Find Honda Dealers in Big Lake, Alaska

I wanted to share my buying story in the Dallas-Ft. Worth area in hopes that it can help others save big $$$. :-) I just picked up a 2006 Accord EX V6 4-door for $24,000. Invoice on this model is $25,117 (or thereabouts, I got 3 different invoice prices from 3 different dealers, and not even edmunds and KBB cannot agree on the invoice price!). The Saturday before last, we were at the Toyota dealer, since we had decided on the 2007 Camry SE 3.5. This is the most similar Camry model to the Accord EX since the LE/XLE Camrys ride like fat, cushy Buicks. The Camry SE 3.5 invoice with leather, moon roof, and traction is just over $25,000. We had also been looking at the Altima 3.5 SE (leather package and traction) at about $24800 invoice (after $1750 cash back), and the Accord EX V6 AT at about $24368 invoice (if you take the $750 manufacturer-to-dealer incentive into consideration). We had settled on the Camry because it has a killer engine and it was a brand new model, and we loved how it drives. At Lewisville Toyota we dealt with a normal salesman. We got the dealer down to an offer of $26000 plus $300 for a compass rearview mirror. We decided to push them and offered $25,500 with the intention of settling at $2750 (plus $300 for mirror). The invoice price the dealer was giving us was different than our numbers from Edmunds and KBB. Negotiations broke off and we left. We then found out that Gulf States Toyota (TX,OK,AK,LA,MS---I think) adds about $800-900 in fees onto the invoice when it comes through the regional port (apparently, the country is split into different regions and gets cars from a regional port where the price is jacked up and not reflected in edmunds and KBB. We decided to revisit the Altima and Accord on the following Monday. We called and ahead and asked for the fleet manager, then drove the Altima, but left the dealer without making an offer as we weren't impressed with our test drive and the interior quality of the car. As an aside, both Accord and Camry dealers praised each others cars---and both thought the Altima was not as well built. We went to Lute Riley Honda and drove a Sapphire Blue EX V6 AT 4-door with charcoal interior. I liked the color and interior a lot. Again, we had called ahead and were dealing directly with the fleet manager. We had lots of papers with numbers and looked like we knew what we were doing. :-) He offered us $24,700. We said it was interesting, but declined. He invited us to call back and let him know. NO PRESSURE. (I love fleet managers!) (We also got a $24,700 offer from another dealer we called that day.) That evening I started going through the buying experiences posted on the forum. The low prices I read about inspired me to get aggressive with the Honda dealers (I also became affirmed in our decision to pass on the Camry and take an Accord). The stories on here about sub-invoice prices got me pumped up. Tuesday morning I began making calls to about 15 fleet sales managers at all the Honda dealers in the area. Since I knew the true invoice (the official invoice minus $750 manufacturer to dealer cash (which before May 1st was available only on the coupes, not the sedans)) was $24368 my rehearsed phone pitch was something like: "I am John Smith and I will be buying an Accord EX V6 automatic transmission sedan in the next 24-48 hours. I am calling all of the dealers in the area and I will accept the best offer under $24,400. I wanted to see if you are interested in making an offer." Halfway through my telephone calls and voice messages one dealer, Lawrence Marshall, offered $24,200 with no doc fees or extras. I then made my pitch to the rest of the dealers asking for best offer below $24,200. Results: Jim McNatt Honda and Vandergriff Honda refused to give an offer. Lute Riley wouldn't move below their $24,700 the day before. Honda of McKinney wouldn't move below their offer of $24,700 from the day before as well (also told me that their total cost to install a compass mirror was $550--which is a load of bull since I got $300-350 offers from other dealers). John Eagle Honda and Freeman Honda never returned my calls. Bankston Honda offered $24,400 as their final price. Rusty Wallace Honda offered $24200, and so did David McDavid (though I had to negotiate with him to get there). Most dealers said that their Accords had some extras like pinstipes, wheel locks, cargo trays, tint, etc. already installed. Most were willing to include these extras in the price they quoted. Those who wouldn't make an offer or who were stuck at 24,700 openly said that my supposed deal at 24,000 or 24,200 would never happen, and that the story and price would change once at the dealer. If you ask all these questions about price and dealer options ahead of time and solidly hammer out price on phone then there should be no surprises. The nice thing is you really don't have to negotiate on the phone. You just state your terms and ask if the dealer is interested. I made a couple return phone calls after I got my 24,200 offer and then my 24,000 offer. You do have to have somewhat of a stomach to do this---make so many phone calls and keep asking for more. Some dealers will make you feel like you are bleeding them dry. Just remain confident, and non-confrontational. I got a solid quote from the fleet sales manager at Lawrence Marshall Honda. Super nice guy who was straight up by telling me the invoice, dealer cash, holdback and something called "triple net" or "net net" that is a dealer's bottom line cost for a car. He offered 24,200 with no doc fees, just TTL. And he would do a dealer trade to find the color I wanted. He is someone who I could do business with; I could just tell. (He also has hail-damaged Hondas that are being repaired so check that you are not getting one of those--if it matters to you. But, when I called Frank Kent and requested offers below 24,200 he offered 24,000 with a $50 doc fee. He had my color in stock and it had window tint on it that he included for free. I can't say his name, but there may be a very messy hot sandwich named after him; a very easy-going and relaxed fleet manager. We called the next morning and accepted the offer. We also asked for a compass mirror, which was $297 installed. After driving more than an hour to the dealership it took about 40 minutes to do the paperwork and have our freshly detailed car brought up. We could not be happier with the car--$1100 UNDER invoice, and more than $2000 less than a comparable Camry.