Buying advice

2741 Views 9 Replies 7 Participants Last post by Grape-Nutz, Dec 3, 2001

Grape-Nutz

Discussion Starter · Nov 30, 2001

We recently decided to lease an MDX. Since we live in Irvine, CA, we're about equidistant from Tustin Acura, Mission Viejo Acura, and South Coast Acura. So far, we've talked to a salesman named Bob McDonald at Tustin Acura. He showed us the car and explained how some dealers hit you with a $1-2k premium over MSRP, but that Tustin at least gives you $1-2k accessories for your money - about $42k for an '02 tour/nav and accessory package. Seemed like a nice fellow. Then I contacted Autoland, my credit union's fleet buyer, to see what they could offer. They came in at $42k withOUT any dealer options - or, what basically seemed like a $2k premium to me. I then called Mission Viejo and found that they wanted a $1k premium for '01s and a $2.5k premium for '02s. To me, it seemed that at least I'd be getting accessories for my $$ from Tustin. I haven't called or visited South Coast as yet.

In checking the dealer ratings here, I find that Tustin Acura gets pretty well vilified, and both South Coast and Mission Viejo are rated as so-so. Now that I'm ready to get serious about getting the car, do I go in and try to deal at each of the dealerships, offering up a deposit to those who want it (Tustin said "no" to the deposit, that they'd "…call me to give me a head's up…" when they knew they were getting the color we wanted.)? any suggestions?

Eric

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TheWorm

· #2 · Nov 30, 2001

Grape-Nutz said:
...any suggestions?

Eric

Yea. Keep shopping. You can find it at MSRP with no forced accessories. Go over to the "your experience" forum and snoop around. GCK just drove back to SF from LA with one. Can't remember the dealer off-the-top. Location of selling dealer isn't as important as it is for servicing. You'll probaby find that for an extra hour-or-two drive, you'll save a couple of grand.

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FatBoyMDX

· #3 · Nov 30, 2001

I got mine at Cerritos Acura for MSRP, no forced options. Unless you enjoy throwing away money for accessories, you're better off ordering from Tim instead of getting forced optoins. They'll take a deposit.
one thing I did was put a deposit down at two dealers to be safe.

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GCK

· #4 · Nov 30, 2001

Grape:

Screw the dealers who gouge you. Try the following

1. Cerritos Acura
2. Acura 101 West
3. Acura of Pasadena
4. Valencia Acura
5. Metro Acura
6. Gold Coast Acura

All sell for MSRP or very close to it. I got mine from Cerritos. Mitch Franklin was my sales person. It's MSRP+$238 in wheel locks and Rear mud guards. They threw in a cargo tray for no charge.

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Grape-Nutz

Discussion Starter · #5 · Nov 30, 2001

FatBoyMDX said:
I got mine at Cerritos Acura for MSRP, no forced options...
one thing I did was put a deposit down at two dealers to be safe.

Yeah, I was thinking of trying Cerritos too. Who was the other dealer you left a deposit with?

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kevinhuan

· #6 · Nov 30, 2001

I would try Mitch Franklin with Cerritos Acura or Sam with Acura 101 West. Both sell MDX at MSRP and no force options. I had a deposit with Cerritos but then Sam at Acura 101 West called me and give me the vin # of my car so I went ahead and cancel my deposit with Cerritos. Sam can get you one pretty quick.

Kev

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frostyra

· #7 · Dec 2, 2001

IMO, a dealer who charges more than MSRP will take a bribe -- if your car comes in, and someone sees it and wants it enough to offer $2K more than your contract calls for, POOF! It's gone, and you're on the tail-end of the list again.

My dealer has a corporate policy NEVER to sell a car above MSRP (and NEVER to bump a customer from his position on a wait list), so this kind of thing won't happen; when yours comes in, you get it. I gave the dealer $500 to hold my place on the list on 4/30/01, and received the MDX in perfect condition on 7/2/01. MSRP - yes. Forced extras - no. Good sales and delivery experiences - you betcha!

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Iceman

· #8 · Dec 3, 2001

I honestly think it would be worth your time to drive up to Torrance to go to South Bay (formerly Peyton-Cramer) Acura. They have many MDX's on the lot and treat customers fairly and honestly. Partially it's because Acura's headquarters is right there in Torrance, but they seem to epitomize how Acura dealers SHOULD treat their customers! The last time I was in both David Mackey and Mark Foroudi helped me. My wife and I test drove an RL, TL-S, and MDX and they took a lot of time to go through features, differences, and pricing with us. We bought an Integra GS-R from them back in '97 and the experience was top notch back then, too!

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FatBoyMDX

· #9 · Dec 3, 2001

Grape-Nutz said:
Yeah, I was thinking of trying Cerritos too. Who was the other dealer you left a deposit with?

Sierra Acura in Alhambra. Don't go there at any costs.
Here's the story about Sierra:
http://www.acuramdx.org/forums/showthread.php?threadid=2248&highlight=sierra+acura

I talked to pretty much every dealership in SoCal. The ones that I would consider are: Cerritos, Pasadena, and 101 West
Jon

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Grape-Nutz

Discussion Starter · #10 · Dec 3, 2001

Thanks for the input everybody! I went into Cerritos Acura over the weekend and talked to Mitch Franklin. Left a deposit for a '02 granite green tour/navi at MSRP, and got added to [long] list (#12). Thus far - a good experience. Now all I have to do is be patient for the estimated 8 weeks, and hope I don't get a call from the other place with the forced accessories. I don't want to be tempted to pay more for earlier delivery.

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