Find Honda Dealers in Ames, Oklahoma

YOU HAVE TO SHOW THEM YOU ARE A SERIOUS BUYER AND ARE PREPARED TO BUY NOW, NOW, NOW. Set a deadline -VERY IMPORTANT: Give them a specific date and time you will be there to purchase the car IF they can meet your offer. Say you will even put as much of the purchase price on a credit card (NOW) to hold the vehicle until your appointed time by meeting your offer NOW (they won’t take it but it reinforces in their mind that you are a serious buyer and are ready to buy the car from them. They will be more apt to do everything to earn your business and give you their undivided attention once you get there. You want them so convinced that you are going to buy the car that they will be looking out the window for your arrival. But they will appear cool and calm when you get there and so should you. Inside, they are sweating (and you probably are too). Don’t be surprised that contrary to everything that was said or promised on the phone, that they come back with a counter offer about five hundred dollars or more than what was agreed over the phone . . . but that’s OK. They just wanted to get you in there thinking that they would be in a stronger position to sell you the car at THEIR price once they actually got you there. Remember, you did all your research BEFORE you went to the dealership (bring it with you in a very large packet to set on their desk but DON’T SHOW IT TO THEM. Just let them see it’s there! They will know what it is without you telling them and don’t tell them what it is. You left yourself room to bargain and you are properly prepared. They can see that now. Even if they don’t give you the price you expected (or was promised) once you get there DON’T GET EMOTIONAL AND DON’T BLOW THE DEAL. They are testing your resolve by throwing in a few unexpected things, like “dealer exchange” fees because “the car you wanted isn’t on the lot and had to be driven from another dealership” (HA HA). Or you forgot to be specific about wanting a ZERO deductible warranty on your quote sheet. Something may come up that you overlooked or they themselves even overlooked. THAT’S OK. Be prepared to spend about FOUR HOURS culminating the deal. One hour to negotiate your final price agreement and then three more hours looking at the actual car you are buying, test driving the actual car you are buying, doing the paperwork on the actual car you are buying so you are not RUSHED into getting angry or agreeing with them to add several hundred more dollars to rush the deal because you are running out of time. DO NOT SHOW ANY BUYING SIGNS when you get to the dealer. It’s psychologically comforting for you to know that you have a back-up Dealership offer ready to drive to in case you “blow it” but accept the fact you may pay a few hundred dollars more than what you calculated. Already have in your mind that as long as you buy the vehicle BELOW a certain pre-established price (from your great research) that it is STILL A GREAT DEAL! Remain cool and calm (they will play the “waiting game” with you and make you sit and “hopefully” become impatient so that you will more likely want to give in to their price if you’re in a hurry). POLITELY ASK FOR THE “SALES MANAGER” to come out (the one to whom your salesman has been running back and forth to all this time). POLITELY make your final offer in front of the “SALES MANAGER” and make all final appeals directly to the SALES MANAGER, not the salesman. They won’t want to lose the deal over a few hundred dollars and neither should you. When the time is right and you feel you can’t do any better, then say you will accept their offer IF they “throw in” that smaller item (mine was the cargo net) you secretly held back (and are willing to part with if necessary). They may give it to you and every one is HAPPY! If they don’t, you probably got a hell of a deal anyway, be HAPPY. I’d wish you luck, but I don’t need if you’re prepared as I suggested above. SAMPLE QUOTE SHEET No cover sheet required. This faxes directly to my home. Just fill in the blanks! ►Definitely purchasing this vehicle within the next 15 days All considered offers are to be submitted no later than by 5 PM on Friday, April 6th, 2007. ►Purchase to be paid in full by Cashiers Check. ►NO FINANCING! No trade-in! Dealership Name:___________________________________________________________ Representative Name: _______________________________________________________ Representative Desk Phone: __________________________________________________ Representative Cell Phone: __________________________________________________ Dealership Fax Number: ____________________________________________________ Dealership Main Number: ___________________________________________________ Dealership Address location: _________________________________________________ *2007 Honda Accord EX-L V-6 Sedan ►Exterior Color: White ►Interior Leather Color: Tan Accessory Features TO BE INCLUDED in the final purchase price! Please initial on the line next to each accessory and/or feature below to acknowledge that this accessory and/or feature IS included in the total *vehicle price on page 3 of 3 (otherwise your offer will not be considered). Thank you _______Extended Eight year Warranty (120,000 mile Honda Care Service Warranty) Zero Deductable _______Paint Protection AND Leather Protection _______Rear Wing Spoiler _______Fog Lights _______Door Edge Guards (white) AND Fenderwell Trim (white) _______Splash Guard Set (black) _______Pin Stripe (Double black lines without Honda Logo) _______Hood Switch Kit (security system) _______Wheel Locks *Standard AND available features SELECTED to be included with EX-L V-6 Sedan _______3.0 –liter, 24-valve SOHC VTEC V-6 engine◄ _______Standard 5-speed automatic transmission with Grade Logic Control◄ _______Honda Satellite-Linked Navigation system with voice recognition◄ 120 –watt AM/FM/6 disc in-dash CD changer audio system with 6 speakers (front/rear speakers) Premium Carpet Floor Mats (Tan) Security System Immobilizer Theft-Deterrent System XM Satellite Radio Home Link remote system Remote entry system with power window control Variable power-assisted rack-and-pinion steering Vehicle Stability Assist (VSA) with traction control 4-wheel disc brakes with Electronic Brake Distribution (EBD) Anti-lock braking system (ABS) Brake assist 17” V-6 Alloy Wheel P215/50 R17 93V tires Double wishbone front suspension Five-link double whish bone rear suspension Rear stabilizer bar Dual-stage, dual threshold front airbags (SRS) Front side airbags with passenger side Occupant Position Detection System (OPDS) Side curtain bags Variable intermittent windshield wipers Heated power side mirrors Tilt and telescopic steering column Perforated Leather Wrapped Steering Wheel Illuminated steering wheel-mounted cruise/audio controls Drive-By-Wire throttle system Gray backlit gauge

I have spoken with several women who said their experiences at Holmes were less than satisfactory so they went elsewhere. I didn't have any problems but that may be because I negotiated online. As for the NE dealers I emailed: Superior came in at $30,947 with 3.9% so that would be $28,947 with the $2K dealer cash (although they didn't explicitly offer that). That was their first offer and they didn't budge when I said I had lower ones. O'Daniel came in at $28,997. Here was the accompanying text: "We pride ourselves on being able to match or beat 99.9% of all other dealer offers. Please give us chance. If you received a lower written price quote, please forward the e-mail to me and I will present it to the General Manager of our dealership and do my best to beat the deal." I sent them my best offer ($28,496 at the time) and this is his reply: "Looks like good price for the polit, but I am going to stick with my quote." I guess I was in the 0.1% (yeah, right). Bellevue sent me an initial quote of $30,947 and said they would contact me in a day or so. They never emailed or called. At this point, I was at $27,996 and figured they weren't going to come down by $3K, even with the dealer cash. I'm not saying Holmes is the best. I work with a guy who has purchased 3 Odysseys and all 3 times started at Holmes and went to Ames because he was treated poorly. Honda of Ames has been bought out by Lithia and supposedly the service is very poor there now as well. That is one of the main reasons I looked elsewhere. I had to email the guy at Lithia 3 times before he responded! I live in C.B. but am very familiar with central IA and Holmes. My sister lives in Grimes and bought her first Accord out here at Superior because Holmes wouldn't deal but bought her second one from Holmes. How aggressive were the three Omaha dealers?

Buying a new Honda and most other new cars should be like shooting fish in a barrel if the buyer follows a simple method and is strong enough to hold their ground inside the dealership. The fundamental mistake many people make is allowing the price negotiation to be a function of dealer offers. In a new car purchase, the buyer should control the price negotiation. New cars are commodities, they exist in several dealer locations hungry to sell cars, yet the buyer is only going to buy 1 car. 1. Decide exactly what you want, including ALL factory and dealer-installed options. 2. Use Edmunds to come up with a "safe" cost estimate, something like $500-1000 less than dealer cost. Use the manufacturer's invoice/sticker figures in Edmunds, ignore any extra dealer-created add-on invoices. Cost out that you want. 3. Subtract what your trade-in should bring, if there is a trade. 4. Add tax and title charges. Subtract incentives. (at least in Florida where I live, sales tax is calculated after deducting the trade-in value, and incentives do not reduce the taxable basis) 5. You are now ready to take control of the price negotiation and make offers. 6. Locate the vehicle you want in at least 2 locations. 7. Shop your offer from one location to the other, raising your offer by $100 or $200 or $300 (depending on how hard you want to work) each time you walk out and go to the other location. Never, never raise your offer inside the dealership, only raise your offer when you get to the next location. 8. Always, always ignore the dealer's offer, you are making the offers. As soon as your offer has any gross profit to the dealer, even $50, they can't let you walk out because they know the dealer down the street will get the deal and they will never see you again. 9. Also, do not change your mind regarding what you want in a vehicle without going back to step 1. 10. Step 3 above is critical, it is the only way to deal. Consumer Reports, Ralph Nader and the rest of the people promoting the bad advice of breaking the negotiation into 2 negotiations (new car price and trade-in value) take heed! TAKE CONTROL AS THE BUYER. YOU ARE BUYING A COMMODITY THAT IS READILY AVAILABLE IN MANY LOCATIONS. NO, I AM NOT IN THE CAR BUSINESS AND NEVER HAVE BEEN. I JUST LIKE TO BEAT THEM AT THEIR OWN GAME. EVERY DEAL IS DIFFERENT. SOME DEALERS CAN GIVE MORE FOR THE TRADE THAN OTHERS, SOME MAY HAVE A HOLDBACK ON A PARTICULAR VEHICLE THAT CAN AFFECT THE COST, ALL KINDS OF CRAZY FACTORS CAN COME INTO PLAY, READ BELOW SOME OF MY EXPERIENCES. I BOUGHT A 1999 HONDA VAN A PRICE I COULD NOT BELIEVE WHEN THEY WERE SO HOT IT WAS HARD TO FIND ONE TO TEST DRIVE. WHY? EXPERIENCED SALESMAN, FIRST DAY ON THE JOB AT THAT DEALERSHIP, AND THEY WANTED TO SEE HIM GET A DEAL HIS FIRST DAY WITH THEM, SO HE FELT GOOD ABOUT HIS DECISION TO GO TO THAT DEALERSHIP. WHEN I TRADED THAT 1999 FOR A 2002 HONDA VAN, THE 1999 HAD HAD THE SPEEDOMETER/ODOMETER REPLACED UNDER WARRANTY. EVEN SO, THE FEDERAL TITLE LAWS HAD CHANGED AND THE VEHICLE HAD TO BE REPRESENTED AS "TRUE MILEAGE UNKNOWN" LEAVING ME WITH A $5000 PROBLEM IN TRADE VALUE. THE LAST DEALERSHIP I WENT TO AFTER GOING TO 6-7, THE SALESMAN LIED ABOUT THE MILEAGE. I OF COURSE CHECKED OFF THE TMU BOX ON THE TITLE AND FIGURED THE CLOSER WOULD THEN NOT CLOSE THE DEAL. HE ASKED IF I HAD AN INVOICE, WHICH I OF COURSE DID AND CLOSED THE DEAL TO MY SURPRISE. THEY USED THAT VAN AS THEIR SERVICE DEPARTMENT VEHICLE TO TRANSPORT CUSTOMERS. ANOTHER NOTABLE DEAL... I TOOK A FRIEND TO BUY A CIVIC. THE WINNING DEALERSHIP SAID OK TO OUR PRICE IF WE WOULD COME UP $100 AS WE WERE WALKING OUT, TO WHICH I REPLIED, I DON'T KNOW WHO OWNS HONDALAND, BUT HE'S PROBABLY ONE OF THE RICHEST GUYS IN TAMPA AND IF YOU THINK WE'RE GOING TO GIVE HIM AND EXTRA $100 YOU ARE CRAZY. THEY DID THE DEAL. WHEN I CALLED JOE FROM THE LOSING DEALERSHIP WHO HAD RECENTLY WON MY HONDA ACCORD DEAL, HE SAID THE OTHER DEALERSHIP HAD A "BUY-HERE-PAY-HERE" CAR LOT, TOOK A REAL CHANCE ON THE TRADE, AND HE WOULD HAVE HAD TO WHOLESALE IT OUT. JOE WAS AN EXPERIENCED SALESMAN, KNEW MY METHOD, KNEW WE WERE SERIOUS BUYERS AND STILL LOST THE DEAL BECAUSE OF OTHER FACTORS. MY POINT... THEY KNOW ALL THE TRICKS, I DON'T AND YOU DON'T. BUT IF YOU MAKE THE OFFERS, TO 2-3 DEALERSHIPS, YOU DON'T NEED TO KNOW WHY THE DEAL WORKED, BUT YOU WILL SAVE A LOT OF MONEY IN MOST CASES AND BEAT THESE GUYS AT THERE OWN GAME. USE THEIR GREED AGAINST THEM!!!!

OK people... It's time to purchase a new car. I'm currently driving an '89 Civic Wagon with 260,000 miles. It's been a great car, but parts are wearing out, and I'm not interested in a major restoration. I've already restored an '85 Wagon, and the cost sent me to the poor house. Anyway, what's a reasonable price for a basic LX, 4-D sedan with an AM/FM radio and CD player? I don't care about navagational systems, sat radio or a TV! My estimate is ~ $19,400 - $20,000. Maybe I can hit the $19,000 target with the 2005 coming to its year-end. Maybe I'm off target here, given my thriftyness of not buying cars too often. I'm located in central Virginia. Thanks for comments. *Auburn63: Are you still out there? I'm looking for a nice N-600. BTW: This '85 Civ-Wag is running strong, although my AC just died. I'm looking at $900 for a new installation. Hope you're doing well...

Paid 25,970 plus a rediculous $498 "doc fee". Yeah- I know. I called 3 dealers in the area and none of them would do less on the doc fee. I tried hard on that, but it is pre-printed on all contacts...and was told all Florida dealers would charge this. From calling it seemed...they do. So, 26,468 + $1,716 tax = $28,184 I also paid $101.85 for Gov't Document Stamp Taxes, $202.35 for Registration. Here's where it got interesting. We initially started off with a 60 mos loan at some rediculous interest rate. 7.4% or thereabouts. Interest rates have risen a good bit. Have been tracking my FICO on Equifax and according to Equifax one should be pretty happy with a 6.594% rate if your score is 690-719. I am a 708. Here's what Equifax is stating is average auto rates for Florida: 720- 850 5.744% 690- 719 6.594% 660- 689 8.598% 620- 659 10.420% 590- 619 13.540% 500- 589 15.532% I told the finance guy flatly that I understand it's his job, but if he didn't give me a shiny happy number, I was prepared to simply walk away. I was there in the finance office about 1 hour. I had printed up stuff from bankrate dot com and according to them an excellent rate for Orlando banks is 5.5%. My goal was to get under 6.5%. When I showed the guy the Edmunds page with the 3.9% for May he 1st stated that one needed a 730 or above to get that even though it states no restrictions. So, he seemed to stick with high interest 60 and super high (10%+!) 72 mos loans for a while, but I just wasn't ready to swallow that. I asked again about the 3.9% deal. Now he tells me that is a "package deal". Uh, huh. Situation was that I had a bankruptsy 9 years ago, and this was my 1st car loan. So, that 3.9% went to 4.9%. In order to GET that 4.9% I had to swallow pure dealer profit items as follows: Tire/Wheel Plan - $299 Extended Warranty - $835 Maint Contract $492.00 So, the two items above plus the dealer "package" that I was "forced" to take came to $1867.20 I even told him the items above were pure dealer profit items and he knew it. I asked him to print up both the 4.9% with those items and a 72 mos loan. The total amount financed on 4.9% is $29,051.81and the monthly came to $546.91 Looking at the 72 mos loan was just too rediculous even if it saved me $40/mo now...it was over 10% APR. No way. Oh. One cool thing was that since I was only putting $1k down the bank (Honda Financing) would only allow $1k in dealer options. So, I decided not to get any options. Thing is- they had to get my Graphite Pearl w/ Navi from another dealer and they had mud flaps, wheel locks and the trunk tray already on it. I kept wondering when they were going to take the stuff off, but they didn't. So, at least I got mud flaps, wheel locks and a trunk tray for free. Am I happy about having to swallow those dealer profit items? Nope. Thing was that I *had* to have transportation starting Monday AM as I'm starting Real Estate school, and did NOT want to rent a car. Also, the next clostest dealer contacted me once, but wasn't agressive at all...and was $500 more than this dealer to start with. I asked him if they'd match the initial price and he hesitated...then said Yes...but it didn't sound solid. All in all, I'm pretty happy about getting the 4.9% APR with this being my 1st loan and having a bankruptsy in my past. I see AMERICAN HONDA FINANCE SERV did an Inquiry on Equifax yesterday. Looks like everything went though OK. This is my very 1st new car. IF I wasn't educated my Edmunds, for sure I'd ended up paying some stupid APR. I also inquired about leasing 36 mos, 15k per year with zero down and was quoted between $450-$475 + tax. Mileage penalty was .15 cents so that wasn't nearly enough incentive as opposed to buying. I also had to pay 6 mos of insurance in advance, because I needed a temp insurance slip fax'd to me. Rates were good at $83/mo for full coverage through State Farm. Oh, this is through Classic Honda in Winter Park (Orlando) Florida. If I had transportation I would have been more firm on that 3.9% 60 mos Honda Finance offer and told him to run it and get back to me. But, now I have the car I wanted at a good APR for my history. Graphite Pearl was the nicest looking color to my eye- only one with a nice metallic shine going on. I waited 3 days to get that color. The car had a full tank of gas as well. Read the Navi book last night. Very cool. Overall, pretty happy even knowing I paid some pure profit items... That stuff may come in handy one day- ya never know. Hope this helps some people out. Regards, Dean