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Seriously considering getting my own car, want an LX coupe 5 speed, sooooooo bad, jsut wondering what methods of purchasing did you guys do? i'm thinking of finance cause it seems best for long run and so on, though its pricy, seems like a better deal cause i actually want to own the car, as well do you guys have any suggestions?

 
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well this was my first car that i actually bought on my own after my camaro bit the dust, so i asked a lot of questions from people that had purchased a fair amount of cars and these were the tips i got, if you have a good relationship with your honda dealer then you can play that card otherwise tyr goin at the end of the month, they have a quota they have to meet and the end of the month they are trying to sqeeze in the last few sells that they can so you should be able to get a good deal that way, Alot of it depends on your credit rating on how much you can wheel and deal with them if your credit is less than perfect you might have to bite the bullet for about 6 months till you can refinance, most of all dont feel pressured dont be affraid to walk away if you dont like the deal he is giving you walk away dont worry he has your phone number so when he is low on his quota he will give you a call and you can pretty much set your price (within reason) hope any of this helps

 
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put 8grand down, talked the sales guy into including some stuff in the deal... CD, spoiler, floor mats... and was able to get pretty close to their cost...
Then had my mom put her name on it to get her good credit and stuff... paying it off over 3 years.

Lease is nice if you like to get a new car all the time... but i plan on having this one for quite a while

 
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Do YOU HAVE to put a down payment?

 
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me and my girlfriend decided to lease our civic... not really a down payment... like a car loan... and the payments are alot cheaper... now.. no doubt.. goin over the miles... altering the car... that is going to mess up the lease.. we are planning on keeping it anyways.. the only downside is.. when the 3 (i think 3) year lease is up.. then we have to pay for the rest of the car.. i belive its what we paid off.. and then a loan on that.... basically we lease it.. pay 2 something a month.. then after the 3 years.. we get a 2 year loan for a little less than half the cost of the car.... I BELIEVE.. I will talk to jackie to figure out what it is excatly.. but.. if u plan on leasing and givin the car back... than its not really worth it.. if u plan on making any modifications...

 
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finance. unless you have a lot of money, or don't plan to have the car that long, it's like the only way to go.
that's what i did with my baby. it makes me appreciate it more.

 
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I'm leasing. Although I don't make much now, I expect to make a lot more by the time I have to pay for the rest of the car. You can also invest the money you're saving per month (until you have to pay) and possibly that would be enough to help pay it off later on. Just some stuff to consider.

 
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If you are going to finance, be very aware of your credit situation. I was told my my friend (who was the Honda salesman) that many times the finance officer will try to jack up your APR if they think they can get away with it. It sux because they usually don't tell you what rate you got approved for, but will make it look like they are doing you a favor by giving you a ridiculous rate. I would definitely get a copy of your credit report and FICO score before visiting the dealer.

I bought my Civic, but I lease another car. When it is time to return the lease, the car has to be in the same EXACT condition as when you picked it up. The leasing company will charge an arm and a leg for EVERY LITTLE THING. If you can really take care of a car, and want a new one every few years, I say go for it.

There are a lot of pros and cons between buying and leasing, just sort them out to find out which is best for you.

Good luck.

Just my $.2.

 
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I financed. Put a few K down from my trade in ( it was worth more than what i owed). And got an EX Coupe (MT) with Leather and Floormats for $16700. [IMG]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/IMG]

 
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SpdRcrChk you got leather and floormats and an EX for $16700??[IMG]i/expressions/face-icon-small-confused.gif[/IMG] that's a pretty good deal...... My car was $18,900 and it didn't even come with the floormats.... [IMG]i/expressions/face-icon-small-frown.gif[/IMG]

 
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I got my '02 LX Silver 5-spd for $15300 after tax and lisence. Not too bad a deal considering the price of the car was actually under 14. I did financing through my credit union because they gave me a better rate then Honda, plus I can pay my bill online or over the phone just by transferring my money from my checking or savings. I didn't put anything down and I got a rate of 7%. This was at the end of November btw. Oh yea I got floormats too [IMG]i/expressions/face-icon-small-tongue.gif[/IMG]

 
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I am financing. I am getting raped right now with the payments, but I am refinancing in October after I have established some credit and hopefully the payments will go down a little and maybe the APR will go down too. <crosses fingers>

 
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I got my 2 door 2002 ex with side airbags for $15,300 before taxes. And they "threw" in the mats. The way I did it was going to all the local honda dealerships website and getting online quotes. I found the best one and went to a competitor and had them beat it. They only beat the price by $50.

 
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I agree with Grey, get online quotes from your local hondas.

Otherwise, you need to find out the dealer invoice of the exact car you want, meaning each option etc...Get a quote from carsdirct.com and then go to your local dealer with that price. Tell them you would really rather buy the car from them as you get all your service done there. Haggle a little and get their best price. Then, call another honda dealer and tell them you just visited joeblow honda and want to know if they can beat joe's price. I bet they will.

For the finance, you want to know your beacon score. You need to have at least 650 for a decent rate and at least 700 or more for the best rates. the scale maxes at 850. The fininance lady tried to screw me with a high *** rate. I new my credit was immaculate and told her I wanted the 2.9 rate through honda. She reluctantly gave it to me. Watch out for the finance people, they are the sneakiest of all.

 
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<< SpdRcrChk you got leather and floormats and an EX for $16700??[IMG]i/expressions/face-icon-small-confused.gif[/IMG] that's a pretty good deal...... My car was $18,900 and it didn't even come with the floormats.... [IMG]i/expressions/face-icon-small-frown.gif[/IMG] >>



Aww man! That sux. Actually, I didn't really pay for the floor mats, they were "thrown in" as some say. But don't feel so bad. I know someone that paid 18,900 for an LX! [IMG]i/expressions/face-icon-small-disgusted.gif[/IMG]

 
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hmm, ok i'm 20 , i'm pretty sure my credit is clean, but how would i find out? i have 2 credit cards, which have never carried a balance.......

 
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Havning no credit history is just as bad as having poor credit. Request a copy of your credit report and check it out. If you don't have much of a credit history, then it may be a good idea to have someone co-sign the loan with you. (Someone with good credit, of course). Just be sure you can repay the loan before you have someone co-sign. Wouldn't want to stick someone with that responsibility if you couldn't pay.

 
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i got a 2001 ex coupe with floormats, pinstripe, and an extended warranty for a lil over 19,000. I'm only 16 so i had my parents co-sign for me on a lease with no down payment and its about 250 a month and 7000 to buy after 60 months.

 
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I got my 2002 EX Civic Coupe for $15,830 and he "threw" in the floormats as well. Devee.. I am curious to know how you get a 2002 EX for $15,300 when cost on a 2-door Civic is $15,530. Not accusing, just wondering how you got them below cost. A dealer pays the same for a Civic from Honda regardless where they are or how many they sell. And as the orignal question, unless you a getting a special finance from the car manufacturer like the 2.9% through Honda ALWAYS get your financing outside of the dealer. Dealers often do jack up your interest rate and if you go for it, they get the extra kick back from the back for getting you to agree to a higher rate. Always go and get your own financing that way you know what your real APR will be.

 
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Mine came to 19,100 with xtras etc etc...got the EX....bought it for 17 flat including taxes...paid for it in cash [IMG]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/IMG]

PeArLhOnDa

 
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what can i squeeze out of the dealer? Like spoilers and stuff, when you say floormats, are you talking about the fury ones or the rubber ones? also if i want to finance in another way, what else options do i have, the bank?

 
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so basically you can keep going back in to trade with lease? I guess if you like that then leasing is good, otherwise if you want to own, financing is the way to go?

 
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If u r like NONE then leasing is the way to go. As with your question bout spoiler and stuff its ur call. I got the spoiler cause i hate how the civic looks w/o it IMO. But if u r gonna buy an after market then dont spend for the spoiler bro. The mats i think they r talking about r pretty cool i guess, but the civic has these specials mats that hook under ur seat so that they dont slide BUT they look like they can get dirty REAL easy IMO. I took them out and bout some rubber ones. for the front and back. They have deep ridges in them so that water and dirt collect in the mat and dont get in the car....seems to work great so far. Hope that helps alittle

PeArLhOnDa

 
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Had the car since last May....being payed off fully before this May roles around...

I got $2500 left...[IMG]i/expressions/face-icon-small-tongue.gif[/IMG]

 
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oh yea if u want to own financing is the way to go. Check with Honda financing but usually ur bank will offer better, or if ur bank does offer better go back to Honda and see if they will go lower, try everything ya know. I think u said u didnt have credit, but make sure and get a credit check. Nothing much u can do right now to build credit before u buy ur car. Start usin ur CCards alittle to start up though "little things" hehe dont put ur body kit on it lol, put small things and pay them off ASAP.

PeArLhOnDa

 
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I can tell you without a doubt that you will almost always get a better financing rate through the dealer. You won't even come close if you go to a private bank. The banks just can't compete with the dealerships anymore. Remember banks give the prime rate to their BIGGEST and BEST customers. Now, if you have no credit, good luck getting even a decent rate without a co-signer. Also, having no credit is actually worse than having bad credit.

The dealer can offer lower rates than you will get privately because they deal with the banks alot and use them everyday.

 
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i went to carsdirect.com, they have a set price for the car and they will find the exact model you want. if you didnt want to go throught them, you could still use their price in your negotiations. also, dont buy ANY accessories from the dealer, get the car bare and get your accessories from H and A Accessories and install them yourself (or if you want anything thats really hard to do yourself, get a local shop to install it) Don't worry about the warranty, the dealer still has to honor it unless the problem is caused by the shop screwing something up installing the accessories (in which case the shop would be responsible). if you want a spoiler, they arent very hard to install, i did it myself with a little help on the drilling since i didnt have a drill, but it was very easy to do, and very hard to screw up. the oem spoiler is only $358.80 + shipping from handa-accessories.com (plus $4.91 for the trunk spring tool), far less than the $500-700 dealers charge for it[IMG]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/IMG]

 
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i bought mine ex 5 speed for 19000....got aftermarket wheels, tyres....and window tinted...factory spoiler...and blablaba....well, got to put 3k for downpayment..the rest....pay by payment for about 4 years....

 
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ok thanks all for the help, next important questions is, DO YOU HAEV SI OR LX? HOW MUCH YOU PUT DOWN, HOW MUCH ARE YOU PAYING PER MONTH?

 
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Netcbc, this is a response to your earlier question... If you're looking to buy a Civic in the near future, ask them about the Veloz package. I see you're from Markham so I'm assuming you're from Canada (Ontario, right?). The Veloz package for the Civic Si includes everything in the group option package as well as front, side and rear skirts as well as a spoiler, chrome exhaust finisher, carbon fibre trim kit, UNIQUE floor mats (I heard they say Veloz) and a rear badge (which says Veloz as well). It's only $1,100 on top of the Si-G package. Colors only come in black or silver though. Only 2000 will be produced between Feb and April this year. The cars are available in late March.

Hope that helps. Ask your dealer about it.