Where do you find dealer incentives?

[Juddog]

I'm currently debating between the following, but so far none of the dealers have been willing to play the haggle game over the internet. They all gave me a firm price, and weren't willing to drop it to closer to invoice. The online car buying guides say that the dealerships should be desperate right now due to the slow economy, so I'm not sure why I'm having such a hard time with the internet sales reps being unwilling to bend. I was wondering if there is a spot online to find what the dealer incentives are, to help me with my haggling.

Initially I was really psyched about a Honda CR-V; they looked ideal for price range and performance in snow, but the dealership offered $300 under MSRP and that was final. I sent probably about 5-6 e-mails back and forth, finally just told them if they aren't willing to haggle that I won't do any business with them. I even put up the invoice price in the e-mail and they acted strange about it.

So now I'm pursuing a Subaru Forester at a nearby dealership, I gave them an offer which was $300 above invoice, and $1200 under MSRP, and they just never bothered replying after that.

It seems like the entire experience has gone sour, compared with how easy it was to score a good price on my Mazda 3 a few years ago (purchased for $200 under invoice, but at the Mazda dealership, separate from the two above). I'm half tempted to go with the Mazda CX-7 instead of the Forester or the CR-V, just because that dealership was so easy to deal with, plus I get extra discount from the Mazda loyalty program, although the CX-7 turbo / AWD model seems to chug gas like a champ.

 

[Itchrelief]

I believe the problem may be a certain recent earthquake and tsunami, plus the fact that you are only looking at Japanese makes.

 

[Juddog]

I believe the problem may be a certain recent earthquake and tsunami, plus the fact that you are only looking at Japanese makes.

Yeah that's what the Honda dealership rep told me; she said because of the tsunami they can't offer a lower price. I debated the Chevy Equinox, but I'm not a fan of Chevy at all.

 

[RKS]

Have you tried pricing through zag/usaa/amex/costco/etc?

http://amexnetwork.zag.com/main.html

2010 cr-v incentives

edit: BTW I just helped my dad buy a RAV4. It was a "no-haggle" price of 2% over invoice but was "internet priced" at 1% over invoice but we got it for invoice after going in and haggling for a few minutes (another dealer a few miles away was willing to do $100 under invoice).

 

[NutBucket]

Never forget this. When negotiating they like to claim that if they sell at invoice they won't make any profit. Always call their bluff because everyone and their mom knows there's still plenty of profit to be had selling cars at invoice.

But anyway, it definitely does not help the two cars you are looking at are assembled in Japan. I don't think there's a CR-V assembly line in the US and I know for a fact all Foresters are made in Japan. May be best to wait a few months if you can.

 

[JTsyo]

Probably high demand for those cars. You'll want to buy one that others don't want to get the deep discounts.

 

[Capt Caveman]

Before buying my Volvo, I was looking at a Subaru Outback. Right after the Earthquake, they sent me an email telling me I had only that week to get a deal on a vehicle as manufacturer incentives to the dealerships were being stopped. It helped me make my decision easier.

 

[NutBucket]

Their pitch worked....

I walked out of a Honda dealer last month when they pulled that "earthquake = higher price" bullshit.

 

[Juddog]

Anybody have a recommended replacement then? I realized all the cars on my list were from Japan. My wife likes Jeeps, but I read some bad reviews about the Patriot so I was hesitant. Jeep has a really nice 0% APR though right now which makes it more tempting. The wranglers seem to be really bad at gas mileage; I was hoping to get a crossover-sized vehicle, with AWD / 4WD, that has at least decent mileage (27+ mpg).

 

[Capt Caveman]

Have you tried using any of the services that RKS listed? There is also Truecar.

 

[Turin39789]

Ford Exploder?

 

[LTC8K6]

The new Jeep Compass seems to fit the bill.

 

[bryanW1995]

Honda dealers typically don't negotiate much if at all, regardless of the economy/natural disasters/etc. The earthquake is just an excuse for them to justify no discount. The factory doesn't give them very much markup, so to a certain extent their hands really are tied. If you want a "deal" then there are certainly other options out there, but you need to realize that a relatively inexpensive car with little/no rebate isn't going to allow the dealer much negotiation flexibility. Also, Honda's typically hold their value better than mazda/toyota/etc in large part because they never offer much in the way of incentives, so you'd end up getting at least some of that higher price back in the long run.

Having said all of that, I agree that the jeep compass is a nice alternative. Jeep has taken a lot the good features from the new grand cherokee and incorporated them into their lower-end models. If you're interested in a compass PM me.