A Tale of Two Dealerships

First things first... if you're in the market for a vehicle and Chevrolet is your brand, check out Washington Chevy and look up my friend Wil Barkey (http://www.washingtonchevy.com/).  Unfortunately for me, I don't like GM vehicles and will probably never buy one again.

This time around I was shopping around for 40 MPG.  Just about nothing else mattered, besides it not being a GM (or a Prius).  I had done some shopping around on the web and pretty much settled on a Honda Civic since the 2012 models boast an impressive 39 MPG.  For the record, a little over 3 weeks into owning the Civic and it is averaging 35.6 MPG, combined city and highway (mostly highway).  I'm pretty happy with that, especially when you consider that I was getting 16.5 in my truck.

So when I was looking at the Civics, I went to Washington Honda (http://www.washingtonpahonda.com/).  Before you go any further, my recommendation is... ABSOLUTELY DO NOT BUY THERE.  First off the salesman flat out lied to me.  I asked him about the other nearest Honda dealership so that I could find a specific color; I like black cars and they only had silver or blue.  Also, the model he was trying to put me in had leather interior.  The guy told me about the closest Honda dealership... one that was about 40 miles away.  I knew that there was one about 15 miles, or less, away.  So I asked him about South Hills Honda (http://southhillshonda.com/).  He told me that it was an Acura dealership.  I didn't call him out on it.

Then I stayed while they looked at my truck and worked up the numbers.  When it all came out, Washington Honda was $100 a month more than I wanted to pay.  I told the man thanks.  He said, "That's it?  We can't find middle ground somewhere?"  I told him that we were $100 off and that there wasn't a middle ground that made me happy.  So he let me walk out the door.  I was off to South Hills Honda.

When I got to South Hills Honda, I asked where the new Civics were.  They pointed me in the right direction. I walked out to them and saw a black one that didn't have leather interior (had all the other major bells and whistles, though).  I walked back to the sales room.  When a salesman approached me and asked if he could help me, I handed him all my papers (owners card, payoff statement drivers license, etc.) and told him to work me up numbers on a trade, my Titan for the black Civic.  He was a bit flabbergasted that I didn't want to take it for a ride.

So I told him about my experience at the other dealership and that, in my opinion, Honda had a black eye.  I also told him that they had 1 shot to hit it out of the park or I'd never own a Honda.  He was appalled about what had happened and said he'd do everything he could to make it right.  He had me tell the sales manager the story, who was shocked as well.  When the numbers came in they were only about $20, not $100, away from my target payment (the difference in leather and non-leather interior is only $1000 which is only about a $20 a month payment difference).  I told them that they were close and we'd have a deal if they could meet me in the middle... $10 a month difference.  They did.  The experience at South Hills Honda was very pleasant.  And... they have free inspections (for all of my vehicles) as long as I own my Honda... a pretty nice perk.

So if you're in the market for a Chevy, help out my friend Wil.  If you're in the market for a Honda, check out South Hills Honda and Ron Paree.  In either case, tell them that I sent you.