Will Honda haggle or Toyota for that matter?

[sootycat]

I'm planning to buy a new car in the next 2 months or so and am leaning towards a Honda or Toyota. I know that both makes are popular and was wondering if the dealers of these cars are willing to haggle over price. If so, how much would be a resonable amount to expect them to come down on the price? I was thinking about a 2008 Honda Civic or maybe the Fit.

What is the bottom of the line car for Toyota? I want dependability, but I don't have a ton of money to spend for it. Thanks.

[TJones]

Sooty, Toyota has just put 0% on bacally their whole line of cars. They have NEVER done that in the history of Toyota. I would go with that 0% and tell them you'll pay $300 under invoice. They may take the deal in all likelihood. Honda thinks their poop don't stink, but they are down about 27% in sales also, but no 0% being offered.

[BryanS]

Well... if you're really looking for a good deal... buy a three year old Honda or Toyota from a private seller that has all the records. A well kept late model vehicle is really "like new" ...

...but if you must buy new...

Yes. They will deal. I have bought new cars in my prior life, but never again. Maybe 1 to 2 thousand off MSRP...

[TexasVines]

I have sold cars (please feel free to hold that against me as I hold it against myself)

I would find it hard to imagine at this time that any maker of cars, besides Saturn that has wrapped their business around no haggle, would not haggle at this point and time

you still will need to consider the car you are buying and the popularity of it to know how hard they will haggle with you

also if you can find a dealer that still codes information on the windshield or some other tag on the car and figure out that code to see how long that unit has been on the lot or (in their floor plan) that will aid you in making a better deal

the more basic the car and the more similar cars of that model there are on the lot the better your chances

my standard "how to make the best car deal" spiel is about half to three quarters of a computer screen long and deals with prearranging financing from an outside source and then still allowing the dealer to try and beat it as well

300 over invoice for a Japanese car would be doing well for most, but Japanese dealers almost never show an invoice and it does not have dealer cost on it the same way American manufacturers do if I am not mistaken....I sold Fords never a foreign brand unless it was used

you would really do very well with a gently preowned right now of any brand because that takes the manufacturer pressure to not haggle out of the picture entirely and you don't suffer the depreciation as well

[RedScare]

I'm planning to buy a new car in the next 2 months or so and am leaning towards a Honda or Toyota. I know that both makes are popular and was wondering if the dealers of these cars are willing to haggle over price. If so, how much would be a resonable amount to expect them to come down on the price? I was thinking about a 2008 Honda Civic or maybe the Fit.

What is the bottom of the line car for Toyota? I want dependability, but I don't have a ton of money to spend for it. Thanks.

Yaris is the bottom Toyota. Scion is also a Toyota brand. Many of their models are very fuel efficient. TJ is right. Toyota's sales are off nearly as much as GM's. All auto manufacturers are down. But, the biggest ones need to move more product than the smaller ones, so they'll make better deals.

[musicman]

they definitely deal. i bought a toyota last yr. i worked directly with the manager though vs a salesperson, who had to get approval from the manager.

[memebag]

Everything is negotiable. Check out the Scion xB. It's cheap, has decent mileage and it's very comfortable. I wanted to buy a used one, but couldn't find one that was significantly cheaper than a new one. They hold their value.

[sarahiki]

Well... if you're really looking for a good deal... buy a three year old Honda or Toyota from a private seller that has all the records. A well kept late model vehicle is really "like new" ...

...but if you must buy new...

Yes. They will deal. I have bought new cars in my prior life, but never again. Maybe 1 to 2 thousand off MSRP...

You don't save a ton by buying used with Hondas and Toyotas. They hold their value very well.

[cottonmather0]

Used to be that Honda was really easy to work with and Toyota told people to take it or leave it (I had a Toyota dealer laugh at me one time and say, "My best price is M-S-R-P buddy. Quit wasting my time!").

BUT, given the state of the credit markets right now, I would tend to agree with others here and say that your chances of getting Toyota to play ball are likely better than they used to be.

I'll give my usual advice and that is that your best bet is to work the phones and email and play the dealers themselves off of each other and to not go to the dealership until you have a firm "off the lot" price. There is no need to haggle nowadays and you'll be done sooner if the dealer knows he's competing with others and not just trying to wait you out. Once you are there and talking numbers, they have the advantage and you yourself will not be in your most economic and patient mindset.

Edited October 22, 2008 by cottonmather0

[BryanS]

You don't save a ton by buying used with Hondas and Toyotas. They hold their value very well.

...if three years is not enough... go older... 5,7,9 years... even though they "hold their value" - you can always find a decent used car that costs several thousands less than a new one. I bought a brand new Honda Accord for 25,000 ... sold for 9,000. What a loss. In terms of Honda... I had a 2000 Accord that was a piece of junk. Even new, it was junk. Never again.

[RedScare]

they definitely deal. i bought a toyota last yr. i worked directly with the manager though vs a salesperson, who had to get approval from the manager.

I thought you bought the Nissan?

[RedScare]

This hasn't been mentioned yet, but now through December is a GREAT time to buy the current model year. The dealers are trying to unload "last year's model" to make room for the 2009s to sit on the lot for 12 months. I bought my 2003 Toyota in December 2003. The '04s were sitting right next to it. Not only were they virtually identical, both Toyota and the dealer were offering discounts on the '03. I drove off with a $6,800 discount on the '03...almost unheard of on Toyotas back in 2003. Since there are few big changes in the 2009 lineup (the big stuff is coming in 2010), buying a 2008 will save you cash.

Extra bonus. At resale, your 2008 model will always have drastically less mileage than those who purchased early in the year, resulting in a better residual value.

[musicman]

I thought you bought the Nissan?

i couldn't handle the sale pitches at nissan and everywhere else to be honest. once i got past the sales people the toyota manager was ready to deal.

now if i can only get past the repeated calls about "do you know your warranty is about to expire?" had one about 1.5 hrs ago.

Edited October 22, 2008 by musicman

[RedScare]

i couldn't handle the sale pitches at nissan and everywhere else to be honest. once i got past the sales people the toyota manager was ready to deal.

now if i can only get past the repeated calls about "do you know your warranty is about to expire?" had one about 1.5 hrs ago.

Ha! They never end. I have 2 months left on my 5 year loan. While fewer in number, I still get warranty offers. Of course, now I also get the "It's time for a new car" offers as well.

[pganju]

just bought an '08 toyota $1,200 under invoice, with 0 down and 0% financing. in the summer no dealer would budge on the price, in october we found that they were all willing to negotiate. my brother has a fit, he loves it

[memebag]

my brother has a fit, he loves it

That's odd. My sister had a fit and we had to take her to a special doctor.

[TexasVines]

i couldn't handle the sale pitches at nissan and everywhere else to be honest. once i got past the sales people the toyota manager was ready to deal.

now if i can only get past the repeated calls about "do you know your warranty is about to expire?" had one about 1.5 hrs ago.

I have a land line that I never answer unless really bored....usually I just pick it up and hang up

a few times of actually trying to get my "1972 chevy 1500 with 568,972 miles and 7 different owners" a warranty and actually listening to them exclaim 568 thousand miles they finally took the hint and stopped calling

[sevfiv]

Try try try to pay as much for the car up front as possible or get 0% - I bought my first new car (not "new to me" like usual) a year ago and I am way upside down on value/loan (yay for massively depreciating assets!).

If I ever buy a new car (or any car, for that matter) again, it'll be mostly/all cash.

[CoolBuddy06]

...if three years is not enough... go older... 5,7,9 years... even though they "hold their value" - you can always find a decent used car that costs several thousands less than a new one. I bought a brand new Honda Accord for 25,000 ... sold for 9,000. What a loss. In terms of Honda... I had a 2000 Accord that was a piece of junk. Even new, it was junk. Never again.

I've bought 3 Honda Accords so far. All of them give stellar performance. Never done more than oil change on any of them. And never paid up to 25 grand either. Maybe the difference is that all of them are top of the line EX V6 type. The latest one is a 2007 EX-L V6 which I bought for 23400 drive off in 9/07.

[BryanS]

I've bought 3 Honda Accords so far. All of them give stellar performance. Never done more than oil change on any of them. And never paid up to 25 grand either. Maybe the difference is that all of them are top of the line EX V6 type. The latest one is a 2007 EX-L V6 which I bought for 23400 drive off in 9/07.

I had a 2000 EX V-6, 2-door coupe, loaded. It might have been 24K+TTL... ? Something like that. It was about 1000 to 1500 below sticker, whatever that was then

[sifuwong]

Used to be that Honda was really easy to work with and Toyota told people to take it or leave it (I had a Toyota dealer laugh at me one time and say, "My best price is M-S-R-P buddy. Quit wasting my time!").

BUT, given the state of the credit markets right now, I would tend to agree with others here and say that your chances of getting Toyota to play ball are likely better than they used to be.

I'll give my usual advice and that is that your best bet is to work the phones and email and play the dealers themselves off of each other and to not go to the dealership until you have a firm "off the lot" price. There is no need to haggle nowadays and you'll be done sooner if the dealer knows he's competing with others and not just trying to wait you out. Once you are there and talking numbers, they have the advantage and you yourself will not be in your most economic and patient mindset.

I was gonna buy one earlier in the year, but decided to wait till end of year as this years' models are being pushed out for the newer models, thus a better deal. I agree with emailing them. I've received many emails and i am not going to go out there until i see some decent #s for it to be worth going out there. So far, the #s don't look appealing enough. I have been going to the dealerships(toyota and honda) on closed days(sundays) by myself to check out the lots and see what they have.

[gwilson]

When I bought my Toyota it was a highly anticipated new generation of the model and they had been out for a few weeks. Toyota was known for not haggling in general, but especially not on cars that they moved a lot of or were in demand, like mine. That said, I still got 7,000 knocked off the sale price, tint for free, XM for free past the trial period.

Not a horrible deal. All dealerships will haggle. EVen the ones that say they won't. The few misguided ones jkust dont sell cars.