Nice bump, Shak.
I'm now driving a 2014 CRV with less than 100 miles on it. The color is "Mountain Mist" which is a castrated code for light blue.
Two things we did right:
1. If you are a Costco member, check with your local Costco about special deals with certain dealerships. That saved us $3,000.
2. We belong to a savings and loan, and had the parameters of our loan put into place before we got there. This was great because the dealership had to bend to what we already set up or beat it. This led to their finance guy get his ass handed to him by his own boss in front of us. Don't overplay your hand auto dealer finance guy... save the power trip for a couple who don't have their shit together.
Both of these are great tips, my dealership does the Costco thing. Only car it doesn't apply to is the Highlander. Usually it will get your price down to a couple hundred under dealer invoice (our cost). In most situations it's worth getting a Costco membership even if you never plan on using it.
Finance people HATE when you come in with a bank check. They make commission just like the sales people do. Bank check makes it extremely hard for them to sell any product.
Here's a list of the only products I would ever actually tell a friend to get.
Gap insurance: especially if you have any kind of negative equity or are doing a lease. If you put more than $2,000 down, not really necessary anymore. I rolled $2,000 of negative into my new car. Because I have Gap I was actually hoping that drunk driver had totaled it because that means I would get to start fresh owing nothing.
Tire and Wheel Insurance: This comes out to something like $7 monthly over 60 months. It protects any unforeseen problems with the tire, wheel, and rims. At my dealership there is no deductible and the coverage is 5 years. Especially important if you have low profile tires or expensive alloys. Use it one time and it more than pays for itself.
Extended Warranty: This is just for peace of mind really. Now you know you never have to worry about repairs. Really not necessary, especially on a Toyota or Honda as they last forever.
Gap is the biggie, but again, that only applies in certain situations. These 3 are the only products worth considering, and they aren't for everyone. Basically every other product out there besides these 3 is a money grab. The paint and fabric protection does work, I just think it's superfluous.
