Topic: A Message from Honda Canada - Buy Here!

[No H2O]

I just pulled this off another forum and had to 

http://www.hondacanadamedia.com/mcpe/eng

These poor souls! Could they not come up with anything better. I guess not, since the truth would hurt. To be fair, my 8 yo Honda CR-V has been very good to me, but not because I bought it up here. And in closing, I have to thank Honda NA and that dealer stateside for reasonable pricing; my Honda parts savings paid for just over 2/3 of my airline ticket to Europe next summer. A big thanks goes to them  !

In case the URL goes dead, here is Honda Canada's message to "my fellow Canadians"...

Why Do Canadian-Specification Honda Motorcycles, ATVs and Power Equipment Products Make Good Sense for Canadian Consumers?

Honda Canada is committed to providing the best motorcycles, ATVs and power equipment for all Canadians with Canadian-specific features and dedicated service to provide peace of mind throughout the entire ownership experience. All Honda products are engineered and manufactured to provide the utmost in quality and reliability for Canadians. In addition, Canadian-specification Honda products may also include safety and special climate-related features that are not available on vehicles built for sale in the United States and elsewhere.

Why Buy From a Canadian Honda Dealer?

The following are some of the benefits of buying or leasing Canadian-specification Honda products from a Canadian Honda dealer:

Financing and leasing options, not available for U.S.-specification Honda products purchased in the U.S. for importation by Canadian residents.

Canadian warranty coverage, which does not cover U.S.-specification products purchased in the U.S. for importation into Canada.

Available Honda Plus coverage for extended warranty, which is not available on U.S.-specification Honda products purchased in the U.S. for importation into Canada by Canadian residents.

Availability of 24-hour Roadside Assistance on new Canadian-specification Honda motorcycles.

Timely availability of replacement parts for all Canadian-specification Honda products.

Sales promotions and programs in Canada.

Canadian-specific climate-related parts, which may include such items as heated breather hoses to reduce winter ice-up.

Canadian-specific safety items such as CSA certified components on Generators and conspicuity enhancing reflectors on off-road models. The Canadian-specification Honda Goldwing is equipped with a satellite navigation system that incorporates fully French-Canadian voice guidance, mapping and controls.

Canadian-specification products are equipped with labeling that accommodates the metric system and bi-lingual labeling requirements.

Canadian-specification generators comply with CSA standards, and certain models have technology specifically aimed at improving cold-weather operation and durability.

[quadzilla]

I wonder why they think the USA is so much warmer than Canada 

[No H2O]

I wonder why they think the USA is so much warmer than Canada 

Good point. I guess they haven't been to Minnesota.

[Trainman]

....and certain models have technology specifically aimed at improving cold-weather operation and durability.

Are they like Toyota were block heaters are optional?    

[sailor723]

Either they scammed their "reasons" off of the Toyota and Lexus websites or vice versa. In any event....pretty lame. If that's the best their marketing/spin doctors can come up with I think they better start looking for new jobs

[Accordingly]

Gosh, I just don't know how I'd be able to cope with with m.p.h. on the speedo and an English-only owner's manual. Keep trying, guys 

[gord_boyd]

Mr. H. Kobayashi
President, Honda Canada

Dear Sir:
I am assuming feedback of these threads eventually get summarized to you and Mr. R. Chong, Customer Relations Manager, Honda Canada.

How long can you hold out before Honda is hurt severely in relations with Canadian public?  Now you are being accused of deliberately delaying Riv.ca listing 2008 models.  This manipulation must come under the scrutiny of all levels of government because it is against the rights of Canadian Consumers.  Denial of the strength of the Canadian dollar in order to profit seems counter to stated goals for a cooperative relationship with Canadian Society--particularly where you have manufacturing/distributor and head office investments.  If there is no action on MSRP here, then it is incumbent on governments to pave the way for easier importation directly from your US dealer network and this is against your investment in years of goodwill here in Canada.

Just like Gladwell's book "The Tipping Point", we are fast getting to the point of permanent damage for the business model you are trying to protect.  Just look at 100+ pages of threads on direct importation on just the Edmunds.com site.  Look at the twenty fold increases at direct importing at border crossings.  Look at the senior banks' economists predictions for 2008 Canadian dollar at stronger than today's level
(eg: CIBC at 1.05).  If you do not act quickly, things will get worse by a huge magnitude.  The new reality is pricing at par on your MSRP both sides of the border.  Adjustments to leases/financings are small compared to where things would go with dealer bankruptcies.  

The astute buyers who are paving the way and who make it their sole purpose the break the system and share their knowledge have a tremendous incentive when policies deminish the Canadian public.
The brokers/new businesses for direct importation who get in early will get journalistic coverage with a feverish pace in the weeks to come.
The auto journalists themselves see the threat clearly and will increaseingly break with ranks and exploit the poor treatment of Canadians.  Certainly, the brand of Honda will go down hill in Canada.
And these are all consequences of management inaction.

We'll be watching your behaviour and not your statements (web sites included).  It is now time for policy change.  What kind of company tries to lord it over on Consumers about warranty coverage for such a product as a new car purchase.  I think governments now have to step in (if not the courts) and make warranty a responsibility, if you want to do business in Canada in the future.  We are talking about safety.  We are talking about trust.

Gord Boyd
Southampton, ON.

[safristi]

,,Bravo Boyd san......

[Cord]

We are talking about safety.  We are talking about trust.

We are talking about saving a lot of money.

[sailor723]

We are talking about safety.  We are talking about trust.

We are talking about saving a lot of money.

We are talking about fair business practises to build and maintain longterm customer relations as opposed to reaping windfall profits over the short term

[Cord]

Oh lighten up. If it weren't for the dollar savings, this issue wouldn't even be on anyone's radar. I can guarantee that nobody that posts here was the least bit concerned about fairness when American consumers were paying more a few years ago.

Safety. Trust. Fair business practices. Customer relations. Phhhht. That kind of talk is as obtuse and mealy mouthed as anything coming out of a corporate PR office.

See my sig, and call a spade a spade. Nobody has to feel embarrassed about wanting to save money.

[carcrazy]

Honda Canada is just adding insult to injury with this press release.

[2latecrew]

Actually I find they are being quite accurate. They said these are all reasons to buy in Canada. These are all things that to some degree people in Canada would be interested in.

What they were careful not to say was :These are the reasons that Honda canada charges X% more in Canada for an almost identical vehicle . They are quite careful not to postion it as a JUSTIFCATION for the price difference becuase they know it just wouldn't fly.

Particulary one like this:

A reason to buy in Canada is:
Sales promotions and programs in Canada.

Yes seems fair.

One reason why the Honda X cost 6 K more in Canada is
Sales promotions and programs in Canada that give you $500 off Honda accessories.

Not so good.

This is the reason why I get peeved about this. Its not that I don't understand  why they are keeping prices higher (becuase they can and i would do the same if i were in their positon). But I find the suggestion that it can be explained away or "justified' as anything toher than what it is insulting.

I know you can't say SUCKERS we are going to charge 10K more for an XYZ becuse we've frightened our US dealers into not selling to Canada or we deney warranty coverage. But don't try to say we charge 10K more so that you can have a Warranty that clearly doesn't cost 10K more in Canada than US or becuase you get KPH on your speedometer. We all know its .

Better to just say nothing at all.

There is no "explanation" for why cars cost more here other than the truth. Becuase they can get away with it. Even the "wll you can't finance it in the US you have to pay cash" argument doesn't fly. its not an explanation wyy a Legacy cost 10K more here. You don't offer a 10K discount to people who pay cash. Its a reason why people can't afford to buy in the US (becuase they can't  get financing through their bank) but it doesn't explain the cost difference.


Its all a diversion to keep people from asking the question that no one wants to know the answer to.

Why do you carge so much more  in canada..becuase we can.  

[Careener]

Mr. H. Kobayashi
President, Honda Canada

Dear Sir:
I am assuming feedback of these threads eventually get summarized to you and Mr. R. Chong, Customer Relations Manager, Honda Canada.

How long can you hold out before Honda is hurt severely in relations with Canadian public?  Now you are being accused of deliberately delaying Riv.ca listing 2008 models.  This manipulation must come under the scrutiny of all levels of government because it is against the rights of Canadian Consumers.  Denial of the strength of the Canadian dollar in order to profit seems counter to stated goals for a cooperative relationship with Canadian Society--particularly where you have manufacturing/distributor and head office investments.  If there is no action on MSRP here, then it is incumbent on governments to pave the way for easier importation directly from your US dealer network and this is against your investment in years of goodwill here in Canada.

Just like Gladwell's book "The Tipping Point", we are fast getting to the point of permanent damage for the business model you are trying to protect.  Just look at 100+ pages of threads on direct importation on just the Edmunds.com site.  Look at the twenty fold increases at direct importing at border crossings.  Look at the senior banks' economists predictions for 2008 Canadian dollar at stronger than today's level
(eg: CIBC at 1.05).  If you do not act quickly, things will get worse by a huge magnitude.  The new reality is pricing at par on your MSRP both sides of the border.  Adjustments to leases/financings are small compared to where things would go with dealer bankruptcies.  

The astute buyers who are paving the way and who make it their sole purpose the break the system and share their knowledge have a tremendous incentive when policies deminish the Canadian public.
The brokers/new businesses for direct importation who get in early will get journalistic coverage with a feverish pace in the weeks to come.
The auto journalists themselves see the threat clearly and will increaseingly break with ranks and exploit the poor treatment of Canadians.  Certainly, the brand of Honda will go down hill in Canada.
And these are all consequences of management inaction.

We'll be watching your behaviour and not your statements (web sites included).  It is now time for policy change.  What kind of company tries to lord it over on Consumers about warranty coverage for such a product as a new car purchase.  I think governments now have to step in (if not the courts) and make warranty a responsibility, if you want to do business in Canada in the future.  We are talking about safety.  We are talking about trust.

Gord Boyd
Southampton, ON.

You should buld a website to have others "sign" your letter.

[No H2O]

Although it is often preferable to talk to a "live" person and Honda Canada does have a toll free number, there are times when I'd sooner send them an e-mail.

Unfortunately, they don't list any e-mail addresses under their "Contacts"...I can undertand why.

[carcrazy]

Send them a letter. Address it to the President.

[safristi]

  MISSION ACCOMPLISHED.................

[ktm525]

Does this mean that Canadian sold Hondas don't have warranty coverage in the USA? Comforting if taking a newer Honda on a road trip down south.

[The Mighty Duck]

Does this mean that Canadian sold Hondas don't have warranty coverage in the USA? Comforting if taking a newer Honda on a road trip down south.

I think if it was on Canadian plates, and properly registered, they would service it.  Once it's been exported is another matter.  But still, a situation I would rather avoid.  Who knows what might happen...?

[2latecrew]

Does anyone really think Honda (or Honda Canada) gives a flying about letters from people?

Its the same thing I've said before and I'll say it again. Manufactures will olnly change prices if  Canadian dealers lose enough sales to hurt them and force them to action. End of story. As we can see in many cases that action is to scare US dealers or deny warranty coverage.

The government can't control their pricing, nor can they control their warranty coverage or the internal sancioning of US dealers who sell to canadians. Companies in many markets give their dealers a "protected" territory. When my family was in the bottling business Pepsi Canada took action against an ontario bottler for shipping (dumping excess product) into the Nova Scotia market. Everyone had a territory. you got to sell within it. it was part of the franchise fees you paid.

I wish it were different. I'd be happy if it were but the facts are that letters like this end up in the shredder. They don't mean anything.

I'm glad if it makes you feel better but lets not pretend that it will change anything if they get 1 or 1,000,000 letters. If Canadian dealer owners don't present a case for lost sales nothing will happen. The chances of them reducing prices as a reaction vs preventing importing is about 0 (IMO).