Buying a car in Hawaii (Honolulu)

[Supercub]

Aloha everyone,

This is my first post, but I've been lurking for a few months. My wife and I will move to Hawaii in three weeks, and we're getting ready to buy a car. I spoke with a carsalesman at one dealer, and he dropped a line about "Hawaii mark-up," and MSRP as a standard fixed price.

What is the deal with car pricing in Oahu? I assumed a bit of a mark-up compared to Mainland prices, but what should I expect?

[kimo55]

Re: Buying a car in Hawaii (Honolulu)

well if the car is transported all the way from the mainland you can bet yer sweet bippy it ain't just "a bit" of a mark-up.

and if ya resemble an fob mainlander, they just may make sure there's a "markup" and you will take it and you will like it.

And be careful where ya park it. Cus bumay li'dat, depending on the neighborhood, you goin see yer car well marked-up.



* that's just the interim answer. we're dilligently working on the rest for your full and complete satisfaction. really. try wait. steh pau hana / happy hour still...

[Supercub]

Re: Buying a car in Hawaii (Honolulu)

haha

Thanks for the info Kimo. Good points. I am definetely a FOB mainlander, so I have to turn to the collective wisdom of hawaiithreads.

I'm hoping to make a deal that's fair for both the dealer and me. That's why I turned to hawaiithreads. I don't want the dealer to take advantage of my Hawaii ignorance, but I also don't want to be a jerk and insist on a price that isn't realistic for the Hawaiian car market.

Can anyone come up with a figure like 5% over mainland price? Something I can use to help guide my bargaining position. Or does someone have a suggestion for a source for this kind of information.

Thanks!

[Miulang]

Re: Buying a car in Hawaii (Honolulu)

haha

Thanks for the info Kimo. Good points. I am definetely a FOB mainlander, so I have to turn to the collective wisdom of hawaiithreads.

I'm hoping to make a deal that's fair for both the dealer and me. That's why I turned to hawaiithreads. I don't want the dealer to take advantage of my Hawaii ignorance, but I also don't want to be a jerk and insist on a price that isn't realistic for the Hawaiian car market.

Can anyone come up with a figure like 5% over mainland price? Something I can use to help guide my bargaining position. Or does someone have a suggestion for a source for this kind of information.

Thanks!

Do you have a Costco card? Costco has an auto buying service (even in Hawaii) that you can use if you're a member. Their selection isn't as large as walking onto a car lot, but I bet you could save some bucks using them. You could also use their quote to compare against any deals you might come across on the outside. Do you live on the West Coast? If you do, you might consider shipping your car. I think it still costs around $900 or $1000 to do that, which is still cheaper than buying a new one.

Miulang

P.S. from what I've seen, used car prices in Hawai'i are way cheaper than the Mainland, even for Japanese models. And those used cars, for the most part, are really low mileage ones too, because you can't go too far on an island!

[Supercub]

Re: Buying a car in Hawaii (Honolulu)

Miulang,

I live in New York City and don't have a car now, so I don't have anything to ship

Costco. I never thought of that. I'm not a member, but I probably will end up becoming one anyways. I'll look into it.

[Pomai]

Re: Buying a car in Hawaii (Honolulu)

I'm a firm believer in (late model) used vehicles over new, and Oahu certainly has no shortage of that inventory, both privately and at dealerships. So the laws of supply and demand should be in the used car buyer's favor here. It was for us.

Definately know which vehicle(s) you have in mind and do online research on them (customer reviews, reiliability, etc.) before walking onto the lot. Go in with a pre-approved loan (or cash) and play them.. don't let them play you. Common sense.

We purchased a used late model luxury car from a large Honolulu dealership for close to mainland eBay Motors prices. We're still enjoying our purchase, although our salesman at the time sure wasn't (we're still waiting for our Christmas card).

Perhaps if you check out that girl who sells cars at McKenna in Kailua and tell her you heard about it at HawaiiThreads.com, she might cut you a deal!

[pzarquon]

Re: Buying a car in Hawaii (Honolulu)

I don't think I'll ever own a new car. The speed at which some folks churn through new cars guarantees there are always great deals to be had on some wonderful machines.

That said, good advice, Pomai, and good thinking on perhaps connecting Supercub with Mataiva! In my car shopping and browsing, I'll confidently say that dealers on the Windward side in general are much more pleasant to work with than those "town side."

Whatever you do, though, Supercub, steer clear of the Tony Autoplex. I've yet to hear one good thing about them.

[craigwatanabe]

Re: Buying a car in Hawaii (Honolulu)

Whatever you do, though, Supercub, steer clear of the Tony Autoplex. I've yet to hear one good thing about them.

Absolutely good advice, them and Honolulu Ford and Ala Moana VW. Just recently I went down and went to battle with New City Nissan on a 2006 Sentra. This was the fully loaded sports "S" model. Their asking price $17,500 or the full MSRP (Don't ever buy a new car at MSRP). After four hours of negotiating the final deal came to $12,500, 60-months at 2.75% APR and that included titanium window tint. That last one came outta left field as it was approaching 9pm and we were hungry. I told the closer that I had to feed my kid and his girlfriend so we'd be back in one hour to seal the deal. To ensure the price I paid non-refundable $500 to lock it in.

As we're leaving to go eat at Wahoo's Fish and Taco's the general manager comes out and tells me, "Mr. Watanabe what can I do to have you sign right now before you walk out the door?" I told him, "Look I paid this non-refundable $500 so if you're afraid I was going to change my mind, I won't, my kid is hungry, we've been here over 4-hours already and came in without eating lunch, we'll be back I promise" and we kept walking towards the door.

Then he blurted out, "Okay Mr. Watanabe if I throw in window tint will you sign right now!" Now I wasn't expecting that so I told him, "make it titanium and throw in that $25 cool neoprene 'Nissan Gear' CD case you wanted me to buy as an accessory for free and you got a deal!"

He extended his hand, we shook, he put his offer right on the sales contract and signed it. We accepted the offer and I told my boy to take care of the rest of the paperwork.

I told my boy this is how you negotiate. Work them down for a few hours, get them committed to a sale, then walk out with the intent on coming back. Stay with what you consider paying for monthly (in our case no more than $250 per month) and work the financing side. If the financing cannot get low enough they will adjust the pricing or length of the term to fit.

In our case we got the car for less than $245 per month for 60-months at 2.75% APR with $1000 down, no trade in and extended warranty plus window tint for a 2006 Nissan Sentra S about three months ago. I thought that was a good deal.

[tutusue]

Re: Buying a car in Hawaii (Honolulu)

I 2nd and 3rd buying a used car. I just really don't like taking that initial depreciation hit. I tend to keep cars longer than the average (wo)man and stay with a strict maintenance schedule. I've had the same independent mechanic for close to 24 years, will only purchase a Tim-approved car that he can work on and am driving only my 3rd car in that time; the latest purchased 2 months ago. That limits me to 3 makes! As badly as I wanted a PT Cruiser with the woody package I didn't buy one 'cuz Tim doesn't work on 'em! He actually found my last 2 cars for me as I really dislike shopping!

[i-hungry]

Re: Buying a car in Hawaii (Honolulu)

You may want to check the car dealers outside of Honolulu. They can be more lenient.

I bought my car from the Windward side after talking to dealers in Honolulu.

[Supercub]

Re: Buying a car in Hawaii (Honolulu)

I bought a car. I was happy with the price. Now, I can't wait to get to Hawaii and cruise up to the North Shore in my new ride.

[craigwatanabe]

Re: Buying a car in Hawaii (Honolulu)

I bought a car. I was happy with the price. Now, I can't wait to get to Hawaii and cruise up to the North Shore in my new ride.

I hope it's got a decent AC cuz you'll be stuck in traffic all the way from Honolulu Harbor to Haleiwa.

When I bought my BMW the first thing I wanted to do was do the circle island in my new ride. I never got past 40-MPH as the traffice was that bad. I could have done that in my 1986 Buick Century wagon.

[pzarquon]

Re: Buying a car in Hawaii (Honolulu)

I bought a car. I was happy with the price.

Congrats! What did you get, and where?

[Supercub]

Re: Buying a car in Hawaii (Honolulu)

I got a Subaru Legacy Wagon from Pflueger Airport Subaru (formally Five Star Subaru). It was a positive buying experience, although the deal won't be sealed for a couple of weeks.

Ah, Craig Watanabe don't say that! You're ruining my Hawaii driving fantasy!

[LikaNui]

Re: Buying a car in Hawaii (Honolulu)

When I bought my BMW the first thing I wanted to do was do the circle island in my new ride. I never got past 40-MPH as the traffice was that bad.

You know they've got those sensors in the H-3 tunnel, right? According to a cop friend of mine, the computers say that the highest recorded speed through there so far was 114mph.

(Supercub: your fantasies may continue now. )