Buying by end of March...SoCal dealers?

[unospam777]

Hi all,
I'll be buying by the end of March. Can anyone recommend good dealers in Orange county, even LA or SD? Looking for the EX-L no Navi, in Nighthawk. Also, the Carsdirect price is the lowest I've seen, are dealers negotiating on this price or is it rock bottom?

thanks.

[skyout]

Welcome to HondaSUV.com.

Have you seen this thread?
http://www.hondasuv.com/members/showthread.php?t=19363

Good luck and let us know how you do. We always like pics, too!

[dreese9859]

I live in Orange County too, but it's in FL :). Anyways, check out the thread on the forum titled something like "So, how much did you pay for your CR-V". There are many people listing prices they received and some may be in your area.

[Dawgs'n'Hondas]

I highly recommend Robertson's Palmdale Honda. I dealt with their internet sales manager (Lara Gilberg)--I did all my shopping and research on the web, so I never even actually met her, but she was great by phone/email . I got a good quote from another dealer but Gilberg beat it immediately, reserved the car for me without requiring a deposit, and threw in free delivery to my home (I live about 100 miles from Palmdale) when the V arrived from Japan two weeks later. Oh, and her quote was $1000 off MSRP back in December when no one else would budge from MSRP. A no-nonsense, trustworthy dealership to work with!

[unospam777]

If I purchased as you did, how is payment made? Did you have to ask for free delivery?

[Dawgs'n'Hondas]

She offered the delivery without my asking--the dealer has a contract with a pro delivery service. A nice older guy (ex-pilot, he said) drove my car here, and another guy followed in a hybrid Civic. My V was all dealer prepped and the driver walked me through the features in the driveway. I didn't get to experience my new car on its maiden 100-mile voyage, but it was worth it not to have to go all the way to Palmdale dragging another person along to drive the Accord back (we didn't do a trade in).

Lara Gilberg said the delivery guys are experienced in handling financials, but my situation was super-easy: I had a cashier's check for my down payment, and another check from Wells Fargo Auto Finance for the amount I wanted the loan to be (I shopped E-loan, Capital One Auto Finance, and WF because I knew Honda wasn't offering any financing deals of their own on the V, got approved, and the loan docs were sent to me free). I just signed the papers, handed over the checks, and got the keys. Very quick and painless for everyone. :-P

[unospam777]

I just spoke with Laura,she sounds great. So after I get some financing, we'll be dealing. thanks for mentioning this dealer.

[Dawgs'n'Hondas]

Oh, wonderful! I think you'll be really happy working with her. I'm glad I could send a customer her way. Tell her hello from Amber in Bakersfield for me!:D

[skyout]

That's why I love this forum. Members helping members. Great job, Amber and best of luck to unospam777.

[Ray Cooke]

If you belong to a credit union, check to see if they offer car-buying services through Autoland.

I never set foot in a dealership to actually buy my 2003 CR-V, although of course I initially did a test-drive and checked out all the features at a dealer. After doing some price research, I visited the Autoland rep at my local credit union branch in Torrance and told her what I wanted. I got a favorable price with no haggling or running around from one dealer to another, and picked up my new CR-V a few days later -- delivered right to the branch a few blocks from my office! :D It was a disarmingly easy way to buy a car; I can think of less-expensive purchases that were more difficult than this.

If you know what you want, I'd say this is the way to go!

[mntmans]

After dealing with more than a dozen dealers online, Brian Wiley (internet sales @ 800-730-5618, ext 214), Spreen Honda came through. I live in Org Co., CA and we have a wealth of dealers to choose from in So Cal. I even tried some of the "BIG" LA dealers. Overall, only one said they could beat Spreens price but they couldn't get the vehicle (07 CRV EX 4WD, glacier blue). Brian quoted $23,651 including dest chg., no added equipment. No hidden fees, no extra charges; straight, curteous, up-front sales.

Tell Brian I recommended him to you, my name is Don Hermans. I hope you have as good an experience as I did. Happy shopping.

[unospam777]

What's best way to tell other dealers of competitor's quotes? do I tell exact amount or a little lower in case they try to "bargain"?

And thanks for the heads up re: Spreen, I'm from that area. And I forgot about destination fee.

[Dawgs'n'Hondas]

I was honest when I told Lara Gilberg what the lowest quote was that I had from another dealer. The quote had been emailed to me so I imagined Lara might ask me to forward it to her for verification before she'd beat it. She didn't ask! She just verbally knocked $100 off of it and sent me a confirming email a few minutes later. I was kinda kicking myself for not lying to her! Then again, it was nice that neither of us had to play any games to make the sale. :)

[dvazriel]

After dealing with more than a dozen dealers online, Brian Wiley (internet sales @ 800-730-5618, ext 214), Spreen Honda came through. I live in Org Co., CA and we have a wealth of dealers to choose from in So Cal. I even tried some of the "BIG" LA dealers. Overall, only one said they could beat Spreens price but they couldn't get the vehicle (07 CRV EX 4WD, glacier blue). Brian quoted $23,651 including dest chg., no added equipment. No hidden fees, no extra charges; straight, curteous, up-front sales.

Tell Brian I recommended him to you, my name is Don Hermans. I hope you have as good an experience as I did. Happy shopping.


Thats exactly the vehicle im looking. Im assuming that price is before tax and reg ? what was the out the door price?

[mntmans]

$25659.39 otd.

[mdugan7000]

What's best way to tell other dealers of competitor's quotes? do I tell exact amount or a little lower in case they try to "bargain"?

And thanks for the heads up re: Spreen, I'm from that area. And I forgot about destination fee.


ummmm... BE HONEST. Aren't you expecting them to be honest with you?

[unospam777]

Co worker said getting warranty ervice check-ups are free at the dealer purchased from (Honda World in Westminster, CA). Is this standard practice at any Honda dealer or was she just lucky? How much are the warranty checkups? (5k/10k/...or however the increments are)

[spf]

What's best way to tell other dealers of competitor's quotes? do I tell exact amount or a little lower in case they try to "bargain"?

And thanks for the heads up re: Spreen, I'm from that area. And I forgot about destination fee.

When I did this last month, it was entirely via email. I rec'd numerous quotes from many dealers in southern CA, but didn't reply to them until I had received a bunch of quotes. I then took the lowest quote and emailed the rest of them that price, asking them if they could beat it. No one ever asked which dealer offered which quote, and a couple of them beat the lowest quote by another $100 or so. (I was looking for an LX 2wd for my father.)

Hope this helps!

Stan

[gga_bliss]

I got my V from Costco.com. They gave me good price got 3 phone calls from different dealers and it also included free delivery. I also got financed by my credit union, so it was really easy for the financial part.

[whisperingshadow]

got my V thru costco thru Penske Honda in ontario, california. I GOT SCREWED!!! do NOT go to Penske HONDA!!!! Get online and get a online quote from dealers(ie the riverside honda dealer quoted me the price of a LX for a EX)....Dont make the mistake we did!

Was Brian Wiley who sold us the the V...He left Penske to Spreen a month later...so either he left cause he felt Penske was screwing people or vice versa...we only got 300 off MSRP from Brian but got screwed on the warranty...Then the finance dept screwed us, they but the financing thru even though we were bringing a check...They claim Brian didnt tell them...

[sleeksilver]

Was Brian Wiley who sold us the the V...He left Penske to Spreen a month later...so either he left cause he felt Penske was screwing people or vice versa...we only got 300 off MSRP from Brian but got screwed on the warranty...Then the finance dept screwed us, they but the financing thru even though we were bringing a check...They claim Brian didnt tell them...

If you ask me you got screwed with both the warranty and the price.... Why didn't you shop around more????? :?

I am sorry though. :(

[rsc]

I highly recommend Robertson's Palmdale Honda. I dealt with their internet sales manager (Lara Gilberg)

My wife and I bought our '06 CR-V from Lara and her sidekick Ernie in April '06. After checking other dealers nearby and others not so nearby, chosing Robertson's was a no-brainer. Our price was invoice + $500. No hassle. No negotiations. We told them what we wanted, brought our own financing, signed papers, and we were out of there. It was the easiest auto purchase I have ever made. Since we live only a few miles from Robertson's, delivery was a piece of cake.

Now for the bad part. We are now shopping for an '07 CR-V and will probably use Lara at Robertson's again. So, why are we shopping for an '07 already? Because I was rear-ended and the '06 was totaled two weeks ago!

Thankfully, the CR-V did its job and I emerged mostly unhurt. Nothing broken and no blood leaks. The side curtain airbags did their job as the car rolled onto its side.

It was such a shame in that the CR-V was a garage queen and was in pristine condition. Only 6,000 miles in the 13 months that we had it.

Anyway, if we had our 'druthers, we would rather have another '06. But I don't buy used. So, we will shop some of the competitors again. For no other reason than to confirm the CR-V is for us.

BTW, Ernie is no longer with Robertson's. However, Lara is still there and she now has another sidekick. Ernie was a funny old guy and we were disappointed to find he had left.

[Dawgs'n'Hondas]

Hi RSC, good to know you're another satisfied customer of hers, and that you might be again--I guess there's an upside after all to the sad ending your 06 CRV had. Glad you walked away from the wreck.

I never even met Lara, let alone her sidekick, so now I feel I missed out on an amusing experience. :) But considering this was my first-ever brand-new car purchase, I was just tickled to have had the whole process go so smoothly and efficiently. And it's a bonus that I didn't get robbed blind like my local Honda dealership was trying to.

Happy shopping for that new V!