pittpanther

Hello everyone - this has been the first summer we've been without our 2000 GPW S2000 (sold last year due to pending move) - and it has been missed dearly! So much so that we are entertaining the idea of buying/leasing an 04. Not having paid close attention this past year, did Honda offer any special financing/leasing deals on the S (I am guessing no, but wanted to check)? When is considered the best time of year to start shopping... should we wait to get a good deal on an 04 later this year when the 05s are available?

I have read that most speculate no major changes to the 05 - although I am really hoping that they offer White with the Red/Black interior as opposed to the Tan! Otherwise, we will most likely go with Sebring Silver.

Thanks!

steven975

Winter is always best because the pool of buyers for convertables is smaller. I have not heard of anything other than 2.9/3.9% financing. The S is a car that Honda doesn't need to put incentives on to sell. It's also easier to negotiate when a dealer does NOT have one in stock. When they have one, they WILL sell it for what they want...they really do sell themselves.

If you can find a manager willing to do a dealer trade for you, you can probably find one at any time of the year for $31K or less. DO NOT walk into the dealer and ask for the manager...they look out for their sales staff and will hand you to a salesman who won't budge much on the price. The route to the manager is through the internet...autobytel, carsdirect, etc.

pittpanther

Thanks Steven - so did American Honda Finance offer the 2.9%/3.9% on the S? If so, do you remember when that was offered?

Diablo99V

Wow 2.9 and 3.9. I got 4.9% which I think is pretty low.

kitwetzler

Honda Finance dropped the lease residual on a 15K mile a year lease from 60% to 57%, which doesn't seem like a lot but makes a significant difference when you take into account the money factor (which has gone waaaaay) up.

Lease deals are much worse now.

haninman

When I had purchased MY04 S2000, I had received a pretty decent deal. $32,000 out the door with 21 miles on the odometer. I received 2.9% financing through American Honda Corp. and the Diamond Bar Honda crew really gave me a good deal. I think it was the Korean hookup, since my mom and the manager were both negotiating in Korean.

steven975

the 2.9% is subsidized by Honda. Honda gives Honda finance $ in exchange for the low rate. it is a factory incentive in disguise. A bank won't do that because it's too low to make money. However, due to low inflation, many "for profit" institutions are as low as 3.9%.