travel up north a little to the greater LA area.

make a couple of call ... and it's won't be hard put for you to find a MSRP deal.

below MSRP in CA ... now that's something else ...

 

[QUOTE]Originally posted by jbov
[B]
If we all make a pact not to buy above msrp we can squeeze the dealers, leave them holding their precious s2000s waiting in vain for some sucker to come and lay down 40k cash. That way whatever I choose to do their greed will be punished, and they will die poor, lonely, unhappy, and wihout one of those customer service plaques that every single salesman seems to have behind their desks.

 

I'm in the same boat as you. The dealers here in San Jose all want over MSRP (between $5k and $7k). They all say it's a regional price adjustment (like Blockbuster callint a late fee an extended viewing fee, different name same thing). I had one dealer promise to order me one in the color I wanted as a "favor"... we'll see how that turns out, but I won't hold my breath since I'm not in a hurry to buy.

In fact, since my wife's family lives in LA and we drive down there 6-8 times a year to visit, I think I'll check out the dealers there (and possibly in Fresno on the way through) to see who want's to make a sale. (The Honda Insight makes it down there on just over 1/2 tank of gas... ~6 gallons, and that's at 80-90mph!)

It just amazes me that these dealers want to get so much for the cars these days. The don't realize that if you screw a customer to make a few dollars up front, there is no long term customer relationship built and they won't get word of mouth sales or have repeat business. And the message boards like this one tend to make really bad dealers very well known and it hurts their business. If I was a dealership owner, I would troll these message boards to see what people were saying about my dealership and take any corrective actions necessary.

As an example, I swore off Concord BMW after I bought my 318 in '94, then 2 years ago I bought an M5 and a 540 and I *never* even considered Concord since they annoyed me so much with the previous ownership experience. I went out of my way and worked with a dealer who was 50+ miles away but treated me well... they got my money. It was PeterPan BMW who got my sales, and they do troll the BMW boards.

-R

 

[QUOTE]Originally posted by Maveric
[B]Have you considered an out of state purchase?

 

I just bought my S2000 a little over a week ago. I called 11 different dealerships in Northern California and two in Southern California. I paid $1000 over MSRP (they originally wanted $7000 over) because I had to have Silver and only found one dealership that had one in stock.

Anyway, when I was getting ready to buy mine, the dealership in Irvine (I think it was Ray Fladeboe Honda) offered MSRP for the two they had in stock. Normally, they want a $10K mark-up, but they were dealing because it was getting close to the end of the month.

Also, Whitmier Honda in Chico called me back three days ago and said they would sell the silver one they just got in for $500 over MSRP.

 

Whaz up all,

I'm new to this, and this site is great, so much info....

Jboy,

If you're willing to drive up to L.A. Then Community Honda has a 02 Blk/Blk in their Showroom as of 4/3/02. Contact them at (562) 698-8191 ask for Rudy, and tell him Chris Refered you. I just got mine for MSRP '02 Blu/Blu.

 

I purchased mine at Metro honda in Montclair for 33,100 with the ti shift knob, cd changer and spoiler. I did the entire purchase over the phone. I called one evening and picked up my car the next day. I was very happy with my purchase. I also heard that Penske in Ontario is doing MSRP however only with forced options. The best thing is to use the internet and email all of the dealers in so cal, then use the emails against each other.

 

I managed to get mine at MSRP at Kolbe Honda in Reseda, CA and that was Oct. 99! It took me 2 weeks of haggling with them but they came thru! I wouldn't accept the 2001 without a decent discount under sticker...the glass window on the 2002 makes it much nicer!!

 

Thanks for everyone's responses. I bought an 02 blk/blk, with $700 markup. Check out my questionable consumer experience at the thread 'bit the bullet in so cal'