2003 car deals in Jan., tasty leftovers??

Hi, I have been reading a lot of advice on purchasing new cars based on invoice price. In the case of closeout '03's how far below MSRP/invoice do you think you can go?

I'm looking at the Honda Element, dealers seem to still have a lot of 2003's in stock. There are at least 60 Elements available in a 30 mile radius.

Some buyers got $1000 below invoice much earlier in the year. Any suggestions on negotiating? Also, they have 3.9% financing right now, likely to go up or down? Can I negotiate price contingent on their best financing program? Our first new car purchase, looking forward to your replies!

As I've often told my students, one of the "dealer tricks" is to ask you how much you can afford in payments, and then coming back with a payment within your range. The reason why this is a trick is because you might actually qualify for a lower payment, but since you've already told me what you can afford to pay or want in payments, why would I give you something lower?

There's no "rule" in how much you can get off MSRP, but $1000 is certainly not out of the ballpark. Part of this has to do with how busy they are, how many of those cars they have, how much competition they have from other dealers in the area, etc.

The main thing is that the winter months are better times to get a deal because most people don't go car shopping during that time of the year, so I think you'll get more off.

One thing dealers don't particularily like are those people who are "shopping around" because they're most likely not going to walk out with a car. And since salespeople work on commission, they want an actual sale. But don't be fooled!! Get the one you really want, at a price that you can live with.

Last thing, if they're not willing to knock much off the price, or I should say not enough to satisfy you, you might be able to "sweeten the deal" with extras or a better finance rate and/or terms.

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