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?
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]."
I recommend shopping by email. Send every dealer you can the specs on what you want and ask for a quote.
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
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".
poor stuff gets smoked out quickly (and shows up in reviews).
(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.