Good time to buy a generator?

[RLemmens]

I was just wondering when you can get the best deal on a generator. I'm looking for a honda eu6500is or the yamaha 6300. What time of year do they usually go on sale? What's a reasonable price to pay?

[Jammer]

There's no real seasonality to the prices, that I've seen. However, you would want to wait until inventories return to normal levels following Hurricane Sandy. That will probably take a couple of months.

In most cases people get smaller, quieter generators than the ones you're considering.

[TBRich]

Welcome to the Forums...

I agree that there's no real "best season" for buying generators, aside from avoiding times of natural disasters.

The Honda eu6500is retails for $4500 from Honda.. about $4200 from online dealers. But that's a LOT of generator ... and heavy ... 260 lbs dry. Is there a particular reason you are looking for one that big?

[Skater]

They do come on sale from time to time, but it seems like Wise Sales seems to have a decent price year-round. Personally my biggest recommendation on "when" is: "Before you need it."

[AWCHIEF]

They are usually always $50 off at CampingWorld or if you are Amazon Prime member the prices are about the same with posibility of free shipping and depending on the state it is going to no tax.

[westernviews]

Mayberrys (Mayberrys.com - your #1 source for power equipment information and specifications on the web. We offer equipment by Honda, Echo, Simplicity & Little Wonder. Our product line includes generators, snowblowers, edgers, blowers, tillers, lawn mowers, wat) has had good prices on Honda generators in the past, with free delivery. They are located in New Jersey, however, and are not taking web orders currently.

[Phoenix]

Watch for Internet ads for free shipping as the holidays approach. (Generators are heavy, so this can be a significant savings if you don't have to pay shipping cost.)

[Wayne&Sam]

I agree with TBRich- that's a big generator. I ran the essential systems of my whole house with a Honda 5000 for the past week, thanks to Sandy.

[F450Harley]

Originally Posted by RLemmens

I was just wondering when you can get the best deal on a generator. I'm looking for a honda eu6500is or the yamaha 6300. What time of year do they usually go on sale? What's a reasonable price to pay?

Go on Ebay or join GoodSam / cosco or any other price cutters:

I have the Eu6500is and is as quiet as the smaller EU2000is (about 60 decibel) but whispers under heavy load while other smaller ones (EU 2000is / 3500is) get louder with more loads like aircondition, microwave and hair blower whenever your spouse decides to pretty up. Heavy but last longer, no add on accessories/cost (comes with remote start, bat, charger ...) and adequate for home load requirements as well. It saved me a lot of money with rest of mind during this last Sandy episode in NY. Neighbors had to take shelter at hotels and a lot of thier food went bad.
If you don't have a pick up as TV, it is almost impossible to haul around, I leave mine on my pickup bed all the time and run the cable to my AS while camping. Whenever other campers want to share power, we jointly unload and load the beast. Best of luck with your choice.

[Travel Bird]

We are looking for a generator too and were told to get a Honda 2000. Open for any advise!!!

[RLemmens]

Thanks everyone,
It's nice that these forums are so helpful. You all give helpful and sincere advice which is greatly appreciated. A couple reasons for the bigger generator have already been stated, for me a quiet honda 6500 or yamaha 6300 seems to be a better option than the smaller ones. We have power outages at the house so it'll be helpful to have the extra power, plus I wasn't too impressed by the 3000i honda. I'm 25 so I don't consider the weight of the bigger generators as a huge disadvantage. I know the honda is $3999 plus tax at camping world. The yamaha and honda are similar other than that the yamaha is a little lighter. Anyone else have a preference one way or the other?

[Lumatic]

I got a good price and quick shipment from Wise Equipment Sales. 2 percent discount for check.

[Protagonist]

Originally Posted by Travel Bird

We are looking for a generator too and were told to get a Honda 2000. Open for any advise!!!

That's usually a good recommendation. Relatively lightweight, and one of the quietest on the market. Can be "ganged" together with a second one, with the right kit, to provide more power to support more appliances if you need more capacity later.

[TBRich]

We first bought the "Companion" model of the Honda eu2000i (it runs ~$100 more than a regular 2000 model) ... it has one regular household outlet and one 30-amp twist-n-turn female plug-in. You will need an inexpensive adapter to adapt the twist-n-turn to the accept the male end of your shore power cord. About 18 months later we bought a regular eu2000i so we could parallel them. A regular model has two household outlets and a 12v outlet...and you''ll need a 15-amp-to-30-amp adapter to connect the male end of your shore power cord to...

If you have two regular model Honda 2000s you need a parallel box kit to connect them .... but if you have two 2000 Hondas and one of them is the Companion model they are a lot easier to parallel with a simple set of cables (no box kit required).

[Lumatic]

Originally Posted by TBRich

We first bought the "Companion" model of the Honda eu2000i (it runs ~$100 more than a regular 2000 model) ... it has one regular household outlet and one 30-amp twist-n-turn female plug-in. You will need an inexpensive adapter to adapt the twist-n-turn to the accept the male end of your shore power cord. About 18 months later we bought a regular eu2000i so we could parallel them. A regular model has two household outlets and a 12v outlet...and you''ll need a 15-amp-to-30-amp adapter to connect the male end of your shore power cord to...

If you have two regular model Honda 2000s you need a parallel box kit to connect them .... but if you have two 2000 Hondas and one of them is the Companion model they are a lot easier to parallel with a simple set of cables (no box kit required).

And cheaper. No parallel box which if I remember is about $150

[robert@honda]

Honda typically runs a national promotion for Black Friday with a focus on generators. Inventory may be a little spotty in the Northeast (Sandy), but there are a lot of dealers who offer 48-state shipping.

If you buy a big unit like the EU6500is "still in the box" it's not too much effort to assemble. Everything bolts on with metric wrenches / sockets, and the battery is a sealed, charged-from-the-factory design.

Here's a link to find a dealer in your area. Ask about special prices or promotions for Black Friday and shop around. You may be able to save enough off the selling price to pay for shipping.

Honda Power Equipment - Find a dealer

-Robert@Honda
Caveat: I work for Honda, but the preceding is my opinion alone.