Price paid, plus dealer info

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E72 said:
How much is the current MFG to Dealer incentive in Nor Cal? $5,000 or $6,000? I've seen both referenced. Is this on both the Base and Touring?

I submitted an inquiry through Costco for a 2019 Touring and got a message that this vehicle does not have pre-arranged Costco pricing. Then I selected to connect with a local dealer and this message came up: Although the model you selected doesn't have low, prearranged Costco member pricing, our specially trained dealers are dedicated to providing superior service and consistent professionalism.

The dealer that came up already contacted me about an AutoNation inquiry I did last night but is only quoting MSRP over email. I'm pretty sure this dealer is going to be a nightmare to deal with. Any recommendations on a good dealer in the greater Sacramento region to work with on a Touring?
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I bought a Costco membership last week just so I could use the auto buying service to get the Clarity PHEV and ran into the same problem. I'm in the Bay Area and still looking for the best deal on the base model. They referred me to AutoNation Fremont without the pre-arranged pricing, who initially gave me a quote for around $1,000 off MSRP, then called to say I could get the base model for $4000 off MSRP. But I've received lower quotes by contacting other dealerships directly.

I also tried changing my zip code around in the Costco Auto Program system and eventually got matched with Mistlin Honda in Modesto for a pre-arranged price, but they ran out of stock and I still haven't received a quote.
 
E72 said:
How much is the current MFG to Dealer incentive in Nor Cal? $5,000 or $6,000? I've seen both referenced. Is this on both the Base and Touring?

I submitted an inquiry through Costco for a 2019 Touring and got a message that this vehicle does not have pre-arranged Costco pricing. Then I selected to connect with a local dealer and this message came up: Although the model you selected doesn't have low, prearranged Costco member pricing, our specially trained dealers are dedicated to providing superior service and consistent professionalism.

The dealer that came up already contacted me about an AutoNation inquiry I did last night but is only quoting MSRP over email. I'm pretty sure this dealer is going to be a nightmare to deal with. Any recommendations on a good dealer in the greater Sacramento region to work with on a Touring?
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If the dealer incentive is still going on, you should be able to view it directly on the Costco Auto website. You put in the zip code, select "Specials and Incentives", then "Manufacturer incentives", then Honda and you'll see there's a $5,000 one still available.
 
Thanks for that info. Looks like Mistlin doesn't have any PHEV right now. $4000 off MSRP is a non-starter for me. I have one email offer (not through any auto buying program) for $6300 off MSRP. That still seems high to me. Considering what others are getting the base for, I believe the Touring should be closer to $30K.

It does appear, from the Costco site, that the mfg to dealer is $5,000 for both Base and Touring.
 
E72 said:
Thanks for that info. Looks like Mistlin doesn't have any PHEV right now. $4000 off MSRP is a non-starter for me. I have one email offer (not through any auto buying program) for $6300 off MSRP. That still seems high to me. Considering what others are getting the base for, I believe the Touring should be closer to $30K.

It does appear, from the Costco site, that the mfg to dealer is $5,000 for both Base and Touring.
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From a quick search, it seems most of the Sacramento area dealers have 4-10 Clarities in stock (I'm surprised, last time I checked a few months ago many had none). When I was searching, I was first sent to Vacaville Honda (who had none in stock), then with a different Zip code to Stockton Honda (who had one but wasn't a color I liked). Both were willing to tell me the Costco price over the phone, and Stockton emailed the quote. At the time, the regular negotiated price was ~$2000 below MSRP, and the $6000 incentive was subtracted off of that. The first one I talked to didn't know about the incentive and quoted higher until she checked somewhere else in the computer, so it's worth reminding/asking them to check (unlike emailing non-Costco dealers, who wouldn't acknowledge the incentive at all until I had a quote for them to match, which is fair since it's the dealer's to use or not if they want my business).

My understanding is that some classes of incentives are supposed to be automatically passed to the buyer in the Costco program in addition to their pre-negotiated price below MSRP, but that may not always be true.
 
JCA said:
From a quick search, it seems most of the Sacramento area dealers have 4-10 Clarities in stock (I'm surprised, last time I checked a few months ago many had none). When I was searching, I was first sent to Vacaville Honda (who had none in stock), then with a different Zip code to Stockton Honda (who had one but wasn't a color I liked). Both were willing to tell me the Costco price over the phone, and Stockton emailed the quote. At the time, the regular negotiated price was ~$2000 below MSRP, and the $6000 incentive was subtracted off of that. The first one I talked to didn't know about the incentive and quoted higher until she checked somewhere else in the computer, so it's worth reminding/asking them to check (unlike emailing non-Costco dealers, who wouldn't acknowledge the incentive at all until I had a quote for them to match, which is fair since it's the dealer's to use or not if they want my business).

My understanding is that some classes of incentives are supposed to be automatically passed to the buyer in the Costco program in addition to their pre-negotiated price below MSRP, but that may not always be true.
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The Costco website states that it is a manufacturer to dealer incentive. We have heard of a range of experiences, for a while it seemed like Costco members were more likely to get the (then) $6,000 discount possibly because they went in knowing about it. But we have certainly heard the flip side of some Costco dealers not being willing, meanwhile many non-Costco dealers are. Probably the biggest benefit of the Costco website is simply providing the information that the incentive is out there and how long it runs for.
 
JCA said:
From a quick search, it seems most of the Sacramento area dealers have 4-10 Clarities in stock (I'm surprised, last time I checked a few months ago many had none). When I was searching, I was first sent to Vacaville Honda (who had none in stock), then with a different Zip code to Stockton Honda (who had one but wasn't a color I liked). Both were willing to tell me the Costco price over the phone, and Stockton emailed the quote. At the time, the regular negotiated price was ~$2000 below MSRP, and the $6000 incentive was subtracted off of that. The first one I talked to didn't know about the incentive and quoted higher until she checked somewhere else in the computer, so it's worth reminding/asking them to check (unlike emailing non-Costco dealers, who wouldn't acknowledge the incentive at all until I had a quote for them to match, which is fair since it's the dealer's to use or not if they want my business).

My understanding is that some classes of incentives are supposed to be automatically passed to the buyer in the Costco program in addition to their pre-negotiated price below MSRP, but that may not always be true.
Click to expand...

how much did stockton quoted you?
 
Paid $32488 before tax, title license in NorCal for a 2019 Touring. Anderson Honda in Palo Alto. No shady tactics - I showed up, test drove, paid and left with the car. Demand seems a bit higher here than SoCal and most dealers would not come close to that, and even outright implied I was lying. Oakland wanted substantially more than that for a 2018, and kept calling me back to see if I would buy one - duh.

Dublin Honda quoted slightly more, but had more in stock and may have come down a little if I pressed them. I called/emailed almost every other dealer - none of the others was close. Also had no luck through Costco on this car.

Hope that helps all in NorCal.

This is the perfect ev for this area imho. The ACC is great in Bay Area traffic, and the ev range is fine for most of my trips. Usually get more than the EPA rated range. Plenty of charge points around, and when they are all hogged, we have gas to get us home. So far used gas for only about 5 of 600 miles and loving this car.

Hov stickers on the way, plenty of space, nice interior, and after the tax rebates, pretty cheap for any new car. Don’t understand how these things are not selling well...
 
Do California buyers get much better deals than elsewhere? I am in upstate NY looking at $31,620 + TTL for a base Clarity, and wondering how far I should be pushing it. The local cars seem to have been on the lots for 6 months already so it seems like they would be motivated to sell.
 
After several dealerships, including one where the dealer retracted their offer saying that they had made an "honest mistake", I was finally able to lock down a Clarity touring - dark grey for $29,750 ($33,140 OTD) with no dealer additions at AutoNation Honda - Valencia. MSRP was $37500. This was in CA, so the $5000 factory incentive was in force, and I used that as a starting point in negotiations.

The initial dealerships I went to were all in the SFV area of LA. I tried using Costco and, to be fair, their discount below MSRP was larger than the deal that I ended up getting; however, they had an additional $4k in dealer add-ons that were part of the Costco price and made the offer impractical. The last dealer (where the "mistake" happened) told me, "You can go to any other dealer in the valley and you will not get a better offer". I took his advice and decided to expand my search outside the valley. After finding this forum and reading through nearly the entire thread, I approached AutoNation Honda Valencia with an online offer, and to my great surprise we were able to hammer out a deal.

I did approach other dealers online but only one responded - Carson Honda. Their initial offer was for $30k, which was almost what I had to negotiate down towards at Valencia. This might mean that you have more room to negotiate than I thought, though I would temper expectations to receiving anything substantially below this without external factors (e.g. quarter quotas).

I just wanted to thank this community for giving me the confidence to pursue a good price - sub $30k base price on a touring is still possible even though the factory incentive has gone down from $6k to $5k. Hopefully this additional data point can help someone else that's looking, at least in the SoCal area.
 
Andrew Weber said:
Do California buyers get much better deals than elsewhere? I am in upstate NY looking at $31,620 + TTL for a base Clarity, and wondering how far I should be pushing it. The local cars seem to have been on the lots for 6 months already so it seems like they would be motivated to sell.
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Yes, because they get a $5000 incentive while the rest of the country gets nothing on a 2019. The only deals most people are able to find is on a 2018 that's been sitting around over a year.

Are you talking about a 2018 or 2019?
 
Electra said:
Yes, because they get a $5000 incentive while the rest of the country gets nothing on a 2019. The only deals most people are able to find is on a 2018 that's been sitting around over a year.

Are you talking about a 2018 or 2019?
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I’m looking only at 2019 currently.
 
RickSE said:
I don’t know if this is a typo but Hyannis Honda (Massachusetts) has a Clarity Touring with an $8500 dealer discount. Add in the $7500 tax credit and it’s a 2019 for $21.5k.

https://drivegreen.greenenergyconsumers.org/form_deals.php
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Looking on the dealer website they only have two 2019's, both Base models. The other four cars listed on their website are 2018 Touring.

It's possible they have cars not listed on their website but it's also possible that they had 2019 touring models that have been sold. Or maybe the discount is actually for the 2018 tourings even though it says 2019 on the Drive Green site. Based on the VIN numbers the oldest 2018 Touring that they have listed on their website was manufactured approximately July 2018 and the newest was manufactured October 2018.
 
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Limey1976 said:
Paid $32488 before tax, title license in NorCal for a 2019 Touring. Anderson Honda in Palo Alto. No shady tactics - I showed up, test drove, paid and left with the car. Demand seems a bit higher here than SoCal and most dealers would not come close to that, and even outright implied I was lying. Oakland wanted substantially more than that for a 2018, and kept calling me back to see if I would buy one - duh.

Dublin Honda quoted slightly more, but had more in stock and may have come down a little if I pressed them. I called/emailed almost every other dealer - none of the others was close. Also had no luck through Costco on this car.

Hope that helps all in NorCal.

This is the perfect ev for this area imho. The ACC is great in Bay Area traffic, and the ev range is fine for most of my trips. Usually get more than the EPA rated range. Plenty of charge points around, and when they are all hogged, we have gas to get us home. So far used gas for only about 5 of 600 miles and loving this car.

Hov stickers on the way, plenty of space, nice interior, and after the tax rebates, pretty cheap for any new car. Don’t understand how these things are not selling well...
Click to expand...

Is it better to apply for the HOV sticker in January to get the January 1, 2024 expiration? If applying now, don't you get a January 1, 2023 expiration?

Basically losing 9 months of hov lane access?
 
Albert543 said:
Is it better to apply for the HOV sticker in January to get the January 1, 2024 expiration? If applying now, don't you get a January 1, 2023 expiration?

Basically losing 9 months of hov lane access?
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Yes, you are correct. Too bad I mailed in the application Friday. Oh well.

I’d not seen any indication there would be any future year stickers when I submitted my application, however based on your question I found this - https://ww2.arb.ca.gov/resources/fact-sheets/current-clean-air-vehicle-decal which states the program will run until 2025.
 
Just started shopping - so far I've got an email (not quote) from Victory Honda (Morgan Hill CA) of -$6500 on both Reg/Touring trims.
Not sure if they have any of these stealership fees/add ons at this point. Anyone have any experience with this dealer?
 
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