Need New Car Buying Advice

Buying/Selling
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  1. I’m buying a 2023 Honda Accord Hybrid Touring in March. When I reserved the car last year, I signed a paper agreeing thay there is no negotiation and that I will pay MSRP (excluding title and registration). With that being said, is it likely the dealership will still try to charge the destination fee?

  2. In interested in multiple small cosmetic changes like a blacked out H logo, a small spoiler, side decals, and more like that. Honda lists MSRP on their website for those items but not dealership install costs. I know that most of these items are extremely easy installs, but should I expext to be paying thousands more for these? The MSRP is like 37900 and with the add ons ive mentioned (bot with labor) I think it brings the car up to like 41500.

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Yes. Whether they can depends on your sales contract. Read it carefully.

Also yes… because it is a dealership.

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Keeping it for 3 yrs? 10 years?

4

I guess that you haven’t looked at too many manufacturers’ Monroney stickers, because they always state a “destination” fee, which is sometimes called a “Delivery, Processing, and Handling Fee”. The total sticker price includes that fee, so I really doubt if the dealership is going to absorb it.

In the case of my car, that “Delivery, Processing, and Handling Fee” amounted to $1,150, and I gladly paid it because my dealership–unlike most–didn’t tack-on a $5k “market adjustment”.

5

Are all of the fees disclosed in the contract of sale? You must pay all fees in the document. If no fees are listed except the sales price, then you may only be responsible for the down payment if you don’t like the addition costs. Delivery is always a separate fee and there may be other costs in addition to taxes and title. You should have negotiated all of them before signing the contract.

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Expect the delivery fee to be included, it’s part of the bottom line MSRP.

7

Keep in mind that accessories like this usually get a better warranty when they’re installed by the dealer at purchase time. Also, you can be sure that your factory warranty won’t be affected by any issues with installing these accessories. That peace of mind is probably worth at least some money here.

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+1 to lion9car’s comments.
When I bought my 2011 Outback, I had the dealership install the OEM “grunge guard” on the front edge of the hood. When a car wash damaged it a couple of years later, it was replaced–gratis–by the dealership. That wouldn’t have been possible if it was installed by me or somebody else.

When my friend bought his '08 Rav-4, he had the dealership install the OEM Remote Start mechanism, even though they were pushing him to opt for an aftermarket system. When that OEM system’s installation caused all sorts of electrical problems, he filed a Lemon Law case because it involved OEM equipment that was installed by the dealership. It wouldn’t have been possible to file a Lemon Law case if that system had been either an aftermarket item, or if the OEM system was installed by someone other than the dealership.