[MattP]

Hi,

I'm trying to locate a 2004 Honda Insight in California and just about every dealer has told me I couldn't get one, but I found a dealer who is trying to track one down. He said the worst case scenario is that I have to order one and it will be here in 60 days. I was wondering, because the dealer is going through all of this trouble, if I'm going to be expected to pay a premium price? I told him I don't want to pay more than the sticker price of $20,870.00, but do you guys think I can negotiate the price to around $19,00.00 or $20,000.00?

Thanks for reading,

Matt

 

[MattP]

Oh yeah, I told the dealer to search for a 5 speed with AC.

Thanks again,

Matt

 

[dan]

Welcome Matt!

We ordered ours last Oct. and got it in early Dec. $500 off MSRP was the best we could do. There were none on bay area lots at the time. You should start talking price right away. A lot of folks have trouble tracking them down (see posts by david), and a lot of dealers don’t seem to want to have anything to do with them. If you have found a dealer who is willing to help you find one that is a step in the right direction. You might want to read up on “Honda Care”; they will hit you with that option when you go to close (but you can also get it later). Good luck and let us know how it comes out!

 

[MattP]

Thanks Dan,

I don't live too far from you, I'm in Santa Cruz. I'm moving to the modesto area in about a month and the modesto Honda dealer is the only dealer that is trying to help me. It surprising to see how many Honda dealers aren't willing to help me

Thanks again,

Matt

 

[jrrs]

I was wondering, because the dealer is going through all of this trouble, if I'm going to be expected to pay a premium price?

i don't know anything about prices, but as far as the trouble to find one? i sat over my dealer's shoulder at the dealership while he pulled locates on the insight.

there's this webform he went to, you pick the car on a dropdown menu, then there're 5 blanks at the top of it to put a 2 digit state abbreviation code in; then there're dropdowns/checkboxes for the colours and option packages that would pertain to the vehicle.

then he hit 'search'....

the search took like, max, 5 seconds, to show the results., so at max, if he did that enough times to query all the inner 48 states, the entire process should take no more than like 10 minutes, assuming the dealer was not superslick with the back button and had a bit of a pain remembering the abbreviations for a few states...

so getting that much of a lead on one is *cake*. then i suppose if there was a "hit", he'd probably have to call that dealer and find out if it is ear-marked for sale or available; then if available, setup the dealer trade -- there you'd probably wait for the other dealer to try to find out what he wanted from your dealership's lot... maybe a weekish +/-, assuming that communication was happening.... then they'd have to figure out if they were gonna have a driver go out and do the swap or if there was flatbedding.

depending on the flatbedding, you might lose some of the $ leverage there. i'm paying for the flatbedding on mine( to NC ), but i don't really care, as it's a no A/C model and i'm still tryin' to pull them doing a seat swap for me for the seats from an '00-'03, so for me it's a natural thing to accept the flatbedding $s ( don't know the exact amount yet, probably more than $500, less than $1k. ).

but, as i think i've taken too many words to say already; the process of pulling locates is something an 8th grader could do, provided you didn't take the ball out of their mouse <G>.

 

[robgobbler]

just so you know..

is there a particular reason you _must_ have an 04? Just so you're aware, there is little difference between the insights throughout the past few years. i know there's a comparison sheet around here somewhere..

i bought a 03 w/ 10k miles for less than 13,000 this past january from a dealership halfway across the country. it was well worth the travel.. and hey. who can complain. i got to drive an insight home!

 

[MattP]

From what I have read, the 04 has four speakers instead of two. If I could find the right 02 or 03 I would deffinately consider one of them, but so far I haven't found one in the whole country. I'm looking for a blue one with a manual and an A/C, and I also want under 40,000 miles. I haven't found one like that.

Matt

 

[dan]

Hi Matt-

I agree with your choice of model. Blue is a striking color. I have some observations for you to consider:

Blue is a relatively rare color (maybe 1 in 8 [?]) Is it worth it to you to limit your choices?

I have suspected that Honda makes so many silver ones (more than half [?]) because it may help keep the car a couple of degrees cooler inside than the other colors (not a big deal in Santa Cruz, but something to consider for Lodi). The a/c is nice and definitely helps unfog the windows in the winter but your mpg takes a big hit and I think most of us avoid using it when ever possible.

When we ordered ours the dealer had to “swap” another dealer to take delivery. Blue was not even offered as an option in this case. I imagine we could have gotten one but I am sure it would have taken longer.

The more criteria you give to the dealer, the more leverage he might feel he has over you price wise.

The ’04 sound system is OK. I understand that it is a big improvement from earlier models. The car has a fair amount of road noise at freeway speeds. If you really want thumping, sparkling tunes at high speeds you may be inclined to upgrade even the ’04 stereo.

We are very happy with ours. But as you can see from the variety of posters here: to each their own. Good luck with your decisions.

 

[MattP]

Hey Dan,

When I told the dealer what I wanted he asked me what my second choice of color would be and I told him silver. But, he actually just called and told me that another dealership is expected to recieve exactly what I want My dealer told me that this other dealership owes him a favor so they're "negotiating" a trade. Hopefull he speaks the truth. I also told him I don't want to pay a penny over MSRP, but I'm still going to try and get a lower price.

Thank you and thanks to everyone else who is helping me,

Matt

 

[dan]

Hi Matt-

I’m glad to hear the good news. (I think we also would have opted for blue all other things being equal). I hope he speaks the truth too!

I am curious is this an ’04 or ’05?...I had heard that all ‘04s had been delivered, but there are so many rumors around… :roll:

 

[robgobbler]

From what I have read, the 04 has four speakers instead of two. If I could find the right 02 or 03 I would deffinately consider one of them, but so far I haven't found one in the whole country. I'm looking for a blue one with a manual and an A/C, and I also want under 40,000 miles. I haven't found one like that.

Matt

you're not looking hard enough!

From what I have read, the 04 has four speakers instead of two.
do some research before you drop your dollars! the number of speakers isn't worth $4,000 extra. besides this isn't true. my '03 has 4 speakers.

my suggestion for you - just keep a keen eye on ebay and carsdirect. finding a blue manual w/ less than 40,000 shouldn't be very challenging by any stretch of the imagination. expect to pay up to $15,000 but i wouldn't pay over that. there's absolutely no reason why you should pay more unless you MUST have an 04. really the only difference i know of is the interior of the 04 is TAN not GREY (which is less desirable in my opinion anyway). i believe the LCD display is red (not orange) as well.. which is cool but not worth thousands. besides several minor cosmetic differences the technology is exactly the same.

if it is for whatever reason a challenge to find something that fits your budget, remember you can always ADD ac when you need it, you can always INSTALL 2 speakers if there are only 2 installed (a rear kit is only 50 bucks!). don't let a deal pass you buy because it doesnt have something that could be installed at a later date anyway.

 

[Guest]

Hi All:

___Someone named Paul just posted the following in the Yahoo Honda-Hybrid:

*************************************************

Hey Everyone,

I have a 2000 silverstone Honda Insight for sale.

* 5-spd
* 26,100 miles
* A/C
* Sony CD
* Infinity speakers
* Dealer serviced
* Very good condition

Registered in Vancouver, BC, Canada, can deliver in the NW.

$15,500 CDN
$11,100 USD

details / photos
[email protected]

Thanks,
Paul
*************************************************

___It sounds like a good deal if it’s legit and you can travel up to the Vancouver area for pick up.

___Good Luck

___Wayne R. Gerdes
___Hunt Club Farms Landscaping Ltd.
___[email:cjzlpf2g][email protected][/email:cjzlpf2g]

 

[MattP]

That does sound like a good deal, but I have read somewhere that 00's had to recall a certain part and it caused people to get worse gas mileage. I don't know if it's true or not, but it made me not want to get an 00.

Anyway, I researched autotrader and I found one 02 and one 03 that I would be interested in, but they are both over $15,000.00 and I would have to drive far to get them or have them delivered. I'm going to be getting a loan too and interest rates on used cars are worse than on new cars, so I minise well get the new car and pay $30.00 extra dollars a month.

It is worth it to me to get the new car. Plus my dealer just located one and said he could get it here in about 5 weeks. Tomorrow we will be going over the details .

The first question I'm going to ask him is if it is an 04 or an 05 though, because I too read that they already stopped producing the 04s.

Thanks for all the feedback,

Matt

 

[Guest]

Hi MattP:

___Your MY 2000 mpg information is not correct as many of us are getting excellent mileage from our 2000’s with the latest ECU recall/update. I have (10) 100 + mpg, 96 mile segments in the past 2 months with this latest ECU flash.

___In any case, $11,200 for a 2000 w/ that few of miles sounds like a deal to me with today’s > $2.00 gas prices. If we get back down to $1.379 here near Chicago ever again, $11,200 would be at least $1,000 too much imho.

___Good Luck

___Wayne R. Gerdes
___Hunt Club Farms Landscaping Ltd.
___[email:3j5x32bh][email protected][/email:3j5x32bh]

 

[MattP]

That's good to know that all the 2000's are getting supurb mpg.

I think my problem is that I'm too pickey. I want the blue color and I want an 02 or newer, but the blue ones seem to have a greater resale value. So it's still not worth it to buy this car http://www.autotrader.com/fyc/vdp.jsp?c ... rdist=1586

I will basically have the same payment for a used car vs. a new car. Plus, I would have to travel to get it.

Matt

 

[TruBlu]

Matt,

Last Thursday I put money down on the one linked above. Saturday I picked it up, and I love it!!!! I too was rather pickey in what I wanted, a blue 5 speed. Keep your eyes open, they're out there, but it seems most of the blue ones have the CVT and not the 5 speed. Good Luck!!

 

[ivelostr2]

I pick mine up tomorrow, I found one on the net and had my sister and brother in law check it out. They both thought the price was about normal, not a great deal, but I will save huge $$ on my gas, I go about 1100 Miles a week, and had been driving a Taurus getting around 19mpg. I shoulda probably asked you guys on here before buying just to get a general idea as to if I was paying too much, but I already bought it and am excited to pick it up.
I will be paying 15,900 for a 2003 blue Automatic with 16000 miles. Is that out of line? Where I live, not a single one was available on lots, and the closest new one was a couple hundred miles away. I was excited to find one certified pre-owned at a dealer near where my sister lived, and I am driving 4 hours to pick it up tomorrow. Too late if I have paid too much, but I figured I would ask…

 

[Guest]

Hi Ivelostr2:

___After a year or two, you won’t care what you paid for it in all actuality so just enjoy it to its fullest!

___Good Luck with the new addition to your family

___Wayne R. Gerdes
___Hunt Club Farms Landscaping Ltd.
___[email:bu3omksz][email protected][/email:bu3omksz]

 

[MattP]

Are you going to be getting a loan? Because if you are, make sure you get the lowest possible interest rate or you will be paying as much as a new one costs.

Matt

 

[robgobbler]

not sure if you saw this.. (but i think you said you wanted a manual)...
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayI ... gory=31839

not bad. never been titled which means you can get your $1,500 rebate from uncle sam if you live in the states.