Planning to Buy a Civic SI

[AlphaCentauri]

As the title states and I'd like to introduce myself. I've driven a Mazda since 2002 and expected to continue to do so into the foreseeable future. My wife and I drive manual transmission cars and have never owned one with an automatic transmission. In 2019 I was ready to buy a new Mazda3 sedan but was surprised that the only available MT car was the Hatchback with the highest level of trim. Searching for a sporty replacement led me to the Civic SI sedan and I have been lurking on your forum for several months now to learn as much as possible about the car. Having test driven one (albeit a coupe) I'm now ready to buy as soon as I can find a reasonably-priced deal.

Unfortunately, my first attempt to purchase one ended in failure despite the fact that I would have bought the car outright for cash (no finance) thinking that would have given me an advantage pricewise. Apparently, I was wrong!

I'm still looking and more anxious than ever to finally have one of my own to drive around.

This is a great forum and I'm impressed with the knowledge of this car exhibited by so many of the members.

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[Nïtro]

Might be selling mine soon 17’ civic si sedan. black

 

[AlphaCentauri]

Might be selling mine soon 17’ civic si sedan. black

Thank you but I'm looking for a new one.

 

[VarmintCong]

Dealers make more if you finance with them. I just purchased one and dealer gave me 2.4% financing and got the price lower vs cash, maybe $300 lower. Tough to Get a discount right now, most dealers want MSRP, as did mine at first. Got them down about $1200, but got a great trade in value thanks to them matching Carmax's fantastic offer.

 

[IByrdl]

Unfortunately, my first attempt to purchase one ended in failure despite the fact that I would have bought the car outright for cash (no finance) thinking that would have given me an advantage pricewise. Apparently, I was wrong!

Never say you're paying cash until you get to the finance office, that's what I'm going to be doing here soon. I've doing a lot of research into that, especially since I'm not planning on financing. As Varmint mentioned, cash is not king anymore, they can make a few grand off you on the back end if you finance for a long period.

How exactly did it end in failure?

 

[letsgoMINAJE]

As the title states and I'd like to introduce myself. I've driven a Mazda since 2002 and expected to continue to do so into the foreseeable future. My wife and I drive manual transmission cars and have never owned one with an automatic transmission. In 2019 I was ready to buy a new Mazda3 sedan but was surprised that the only available MT car was the Hatchback with the highest level of trim. Searching for a sporty replacement led me to the Civic SI sedan and I have been lurking on your forum for several months now to learn as much as possible about the car. Having test driven one (albeit a coupe) I'm now ready to buy as soon as I can find a reasonably-priced deal.

Unfortunately, my first attempt to purchase one ended in failure despite the fact that I would have bought the car outright for cash (no finance) thinking that would have given me an advantage pricewise. Apparently, I was wrong!

I'm still looking and more anxious than ever to finally have one of my own to drive around.

This is a great forum and I'm impressed with the knowledge of this car exhibited by so many of the members.

Always negotiate on pricing with financing. They can afford to take some off top, to make more on the back end...after prices are finalized that's when you hit em with payment in full minus the interest. Game, set, drive off the lot. or something like that..

 

[VarmintCong]

Always negotiate on pricing with financing. They can afford to take some off top, to make more on the back end...after prices are finalized that's when you hit em with payment in full minus the interest. Game, set, drive off the lot. or something like that..

When I've tried that they say that they can't match the deal with cash.They have room to negotiate but there's less room if you have cash. I just pay it off after a few months. I don't mind letting the dealer get their financing kickback, which takes like 3-6 months. You can partially pay it off just don't pay it off completely if you want to avoid screwing the dealer.

 

[AlphaCentauri]

Never say you're paying cash until you get to the finance office, that's what I'm going to be doing here soon. I've doing a lot of research into that, especially since I'm not planning on financing. As Varmint mentioned, cash is not king anymore, they can make a few grand off you on the back end if you finance for a long period.

How exactly did it end in failure?

Thank you all for your replies. Obviously I made a mistake by stating upfront that I would pay cash. In fact, I actually found that out at the dealer when I mentioned a cash sale to the salesman. He replied that the dealer actually prefers financing because it advantages the dealer. I wanted the car + spare tire kit + wheel locks and the salesman came back from finance with an OTD price of $30,500. I was told all dealers are charging more than list for the SI as a matter of course (just as they do for the type R). They came down to $30,000 OTD and that was it. I respectfully declined to pay that amount and walked.

I just received an email from another dealer stating that no dealers are discounting on this model. I'll keep looking but I wonder if I wait until the 2021's come out this Fall will I then be able to get some kind of discount?

 

[ebhaynz]

1. Wait until at least Oct-Dec, the economy is going to tank because of Covid-19.
2. Work at least 2-3 dealers against each other
3. Take your time, go back and forth with them several times.
4. Finance and pay off car early, just be sure there's no penalty
MSPR is around 26K I wouldn't pay more than 27K.

 

[kimtyson]

I just bought mine (a coupe) in central Pa. Their price for just the car was $25,500. It took me more then 2 months to get the color and deal that was acceptable to me. Be patient. I found a lot of them in NJ while I was searching. Just keep looking. MSRP is not uncommon but mark up is totally insane on this car. Also, as stated earlier, get it financed and then pay it off. Not sure of the laws in NJ but in Pa there is no penalty to pay off a loan in advance. Good luck. It's a really great car.

 

[2ndCivic]

I just received an email from another dealer stating that no dealers are discounting on this model. I'll keep looking but I wonder if I wait until the 2021's come out this Fall will I then be able to get some kind of discount?

I wouldn't wait for the 21's. Honda isn't producing the si next year in preparation for the release of the 11th gen.

Edit: https://www.civicx.com/forum/threads/end-of-civic-si-and-coupe-for-10th-gen.52101/

 

[IByrdl]

30 OTD is a straight ripoff, I'm glad you turned them down for that. I got a few starting quotes that high but got lucky with one I found using TrueCar, so I put a deposit down for a 2020. 23.5 including the $700 doc fee with no dealer add-on equipment. With TTL 25.3k, waiting on the car to come off the truck this week.

As 2ndCivic said, there wont be a 2021 Si so you won't be able to get a discount in that regard. I would start with TrueCar to get initial quotes from dealers, then float them an offer of 25-26 OTD and see if they'll bite. Make sure you tell them you're ready to put down a deposit today if they can meet your price.

I used Honda's dealer locator & CarGurus to find every SI Sedan in transit or on-lot within 300 miles and then plugged that into TrueCar or just straight up emailed the internet sales manager if they didn't use TrueCar. The ones that weren't using it were usually the worst when it came to high quotes.

Here's the link to the locator

 

[repeet]

I went from a 2009 Mazda 6 to a 2017 Si sedan. The biggest difference I immediately noticed was the increase in road noise. I think that it is the 40 series tires combined with less insulation.

The Si doesn't launch as nice as the Mazda, but once the turbo kicks in, the Si is much quicker. It also handles better, but not night and day better, unless you really push it. Then the Si suspension geometry really shines.

The ride is harsher, in both normal and sports mode. Rev hang is about the same. (Unless you reprogram your Engine Control Module to mitigate it).

Overall I enjoy the smaller, lower, sportier ride, but my girlfriend doesn't.

 

[turbociv910]

go in there and tell them you want the price you want to pay for the car and stretch it out for 72 months.. then just pay it off. dont be a payment shopper

 

[AlphaCentauri]

Thanks to all who responded. A lot of good advice here that I can utilize to be a better car shopper. I see that it was quite simplistic of me to assume that cash was king in this circumstance. I'll keep you appraised of my continuing adventures in automotive acquisition.

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