hansel

A couple of people have told me to buy an 04 s2000 around October because the dealers will be trying to make room for the 05's. That way, they will reduce the prices on the 04's.

Is this true? How much of a price reduction should I expect?

Steven2k

thats true, thats when the dealer gets the new models. also you should make the deal on the 30th. thats when you could get a really good deal. dont forget to play hard to get.

PrimoGen

For most car dealerships:

Try to wait until the end of the year (sometime during late november or December)
IF they end their fiscal year in January they will want to build up thier sales to gain incentives back from the factory as well as make room for the next model year. Usually though the new models will have arrived already by then

It is also hard to know when their fiscal year ends but typically it is in November or January just so it does not end in December when everybody else in the world is doing year end book work

steven975

Remember that many dealers have 0-1 S2000's at any given time. Once the cars are at these dealers and they add the "market adjustment" to the window, dealing gets harder. The best time to deal is when they have NO car in stock (as the cars sell themselves and will pick a MSRP buyer off the street).

I'd also say late October, but if you work with a MANAGER, you can get a good deal year round.

honda606

December 20-31

cacophony82

The most important part of finding a good price is leaving the sales people out of the equation on dealing directly with the manager. Also one thing many for get to keep in mind is. Sure if you buy at the end of the year you will get a price reduction but many forget to keep in mind that their new baby is nearly a year old and is worth less then the following years car due to depreciation. For the most part with an s2000 if your paying more then 500 or so over invoice you are clearly an impulse buyer.

gl

justin

78roadrocket

A lot of car prices will hold strong till around Christmas, and then fall off through around Valentines day from what I've heard. My dad is a Benz salesman and has seen SLK (the Benz S2000 equivalent) prices drop 20% in this timespan. The decrease in floor traffic causes prices to drop. Not sure if it holds true for Honda as well, but my guess would be it would.

EDIT: Someone please correct me if I'm wrong! I'm planning on buying a MY00 around Valentines Day

dmp

Just keep in mind that the longer you wait into the 2005 model year, the more difficult it will be to be picky about color. Also - it depends on where you live and how many bigger dealerships are nearby.

Here it is early September, and I have spent the past few days searching for a silverstone/red/black. This is NOT an easy car to find this time of year. There are only two in the entire state of Ohio right now, and dealers that are further away are not excited about trading.

My first "best offer" was $30,700. Not impressed, I moved on and found another dealer willing to work with me at $30,400. Then, another for $30,200. My first choice (which was not the best offer right off the bat) came back and will get me the car directly from Honda for $29,995. Could I do better? Probably not - at least not now. I doubt these cars will go for much less since they are a special commodity, and not necessarily just another piece of iron to most dealerships.

I should mention that one dealer would not budge from MSRP!

Point is.... if you want the car sooner rather than later, start NOW. If you don't mind waiting and risking settling for a second or third choice color.... you can wait and MAYBE get a few more hundred off.... maybe.

Good Luck!

Doug

Zib

The end of the month is a great time to buy, especially during slow months. I bought my S on Black Friday, the day after Thanksgiving. Everyone was at the mall shopping for the holidays. I was the only "swimmer" in the dealership that afternoon, the rest were "sharks" (sales people). I made a comment along that line just to let the sales person know.

Knowing the numbers is also important. Check out Edmunds.com for invoice, MSRP, incentives, rebates, holdback, etc.

I was able to buy at $29,995 plus $65 admin. fee. It seems the dealership was content to settle for only the profit from the holdback, about $900 or so as I calculated it. I doubt I could have done as well say during the period mid-Spring to early Fall.

Oh, and one more thing. "Once in a lifetime" deals come about every 7 days or so. Don't be afraid to walk; it's your hard earned money they are after. I had no problem telling the sales person and then manager that if I could not find the deal I wanted, I would take my bag of money to 2 other Honda dealerships (naming them) and I would also look at a 350Z, and a Boxter. Fortunately, things worked out fine for me.

Good luck on the hunt!

honda606

Precisely. There's no mysticism in acquiring a car at or near invoice. It's all about how well you bargain and being able to say "see you later". You simply have to let them know who's boss...and that's certainly not them.