Decide how much the vehicle is worth to you and don't pay more than that.

If you only planned on spending 36K throw that on the table until they take it or find a vehicle that maximizes what you are willing to spend. You have to negotiate the bottom line.

If you absolutely are in love with an RDX and nobody will take less than 39K and you planned on spending 39K then you are SOL. But if you planned on spending 36K and no one will go there then you need to search for another vehicle that maximizes your 36K or spend less but get more bang for buck.

Example last month my brother in law was in the market for a car no more expensive than 14,500. He decided he wanted an Avalon and after we looked at several the good ones wouldn't come down and the bad ones weren't worth it. We looked at some EX-L Accord but most were too expensive again even though they were very nice cars.

He ended up getting an 08 Camry XLE V6 fully loaded for 13 and change. Maximized his money after he couldn't reach his goal.

 

Thanks. We didn't tell them our max budget yet, which is 36k but 37k is considered okay too. If they won't lower it then we plan on waiting till July 4th and seeing if there's any specials during that time.

Truecar is very helpful and that's how I got the prices that "low" but sometimes it doesn't reflect OTD prices that include tax.

 

http://www.truecar.com/prices-new/acura/rdx-pricing/2014/F490652E/

 

How much were the other Bay Area dealers in comparison to the 3 above? From what I know, Lexus RX's are going for under invoice, whereas the Acuras aren't going for much less.

 

How did you come up with the 36/37K? Have you decided what you will do if you can't hit the price point?

My advice stick to your guns and hit them even lower at 33-35K. Are you financing?

 

36k/37k is our budget. If we can't hit the price we like, then we'll just wait. At worse we'll go for a 2013 model.
I tried to talk a dealer down to 35.5k and they said too low, they won't even consider it.
How do you figure it'll hit 33k-35k? I'm new to purchasing but that seems nearly impossible to me maybe a 2013 model but unlikely for a 2014 one. Oh I'm not sure what my dad is planning to do, but my guess is a down payment of 10k or so then finance the rest.

How much were the other Bay Area dealers in comparison to the 3 above? From what I know, Lexus RX's are going for under invoice, whereas the Acuras aren't going for much less.

2 dealers said they would call me back but never did. One said they won't price match. If I could get a Rx350 for hell $39k OTD with navigation I'd be all over it.


I live in california, so can you buy a car without paying sales tax?

 

If you thinking about throwing down 37k for this:

but agonizing over ~2k, I don't know, sounds like you are stretching yourself.