What is going on with these dealerships...Honda lost a real customer

Craigy said:

Wow!!!

Did this guy know you had a deposit in?

I don't understand that mentality at all. I can understand wanting to keep the delivery miles down, but really are they advertising these things as "only two butts have ever been in the seat?"

On the flipside McLaren will let you plop your ass in a 570, 650 all day, every day. Only time I've seen a car off-limits was a customer-owned car. They actually want to sell you a car I suppose.

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Yes absolutely he knew. This is the dealership where Acura hosted the NSX presentation.
Acura knows them very well, it was unreal how rude their top salesman and general manager were.

EuroBoutique said:

Part of the problem here is a Lambo or other exotic dealer has a general expectation that people who go in there know what they are getting. With the Acura dealership, it's a hit or miss similar to Nissan.

However if you were to compare apples to apples, when Lexus had their LF-A in the showroom, you can bet it was locked and only select people can sit in the car. Same goes for the 918 an other exclusive cars.

Acura does have work to be done in the customer service area. But I think part of the fault comes from the training they receive. It's not them making the rules but the big boss. So you can't fault them for just obeying what they are being taught. It's a fine line between making exceptions and who gets to do what.

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Exactly. Going to a Ferrari/McLaren/Lamborghini/Bentley/Rolls Royce/etc dealer, there's a certain air about. It's almost an unwritten rule that you're not going to take your kids and let them run around pawing at whatever. The average lookee loo tire kicker doesn't just stumble in from the street to waste time when everything for sale costs more than the median price for a house. Tough to maintain the same atomospere when you park a $200k supercar next to a $40k SUV in the same showroom. You get people in there for the soccer mom ride and then ooh and ahh and want to poke around the NSX. Salesmen become less of sales specialists and more security guards.

And yes, we were taught to limit who touches the car. The seat bolster gets wrinkled and that could be all the same as someone seeing the car with 60 miles on it already. It's used. I want a new one or I want a fat discount off this one.

GM_FFX said:

Yes absolutely he knew. This is the dealership where Acura hosted the NSX presentation.
Acura knows them very well, it was unreal how rude their top salesman and general manager were.

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Sorry you got treated this way. But I gotta say the more stories I hear like this, the more I know that my team is very much above the bar.

Like I said, we were told to limit contact. But a waitlisted customer absolutely gets touch the damn car. Unless that particular car is sold and is awaiting pickup. In which case it shouldn't even be displayed.

Stories of dealer maltreatment of customers, particularly of someone on a waitlist, is not good to hear.

However from the dealers point of view I'm sure they get lots of people in showroom who are not qualified buyers, want to test drive, want to sit in, and end up putting fingerprints all over NSX's.
Must be frustrating for the dealers trying to keep their inventory in pristine shape for the few qualified buyers out there that want an NSX and want it factory fresh.

This thread was started by a buyer who wanted a Nord Grey NSX with steel brakes.
He couldn't afford to buy one outright nor could he afford to pay the offered Acura lease.
No surprise that no dealerships wanted to use an allocation for a car a customer couldn't afford, particularly in a low volume color.
Still he wanted to sit in a new one he wasn't going to buy, and wanted a test drive as well.
When five different dealers did not want to accommodate an unqualified buyer the OP got upset, wrote letters to Honda, posted here, and so on.

I suppose there's another forum somewhere with dealerships as members they have an equal number of stories of maltreatment by customers.
Stories of bending over backwards for someone who then buys elsewhere to save a few bucks.

The car business is tough on buyers and sellers.
For the most part we're lucky that we're all treated pretty well in the end.

JD Cross said:

This thread was started by a buyer who wanted a Nord Grey NSX with steel brakes.
He couldn't afford to buy one outright nor could he afford to pay the offered Acura lease.
No surprise that no dealerships wanted to use an allocation for a car a customer couldn't afford, particularly in a low volume color.
Still he wanted to sit in a new one he wasn't going to buy, and wanted a test drive as well.
When five different dealers did not want to accommodate an unqualified buyer the OP got upset, wrote letters to Honda, posted here, and so on.

I suppose there's another forum somewhere with dealerships as members they have an equal number of stories of maltreatment by customers.
Stories of bending over backwards for someone who then buys elsewhere to save a few bucks.

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You are wrong.... it was to save nearly $15,000. NOT a few dollars.

Yes I could have purchased the nord grey but I lease due to some nice write offs during tax time. Your interpretation of what I communicated is off and misjudged. Acura and Honda financial are taking a wrong turn here. Just accept it or continue to turn a blind eye to it.



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Wow yet another post trying to disparage the OP like he couldn't afford the car. If the guy can purchase an R8 I'm sure he can swing an NSX. Some really thin-skinned guys in here. Shame.

Craigy said:

Wow yet another post trying to disparage the OP like he couldn't afford the car. If the guy can purchase an R8 I'm sure he can swing an NSX. Some really thin-skinned guys in here. Shame.

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Totally agree

Lots of die hard Honda people here. Even when they get treated like shit. That is the big shame. Esprit9 went for the best option of what he wanted at the best price. Welcome to capitalism people!

Jinks said:

Lots of die hard Honda people here. Even when they get treated like shit. That is the big shame. Esprit9 went for the best option of what he wanted at the best price. Welcome to capitalism people!

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The point I'm trying to make and being critiqued for has nothing to do with the OP buying an R8, nor saving money etc.
It's about someone posting a rant about 5 Acura dealers and Honda Corp victimizing that person and his wife, and being the sole reason for him not buying an NSX.
It wasn't the whole story and as the facts have come out subsequent to the original post we can see there was a lot more issues involved.
All I'm saying is blast Honda if you like, buy a Rolls Royce if you like, but portraying yourself as a victim when you're shopping for a $180K plus car???

I get your point totally Jim. But what exactly are you implying? That he should have never posted about how he a bad experience? Should his mouth be duct taped shut because it doesn't agree with you? You know I respect what you say, I just find this whole topic to be ridiculous. The man had a terrible buying experience, which left a bad taste in his mouth, and made him hunger for a R8. Pretty much the end of the story. This forum should not persecute him for saying so.

I think it is great he got the deal he wanted and was treated the way he wanted. Unfortunately this did not come from snobbish Acura dealers...

Jinks said:

I get your point totally Jim. But what exactly are you implying? That he should have never posted about how he a bad experience? Should his mouth be duct taped shut because it doesn't agree with you? You know I respect what you say, I just find this whole topic to be ridiculous. The man had a terrible buying experience, which left a bad taste in his mouth, and made him hunger for a R8. Pretty much the end of the story. This forum should not persecute him for saying so. I think it is great he got the deal he wanted and was treated the way he wanted. Unfortunately this did not come from snobbish Acura dealers...

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Jinks, only suggesting that the OP, while having a bad experience with some of the Acura dealers, could have stated that the real issue was a non-competitive lease from Honda Co.
That's all.

JD Cross said:

Jinks, only suggesting that the OP, while having a bad experience with some of the Acura dealers, could have stated that the real issue was a non-competitive lease from Honda Co.
That's all.

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If I could offer those numbers on a NSX lease, I could probably piss on a customer and they'd still happily sign the contract.

Still just utterly amazed at that money factor and resisdual he got.

JD Cross said:

Jinks, only suggesting that the OP, while having a bad experience with some of the Acura dealers, could have stated that the real issue was a non-competitive lease from Honda Co.
That's all.

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But that leasing issue most likely would have never come into play if he was able to order what he wanted. It was only the final blow in the lost sale.

MasterNSXTech said:

If I could offer those numbers on a NSX lease, I could probably piss on a customer and they'd still happily sign the contract.

Still just utterly amazed at that money factor and resisdual he got.

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It's what VW and their offshoots have to do, after proving that they are no more than corporate felons.

Jinks said:

But that leasing issue most likely would have never come into play if he was able to order what he wanted. It was only the final blow in the lost sale.

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Wasn't going to happen in that color. Not in California. No dealer would've taken the risk that he wouldn't back out after they FIF locked on the order. Another state where they could legally keep his deposit, he'd have stood a much better chance of making it happen.

As far as I know, Seinfeld who got his car for free, has the only Nord Grey cars that's been delivered.

Jinks said:

But that leasing issue most likely would have never come into play if he was able to order what he wanted. It was only the final blow in the lost sale.

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The real story is the OP wanted a special order Nord Grey with steel brakes.
Could only be special ordered as of January.
Didn't find the Honda financing package acceptable.
With no financing couldn't order the NSX and bought elsewhere.
And BTW the dealerships could have treated him better!

Guys, in California deposits are really hard to make non refundable so a dealer willl always be cautious ordering a car for a customer he doesn't know that he thinks will be hard to sell if he backs out. Not an bash on th OP at all, but a dealer will be extra cautious if the buyer seems to have a narrow window of finance/lease terms that will work for him. Just another risk factor that things won't work out in the end.

Yet another unintended consequence of our paternalistic legal system in CA. It would be better for OP if he could simply agree to a nonrefundable deposit sufficient to make dealer comfotabl that if buyer walked, dealer would b covered.

I'm gonna agree with JD, as his post reflects mine. The point is regardless of customer service, the buyer is going to buy based on how they feel, not exactly on how well they were treated.

N Spec said:

I'm gonna agree with JD, as his post reflects mine. The point is regardless of customer service, the buyer is going to buy based on how they feel, not exactly on how well they were treated.

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+1

Customer service is important in any sale (from a high end purse to a simple flat panel TV). However if a customer likes the product they will just source it elsewhere. When spending big amounts of money, it's usually a luxury purchase that is not a necessity. In these cases, it's always an emotional purchase justified by how it makes us feel.

Ferrari understands this very well as do most exotic car companies. Buyers in this price range are generally not worried about budget and more interested in how it will make them feel. Customer service is important, just step into any Ferrari dealer. However if one dealer does not treat the customer correct, they will simply go to a different dealer who would be more than willing to help out.

We are lucky that we have such a great local McLaren and Lamborghini / Ferrari dealerships. We know all of the GM's personally and they go out of their way to ensure each customer we refer gets the red carpet treatment. Test drives are not an issue since they know our referrals have the ability to buy and serious. As long as you show the dealer respect and not waste their time with joy rides, they will respond positively.

Acura dealers have to learn to pick out who the serious buyers are and unfortunately it's MUCH harder at an Acura dealerships since the customer walking in could be buying an ILX first time buyer or could be the $200k NSX buyer. Exotic car dealers do not have this problem since all of their cars are over $200k in most cases!


Happy Friday!

MasterNSXTech said:

American Honda really made it clear that this is a special car and the customers will be extra critical about things like excessive miles. Some dealers are not even test driving the car at PDI just to avoid tacking a few more miles on the clock. Let's face it, this isn't some MDX where people are more concerned about how much room is in the back seat. The power is a big selling point. So if allow the car to be test driven it's pretty much a foregone conclusion that whoever drives it is going to lay into to the throttle. For. Sure. And everyone knows it. Let a few people drive it and now all of a sudden, this car has 20-30 miles on it. Now we have a used car. A car with 30 miles that everyone knows were not the most gentle miles. This becomes a point of contention and now maybe the customer feels that the car is no longer worth full price. This is why an "open box" tv has a discount at Best Buy. Except the NSX isn't a 50" flatscreen with a $50 discount...this "open box" could cost the store $5k or maybe more.

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I think this sums is up in the best way.
Test drives
Why letting buyers doing test-drives at all? People who are in the market for such an expensive 'tool' can afford such an expenditure (financed or not) every two years. I 'virtually' test-drove the car by the overwheelming amount of test-videos you find on the internet. If I was a dealer I would persist on the potential buyer to actually buy it if he wants a test-drive. A new car attracts new customers. Touch job for the dealer to find out who is actually serious about buying one or just a loser wasting the dealers time. For a never-seen-before customer it helps a lot to signalise or convince the dealer that he is willing and capable to buy the car. I guess that was not the case Esprit9 experienced. No offense.
As a dealer I know that the car is good and if it doesn't fit my customer needs it's his fault and not the one of the poor car. If he doesn't like it after some time he owned (and paid!) it I would be glad to sell him another car. Period. It's an arrogant of an attitude but that's who it goes with German bread and butters cars in Germany. 'Test-drives at VW? No thanks, as a dealer we know how good our cars are.' Dealers love cash-cows not chatterboxes.

Letting them sit in it
A buyer should have the opportunity to sit in it before he buys the car. Leather can be protected, no problem. But if the leather is so easily damaged I wonder who the interior looks like if it has been used by only one owner after some time.

I'm not in the market for the new NSX, I have my eyes on a CTR (the one you didn't get in the US).
In my country, 70 'new' cars for sale at the moment, most of them sat for over a year by now on the dealers lot. By the mid of 2017 you have the same scenario with unsold NSX in the US too.
From these 70 CTR, 30 of them have test miles of between 500 and 3000 miles on them. 500 miles are about 20 different people giving it a go. Test drivers are allowed to drive them without a salesman in the pass seat.
40 of 70 are at zero miles.
List price 40k. Due to the oversupply some dealers lowered the price to 36k for one of the 40 zero-milers. The ones with the test-miles on them are only 34-35k. Which one would you buy? By the end of the year the new CTR arrives (the one you also get in the US)...guess what? It will be a massacre...