spedprof

I live in a region, (Long Island, NY) where there are several Acura dealers within 50 miles. Is there any advantage to buying (or leasing) from a dealer where I intend to get the car serviced? It seems to me that the service departments just want the business, no matter whether you buy the car from that dealer. Does it really matter?

Thoughts, please.... Thanks

ELIN

I've been told that if you service a car where you bought it, the dealership does give preferential treatment. Dealerships always want to retain a customer in every way possible.

Not sure if this is true but it certainly doesn't hurt!

Carnage719

I bought my car in one city (better price) and service it at the dealer in the city where I live. I get service discount offers emailed to me from the selling dealer, but I get discounts at the servicing dealer by simply asking, and the servicing dealer treats me with nothing but respect.

ELIN

Yeah, but that's true of most dealerships (coupon book).

The preferential treatment I was talking about would be something like getting you in/out quick, advancing you in the queue, doing some minor work for free, etc.

NBP04TL4ME

Lots of things to consider and fit into answering your question.

Supply and demand - seems like there are lots of dealers in your area so there may be competition for your business? No real way of knowing what the demand is without visiting the dealers to see how busy they are.
Loyalty - I agree with ELIN to a certain extent. Same dealer purchased cars may get preferential treatment in the form or loaner cars and such.
There maybe be value to you in the form of peace of mind if you are able to develop a relationship with a certain Service Advisor.
I would look at the various dealer websites and look at the service coupons they offer.
I would also look at customer ratings of the various dealers you have available to you. You may be able to get a good deal but they don't have the best technicians or vice versa.
Something else to consider is that outside of warranty related work, you can have your vehicle serviced at a Honda dealer as the many of the parts and internals are the same. You can save yourself a boatload of $$ for routine service at a Honda dealer vs. an Acura dealer.
If you bought a new car out of your local area and had say, just recently moved into the area, the dealership wouldn't necessarily know where you bought your car unless it had dealer stickers, license plate frames, etc.
We moved from outside Boston to central VA and when I called a local (75 miles) Acura dealer inquiring about a car on their lot, they asked me where I was getting our cars serviced.............
My $0.02 and just some things to think about.

FLYGUY31

When I bought my Audi, the sales person came out and asked during negotiations if I would be servicing my car with them. Even though it's not the closest dealer, they treated me well and I feel it's only right to give them the business. The negotiations went well and I've now had two services done with them and both went very smoothly.

CheeseyPoofs McNut

I go to the local Honda dealership for service. Cheaper. Closer. No downside.

ELIN

Is the Acura warranty voided in any way going to Honda vs Acura?

ELIN

I think the main takeaway is go to a place where you're the most comfortable. If you start out servicing where you bought the car and you end up not liking it there, you have a right to go somewhere else.

I always try to negotiate the first oil change for free so that I can test out the service dept at the place I get the car. I make my decision after that!

NBP04TL4ME

It shouldn't be, I never had a problem and don't remember anyone posting here on Azine with any sort of issue related to this.

ELIN

It may be slightly more difficult for me since the TLX is no longer based on the Accord platform. Is there a way to compare OEM parts b/w Accord and Acura?

CheeseyPoofs McNut

All warranty work will need to be done at your Acura dealer - other things (fluid changes etc) can be done by Honda with no consequences.

NBP04TL4ME

There is no question that there are unique parts to the Acura line up, but under the covers our Acuras are still Hondas so many will cross reference. Only on one or two occasions have I had a Honda dealer order an Acura part because they didn't have it. I don't remember what those parts were but also keep in mind the hourly labor rate at a Honda dealer is likely to be less than your Acura dealer. I looked a fair amount (not recently) but was never able to come up with a good Acura to Honda x-ref for parts. I got friendly with a Honda service tech and he would go the the parts desk and get me the Honda part or tell me they didn't have it.
When we had a Lexus there was a very good site, where you could put in the Lexus PN and it would tell you what the Toyota PN was and which models and years it was used on. Think this might have been it - https://www.toyodiy.com/parts/

a35tl

The nearest Acura dealers are 45 minutes and 60 minutes away from me. The Honda dealer is 5 minutes from me. I've owned 8 Acuras and for anything other than warranty work or recall notices, I've always gotten my Acuras serviced at Honda. Have had no problems. They've done great work and are considerably cheaper.

ELIN

Thanks for everyone's feedback on Honda vs Acura servicing!

spedprof

As the OP, my thinking is whether I can price shop dealers within 50+ miles, get my best deal, and then use my local Acura dealer for service. My hunch is that the local dealer's service department will want my money, and treat me well, even though I did not buy from that place.

Thanks.

ELIN

That's always been my strategy. Why travel 25-50 miles for service unless the oil change is free?

leomio85

Just buy a license plate frame from the parts dept. of the place you plan to service the car and throw it on there. Profit.

neuronbob

I am lucky that my preferred Acura dealer is in my neighborhood, and I’ve now bought or leased five Acuras from them. They usually also give me the best deal, so win-win-win.

You are the customer, so you decide where to get your car serviced. I bought my latest Accord at a dealer 30 miles away, but service it at my local dealer only a couple miles from me. They don’t care where I bought the car, they just want my service business as that’s where the profit is.

Don’t overthink it.

BEAR-AvHistory

I buy cars by price. Have gotten cars through dealers in OR, SC,GA,NC & VA. Service is a separate transaction for me & has nothing to do with the selling dealer. General requirements - Service department is highly rated followed by personal experience. Service department is within one hour one way. Service department will always give me a quality loner car regardless of what my car is in for.