Shopping for a new 2024 Odyssey, as we just found out we're expecting our 4th child, and, by the end of the year, we'll have 4 children under 4 years old!
My SOP is to treat the car-buying process as a bid, emailing multiple dealerships to inquire how much they're willing to discount their stock.
Our closest Honda store, Darrell Waltrip Honda in Franklin, has several Odysseys, and every one of them has over $3000 in dealer added garbage, including "LoJack Connect", a $1500 system for locating your car if it's stolen (Apple AirTags are $29), $300 for door cups (clear film under the door handles), $500 for window tint (that much for only the front windows!). And their doc fee is $750!
When will they come to the realization that most people don't want this stuff, and recognize that it's simply a profit-padder for the greedy dealerships? And it just aggravates the customer and creates ill will.
After contacting about a dozen dealerships, I will say that I've found one dealer - Classic Honda out of Galveston, that proudly advertises zero add-ons, and has the lowest price I've found - about 8% off MSRP on a Touring model after local Texas taxes and fees (not including my Tennessee taxes), and a (reasonable for 2024) $150 doc fee.
I guess Tennessee dealers are just extra greedy. I've bought 3 new vehicles since 2007 (2007 Tacoma, 2016 WRX, and 2021 4Runner), and I had to go out of state to find a dealer that would sell for a fair price on all 3 of them. Got the Tacoma and the WRX out of AR (Central Toyota in Jonesboogie and the WRX out of Little Rock), and the 4Runner from Vandergriff out of DFW. And it's looking like that's going to be the case again.
I've had a couple of closer dealers offer discounts of 2-3 grand, but they had a bunch of add-ons that are sinking their offer.
Glad the new vehicle market is softening a bit after the craziness of MSRP and "market adjustments" of 2021 into 2023.
If you're in the market for a vehicle (depending on what it is), don't be fooled into paying markups and paying for silly dealer add-ons that just serve to line the dealer's pockets. Just don't buy from those dealers. EVERYTHING is negotiable, as long as it's not a model that's super in-demand (yes, of course, demand sets price - that goes for anything).
My SOP is to treat the car-buying process as a bid, emailing multiple dealerships to inquire how much they're willing to discount their stock.
Our closest Honda store, Darrell Waltrip Honda in Franklin, has several Odysseys, and every one of them has over $3000 in dealer added garbage, including "LoJack Connect", a $1500 system for locating your car if it's stolen (Apple AirTags are $29), $300 for door cups (clear film under the door handles), $500 for window tint (that much for only the front windows!). And their doc fee is $750!
When will they come to the realization that most people don't want this stuff, and recognize that it's simply a profit-padder for the greedy dealerships? And it just aggravates the customer and creates ill will.
After contacting about a dozen dealerships, I will say that I've found one dealer - Classic Honda out of Galveston, that proudly advertises zero add-ons, and has the lowest price I've found - about 8% off MSRP on a Touring model after local Texas taxes and fees (not including my Tennessee taxes), and a (reasonable for 2024) $150 doc fee.
I guess Tennessee dealers are just extra greedy. I've bought 3 new vehicles since 2007 (2007 Tacoma, 2016 WRX, and 2021 4Runner), and I had to go out of state to find a dealer that would sell for a fair price on all 3 of them. Got the Tacoma and the WRX out of AR (Central Toyota in Jonesboogie and the WRX out of Little Rock), and the 4Runner from Vandergriff out of DFW. And it's looking like that's going to be the case again.
I've had a couple of closer dealers offer discounts of 2-3 grand, but they had a bunch of add-ons that are sinking their offer.
Glad the new vehicle market is softening a bit after the craziness of MSRP and "market adjustments" of 2021 into 2023.
If you're in the market for a vehicle (depending on what it is), don't be fooled into paying markups and paying for silly dealer add-ons that just serve to line the dealer's pockets. Just don't buy from those dealers. EVERYTHING is negotiable, as long as it's not a model that's super in-demand (yes, of course, demand sets price - that goes for anything).