I stopped on of my local Acura dealers today to pick up some small parts for Charlotte and of course I was immediately approached by members of the sales staff. They wanted to know if I wanted to trade Charlotte in for the new car. LOL. I politely told them no but did express my interest in the new car. I was ushered into one of the dealership's offices since they had "stuff" to tell me that wasn't publicly available yet. OK sure why not. We all know that the dealers are often the last ones to know the details of a new model but when I was told they had just gotten off a conference call with some guy from Acura named Mike. A quick smartphone search came up with the name Michael Accavitti, Acura's Senior VP & General Manager. (I didn't share my search result with them) In any case now they got my interest. Here is what they apparently gleaned from this alleged conference call:
1. When you put the car in "Race" mode, it initiates a built in timer that requires you to visit a dealership to have "race specific" fluids swapped into the car. Then once done "Racing" you must return to the dealership to have the street spec fluids replaced. When I asked which fluids (i.e. motor oil? brake fluid? transmission fluid? windshield washer? gasoline?) were actually replaced, they were clueless. I swear, you can't make this stuff up. It gets better..............
2. Apparently the online ordering system will allow the buyer to not only select comfort and trim items, but there will also be various powerplant and drivetrain options as well. Their takeaway was that the 6 cyl, twin turbo with electric front motors was not going to be offered at the base $150,000 entry price.
At this point my built in bullshit detector was going off like a Geiger Counter at Chernobyl. I told them the online configuration option that mattered most to me would probably not be available. That would of course be the option to badge the car as a Honda and not a damn Acura.
I found the conversation so entertaining that I am going to visit a bunch of Acura dealerships in the coming weeks and share the fun with everyone here.
I then politely informed them that the modern NSX owner has essentially genetically evolved to not go near a dealership for anything service related. Of course new converts to the brand might not be so well informed.They were all atwitter until I told them of my experience buying Charlotte in 2003 and I was not the exception but apparently the rule when it came to this issue: When I purchased Charlotte in 2003 as the fourth owner when she had only 70,000 miles on the clock, I inherited a file folder with every damn receipt associated with the car. These included numerous expensive visits to Acura dealerships for factory scheduled maintenance including valve clearance checks, fuel filters, air filters, etc.. etc.. All TSBs were accounted for as well. I was thrilled that the my NSX was fully documented since birth. When I brought her home, I took her to Mike Alcalde at MCA Motorsports in Miami for a thorough going over. In fact, I just dropped her off, handed him the keys and told him to call me in a couple of days after he did a full inspection. It wasn't even there a 1/2 day when Mike called me as said: "Hugh, didn't you tell me that this car had a fully documented service history with all recommended items properly taken care of at the dealership level?" I answered in the affirmative of course. Mike then told me the cold hard truth. Not a single factory nut was ever cracked on the car. The little yellow paint marks applied after a nut or bolt is torqued at the factory were all undisturbed. Meaning, the valve covers were never removed, the fuel filter was never removed, neither was the air cleaner. Apparently the only thing serviced on the car was the motor oil and filter. Thank God it's an NSX and after only 70,000 miles that is really the only thing that matters.
I hope you guys and gals in Marysville are reading this. You had better get your dealerships in shape to properly care for this new car. Better yet, don't let them near it. You should be contacting all of the 1st Gen NSX techs that now own their own shops. Larry Bastanza, Dwight Brady, Nabil, Mike Alcalde, etc etc etc and offer them the opportunity to be factory authorized service outlets for the new NSX. They won't fuck up the new car. Your current dealerships will fuck up the new car regardless of what technician just got a new certification from Honda. It's not the techs that are your problem, it's the damn dealership owners who will cut any corner to make a profit. You guys know EXACTLY what I'm talking about. They're not called "Stealerships" for nothing.
Cheers and Up The Irons! \m/
Hugh
1. When you put the car in "Race" mode, it initiates a built in timer that requires you to visit a dealership to have "race specific" fluids swapped into the car. Then once done "Racing" you must return to the dealership to have the street spec fluids replaced. When I asked which fluids (i.e. motor oil? brake fluid? transmission fluid? windshield washer? gasoline?) were actually replaced, they were clueless. I swear, you can't make this stuff up. It gets better..............
2. Apparently the online ordering system will allow the buyer to not only select comfort and trim items, but there will also be various powerplant and drivetrain options as well. Their takeaway was that the 6 cyl, twin turbo with electric front motors was not going to be offered at the base $150,000 entry price.
At this point my built in bullshit detector was going off like a Geiger Counter at Chernobyl. I told them the online configuration option that mattered most to me would probably not be available. That would of course be the option to badge the car as a Honda and not a damn Acura.
I found the conversation so entertaining that I am going to visit a bunch of Acura dealerships in the coming weeks and share the fun with everyone here.
I then politely informed them that the modern NSX owner has essentially genetically evolved to not go near a dealership for anything service related. Of course new converts to the brand might not be so well informed.They were all atwitter until I told them of my experience buying Charlotte in 2003 and I was not the exception but apparently the rule when it came to this issue: When I purchased Charlotte in 2003 as the fourth owner when she had only 70,000 miles on the clock, I inherited a file folder with every damn receipt associated with the car. These included numerous expensive visits to Acura dealerships for factory scheduled maintenance including valve clearance checks, fuel filters, air filters, etc.. etc.. All TSBs were accounted for as well. I was thrilled that the my NSX was fully documented since birth. When I brought her home, I took her to Mike Alcalde at MCA Motorsports in Miami for a thorough going over. In fact, I just dropped her off, handed him the keys and told him to call me in a couple of days after he did a full inspection. It wasn't even there a 1/2 day when Mike called me as said: "Hugh, didn't you tell me that this car had a fully documented service history with all recommended items properly taken care of at the dealership level?" I answered in the affirmative of course. Mike then told me the cold hard truth. Not a single factory nut was ever cracked on the car. The little yellow paint marks applied after a nut or bolt is torqued at the factory were all undisturbed. Meaning, the valve covers were never removed, the fuel filter was never removed, neither was the air cleaner. Apparently the only thing serviced on the car was the motor oil and filter. Thank God it's an NSX and after only 70,000 miles that is really the only thing that matters.
I hope you guys and gals in Marysville are reading this. You had better get your dealerships in shape to properly care for this new car. Better yet, don't let them near it. You should be contacting all of the 1st Gen NSX techs that now own their own shops. Larry Bastanza, Dwight Brady, Nabil, Mike Alcalde, etc etc etc and offer them the opportunity to be factory authorized service outlets for the new NSX. They won't fuck up the new car. Your current dealerships will fuck up the new car regardless of what technician just got a new certification from Honda. It's not the techs that are your problem, it's the damn dealership owners who will cut any corner to make a profit. You guys know EXACTLY what I'm talking about. They're not called "Stealerships" for nothing.
Cheers and Up The Irons! \m/
Hugh
