A near perfect leasing experience
There is never a perfect buying/leasing experience. If there was car dealers would be paying us to drive their models. That said, Paul Buser at Sunnyside did not "dink" around. When I first contacted him I had already received various quotes and conducted a lot of research on leasing a 2014 Honda Accord LX. I knew about all I could know without actually working in a dealership. On my first call to Paul I presented my best other dealer offer which included only one thing additional to the written (email) quote I was referencing. He wanted to see my quote and asked for 15 minutes to "wrap his head around" what I was proposing. Paul did the salesmen "make sure your other quote includes taxes" speech but I assured him it did. He called back in 15 minutes and said he could do the deal. My wife and I went to the dealership and an hour later we drove away with what was promised. Even the F&I lady was not bad. She tried to sell her "extra" coverages and became a little snooty when we declined but she was respectful and moved on. Even given her lapse of snootiness I must say she scored a 90 out of 100 on customer satisfaction in my grade book.
Paul earned our business in a professional manner not often seen by a car salesperson. I am not sure how we would have been treated if I was not extremely prepared so please see my tips below.
Tips:
The internet is your friend, use it to do research.
Dealers in your "backyard" want to keep you there.
Play three dealers against each other to get to your best offer.
Salespersons are not your friends. They want every dollar they can get out of you.
Never be afraid to push lower. Once again, do this with three dealers. Chances are one of them will say yes then you can use that against another dealer. Keep pushing down until none of the dealers will move.
After two-ish rounds of negotiating give them your credit information so you can get approved. This will allow the salesperson to know exactly what they can do for you.
Use the "if you can do this now" I will be in today.
Shop at the end of the month and as late in the day as possible.