buying new honda civic - pricing

so my old 90 honda accord lx finally bit the dust. pretty sure the
transmission blew. i put about $2000 in repairs/mtce into it over the past
6 months (brakes, tires, tune-up, brake master cylinder, radiator hose) and
now this. so i'm looking into buyin a 2003 honda civic lx. carsdirect gave
me a price of $14,100. i'm in the northeast. thought that was a very fair
price based on edmunds tmv of $14,553 and invoice of $14,912. anyone
recently buy one? anyone ever purchase thru carsdirect? any experience you
want to share would be helpful. thanks.

- dawn

 

yeah, i have a few dealers in my area too. got a purchase order price of
$13,995 today from one. that's even lower than carsdirect. i'm feeling
good about this. we'll see when i get there tomorrow.

- dawn

 

I, too, am shopping for a Civic LX 2 dr and my dealer's lowest price
is $15,800, including freight. How does a dealer sell a car under
invoice cost? Mystery? Rebates from Honda?

 

the 2003 civic lx invoice is 14,912 and there is a $500 dealer incentive
(thru july) so the two nearest dealers to me were selling for $14,512. the
second one gave me the price you were quoted but when i told him the other
dealer offered invoice less the incentive he matched it. how the one i
bought from was able to give me $13,995 i don't know. there is a holdback
amount usually 2-3% of invoice but still that's a lot.

anyway, i bought the car today and yes that price included destination
charges. paid the usual tax, title and registration fees and got 1.9%
financing as well. i am very pleased. they only wanted to give me $100
though for my 90 accord (which isn't in good shape) but i called my mechanic
and he said he would by it off me for $500 so i declined their offer.

i was referred to this dealer thru carsdirect. i would definitely tell
your dealer you want it for $14,512. you can go to edmunds.com and get
prices. that's how i found out about all this stuff. i'm a novice but after
checking out the info, i felt i had enough knowledge to get a good deal.
also, everything except the trade-in (due to car's age) was negotiated via
internet and phone prior to my going to dealership. very nice.

good luck with your purchase.

- dawn

 

Dawn, congratulations on your purchase.

Actually, since the car is a 2003, the dealers are selling these cars
almost for nothing. It shouldn't be too hard to get a price for about or
within the 14,000 and up range. Good Luck Carol.

Dmitry

 

thanks : ) it definitely was good timing.

- dawn

 

Exactly - manufacturers also have what are called "holdbacks" of various
percentages on various models. Last week Honda offered the dealers 3%
(of the MSRP, I believe) on Accords, so don't worry about screwing your
dealer.