How was your experience buying your Type R?

[ZigzagDerpaderp]

I’m trading in my 2017 Hatchback Sport MT for a blue Type R next month. I’m a salesperson at a Honda dealership and just wanted to see what your guys’ experience was purchasing, i.e. was it fun, stressful, meh?

Sponsored

 

[Vanct]

In the months leading up trying to find one at MSRP? Terrible. Most dealerships and salesmen just play games and aren't honest even though I was ready to drive it out on any given day. But I usually stick to my guns when I have a set price, so I wasn't accepting much more than MSRP, almost on principle alone.

The day I finally got one was a different story. After getting past the hard sell, they relented and I got the price I had set in stone before walking in the door. After that, it was mostly a breeze, they treat you a bit differently after the price has been agreed upon and everyone can relax. The finance guy is a second hurdle though, but that's softer selling and you just have to be firm and say no. Finance guy won't jeopardize the sale if he's smart.

 

[FifStreet]

Really not much different than buying any other car. Did some research online. Found a couple possible cars within driving distance based on the colors I was looking for. Reached out for prices. Got 1 reasonable hit. Visited the dealership. Each side played some games. In the end settled on a price, then spent most of the day at the dealership filling out forms etc.

The only unusual thing was that I wasn't allowed to test drive it. And I had to beg to just sit in it.

 

[sublimecat]

I’m probably not typical. The local dealer was asking $5k over MSRP. We settled at a few hundred over MSRP. The process took 3 weeks during the middle of winter in Akron, Ohio. These cars weren’t flying out of the showroom in winter. I walked out of the dealership twice and wished them luck. I paid cash for the car with no options added on. They tried to add options, warranties, paint and ulpohlstery protector, etc. . . On the day they called me and agreed to my offer they were as nice as could be and I was their best customer ever. The sales lady was nice the entire time, her manager was the ass of the deal. When I finally bought the car she had a new manager, not sure if that had any effect. Bottom line I got the car at a price I was willing to pay without any add ons. I made it clear to the dealer from the 1st interaction I didn’t need the car and there were plenty of them for sale within a few hundred miles. They were not the only show in town. It was not stressful at all for me, it’s more of a sport!

 

[tinyman392]

My experience was kind of interesting. The decision to buy a car was kind of last minute. I was driving a blue '15 Camry at the time and my sister in law had just totaled her Civic. She and my brother were looking at a '15 Camry in blue at the time that was going for 14,5 with about 5 or 10k more miles than mine. I ended up promising the car to them after I got a new one (I'd sell them the Camry, pay it off, then use the 5k as downpayment). I was looking at 3 cars, a '17 Ford Focus RS, '17-18 Golf R, and '17-18 Civic Type R. The 2.0T Accord Sport would be a backup if I didn't like or couldn't find any of the others. It would be my first manual as well.

The test drive of the Focus RS was good, it's a fast car with lots of character. It had a clustered interior that was really dark to my liking. The seating position wasn't that great either. The Golf R wasn't available anywhere I looked. So I started looking for a Civic Type R March of 2018 hoping for MSRP, but would do 2k over if necessary. Used Honda's website to see where they were going and called a few dealerships. First one wanted 45k for the car, hard no. The second and third ones wanted 39 for the car. Again, I passed. The second one said that they had had a wait list for the car for the past 5 years... Sure... They eventually called back and said they could get one in for 38k in black, which was a "rare" color. I just called them on their BS and went along my way.

Eventually I went on TruCar and didn't quite understand how it worked. It sent 3 or 4 emails on my behalf (which I was unaware of). My phone rang off the hook. First two dealers wanted 39k while the third one wanted sticker. I asked them why and they said it was a show car from the Chicago Autoshow. Forth call wanted 39k as well. I went in to look at the red Type R from the third dealership, Honda of Lisle in Illinois. They were straight forward about everything and actually seemed honest. The car had 22 miles on it which wouldn't get you from the dealer to the McCormic place (where the auto show was held), so it was most likely transported, they said the 22 miles was only from transporting to and from the show. I looked over the car and pointed out some small scuffs here and there which would end up being dealt with by the time I would pick up the car. I put 500 down and left. As I was signing the paperwork, the salesman said he had to turn away a few callers inquiring about the vehicle (not sure if this was a sales tactic or anything since I was in the process of signing the paperwork).

Upon pickup I realized that the passenger floor mat was missing, so they gave me a floor mat from an Accord and ordered me a new set (that set is still in my basement). I was also told that day that the owner of that dealership was adamant about only selling the Type R at MSRP (not higher).

A few things I didn't realize about the car was that they had put the Civic SI shift knob on it instead of the Type R. I went in about a week after picking it up and inquiring about it. They couldn't find the Type R shift knob so ordered a new one for me. A few weeks later I get a call asking for the SI shift knob back so they can give me my Type R shift knob. I probably could have taken the spare shift knob, but I didn't.

 

[CTtypeR]

I just walked in and bought it. I was looking at it in the showroom because I hadn't seen it up close in person yet. 15 minutes went by and then finally a salesman came up to me. It had a few dealer extras so I asked if those were negotiable or could be removed, he said yeah and a few hours later I drove away paying sticker + a discounted number on a couple dealer installed accessories. Plus they gave me a lot more than I expected (or that they should've paid) for my trade. The car had been in the showroom for 9 months so I think they just wanted to move it. Overall a pretty average car buying experience.

 

[WindJunkie]

It took me a solid 3-4 months of visiting, emailing and calling on dealers within my local area and outside of my area by hundreds of miles to find a CTR at MSRP ($35,700). Not only was I looking for "MSRP", I required no fees for accessories or dealer markup. Several dealers not only charge dealer mark up fees, they charge well over MSRP for accessories that are not really worth that much money otherwise IMO (tint, wheel locks, all weather floor mats, trunk trays, etc.). Since I was firm on $35,700, it took months to track down a dealer to sell specifically at that price.

The dealer I eventually found was 3.5 hours outside of my area, but we negotiated everything via email over the course of a week before I drove to finalize the deal for the CTR and trade in my previous vehicle, a 2015 Si. Once we had formally agreed on everything in person (which had already been negotiated prior to driving the distance) the buying experience was amazing, I recorded the dealer driving my car out of the showroom, it was sort of a dream, a day I had been waiting for since 2017 (I got the car 3 weeks ago).

My brother is trying to buy a CTR right now and can't come close to MSRP. It's a real PITA trying to get this car without markup or outrageous accessory fees!!

 

[wildbilly32]

Got on the list Aug 2018. No money down just name and phone number. This dealer sells at MSRP...period...no add-ons. Touched base with Asst Sales dude in Jan. He said the guy above me just dropped out so I was top of list. Gave me the option of Sonic in Jan or PMM in Feb. Took the PMM. When it arrived the whole deal took about 30 minutes and that included some chatting time. Dealer even held the car inside for me a couple of days until it got above zero and the streets thawed out! Nothing personal but I have never met a dealer that I didn't want to punch in the nose sometime during the deal. Not this time. It changed my mind, at least about this dealer. In addition, I didn't even drive this car prior to driving it home. However, I had driven the kid's 2018 so I knew I wanted one!

 

[ZigzagDerpaderp]

OP here, these are some cool stories. Can’t wait to read more.

Unfortunately I’m paying $1500 over sticker but atleast I’m getting commission for it since I work here, so I should make around $700 for it from commission. I’m adding tons of protection like an extended warranty, interior and exterior protection and warranty (stains, smells, etc), tire, wheel, windshield, and key protection, and etch guard (if car gets stolen, they give me $5000 if it doesn’t get recovered or some shit). I’m getting everything $1 over cost.

 

[18TypeR-13922]

Long time Honda customer, but my dealer only had one CBP that was sold before it came in. He didn't know when he would have another. They have 4 dealerships in the area and promised to keep me informed if any of them got one in. I went to another dealer and he said $50K firm for CW with a bunch of accessories and it had to be financed (I wasn't financing). That interaction lasted all of 2 minutes. Found another dealer about 100 miles away in NY for MSRP but I didn't really want to deal with the out of state purchase/registration/inspection. Another dealer in NJ wanted a credit card over the phone but couldn't ensure that the car would be there when I got there. That was a no. A few weeks later, my dealer called me and said they had a CBP come in at one of the other stores. He called and asked them to hold it until I got there. I called and told him I was on the way to the airport for a business trip. He said no problem. Went there that evening, nice sales person, did the paperwork in an hour and he gave me the keys. Went on my trip and picked it up on the way home from the airport 2 days later. MSRP minus 200 with 5 year extended warranty, VIN etching, and tire/wheel protection. It probably helped that we have 8 Hondas in the immediate family and I have referred several friends who purchased there. Overall a very pleasant experience.

 

[neveronline]

I actually reached out just to see what a dealer close but not exactly local to me was offering for a white one, started talking to the salesman and to my surprise we were able to come to an arrangement that worked for me. I actually thought I was not going to buy the car from this dealer (out of state) but I did because they were upfront and honest and did not try marking the vehicle up (after purchasing the window sticker did have a markup added, but I did not pay asking I paid MSRP.

The best part was they were able to offer me market value for my trade and most dealerships would not because of a stupid Carfax report that I was disputing with Carfax and though they did fix it in my favor it still made the car a little less desirable, the dealer I got my R from used Autocheck and they never reported anything so it was all good

Paperwork was mostly done when I got there and the dealer was removing some parts from my WRX (Lowering Springs and camber kits) so the wife and I went shopping and went to lunch and then went back and picked up the parts and headed home, all in all it was fairly quick and painless

 

[iLovePho]

I had an average experience. I started the buying process at the end of July 2017, so most of the dealerships I contacted still had significant markups. It was more of a "want" rather than a "need" car for me so I set my target price at $40K OTD for a CW, or not get it at all. Not surprisingly, all but two dealerships (out of >50 I emailed) entertained that idea and both were about 6 hours way (Western PA) from me. Between those two, only one actually had it in stock and the other was expecting a CW to arrive months later, so I obviously went with the one that had it in stock.

Initially this dealership rejected my max offer of $40K OTD, but 24-48 hours later, they emailed back and said if I can pick it up by July 31 (last day of the month, a Monday), they'll take it. So on that Saturday I put down a $500 deposit via credit card over the phone and drove out the next morning (stayed overnight).

When I arrived at the dealership that Monday, the sales woman was friendly and not pressuring at all, which was expected since we already agreed on the price. But the annoyance was when I got to the financing department. The finance guy was aggressively pushing all the extended warranty stuff and other coverage. I agreed to the wheel and tire warranty, but wasn't fully set on the Hondacare warranty. Next thing I knew he already printed the invoice with the cheapest Hondacare added. Initially I was like wtf, but it didn't add much to my monthly payment so I accepted. I eventually went to my local dealership and cancelled Hondacare, and most of the cost was refunded.

 

[Ouhei]

Found mine at a dealer about 2.5 hours away, called and at first they were charging MSRP + $2k in installed accessories (all weather mats, tint, 3M door film). I said I wouldn't pay full price for the accessories, the countered with a slight discount and I countered with a larger one. Eventually we agreed on a fair enough price for the extras ($1,000) and a fair price for my trade in (all over the phone) and they agreed to deliver the car to me so I didn't have to make the drive.

A few days later my salesman drove it out to my house with the paperwork all ready on a Sunday morning, took a quick test drive, signed the paperwork and he drove off in my trade in after about 30 minutes.

 

[boosted180sx]

i started looking for the car when it was first available. i ended up purchasing the car in august of '17.

buying experience was not good. It was to be expected as the car just came out but it was probably the worst experience ever. Lack of cars available along with the ridiculous 10-15k mark up was insane.
Being in socal, it was probably worse. Noone wanted to even give you a price over the phone and wanted you to stop by their dealership.

After a month or two and multiple emails, phone calls to many dealerships, i finally found a dealer who had one in stock who was somewhat communicative. The salesman was a nice guy but as always, person in finance is always an asshole. Probably said no to their additional "protections" like 50x.

If i tried to buy one now, i'd have a much better buying experience thats for sure.

 

[bobafettm]

Buying a Honda was quite different than my other dealership purchases. I was shocked at how people would laugh at me asking for MSRP. Much less the sales people lacking any knowledge of the vehicle and Honda heritage in-general. Thankfully through this forum I was able to find Roberts Honda (Downington PA) and that entire process changed! Amazing sales team and a great dealership... Eventually after making my way through a couple service departments around metro Detroit I also came across Jeffery Honda in Roseville. Their service team has an active forum user and CTR owner! Awesome team here too. I haven't dealt with their sales team but I would hope they are as friendly as their service department.

Sponsored