Overhaulin'

Negotiating car prices in different cities?

Is it true that I could get a better deal (talking about Honda CRV here), and more room to negotiate final sales price if the car is bought at a larger dealership in a bigger city compared to smaller dealership in smaller city? Or is it solely linked to the maker (Honda)? I want to buy a CRV and although Honda doesn't have too many incentives at the moment, especially on the CRV, should I drive 3 hrs away to a bigger city and get a better deal? What would you consider a while longer? Another year? 6 months? Until the warranty expires? Right now I am driving about 16K miles a year, so that warranty will expire before I am done with payments. It is not giving me problems now, but I have already replaced the power steering pump (under extended warranty) and the transmission gave me problems at 18 months, another repair under warranty). I do need to replace the tires, and since it's reaching 60K, the maintenance recommended would be around $500. Another thing to consider. never mind my last added details. I don't know why I posted it here! I do see what you're saying about service.

Public Comments

1. It doesn't matter if the car is in a bigger city or a bigger dealership really. Just shop around and find who has the cheapest price.
2. Possibly. The reason is that at a larger dealer there are more demands upon the salesman to sell a larger number of vehicles. The only problem would be service, since some dealerships don't like losing out on sales and may therefore hold back some on servicing the vehicle (It has happened here in Huntsville, Texas to some friends who bought their vehicle in Madisonville; the Huntsville dealer did a poor job of servicing their car - not as far as actual service, but in terms of keeping the vehicle clean; they didn't put covers on the floor or wash the vehicle as they always do for me). If such trivial details don't matter to you, by all means take the car trip to check out the available deals in other towns; you're under no obligation to buy a vehicle just because you're shopping for one! Good luck!
3. All dealers pay the same no matter where they are located, so going to a bigger city doesn't help, but I would send out emails to 10 or so dealers and let them know you are price shopping. Still don't expect to save alot new honds generally have less than $1000 markup in them. Good Luck 10 years in auto biz
4. Go to edmunds.com and put in different zip codes...it will give you different prices from different places. Also, you may want to visit adviceontime.com for good tips when buying a car. Good luck; I hope this info helps.