Because my kids keep getting bigger (I try to stop the wife from feeding them but she just won't do it) I had to trade away my 05 MINI Cooper S and get something larger. Because of my long commute I needed something that was good on gas while still being big enough for the kids. We ended up with an 07 Honda Element EX with AWD. Here are a couple photos from on top of the parking garage at work.
Please tell me you went through Edmunds dot com and got a bunch of quotes before going to John Eagle Honda...
I worked the interenet method. I blasted every dealer in texas with the vehicle I wanted and what I wanted to pay. I then worked 1 in dallas and 3 in houston against each other. Yesterday I walked into John Eagle with pre-approved financing and worked them down even lower. I basically got the upgraded tires and wheels for free when I proved I was ready to buy right then. It was a bit of work but in the end it was worth it. Below invoice + better tires and wheels
I did the same thing with John Eagle Honda. Did everything over the internet and played 4 different dealerships against eachother. I didn't go to the dealership until I had an agreement on price with the internet sales guy. (Was your guys name Clevus or something like that?) Then I just went, got RAPED in the finance department, and picked up my new car. Not a big deal because I refinanced a few months later and got a better interest rate.
Nope my guys name was Joe. They tried to get me to finance through them but they wanted me to buy all sorts of stuff to get a better rate than what I already had. I said no thanks.
Reading these last few posts, I'm really glad I didn't trade my Accord in and get an S2000 from John Eagle. What approach should I have taken?
The only way to get a good deal on a new car is to shop by internet multiple dealers and work them against each other. First you have to do your research and find out what the vehicle costs the dealer and what type of incentives the manufacturer is offering. Also get your financing in place first so you are ready to deal as if you are paying cash.
