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NFT: Need some advice on car shopping

Ten Ton Hammer : 7/7/2017 5:11 pm
Some context: never done it before on my own, and I do have family advising me on it, but I like hearing other experiences.

So I've decided on a 2017 Civic Hatch, either the Sport Touring or the EX-L. Drove it, shopped around, didn't love any of the other options after taking a week to consider. Now I'm just putting some money together to bring to the table.

However, the 18s are set to roll out very soon, and from what two separate dealers have told me, the trims I'm interested in are becoming hard to find in anything other than Black, which I have no interest in. Babylon Honda and Nardy Honda, if it matters. Both checked inventories and only had two color options. I'm sure a lot of it is sales speak since car salesmen do what they do, but when it comes time to buy, and the next model year is oncoming, how realistic is it that you can "miss out" on getting the car you want as they make room for new models? First salesman was gracious enough to suggest a $1000 "location fee" if they didn't have what I wanted, which turned me off from even going back there again.

The other problem is that the larger dealerships like Atlantic have inventory, but horrific reviews from buyers complaining about treatment and service.

Thoughts?
I agree with you that finding a good dealership is more important  
Marty in Albany : 7/7/2017 5:33 pm : link
than possibly missing out on a specific model or color. BTW I have a black Accord, which I think looks cool.
I'm alway have a healthy skepticism of care salesmen  
bigbluehoya : 7/7/2017 5:44 pm : link
But I'm sure there's a ton of truth to the inventory scarcity of certain colors this late in the model year.

The "location fee" sounds like a racket, but I wouldn't let that turn you off from the dealership outright. I've found that sometimes you gain some weight/respect on that type of bullshit by calmly looking him in the eye and saying "I'm going to be clear with you that there's absolutely no way I'm paying you a fee to find me the car I want, but if you and your manager still want the business, I'm interested in finding this car in [insert whatever fancy color you want here]."
Service shouldn't be a factor when purchasing  
Jim in Fairfax : 7/7/2017 6:02 pm : link
You don't have to service it where you buy it. You can bring it to any dealership.

I recommend shopping by email. Send every dealer you can the specs on what you want and ask for a quote.
Location Fee  
Samiam : 7/7/2017 6:27 pm : link
I think that's a bullshit fee. I bought an Acura last year and the dealer in north Jersey got the vehicle from a dealer in south Jersey at the same price,

I read something last week that auto sales are down & that some auto makers are cutting back. Wasn't paying close attention; maybe others can weigh in. If yes, bear that in mind when you negotiate
.  
skifaster : 7/7/2017 6:46 pm : link
www.autotrader.com
Stay the fuck away from Atlantic. Bunch of crooks.  
robbieballs2003 : 7/7/2017 8:17 pm : link
I went looking for some cars with my wife. We wanted to look at the Nissan Rogue. I am a math guy. We were looking to lease. The fuckin guy there tries to get me to do a 3 year lease where we were paying around 90% of the sticker price. I looked at him and was like are you fuckin serious? I topd him what I did for a living and was completely disrespected by that offer. I then told him we were leaving as I had no trust in him so there was absolutely no point in going further. He basically grabbed us as we were walking out the door. He said let me talk to my manager. He comes back amd goes what about the same price but the Morano instead. I told him he was a moron and I guess he didn't hear that we were on a budget. My wife filled out paperwork and they continued to call all the time with advertisements. Ridiculous experience.
all dealers suck  
ImThatGuy : 7/7/2017 9:19 pm : link
(sorry to anyone who works in the industry)

But all I really care about when buying a car is the price. Honda is commoditized enough that you can get it serviced anywhere. When you know the trim level on a car you want do all of your negotiations over email and ask for the lowest out the door price (you may need to be flexible on color). When they ask you to come in say "not happening".
Not easy to buy a bad car  
Alan in Toledo : 7/7/2017 11:30 pm : link
these days. Same for many electronics, computers, phones....

poor stuff gets smoked out quickly (and shows up in reviews).
For what it's worth I love my Honda Hatchback  
KeoweeFan : 7/8/2017 10:14 am : link
The dealers in SC had no problem bringing in cars from around the state for us.
(My wife later bought a CRV and wanted a color that looked "cool" in the brochure but when they brought it in, it looked horrible. She settled for a white car brought in from ANOTHER dealer in order to get nav in the model she wanted.)

2017 is the first year for this model and Honda does not usually make big changes in the first few years so a 2017 should be pretty equal to 2018.
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