Honda CEO acknowledges Acura issues
01-02-2007, 08:49 PM
#201
Senior Moderator
Thread Starter
Originally Posted by Mike_TX
I still think it's time to start selling cars at a set price.
This isn't off-topic, is it? 
01-05-2007, 12:57 AM
#202
As of tonight am a 2nd generation RL owner of a 2006 Tech with wood steering wheel, 18" Acura chrome wheels, backup sensors, splash guards in Carbon Gray and Taupe (light gray interior). It only had 1348 miles. Bought in a quick transaction from a high volume Lexus dealer for $37,000 cash.
Was in Florida on a business trip with my wife. Spent 2.5 hours this afternoon at a South Florida Acura dealer trying to buy a plain jane 2006 Tech with 17K miles. The dealership had a bunch of new 2006 RLs with the radar braking package (am too tired to remember the acronym). They would not budge below $38,788 on the used 2006 as it turned out the car was the owner's car (his wife's car). The saleman was new and did a good job, but the manager was a jerk. They listed the car at $38,988 on Autotrader, but started their negotiations with a $39,988 price. Long story short, we went to a Lexus dealership with five RLs ten miles away and bought essentially a brand new 2006 RL with the great looking 18" wheels, wood steering wheel, backup sensors and splash guards for $2K less than the Acura dealer was asking and got about $3k more in options (I'm guessing as I have no idea the value of the above options).
Here's my take: Lexus dealers frequently have folks walking in and trading near new cars. Acura dealers seldom see near new cars being traded. These same folks trading near new cars have tons of money and don't think twice about losing big bucks on their trade in. They just want what they want. For example, there was a brand new Bentley in the showroom only a few months old that was traded in for two (2) LS 460s. As a result, Lexus dealers frequently may have less invested in a used RL than an Acura dealer. A second aspect to consider is the Acura dealer is trying to move new RLs so as to avoid getting chewed-on by the regional factory representative. Discounting the used RLs pulls away new RL sales if the used/new price differential gets too large. Additionally, it sends a negative signal to prospective new RL buyers that the car depreciates rapidly. In short, the Acura dealer is juggling a number of balls, whereas the Lexus dealer just wants to move his non-Lexus used product by making a few bucks and getting on with focusing on Lexus selling activities.
On top of all that, I'm in sales and sales management and was thoroughly surprised by the poor choice of words the Acura sales manager used. He said something to the effect that I was a knowledgeable buyer and that I was not going to come into their dealership and "steal" the car. He used the expression twice within one minute. He was not using the phrase in a humorous fashion. We liked the salesman. We hated the sales manager. He was an insensitive man and did not used his brains to offer an alternative way to get us refocused on buying a new car. He just verbally beat us up. It was a poor way to support his salesman.
By the way, the negotiation at the Lexus place took place in less than 10 minutes. What is interesting is that while the salesman went to look for the keys, there were staff members getting ready to take the car off the lot and put it on a car carrier to take it to the auction. The salesman cooly told them the car was sold (and we had not driven it at that point, much less made an offer), so as to keep the car from being removed. As I said earlier, a Lexus dealership may be a better place to buy used RLs than an Acura place because they don't hesitate to get them off the lot via an on-site sale or an auction because they don't have as much tied up financially or emotionally in them.
One more comment, the Acura dealership looked a bit down at the heels which is surprising for the alleged number one volume Acura dealership for the past seven years (that's what said in big letters on the front door). In contrast, the lower volume Acura dealerships in Greensboro and Winston-Salem (near my home) have larger/cleaner restrooms and a better overall appearance. This so called number one Acura dealer's men's restroom had a toilet plunger and the toilet paper dispenser was empty with the toilet paper in a loose roll on top of the toilet tank.
Was in Florida on a business trip with my wife. Spent 2.5 hours this afternoon at a South Florida Acura dealer trying to buy a plain jane 2006 Tech with 17K miles. The dealership had a bunch of new 2006 RLs with the radar braking package (am too tired to remember the acronym). They would not budge below $38,788 on the used 2006 as it turned out the car was the owner's car (his wife's car). The saleman was new and did a good job, but the manager was a jerk. They listed the car at $38,988 on Autotrader, but started their negotiations with a $39,988 price. Long story short, we went to a Lexus dealership with five RLs ten miles away and bought essentially a brand new 2006 RL with the great looking 18" wheels, wood steering wheel, backup sensors and splash guards for $2K less than the Acura dealer was asking and got about $3k more in options (I'm guessing as I have no idea the value of the above options).
Here's my take: Lexus dealers frequently have folks walking in and trading near new cars. Acura dealers seldom see near new cars being traded. These same folks trading near new cars have tons of money and don't think twice about losing big bucks on their trade in. They just want what they want. For example, there was a brand new Bentley in the showroom only a few months old that was traded in for two (2) LS 460s. As a result, Lexus dealers frequently may have less invested in a used RL than an Acura dealer. A second aspect to consider is the Acura dealer is trying to move new RLs so as to avoid getting chewed-on by the regional factory representative. Discounting the used RLs pulls away new RL sales if the used/new price differential gets too large. Additionally, it sends a negative signal to prospective new RL buyers that the car depreciates rapidly. In short, the Acura dealer is juggling a number of balls, whereas the Lexus dealer just wants to move his non-Lexus used product by making a few bucks and getting on with focusing on Lexus selling activities.
On top of all that, I'm in sales and sales management and was thoroughly surprised by the poor choice of words the Acura sales manager used. He said something to the effect that I was a knowledgeable buyer and that I was not going to come into their dealership and "steal" the car. He used the expression twice within one minute. He was not using the phrase in a humorous fashion. We liked the salesman. We hated the sales manager. He was an insensitive man and did not used his brains to offer an alternative way to get us refocused on buying a new car. He just verbally beat us up. It was a poor way to support his salesman.
By the way, the negotiation at the Lexus place took place in less than 10 minutes. What is interesting is that while the salesman went to look for the keys, there were staff members getting ready to take the car off the lot and put it on a car carrier to take it to the auction. The salesman cooly told them the car was sold (and we had not driven it at that point, much less made an offer), so as to keep the car from being removed. As I said earlier, a Lexus dealership may be a better place to buy used RLs than an Acura place because they don't hesitate to get them off the lot via an on-site sale or an auction because they don't have as much tied up financially or emotionally in them.
One more comment, the Acura dealership looked a bit down at the heels which is surprising for the alleged number one volume Acura dealership for the past seven years (that's what said in big letters on the front door). In contrast, the lower volume Acura dealerships in Greensboro and Winston-Salem (near my home) have larger/cleaner restrooms and a better overall appearance. This so called number one Acura dealer's men's restroom had a toilet plunger and the toilet paper dispenser was empty with the toilet paper in a loose roll on top of the toilet tank.
01-05-2007, 02:18 AM
#203
Three Wheelin'
And Acura wonders why they are NOT taken seriously as a luxury brand? It's not the cars as much as the dealerships!
Congrats on your RL and welcome to the club!
Congrats on your RL and welcome to the club!
01-05-2007, 06:52 AM
#205
wstr 75
OK, now you've got my interest. Welcome to the RL w/tech club. I love my car and I'm sure you will to. BTW, you got a GREAT deal!
Now the question, how did you get chromed wheels on an RL w/tech? I'd love to do that but thought it was impossible. Any info you can provide would be greatly appreciated.
Enjoy the ride.
OK, now you've got my interest. Welcome to the RL w/tech club. I love my car and I'm sure you will to. BTW, you got a GREAT deal!
Now the question, how did you get chromed wheels on an RL w/tech? I'd love to do that but thought it was impossible. Any info you can provide would be greatly appreciated.
Enjoy the ride.
01-05-2007, 07:08 AM
#207
Alpha Geek
Originally Posted by neuronbob
OK, you're talking about the Saturn model. I'd be all for it if everyone paid the same price. Unfortunately, that doesn't happen.
01-05-2007, 07:44 AM
#208
KM, I have no idea how the chrome wheels got on this car. I bought a used car with 1348 miles (thats 1.348K) at a Lexus dealership. We're picking up the car this afternoon and will be driving up to NC. Perhaps someone here on the Acurazine board can answer the question.
Thanks to everyone for the pat on the back. Interestingly, my wife got sad afterwards about the purchase because it means the first car she solely picked-out (2002 Silver RL) will be displaced (she shouldn't feel too bad as the reason for buying the 2006 was because she has "taken" my RX 400h!). We bought the 2006 with no trade and will offer it to our 24 year old son. He commutes 105 miles/day in a 2002 Explorer with 145K miles. Think a single young guy would be interested in a 2002 RL at a super discounted family price?
Listen, I was not kidding about the dealership's men's restroom. Another fact: the dealership had two (2) four person golf cart transporters and they were in poor condition. One had the welds broken/rusted out on the passenger side that hold the front roof up-right. You use the upright to as a hand support when getting into the cart. It wobbled whenever we went over a bump. The other cart was unusable because the brake interlock would not release. For crying out loud, when you're business is selling relatively techie cars above $35K (RDX, MDX, TL,RL), you should pay spend a wee bit of money to weld up the golf cart and paint the welds so folks like myself don't get distracted (It would be a less than $50 repair assumming the dealership's body shop had a welder and a spray can of white paint).
About the sales manager, maybe it is a South Florida cultural thing (my wife grew up in South Florida), but it was terrible what he did in front of that salesman. He had about ten new 2006 cars parked back in the RL ghetto way back on the backside of the place and yet he did not innovatively come back to us with an either/or proposition. He just told us it was the owner's car (Carfax showed it had been titled to a company that had the dealership's owner's last name as part of the company name) and that had too much invested to discount below their cost. In other words the owner either sold the car back to his dealership for a pretty penny or the boys at the store were doing this as a consignment sale for the boss. Who knows? All I know is it was handled poorly. My wife was particularly incensed at the dealership reverting to a higher initial price than what was posted on AutoTrader.com.
Oh, an one more thing and this may be the most telling story of all, the salesman made an offhand comment about the dealership having lost a large number of salesmen in the past several months which gave him and several other rookies (no previous sales experience) an opportunity to go into sales. So you have an Acura store with a poor appearance customer restroom, jerk sales manager, some kind of owner's side deal on his wife's former car that prevents a cash sale, inoperable/poor/unsafe condition golf carts and recent large scale sales staff turnover - does that sound like a recipe for a declining business to you? The area Acura Field Rep should get out and do his/her homework and threaten to take away dealer incentives to at least get the appearance matters fixed. Perhaps Acura's sales growth problems stem from poor Field Rep Management. Leadership comes from the top.
Thanks to everyone for the pat on the back. Interestingly, my wife got sad afterwards about the purchase because it means the first car she solely picked-out (2002 Silver RL) will be displaced (she shouldn't feel too bad as the reason for buying the 2006 was because she has "taken" my RX 400h!). We bought the 2006 with no trade and will offer it to our 24 year old son. He commutes 105 miles/day in a 2002 Explorer with 145K miles. Think a single young guy would be interested in a 2002 RL at a super discounted family price?
Listen, I was not kidding about the dealership's men's restroom. Another fact: the dealership had two (2) four person golf cart transporters and they were in poor condition. One had the welds broken/rusted out on the passenger side that hold the front roof up-right. You use the upright to as a hand support when getting into the cart. It wobbled whenever we went over a bump. The other cart was unusable because the brake interlock would not release. For crying out loud, when you're business is selling relatively techie cars above $35K (RDX, MDX, TL,RL), you should pay spend a wee bit of money to weld up the golf cart and paint the welds so folks like myself don't get distracted (It would be a less than $50 repair assumming the dealership's body shop had a welder and a spray can of white paint).
About the sales manager, maybe it is a South Florida cultural thing (my wife grew up in South Florida), but it was terrible what he did in front of that salesman. He had about ten new 2006 cars parked back in the RL ghetto way back on the backside of the place and yet he did not innovatively come back to us with an either/or proposition. He just told us it was the owner's car (Carfax showed it had been titled to a company that had the dealership's owner's last name as part of the company name) and that had too much invested to discount below their cost. In other words the owner either sold the car back to his dealership for a pretty penny or the boys at the store were doing this as a consignment sale for the boss. Who knows? All I know is it was handled poorly. My wife was particularly incensed at the dealership reverting to a higher initial price than what was posted on AutoTrader.com.
Oh, an one more thing and this may be the most telling story of all, the salesman made an offhand comment about the dealership having lost a large number of salesmen in the past several months which gave him and several other rookies (no previous sales experience) an opportunity to go into sales. So you have an Acura store with a poor appearance customer restroom, jerk sales manager, some kind of owner's side deal on his wife's former car that prevents a cash sale, inoperable/poor/unsafe condition golf carts and recent large scale sales staff turnover - does that sound like a recipe for a declining business to you? The area Acura Field Rep should get out and do his/her homework and threaten to take away dealer incentives to at least get the appearance matters fixed. Perhaps Acura's sales growth problems stem from poor Field Rep Management. Leadership comes from the top.
02-14-2008, 02:04 PM
#209
Moderator
Obviously, this guy doesn't get the message.
Just look at the new TSX info that is out. VERY disappointing:
https://acurazine.com/forums/showpos...postcount=1775
Just look at the new TSX info that is out. VERY disappointing:
https://acurazine.com/forums/showpos...postcount=1775
02-14-2008, 02:39 PM
#210
He says he wants differentiate Honda and Acura but "we don't have any intention to keep turbos just dedicated to Acura. So in the future it's possible that they will be adopted in Honda products as well".
we have to remember him that only one Acura model has the Turbo, the RDX.
they don't know what to do, to think, where to go, how to grow up, how to enhance the Acura brand.
Abd is the President speaking...
It's so easy in theory!!
Honda has everithing for making good cars: techology, quality, engines...
I don't get it. Really.
we have to remember him that only one Acura model has the Turbo, the RDX.
they don't know what to do, to think, where to go, how to grow up, how to enhance the Acura brand.
Abd is the President speaking...
It's so easy in theory!!
Honda has everithing for making good cars: techology, quality, engines...
I don't get it. Really.
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