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How long should I expect a dealer to hold an Ody?

2K views 14 replies 9 participants last post by  megatron 
#1 ·
We are moving from Alaska to the lower 48 next month. We sold our 2008 Touring (sad sad day) recently to upgrade to the 2011 Touring. I contacted a dealer in Phoenix as part of our USAA membership and asked them what the process would be to order a van. I want the cherry pearl color and I know that can be somewhat hard to find. The sales man said no problem we will look for a cherry pearl and contact you once we find one. Well he found one today. He's wanting us to pay for the vehicle sight un seen and pick it up once we get to AZ. He said that's the only way to make it "mine." We had originally discussed putting a deposit down to hold the van, but we didn't discuss dollar amounts since there was no VIN# yet. I don't want to lose this van since it's the exact color and model I want, but I also don't want to have to pay for something a month before I need to kwim?

Also on a side note. We had asked the salesman during the .9% promotion if we could secure our financing....he said no since there was no VIN#. No suddenly 9 days later he finds our van and can no longer honor the promotion. That's another reason we wanted to wait a bit. I thought Honda might do a July 4th promotion. Sorry to be long winded. Thanks for any help you can offer me :)
 
Discussion starter · #3 ·
The next Ody or promotion? The only problem is once we fly to Phx we have about 3 days before we have to leave to drive to where we will be living and we will have no car if they don't have the one I want in stock.
 
Discussion starter · #6 ·
Yes Cebu I have....it doesn't work for our situation, but thanks for your response....

I think we have a pretty decent deal as we went through USAA and it's the best price I can come up with in any of the Southwest states. Touring for invoice. I've looked at buying one in Texas where we are moving and they are all 3-4K more.
 
Discussion starter · #14 ·
On a slight side note, why did you sell the 08? Could you have either driven it down from Alaska, or had it shipped? Also, could you possibly buy a 2011 in Alaska and then pay to have it shipped to where you need it? I know shipping is expensive, (I have family in AK and have been there so I'm familiar with the higher prices) but if you compared it to paying for a rental, it might not be so much more.
I am wondering the same thing as Cntrtwnltd...

Why did you sell the 08? Also, as for buying, why not buy in AK? I believe there is no sales tax there. Just the tax alone is probably enough to ship the vehicle to wherever you want.

But I also agree with everyone else here... pass on the one in AZ. If the dealer knows that the one you want and he already does, he will make you pay dearly... and no matter how good a deal you think you are getting, you can surely get a better deal with a dealer that thinks you are NOT in any desperate need to get a vehicle, thus shifting the burden of completing the sale to him and not you.
We sold the 08 because I didn't want to have to worry about shipping or driving it. It also has the complete winterization that I obviously wouldn't need anywhere else. It's also a hard to find van up here since it was a Touring and they won't sell those in Alaska so I was able to get a very good resale price.

I won't ever buy a car in Alaska because 1. they won't sell Touring or Touring Elite's up here because the Nav doesn't work in AK. 2. Dealers charge MSRP and will not negotiate. THEN I have to pay to ship it which is about $2,500. No thanks. Maybe things are different in bigger cities, but not where I live unfortunately.

The only sales tax I have to pay is city sales tax which is under $800. I'm not worried about pricing because I went through USAA's auto circle and I won't pay over what they quoted. The van doesn't have to have any of the protection packages or tint on it unless I want it on there. I did find another dealer that has one coming in mid July. If they can come down on their pricing a few hundred I will most likely go with them. Thanks for all your input.
 
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