You never mentioned why I shouldn’t finance through Honda.
I don't know you're situation or place of residence, but often times local banks will beat industry rates and you will get a chance to see if that is true for you when closer. Also, using a local bank gives you some other flexibility, say you get a 700 and in 6 months decide, hum... I want a 1000 so if you sell it then it's a bit easier for you and buyer to want into a bank to handle the transaction....
Everything alloutdoors said.
For me, I qualified for a special finance rate of 2.9. This was last summer. When I sat down with the finance guy, he asked what I could afford for a monthly. I told him and the jerk comes back with an interest rate of 15.6. That was the interest rate that matched what I said I could afford. Well having just bought my wife a new car and buying a new 5th wheel travel trailer, I should have known better than to tell them what I could afford. So I haggled with them over the interest rate and got them down to 4.99, EVEN THOUGH MY CREDIT SCORE QUALIFIED ME FOR 2.9 PER HONDA'S RULES. He swore that was the best he could do. So I left with the SXS (again an impulse buy) thinking I'll go to my bank Monday morning and pay this stupid thing off right away. Only, after reading the fine print in the contract, I was stuck with the Honda loan for 90 days. I did get a loan from my bank AT 1.99 BTW, and paid Honda off.
Just to give you some perspective on how much dealerships make off interest kickbacks, I had 2000 to put down on this machine and they didn't want it. It was like I was going to have to hold a gun to the guys head to get him to take the down payment. The financial institution offs the dealership a rate and anything over, goes to the dealer. Most pricing is set at rock bottom, because they figured out 35 years ago, that the money is in interest. That's why cash means nothing to them nowadays. They actually make little to nothing on cash deals.
At my age and buying experience, you'd think I'd be more prepared for their tactics, but I never am. So I have to take some of the blame.
So that's my experience, and I'd say that most of the finance people are the same way. It's how they make their money.
I live outside a town of less than 500, and bank in a town of around 3500. I have known my loan officer for decades and he has never steered me wrong. I need to talk with him before making large purchases and my advice is that you do the same thing. If your credit is good, you get as better rate from the bank, with less hassle, better customer service and NO sales gimmicks. Because he'll not make a single penny off of the sale of that SXS.
Oh, one more piece of advice. DO NOT take your wife or kids with you. These people are pro's at charming wives and kids, and before you know it, you didn't buy it for yourself, you bought it because of the look on your family's faces.
All that said... If the physical size of the 1000 is OK with you, and you can afford it, that's the way I'd go, just because MOST people always wish they had gone bigger. None of want to admit it, but size does matter.
