Dealership Reviews - Honda

Dealership Review - Honda

I actually dealt with Honda before I bought my Pilot. About 4 or 5 years before the Pilot I bought a horrible used Ford Windstar from the local Honda dealership. You can look at my post on my vehicle history if you want any details on the Windstar but suffice is to say it was a horrible vehicle I have basically blocked from my memory.

So about 4 years ago I wandered into Honda looking to upsize from my Saturn, which was a decent vehicle but a wanted a larger SUV type vehicle, just like everyone else in the North America at the time. The only other vehicle I can remember looking at was the Saturn Outlook, which did seem like a nice vehicle…. But it was no Honda Pilot. The third row of seats was really appealing, my three boys were 5, 8 and 11 at the time so sitting them all next to each other in the back seat was not a fun time for any of us. I figured the Pilot would be too expensive but we went to check it out anyways.

The dealership has one of the smaller showrooms of all major dealers, actually probably the smallest now. Standard set up, manager’s office on one side with a good view of the whole area with salespeople offices scattered along the walls (no cubicle dwellers here). I asked the receptionist to see a sales person and a sales person appeared. I have heard a couple of people complain that they were not served in a timely manner at Honda which turned them off, but normally I just ask to see someone if I want to see someone rather than waiting.

Anyway salesperson was very nice, I asked what they had in Pilots and at the time they had a 2.9% lease rate on 2007s but the only black 2007 remaining was a demo. I like Honda because when you ask what they have in stock they look up their stock in the computer and show you exactly what they have…. No visits to the manager’s office…. No I think I haves…… They show you on the spot what they have and how much they cost. If there is a model you like they print out details of the vehicle, and details of exactly what is included in the payments. No cloak and dagger, no hidden costs, just details on what you will be paying including interest and taxes. Very simple and very customer oriented.

Once I saw the Pilot of course I knew I had to have it, so off to the Finance guys office we went. Since it was a demo they dropped a few thousand dollars off the price and in what I thought was a nice gesture offered an extra set of headphones for the dvd player since I had 3 kids but only 2 sets came included. So we went through the standard routine of do I want extended warranty or undercoating etc… but with no pressure at all and I answered no thank you as usual.

So in short order I was out the door as the proud owner on my new Honda Pilot. When I came back in for my first oil change the finance guy (who was driving the demo before I bought it) paid for my oil change and even (unknowingly I think) paid for a San Gen club membership that gave me 10 free oil changes. I was considering getting the San Gen so they were going to bill me for it, he said he would pay the bill so whether he knew it or not (I figure he had to know) he bought me a San Gen club membership.

I could not have asked for anything better in my buying experience at Honda. Sales guy was straight forward and honest, no 1970’s sales pitches. Over the years I have sent emails asking about pricing on other vehicles for my other family members and they are always responsive. The DVD player broke (it was not a dealer installed item) and they arranged for a new one no problem. I would say Honda gets an A+ from me for overall sales quality. They could use a bigger showroom maybe but that’s about it. I just wish they had some nice looking vehicles to replace my Pilot with…….