New Car Purchase

[jenb]

We got our Sienna at Fairfax Ourisman and had a good experience. The follow up maintenance by Chantilly Ourisman was great..they are very professional and courteous. If you don't like to haggle, look into the Costco car buying program if you are a member. We didn't end up buying with that program, but used that price as a baseline to haggle a better deal elsewhere. Good luck with your car shopping!

[jdhauer]

We also had a poor experience with Leesburg Toyota. They were extremely high pressure and the salesman called us daily for three weeks, berating us about when we were going to come in and buy the car in addition to multiple letters.

[Tech Head]

If you haven't driven the Odyssey, you should at least take it for a spin. In my opinion, the Sienna and Odyssey are just about equal in features and quality but the Odyssey drives like a car. You don't feel like you're driving a minivan. We were all set to buy the Sienna and decided to take an Odyssey out for a spin and immediately changed our minds and bought the Odyssey that day.

[flynnibus]

I own an odyssey.. and while I love its drive, the sienna certainly has more features.. awd, rear camera, + more.

Hondas certainly aren't known for their bells and whistles.. but they are solid cars and I still like ours.

-Steve

[Liskey]

I believe there are certain Odyssey models that offer the rear camera. We got one this year (the 2005 model) that offers the camera. But I wouldn't get it from Leesburg Honda. They weren't willing to negotiate on anything. We ended up going to Bethesda and they offered us a good deal.

[sri_n]

All,

Thanks for all the advice and info! Looks like I raised a topic near and dear to quite a few here!!

Sorry for the general post. I'd like to respond to each and every message here, if I had the time to :-)

I have been to Tysons koons toyota, and Leesburg toyota so far, outside of looking on the internet. I must say the salesman at leesburg was eager to get me out the door once he figured I am not going to make a decision right then! (I never buy a car the first time I step into a dealership) either that or he had really had a long day (it was evening when I went there). Miller does look like they have good pricing on the internet comparative to CARMAX on the 2005s, since the 2006s are already arriving. I am looking at the Sienna LE, with some safety features, and not looking at the higher end models (I wish!!). The Honda Odyssey compares much better price wise at the higher end (Odyssey EX-L vs. Sienna XLE), but at the lower end, it pretty much boils down to the features you want, and it is a little hard to make an apples to apples comparison of say the Sienna LE with the Odyssey EX. The EX costs more.

I must say it has been a confusing process to say the least, the last time I bought a car was before the internet was such a haven for info! And the last time it was a car and not a van, and it was a much simpler decision making process, since I knew exactly the model and features I wanted. Now I have 2 kids to think about too!

I do agree that edmunds (www.edmunds.com) is a great resource, especially the forums. They have great forums for buying, owning, maintaining any vehicle, and most threads are very active.

I'll let you know how it all went, I need to decide by this weekend!

Thanks again for all the info!
Sri.

[Pictor Guy]

I've also had a mixed experience at Leesburg. Miller was VERY nice to deal with. And I didn't find CarMax all that great when it came down to getting a good deal. We picked up our Sienna from Koons in Tysons and the only reason we didn't go with Miller was that Koons had the car we wanted on the lot. What I've found out with the experience is that I really don't like dealing with Toyota dealers. I've had an easier time working with BMW dealers when looking for cars that are only produced in relatively limited quantities. Almost every Toyota dealers I talked to made the Sienna sound like they're rare and hard to come by. This even after Toyota increased production and every dealer I came across had at least a dozen Siennas on the lot. IMO, hard to come by is when there is a 6 month back log on the model and rare is 6-12 month backlog. What I found that works is to work via FAX or email. I wouldn't bother setting foot in the dealer showroom if you know what you want until it's time to sign the papers and you have an agreed upon price (including tax, title, and reg fees). And don't fall for the processing fee. Let them include that into the price if they wish.

__________________________________________________ ________
Some software money can't buy. For everything else there's Micros~1

[sri_n]

bit the bullet and bought the Odyssey EX!
Took it out for a spin, and instantly loved it. Definitely a much better drive. Thanks for the extra votes - Tech Head and Steve (flynnibus)!

I actually got a decent deal from Leesburg Honda. I started shopping online, and then got them to lower the price. And they had the color we wanted. The good thing about shopping online is that you have a starting price even before you set foot in the dealership.

After spending a lot of time researching the options on the Sienna LE, I found that the 'lack of option packages' on the Odyssey actually made my decision easier. Overall though, the experience with the Honda dealers was much better compared to the Toyota dealers. I somehow found that the toyota dealers really lacked the interest they should have shown in selling me a vehicle.

[flynnibus]

We've bought our last two hondas at Leesburg and had a good experience I believe. Not knock my socks off, but a very reasonable transaction. They also went out of their way to let me test drive a s2000 at the time they were not really letting people drive them. Overall a pretty good feeling about the place.

Fortunate (or maybe not) the last two cars we've bought in the family were 'in demand' cars, so just paying sticker was a good deal, so no real need for haggling, etc. In fact the credit deals we've gotten with the finance manager (standard loans) have actually been quite steller.

Glad you like the ride of the Honda. I find it quite peppy for its size and really does ride like a car most of the time. I really didn't want a van, but the wife did.. and since I got my toy previously.. she got choice on the van I like it for its cargo ability tho.. can't be beat even compared to most trucks!

-Steve

[santra]

Now a days business people thinking so different and they invent different type of cars. I see different type of cars all are so nice. We also had a poor experience with Leesburg Toyota. They were extremely high pressure and the salesman called us daily for three weeks, berating us about when we were going to come in and buy the car in addition to multiple letters.
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santra

New Cars