist.org and at ebay.com for similar vehicles in your area. I wouldn't be surprised if you couldn't get the dealer to budge on the price (because the dealer will get someone else to buy it at that price), but that you can get a similar vehicle for a lot less elsewhere.
Jeff
I always tell the guy I won't pay those ridiculous $295 or $395 fees-- especially the "Administrative" and "Title" ones. The dealer says those are for all the work they have to do to get the title and the fees they have to pay. They also tell you-- sorry, the fee is already printed on the form.
I take my pen and draw a line through it, initial the cross out and say-- there, now it's gone.
In Georgia where I live, if you take the MSO form to the county title office, fill out a one page form, pay them $15---they mail you the title in about 2-3 weeks. After your check clears, the dealer is obligated to give you the MSO. Don't loose it though-- you'll really have a problem titling the car until you replace it and that is a real hassle...
Oops-- didn't real OP carefully enough. There's no MSO with a used car. Just get the old title that's been properly sighed on the back-- same deal at the title office.
Hi, If it is Honda certified from Honda dealer, I won't worry much. If it is local trade-in vehicle then they may allow you to contact previous owner as well. Few hundre add-on is not excusable but you may haggle on price a little bit.
When I deal with car dealers, new and used, I always make it clear to them up front that I am negotiating the "drive out price" which is defined as the number I will write on my check. If they want to lower the salesman's commission by loading on a pile of fees, that is their business. I have yet to encounter the place that doesn't understand this and will go along with it.
One thing you need to remember is just because they advertise a particular price, that is almost never the bottom line that they will take for the car.
Somewhat on the same topic... I went to a dealership in Fremont, CA.. Can't recall what dealer, I was looking at a Hybrid, so based on my preferences either Toyota or Honda. For some reason before the test drive, they insisted on holding on to my car keys. For some odd reason, I said OK. We did the test drive, then came back to work the numbers.. The price he came back with was about twice what I was willing to pay. I told him this, he said hold on, and came back with a number like $50 less (nowhere near half). I told him that won't work. He said wait another minute, and just stood up and walked away. I followed him to where he walked, and he started talking to his boss. I asked loudly for my keys - he said "Hold on a minute". I said "No, my keys. NOW." He looked at me again "I'll be just a minute, I'm seeing what I can work out for you." I VERY LOUDLY said "My keys. Now. Or the police get involved." His boss looked at him and gave him the evil eye. He hands me the keys. I leave. Boss comes out and as I'm getting into my car asks if there's anything they can do to win my business. I look at him and say "Cut the monthly payments in half from what you first quoted." I gave him about 30 seconds, and then left.
Shady. Very shady.
Sadly, I have encountered the holding-on-to-the-keys gambit twice. Both times at Honda dealers. Deal breaker for me whenever they pull anything like that.
When I bought my daughters Infiniti, the salesman (an Infiniti dealer, but it was their used car lot, not the show room) pulled the same trick of going to talk to his supervisor. The place was completely empty, it being 10 AM on a rainy weekday, so I could hear everything that was said. He tells the boss "He's only offering $5000". The boss says "What are you bothering me for, you haven't sold a car in a month. Get on with it". Needless to say there was no upward movement in my offer after that. The edmunds.com trade in value of the car was $11000 at the time. I got it for $5000. Nothing wrong with it either, we've been diving it for 4.5 years now.
Another time, with a different daughter, I was in a Ford dealer's used car lot. The guy had just quoted me a price for a car & I made a counter offer. He left to talk to the boss. While we were sitting in the little cubicle, I commented to my daughter that the plastic flower in the pencil jar was probably a mic and they were listening. I then said he would stay out of sight for about 5 minutes and then come back and counter our offer with this & I told her a number. The guy came back in exactly 5 minutes and said word for word exactly what I said he would say. My daughter was laughing so hard she fell off the chair.
Went to Courtesy Honda in Sanford and am totally pleased, happy, about their deal and positive service to the customer. Having looked at used CRVs at 5 dealers, but, having been a dealer for ten years, in Florida, knew all the tricks. had walked away from the first 5 dealers.
They do deals everyday of the week, and a purchaser probably buys a car once ever three or four years. You might think you are going to 'win', but, reality is that they have to profit.
If they got a trade in at $4500, it will go out at $5500 minimum.
Courtesy Honda, of Sanford, sold us our used 2003 CRV with Honda Certified 1 year warranty, (no trade - in!).
As a past dealer, with many other dealer friends, we searched the auto (December 2006, end of year, pre-inventory for tax sales, also!) auctions for a wholesale deal. The final price, including tax and title, for our CRV from Courtesy Honda of Sanford, was $1500 below the lowest wholesale bids (scanned the prior 4 weeks of sales, also!) at 6 major "dealer only" auto auctions!
Out of warranty, after 15 months of use, the Air Conditioner Compressor exploded. Courtesy Honda Service Department went to Honda USA Corporate, and gave us a free rental car, replaced the contaminated AC system (!), and Corporate paid the entire $1991.00!
Honda certified dealers seem to go above and beyond their normal mandate in servicing the entire deal! The serve the customer!
We have owned Honda cars, since 1988, (a 600cc Civic, in Japan, while in the USAF, and stationed there), and the motorcycles since 1969, and prefer them for their longevity and stamina.
Think about the entire cost of a vehicle, before you sign on the dotted line. Will you get the kind of superior service that we experienced?
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