I was talking last night with a dealer - who after 2 hours of theatrics - finally offered a 2004 silver / Touring / Nav + tinted windows for 27K. It looks like an early vin (I think it was "0103XXX" for the last 7 digits) and had only 4 miles - I need to make a decision today. The MSRP looks like about 32K.

Thoughts? Worth the hassle of potentially having issues? Should I wait for 2005? I love the car - just struggling on which direction to go on this.

Right now people seem to be able to get 2-3k under invoice, which is about what they're offering you.

I don't know about the invoice, but look at the build date - if it's made on or after Nov 2003, the car shouldn't have any of the earlier problems.

I was talking last night with a dealer - who after 2 hours of theatrics - finally offered a 2004 silver / Touring / Nav + tinted windows for 27K. It looks like an early vin (I think it was "0103XXX" for the last 7 digits) and had only 4 miles - I need to make a decision today. The MSRP looks like about 32K.

Thoughts? Worth the hassle of potentially having issues? Should I wait for 2005? I love the car - just struggling on which direction to go on this.
Wow, that's a great deal -- about $2,400 below invoice. I'd take it. Make sure they do the M flash first, and you'll be all set.

Time to jump...that deal sounds good to me. Have you Kbb'd the car with the spec they are offering you to ensure the "below invoice price"? I have a very early 2004, mine have a build date od July '03. The car has given me ZERO issues outside of the normal TSB's etc.

www.kbb.com

- Irish :cool:

Oh yeah... Lease or Purchase?

- Irish :cool:

I would be purchasing the car - not leasing. I saw the invoice - the dealer also showed me the holdback... and I believe there is an additional 1K in rebate to the dealer until end of month. If I recall all of the numbers it was about 32K flat retail -> 29.4K invoice -> 27K flat offer to walk with the car (and that included after market window tinting)

Seemed to be an awesome deal - I just got a call from the dealer asking when I was coming in- they really want to move the 2004s.

I would be purchasing the car - not leasing. I saw the invoice - the dealer also showed me the holdback... and I believe there is an additional 1K in rebate to the dealer until end of month. If I recall all of the numbers it was about 32K flat retail -> 29.4K invoice -> 27K flat offer to walk with the car (and that included after market window tinting)

Seemed to be an awesome deal - I just got a call from the dealer asking when I was coming in- they really want to move the 2004s.

Go for it Kess.....let us know when you get it.

- Irish :cool:

It appears to be luck of the draw. If your car happens to be one of the earlier builds that has the poor gas mileage (12 mpg no matter how you drive it), you're not going to be happy. Not all of the earlier cars have it, but those that do, there is no fix for it that I'm aware of.

I have a Aug 03 build date and have had no problems, other than the standard TSB's, airbag harness, oil pan, shield, and of course the flash updates. Yours should already have all those things done, sometime ago actually. I'd jump on it for that price. And my mpg is 22-23 hwy, and 17-18 city.

Good luck,

I just talked to the dealer - this is a June 03 build. The MPG is a concern.

You simply can't pass up that deal. Go for it!

See if you can work out a deal that you get to try the car out on one tank of gas. That's all you'd need to know. Maybe even less... just top the tank up, drive down the highway, and fill it up again and calculate the mileage. As long as you're over 16 you should be okay.

My build date was Oct 03. I had them do the flash, ac tsb, etc. before pickup. Got it over 2K under invoice and so far so good. Its under warranty. If you want a 8 I think I would be hardpressed to buy an 05 when you can save so much damn money.

Bought the car tonite!!!! Awesome! Love it! I took your advice and talked the dealer into a "weekend test drive". I picked up the car saturday - and drove it all weekend (about 200 miles). My MPG for the trip was 18 mpg which was mostly highway. Went back to the dealer tonite and closed the deal.

Thanks for all of the advice - I guess I need to update my profile now to reflect my new owner status :)

wow, great! Enjoy the car.