Get two or three web sites that find "hot leads" to work for you. Trucar dot com finds leads for some dealerships and Edmunds dot com finds leads for different dealerships.
Autoguide dot com works with some of the same dealers, but might still work with another dealership.
1. Go to those sites and enter your e-mail address and a phone number. If you have a "burner phone" that is the number to use.
2. At each web site pick the specific year, make, and model. I leave the color blank. After you see where the different colors are being offered, by trucar, edmunds, and autoguide, deal with it then.
3. Have those web sites "find your price".
4. Don't answer your phone and as they get in touch via e-mail, pay attention to which web site is working for which specific dealerships and what the discounts/prices are. They will let you know in about 6 business hours.
5. Pick the best price. If a dealer has the best price, but doesn't have the color...call the dealer with the correct color and ask them if they'll match the price of the competition, if you forward them the quote. If they do - they do and if they don't - they don't. Just move on. Passports are slow moving merchandise and every dealer is having a hard time meeting sales expectation of the Passport.
6. Basic buying notes:
Don't tell a dealer why you want to buy from them, just ask if they price match.
When they ask you about money, lie to them and don't tell them that you have already arranged for financing. (The dealer will think that they can make more money thru their finance dept.) Always pre-arrange your financing at your bank or credit union. Never tell a dealership that you are paying cash.
Tell them that you are interested in the extended warranty, but don't buy it from them. If you really want the Honda extended warranty buy it online from one several sites listed on this/our Passport Forum, to save another thousand dollars(ish).
"out the door" price is what you want to have and that should be in the quote. Out the door will include about $99 - 299 dealer fee and transportation fee, but not the sales tax.
After you get the various web site prices, those prices will be good for a specific amount of time...I believe a month. Wait until late October and get a 2nd set of web prices and you'll see how badly the Passports are moving off the dealers' lots. September is an okay time to test the waters, but better prices are coming in late October. In my case, last year I saved another $3,000 by waiting until October 24th compared to the prices I got in September (Labor Day).
