I bought my Insight at the very end of February from Mike Harvey Honda here in the Bay Area. I chose them even though they're miles away and didn't actually have the car because their internet sales guy, (Gene Ouwe, whose phone number I got off the Mike Harvey website) was really great about getting me info. Apparently, any Honda dealership in the state can see what cars any other Honda dealership has, and when they ordered those cars (so they know how long they've been sitting on the lot), and what cars they've got on order.
I was looking for a Blue CVT, and at that time, there were only two in California, one in El Cerrito and one in Alhambra, with one on order for Palo Alto. Gene said that most orders for the 2004 year were done. So Gene's Honda dealership was able to trade El Cerrito for their Insight, and then I bought it (didn't want to buy from El Cerrito because all the salesguys I'd run into there were barely engaged).
My suggestion is to call around and find some dealer that has an Insight, and then go there and test drive it. Then, if you want to buy one, call around and find someone who will give you the straight deal on what Insights are where, and have them trade for the one you want. Also, I had luck with the "car price quote" internet sites... Some dealer would reply with a price, and then I'd be able to say to another dealer, "Well, I could buy it from Oakland Honda for X" and they'd always match it. I got the car for under MSRP.
Also, it's a really good suggestion to see if you can drive an Insight that someone else owns. Any owner will know more about the car than almost any salesguy. Have you tried craigslist.org to find someone selling a used Insight you can test drive?
I was looking for a Blue CVT, and at that time, there were only two in California, one in El Cerrito and one in Alhambra, with one on order for Palo Alto. Gene said that most orders for the 2004 year were done. So Gene's Honda dealership was able to trade El Cerrito for their Insight, and then I bought it (didn't want to buy from El Cerrito because all the salesguys I'd run into there were barely engaged).
My suggestion is to call around and find some dealer that has an Insight, and then go there and test drive it. Then, if you want to buy one, call around and find someone who will give you the straight deal on what Insights are where, and have them trade for the one you want. Also, I had luck with the "car price quote" internet sites... Some dealer would reply with a price, and then I'd be able to say to another dealer, "Well, I could buy it from Oakland Honda for X" and they'd always match it. I got the car for under MSRP.
Also, it's a really good suggestion to see if you can drive an Insight that someone else owns. Any owner will know more about the car than almost any salesguy. Have you tried craigslist.org to find someone selling a used Insight you can test drive?
