I think after the initial super early adopters are out of the way, I'm not sure the Civic Hybrid will be flying off the shelves like the Prius is. I saw some sales data that said the 05 HCHs were dogs in the showroom, and I know there were plenty on the lot when I bought mine.

That said, the new model has a lot of hype, so who knows. But if gas prices keep ticking back down, I can't imagine that they will be able to charge above MSRP for long.

I heard the same thing about the HCH for '05. There was ample supply when I bought mine but things tightened when gas started inching up and the California HOV ruling came down. That said, there was LITTLE if any marketing done. Compare that to what Toyota does with an admittedly great car.

Bottom line for me is that I got a solid car that I beleive will be very dependable. It gets me in the HOV lane while saving resources. I also paid well under MSRP. I can't complain, but I do like the prospects of a new / fresh '06 look!

What's street price in So Cal???

I'm in southern California and all fleet managers I contacted were highly reluctant to sell the car for less than $1000 over MSRP. I may just suck at negotiating but I do know supply is very limited and there are waiting lists at most or all dealers, for a good while.

I do believe demand will slow down, and the price will lower, in perhaps 6-12 months, but I'm not waiting.

I've emailed dozens of dealers through cars.com's emailer (and got SPAMMED!) and these are those that indicated that they are selling AT MSRP.

Valencia Honda (Power Honda) (personal visit), MSRP

Internet responses: (tell them deetamail-carpricequotes@yahoo.com sent you) Good luck!

Kevin Nyhus
Internet Manager
Honda Downey
888.638.1716 Office


Robert Chavez
Internet Manager
Metro Honda
9399 Autoplex Dr.
Montclair, CA 91763
Phone: (909) 625 5000 ext 6141
www.metrohonda.com
rozinante6@yahoo.com

John Reiner
Internet Sales
(323)467-7173
HONDA OF HOLLYWOOD
6511 Santa Monica Blvd ., Hollywood, 90038

Larry Cassotta
Internet Sales Manager
714-861-4267
lcassotta@normreeveshuntingtonbeach.dealerspace.co m

William Duron
Internet Accounts Manager
Fuller Ford and Honda
560 Auto Park Drive, Chula Visa, CA. 91911
Direct: (619) 656-3376
E-mail: norud1one@yahoo.com

Alex Bagheri / Matt Jones
Internet Sales Managers
Keyes Woodland Hills Honda
6111 Topanga Cyn
Office: 818-887-7111 ext 5407 Alex
818-887-7111 ext 5403 Matt

Teddy Corpuz
Fleet/Internet Manager
Honda of Hayward
510.582.1300
Sal Rivas
>Internet Sales Consultant
>Mike Harvey Honda
>650.579.6815 (office)


Beware: Scott Robinson Honda in Torrance wants $3500 OVER MSRP!!!!
Livermore Honda wanted $3000
Miller Honda in Van Nuys wanted $2500 OVER

I've also had a couple of dealers in the SF bay area (Larry Hopkins and Anderson) tell me that they plan to sell for MSRP. Another one (Stevens Creek) told me they will be selling for 2-3 THOUSAND over MSRP! Good luck with that!

Great post, Deeta. Can you post the dealers you contacted that did not offer MSRP (besides those three horrendous ones)?

Thanks for the info, Deeta!

Most of the people still wanted 2500+ above MSRP, but the one in San Diego had them at MSRP; no mark-up. I really was lucky-- of the 7 hybrids coming in, they only had 1 with navigation and it was in the color I was looking for. I signed paperwork yesterday .

BTW, as of last week, there were about 30,000 HOV stickers left. With that many, I guess I could have waited till January to get the car (for the better tax deduction), but it was so hard to find the car sans mark-up, I didn't want to chance it.


-- Frank

Rancho Santa Margarita Honda in South Orange County (south of LOS ANGELES).
Started out #11 on 'list'. Offered deposit -- shot to #1. Got vin # 2 weeks ago and came in and wrote a contract. Not back from cruise yet, but I know the car isn't in yet. Looking at next week.....

Don

I called Bill Duron at the Fuller dealership in Chula Vista (San Diego area) and without me even asking about price, he told me they were selling at MSRP. So you don't have to jump through any hoops with them to get that amount, which is great. He told me they were expecting Opal Silver/Blue, White, and "Gray" (don't know if he means Galaxy or Magnetic) around the third week of November.

I'll be buying from other dealers that get the cars sooner but that information should be useful to people.

Just an update: I e-mailed John Reiner of 'Honda of Hollywood' and he said they were charging $3000 markup. So they can be crossed off the list of MSRP dealers, to say the least. I also drove to Carson Honda but they were charging $4000 markup!