Topic: A Honda Salesperson's Perspective in Alberta

[99 Silver]

I picked this up elsewhere.  I think he is pretty close to the truth.

Here in the Oil Rich Province of Alberta, Canada, I have been selling Honda cars for 13 years.  It has dismayed me over the years to see how little importance the buying public has placed on purchasing high quality, efficient vehicles.  Competitively, it has been challenging to show that they're not receiving equivalent value for their money by purchasing domestic vehicles, since every time we make head way, some unbelievable financing program or a new cover on an old dog of an engine sends some of these sheep back to be fleeced again.  Year after year, I wondered   "How long can these manufacturers keep this up?"  From the feeble quality and engineering of the 80's, the incredible mediocrity of the '90's vehicles, the unrealistic lease residuals and interest rates of the new millenium,  to finally convincing buyers that 6000 lb. 4-wheel-drive, 4 door pickups make great commuter vehicles, the Big 3 have finally totally replaced engineering and great products with marketing, advertising, hype and .  The bad part is, had the MBA's at the helm of these Titanics taken their heads out of each others butts 10 or even 5 years ago, closed a few plants, rid their line-ups of lame products, shed a few employees, and admitted they were doiing a terrible job and had to improve, they might be in a position to compete.  But they didn't, and they aren't.  Worse, because they have in the past been such an important contributor to the economic health and wealth of North America, their ignorance and arrogance has now effected an economic decline that will be felt by all.  If you think a meltdown can't happen, the British Motorcycle Industry went from number 1 to non-existent in about 15 years.   I fear the same is happening to the North American Auto Industry.  Shame on You, General Motors. Shame on You, Ford. Shame on You, Chrysler.

And Buzz, you are about to be found out for who you really are by the people who pay your wages.  If I were you, I would get plastic surgery and change my name.

Medicine Hat Alberta

[Zoo]

Quite the rant!

Ford was smart (or lucky) to get involved with Mazda. They have a nice Fusion and access to their European Ford products if they wish to bring them over. I wonder how the Fiesta will fare against the Fit, Yaris, Versa etc?

G.M. is showing some signs of life. The new Malibu is an amazing product for them. Hopefully they will revamp the Cobalt so that it can compete as well as the Malibu does against the Accord, Camry etc.

I wonder where Chrysler is in all this? After MB jumped ship all I see are some new crossovers. RWD V-8s aren't going to sell as well with fuel prices jumping so much. Their FWD cars seem like rental fleet filler baseed on my test drives. Maybe they can put some more engineering time into them.

I see some positive things with both Ford and G.M. I wonder what we will see from Chrysler in the coming years?

[xviper]

I picked this up elsewhere.  I think he is pretty close to the truth.
Shame on You, General Motors. Shame on You, Ford. Shame on You, Chrysler.

Many times, the things we do eventually come back and bite us in the ass.  I've turned my back on the "big 3" some time ago for what they've done to the buying public.  Don't care how well they make amends.  Some bridges can't be repaired.
On a similar note:  Honda salesmen have been riding the crest of a wave for a while now and many have gotten complacent and arrogant thinking their customers are "privileged" to be able to buy a car from them.  Watch out!  THAT will come back and bite you in the ass, too.

[Allen]

I've turned my back on the "big 3" some time ago for what they've done to the buying public.  Don't care how well they make amends.  Some bridges can't be repaired.

As did I, I can't see myself ever going back 

[Sir Osis of Liver]

I don't hold grudges. I buy the best car that fits my current need/want. If Ford (or Toyota or Chev or Honda ) made a Fusion (Camry, Malibu, Accord) wagon, with a manual transmission, I would likely have bought it. Just not from the local Toyota dealer.

[xviper]

It's hard not to forget 10's of thousands of dollars of fast depreciation and shoddy workmanship.  Yeah, I hold a grudge when there's that kind of money involved.

[Sir Osis of Liver]

I also do my due diligence.

My brother had a Tercel whose engine was destroyed while crossing the country due to a faulty engine seal. My sister-in-law had to replace the transmission in her RAV4. Both sucked it up and moved on, and would buy a new Toyota if it suits their current need.

I had an 86 Toyota 1 Tonne, which was reliable, but the body pretty much dissolved once the paint had chipped. At 6 years old it was sold to a fellow that used it for parts. If I held a grudge there would have been a number of good cars from Toyota which I would not have purchased.

[xviper]

Not buying a "good" car from one of the big 3 is a chance I'm willing to take.  I won't reward any company for doing bad by me no matter how good their stuff becomes.  If I had been gooned the same way by an early Honda, I wouldn't be buying Honda today.  It's a matter of principle.  If you don't believe in principle, then that's not a problem for you then.
Even if the big 3 eventually make consistently good cars, they will still not be the only game in town.  I won't be missing out on anything.

Due diligence at the time of a new car purchase would not have discovered that faulty engine seal nor would it have found that bad transmission.  Those things just happen.  It's how the company handles the situation to make things right that matters.  In my own experience, the big 3 have always handled such things poorly.

[toolatecrew]

Instead of ranting this guy should be down on his knees giving thanks. If it were not for the ineptitude of the big 3 Honda wouldn't sell nearly as many cars with little or no discount, sky high finance rates and snotty sales people who think its a privlage to buy a Honda.

[xviper]

Instead of ranting this guy should be down on his knees giving thanks. If it were not for the ineptitude of the big 3 Honda wouldn't sell nearly as many cars with little or no discount, sky high finance rates and snotty sales people who think its a privlage to buy a Honda.

That's what I'm talking about.  I've walked into many a Honda dealers and not one salesman even approached me to ask if I needed any help.  And when I do find one who will talk to me, it's like they're doing ME the favour.  The big 3 were once like this.  Look at them now.

[1TSX]

I also do my due diligence.

My brother had a Tercel whose engine was destroyed while crossing the country due to a faulty engine seal. My sister-in-law had to replace the transmission in her RAV4. Both sucked it up and moved on, and would buy a new Toyota if it suits their current need.

I had an 86 Toyota 1 Tonne, which was reliable, but the body pretty much dissolved once the paint had chipped. At 6 years old it was sold to a fellow that used it for parts. If I held a grudge there would have been a number of good cars from Toyota which I would not have purchased.

Last summer, our 01' Accord's transmission had issues. Even though the car was 6.5 years old, Honda decided to replace the whole transmission - for free. Thats how companies keep their business.

We bought another Honda...the TSX. The 3rd child isn't though...just not a fan of the Civics in my price range.

[MKII]

Didn't Honda provide an extended warranty (7 years 160,000) for the faulty transmissions on 2000 - 2001 Honda Accord, Odyssey and Prelude?

[1TSX]

Didn't Honda provide an extended warranty (7 years 160,000) for the faulty transmissions on 2000 - 2001 Honda Accord, Odyssey and Prelude?

Yes, thats how we got our free transmission.

At least they recognize the problem, and gave a no charge extended warranty on it.

[MKII]

Just supplying a little more detail then your original post which was pretty sugar coated and made it appear that Honda was doing you a favour.

[xviper]

I think Honda did a great job with damage control on those trannies.  They "bought" a lot of customer loyalty with that one.  And with that, they also got a little cocky.
I also remember when Chrysler at one point extended existing customer cars to a 7 year warranty when all they had at time of purchase was 3.  It impressed the heck out of me even though I never needed it.  I bought another Chrysler product after that but the whole experience was unremarkable one way or the other.  These days, the product and the service has to somewhat stand out from the crowd.

[MKII]

If my memory is correct I believe there was a law suit in the USA which forced Honda to offer the extended warranty on the faulty trannies.

[xviper]

If my memory is correct I believe there was a law suit in the USA which forced Honda to offer the extended warranty on the faulty trannies.

So, they weren't the guardian angels as we would have believed.  Oh well, it doesn't cost as much if they were forced to do it.

[airbalancer]

Didn't Honda provide an extended warranty (7 years 160,000) for the faulty transmissions on 2000 - 2001 Honda Accord, Odyssey and Prelude?

Yes, thats how we got our free transmission.

At least they recognize the problem, and gave a no charge extended warranty on it.

Fun how the daughter tranny is gone on her Odyssey, SIL is a SA at a Honda dealer, no new tranny for them, just over a $2 g bill

[1TSX]

Didn't Honda provide an extended warranty (7 years 160,000) for the faulty transmissions on 2000 - 2001 Honda Accord, Odyssey and Prelude?

Yes, thats how we got our free transmission.

At least they recognize the problem, and gave a no charge extended warranty on it.

Fun how the daughter tranny is gone on her Odyssey, SIL is a SA at a Honda dealer, no new tranny for them, just over a $2 g bill

Well, Honda wouldn't give us a new transmission at first. They said the problem wasn't bad enough for one (slight hesitation to D, rough downshifts). At this point, we were starting to look at new cars.

We got a call a couple days later from the Honda dealer, and they said Honda Canada decided to give us a new transmission. Kudos to them.

[Cord]

We got a call a couple days later from the Honda dealer, and they said Honda Canada decided to give us a new transmission.

Probably right after they got a call from their lawyer.