Nightmares and Lessons from Phoenix

[toytalker]

I've started a thred in the General Discussions page about my experiences with a few Phoenix, AZ area dealers. I would welcome comments here, especially on the last post, duplicated below. The entire thread is here, if interested: http://honda-pilot.org/forums/showth...&threadid=2394

Latest post by me:

MAJOR DISAPPOINTMENT BUT WITH A SILVER LINING!
It's now Sunday morning, Dec. 29 and I do not have a Pilot. To make a long, long, long story short. Arrowhead and I could not come up to a deal on my trade so we both agreed no deal. I've since resigned myself to the fact that I will take care of my trade on my own or suffer a mighty loss on a 2000 Toy Sienna LE (leased, way over miles).

I have a friend who works with several dealership owners who directed me to Bell Honda's GM/Owner... under the auspices I would get a fantastic "friend of the house" price. THAT WAS A COMPLETE NIGHTMARE!

To summarize. Bell Honda tried to jack me around with $1000 market adjustments (over MSRP), Paint Protection, a "Bell Honda" package with a bunch of options I did not want, etc. After I whittled most of the "extras" off the price, I was still more than $1,500 over what I could get from Honda Cars of Mesa in a quote that took me less than 15 minutes to complete on the phone.

So I'm back at almost Square 1, no Pilot (yet), but I've learned a lot from the process, and think that I'm getting a good price on the car as follows:

Sandstone Metallic EX-L RES base price: $31,064

Accessories:
Fog lights
Lower trim
Day/Night Mirror
Full tinting on front windows (legal in AZ)
Side Steps
Rear Splash Guards

Price out the door: $35,920 (which includes $559 License, Title & Reg fee in AZ)

This would be for a car not scheduled in until late January. I have not done anything yet... Any ideas, comments, suggestions? I'm still looking, considering an out-of-state purchase to possibly save on taxes.

P.S. I was able to get my deposit back, no hassle from Arrowhead!

[Jiaronnis]

Originally posted by toytalker
To summarize. Bell Honda tried to jack me around with $1000 market adjustments (over MSRP), Paint Protection, a "Bell Honda" package with a bunch of options I did not want, etc. After I whittled most of the "extras" off the price, I was still more than $1,500 over what I could get from Honda Cars of Mesa in a quote that took me less than 15 minutes to complete on the phone.

Bell Honda's fleet department worked with me on my purchase, although I did not have the headache of a trade-in. I paid $34500 for the following:

EXL-RES
fog lights
running board
front and rear splash guards
crossbars
the "package option"
Paint protection (3-yrs bi-annually) for free!

I paid only $15 for title and registration (military discount) but I still had to fork over around $199 for "DOC Fees"

[toytalker]

That's a great price, Jiaronnis, but would truly never step foot in the place again. I'm glad you had a great experience. When did you purchase?

Maybe I will look around a bit more, but so far no one has beaten the Honda Cars of Mesa price....

[Jiaronnis]

Originally posted by toytalker
That's a great price, Jiaronnis, but would truly never step foot in the place again. I'm glad you had a great experience. When did you purchase?

I'm sorry to hear about your bad experience with Bell Honda, toytalker. Was it with the regular sales dep't? I bought mine Aug 15th after waiting one month for a NBP (the color my wife wanted). I spent an entire saturday going around Phoenix to 5 or 6 dealers that I had previously contacted through the phone. All of them seemed reasonable on the phone until I arrived at their location, then the BS started. Bell Honda was my last stop, had they BSed me, I would have gone back to Sierra Vista or Tucson. Fortunately, the Fleet manager was willing to work with me, he didn't even bother putting in the $500 deposit I left. I would buy from their fleet department again, but not from their blodd thirsty sales dep't. Goodluck with your hunt for a Pilot. Let us know how it goes.

[toytalker]

"I have a friend who works with several dealership owners who directed me to Bell Honda's GM/Owner... under the auspices I would get a fantastic "friend of the house" price. THAT WAS A COMPLETE NIGHTMARE!"

It was with main Sales Department, as noted above, I was supposed to avoid all the BS, but had a Pilot's cargo-load dumped on me.

Right now, I have another deposit on with Honda Cars of Mesa, thru their Internet Department, for a Sandstone RES, slated for arrival within the next 4 weeks. I'm in no big hurry, save for the fact that I want the dang car NOW!

My only hope is that there will be more snow up in Flagstaff for me to use the vehicle once it arrives in late January/early February. But you and I (Arizona residents) know how the last several years have gone. They may have gotten all the snow they are going to get this past week.

[Jiaronnis]

toytalker,

I hope you have a pre-arranged auto loan in hand already, that really kept me from the vultures of the F&I dep't. A friend of mine bought his '02 Accord from Mesa Honda. Great dealings with the salesman but their F&I gave him the usual go around because he had to rely on them for a loan. He ended up with a 10% APR on the loan, extended warranty and a couple of other extra things tagged on by the F&I dep't. He said that after the stress of two or more hours going back and forth with them, he just gave up and signed on the dotted line.
It's so much easier having a check in hand to hand over to those vultures and be done with the whole transaction and walk out the door with the keys for your new Pilot! Have a great time with your buying experience.

[toytalker]

Fortunately, this would be a cash purchase... no dealing with the finance department. Thanks for the update.