Price paid, plus dealer info

Costco has a fixed and relatively small number of dealers in their program in any specific region. They won't look outside of those dealers for your car. And actually the Costco price isn't any better than others are getting, the one difference is that Costco seems to require their dealers to give you the $6,000 Honda incentive on top of the $1,500 or so dealer discount. Whereas dealers outside of the Costco program are not always as willing to part with the $6,000 so it can take some back and forth with them to get the price down as you continuously remind them that Honda is giving them $6,000.

 

Thanks for your reply. The benefit with Costco is it does save a lot of time with reasonable price. I once went to Piercey Honda at Milpitas. The sales person actually said upfront that the dealer incentive was for dealer, so don't even think about it!. It is really surprising to hear that. That's why I wonder if anyone in SF Bay area got a good deal?

 

@ChrisP recently got a 2019 Touring in the bay area for dealer price $29,900. Had to hunt for it though, as you reported most dealers in the area seemed to have other plans for the $6,000. I suspect that another problem in California is that you have 2019's in stock there unlike most other states, so there isn't a big rush to get rid of them this early in the model year. Also the carpool stickers probably make Clarity a somewhat better seller there. Nevertheless some people have managed to get some very good deals.

 

@skynet I am in the same boat as you looking around bay area. Seems to be pretty limited supply right now although have seen a few dealers gets new ones today. I have gotten quotes of $28,320 - $30K at reputable places on a base model.

 

Just signed for a 2019 base for 29.9k OTD in the LA area. Its a huge change coming from a Jeep, but now I can dedicate that rig to the weekends and trails.

 

I would recommend Honda Livermore since they offered 6k below invoice price. Got the car before tax and registration for 29,900$ for a 2019 touring. I had to wait 3-4 weeks but the car was delivered as promised.

Unfortunately due to the Honda rebate and limited supply of cars, it seems hard to get one without preordering in advance.

Last week-end Honda Fremont got some but they were unwilling to pass down the 6k rebate “because the car are selling like hot cake for 1,500$ below MSRP”. I would not recommend them at those prices while Honda is providing their discounts.




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Yesterday, I purchase in the Bay Area (Marin Honda). I worked with Mike (the internet sale manager). He was very tough via email to negotiate with but was very nice over the phone and in person. He also felt very honest. He didn't realize that some accessories were pre-installed when he quoted me so he threw them in for free.

Base Model in Green
Sale Price: $26,737
Processing: $85
Tax: $2346.93
DealerTrack: $30 (dealer vehicle registration charge)
Included wheel locks, and all weather mats.

I talked with a lot of dealers over the last week. Supply is definitely limited. Most dealers only had a few Claritys (if any at all) and a few had 5-8. As a result, negotiating was more challenging then other cars I have bought. Many dealers would just say that the car is in short supply so they couldn't discount that much. I shared what I learned from this forum when negotiating and that managed to get quotes $28,320 - $30K. What helped me get it down further was to go into the place closest to me and negotiate in person. That got it down to around $27K + $500 in accessories. They didn't have it in the color we most wanted so was able to show that quote to others which is what ultimately got me this deal.

For those currently looking in the Bay Area, here are a few recommendations of places that I felt were competitive:

Marin Honda - Via email their quote was $29K until I showed them the actual quote I got from my local dealer.
Walnut Creek - I worked with Chris Beam. He was great to deal with and they gave me $27K + $500 in accessories. As of today they only have 1 Clarity - white in base model. It has been on the lot for 30 days so they were willing to get more aggressive on pricing.
Livermore - I worked with David (referral from @ChrisP). He was also easy to work with via txt. They are getting a bunch of Clarities in the next 2 weeks and he seemed to think once they had arrived he could do better on pricing ($28.2K was best he could do for the 1 they had in stock).
Kastner Honda (Napa) - I just went through their website and asked for the eprice. It was about $27K without any negotiation. They didn't have the color I wanted but offered to trade with another dealer and said they could have it in 1-2 days.

One last note, I went to El Cerrito Honda who had 5 2019s and 5 2018s. They quoted me $1k less for the 2018 than the quote I had for a 2019. Didn't feel worth it to us but might for others.

Using the info from this forum was extremely helpful. Thank you everyone who has posted details here!

 

I thought California caps documentation fee at $80 but maybe they recently raised it to $85. DealerTrack charge seems bogus, that's a third party electronic titling company and I'm pretty sure the dealer is just passing their fee on to you for using it when really it should be part of the $85 processing fee. I realize that's small change in the big picture but I'm just amazed at the number of ways dealers find to add to the price without people realizing it. Nothing new that's for sure. Including those relatively low add on fees (compared to other parts of the country) it looks like you got a discount from MSRP of $7,468 on a 2019 Base which is really great.

Mine came with all weather mats too, I wound up buying Tuxmat which a lot of people are getting, a bit pricey but they look nice and I plan to keep them in the car year round and keep the carpet mats and OEM all-weather mats in storage for when the car is eventually sold or traded in.

 

I'm picking up my new (well, 2018) Clarity Touring for $28,650 (not including tax and tags) in South Carolina.

 

OK i picked up my Green 2018 Touring last week from Brown's Honda in Arlington. Final deal was:
MRSP listed as: 37,495
Price Paid: 29,630
This included $495 appearance package and Processing Fee $799.
By the time i paid VA taxes and licensing fees i drove off the lot for $30,998.
I am loving this car. I would recommend the dealer in Arlington they were good to work with - except for the financing lady she was a little painful. I got all my best prices by actually talking with folks. There was some reluctance to put prices in emails cause they knew you would shop them around... but they did put them in a text.

 

Poway Honda (San Diego CA)
White touring
$31900 out the door
2.99% financing through Honda
No hassle to pay/buy extra stuff
But also no freebies eg no all weather mats.

Thank you everyone for your posts really helped me with car shopping.

Doc fee in SoCal is $85 based on three quotes I got FYI (screen shot a different dealer sent me attached)

 

That's a fantastic price. For comparison for others I will remove appearance package since that is an option:

2018 Touring MSRP 37,495
Dealer price 28,336
Processing fee 799
Total dealer price 29,135
Discount 8,360

 

$33,500 otd in Houston for a new 2018 Touring PHEV. Rarer than hens teeth out here. $26k after tax credit feels like a decent deal. Probably a couple grand higher than in CA where it’s far more competitive.

 

In PA, I paid $28.5k OTD for 2018 Touring so you are definitely paying a lot more. Shop around, you will find dealers willing to go down as the floor plan hits their bottom line.

 

6.25% Tax plus the biggest challenge is finding one There are 4 tourings for sale in Texas. The one I purchased and three at one dealer outside Dallas, about 200 miles away. Also, there are no Honda incentives on the Clarity in Texas. No finance deals, no cash on the hood is offered, and no one is bringing in a 19.

 

SDClarityDriver .... I sent you a PM.

 

Just saw this. Sent you back a pm.

 

Looking to pick up a 2018 tomorrow or friday. Is the battery capacity check an arcane procedure or something they should easily be able to do? From vin number I'd guess maybe has sat on the lot for 1.5yr.

 

You can see the build month/year on the sticker on the driver's door jamb. I don't know how long a savvy dealer's service department would require to perform a battery capacity check, but you should demand it, pointing out it's listed on the PDI document (even though it's not technically part of the PDI procedure).

 

Thanks, any other computer updates/TSBs/recalls I should get in? I see there are some TSBs, but generally TSBs (from my previous vehicle) are only applied if the problem's experienced.

First time buying a car that's sat around for a year and a half (guessing by VIN, must drive 4 hours to buy it). But then it's only my 2nd time buying a car period..... From research, I think I got a pretty good offer of 26.5 for a 2018 touring before TTL. I messed up with no poker response and didn't press for more on the first callback after I was looking for below 29k :/, because I was pretty happy and indicated I was interested and planning to come get it in a few days. Might try to finagle a non-demanding look for slightly more in exchange for showing up at the dealer sooner (removes a chance to back out) and not give local dealers a chance to match (which I think there's infinitesimally small chance they would), but I may not at this point.

It's weird that I think I'm at or under the lowest prices I've seen in a few threads, but I'm not really below the "low" from the commercial NADA new vehicle value estimates for a 2018 clarity with touring trim.