You wanted a car? Gee, sorry...

[cjsmith]

The new vet is right next to the Honda dealership, so this morning when I dropped off Duchess for her next glucose curve I popped over to the Honda place for brochures. I figured I'd look them over during little breaks in the work day (checking random stuff like turning radius and width numbers) and come back for one or more test drives in the evening.

Sadly, they were out of brochures for all three cars I requested: the Fit, the Civic sedan, and the Civic hybrid! I did get a brochure for the Civic sport coupe, the one car in that range I know for sure I am not buying. At least the body is the same. The gentleman also informed me that they don't tend to have any of these cars on the lot for more than a day. They had a Fit in yesterday, but it's gone already, and there's not a single new Civic sedan on the lot. They've got two coupes and that's it.

Evaluating a Honda for possible purchase might get inconvenient. How odd.

Comments

[quasigeostrophy.livejournal.com]

Honda can't keep up w/ Civic demands. They're building a new plant in Greensburg, Indiana and it won't be enough they suspect.

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

I'm intrigued by the difference between that and Toyota with the Corolla. The cars seem to have the same sorts of appeal: insane levels of reliability, not too large a vehicle, not too expensive. Corolla keeps theirs on the lot though. I wonder if one is selling a lot more or the other planned better for production (or both).

[davidlevine]

When we bought our last car we were considering either a Corolla or a Civic. Had a real hard time finding a Civic to test-drive; in fact, we never found one with a manual transmission. That was a key factor in our criteria, so we bought the Corolla. We've been happy with it, with two exceptions: the driver's seat is awfully tight for Kate (not a problem for me or for you) and the security system goes off if you open the trunk (with your key!) unless you deactivate it first with the remote or by opening a door.

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

Oh weird. I'm hoping to avoid or completely disable the security system, but thanks for the tip just in case I can't. (I strongly dislike security systems. Mostly, they just annoy innocent uninvolved people. Thus I hope not to have one myself!)

[davidlevine]

Me too, but as I recall, the security system only came with the remote keyless entry (which I really wanted).

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

Hrmmm, interesting point. I think it's different now -- the remote keyless entry is one item and the "noise" portion of a security system is a totally different package. Well, I guess I can always pull the lines to the horn! ;-)

[hot-turkey.livejournal.com]

This has been a problem with Hondas for quite some time. People like them. I had two, and both were great cars for the money, so it makes sense. E.g.:

My 1988 Accord sat for over a year without being started. I decided I should try to run it for a while, just to keep it from being completely destroyed by neglect, so I charged the battery, turned the key, and ... it started instantly and ran perfectly, as if I drove it every day. That's a car with over 180,000 miles on it.

Anybody want a 1988 Accord? I'd love to sell it. It's too good a car to just sit there.

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

O'course, "people like them" and "great cars for the money" both apply stunningly well to Corollas, and Toyota seems to be willing to make enough of them. I wonder what the differences are: truly different levels of sales, different philosophies about whether it's important to have any on a lot, different abilities to plan for production? Odd.

This is only idle curiosity on my part, of course. I'll make my own decision based on what the specs are and what drives well, and the only thing that will bias me there is not finding a Civic within my convenience range. :)

That 88 Accord sounds like a good car. Not really big, either... I'm frustrated by the bloating of cars lately!

[wcg.livejournal.com]

Try going to Cars.com (http://cars.com/go/index.jsp) and finding a dealer near you who has what you're seeking in stock.

I don't suppose you're going to be over on this coast for a squaredance any time soon, right? Tischer Honda seems to be able to keep one or two of those in stock.

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

Yeah, that's the next step. It's interesting that in Silicon Valley the cars Honda can't keep in stock are the low end. Six years ago it was the BMW dealers who didn't bother to have the right model handy (or even offer test drives) because they could sell 'em sight unseen.

[ladycelia.livejournal.com]

I scored a nice new Honda for my sister from the dealer on Stevens Creek for $200 over invoice--and she picked it up within 48 hours of me calling for it.
The offer is still open.

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

Awesome! I just need to find one to look at, y'know? Time to figure out what in heaven and earth I actually want!

Been meaning to ask you: If I go through you for a fleet price, do you get any sort of benefit from that? 'Cause anything it'll give you I want you to have. If on the other hand it's just Extra Work I can go through carsdirect (I think).

[ladycelia.livejournal.com]

It doesn't get me anything--but it does earn me goodwill--and that's valuable in this business. And it really is only a matter of a couple of phone calls.

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

OK, then I'll definitely go through you.

BTW, thanks for sharing your own car-related musings lately. It had never occurred to me, for example, to get insurance quotes before choosing a vehicle!

[ladycelia.livejournal.com]

Insurance quotes ahead of time are a very good idea.

[plymouth.livejournal.com]

That one never occurred to me either. Then again I doubt what I learned could have changed my mind - I was pretty well sold on my Passat the moment I got behind the wheel (I still test-drove a couple of other cars after that though, just in case). Heck the only real reason I even checked Consumer Reports was so that I could tell my parents it got good safety ratings and put their minds at ease :) (After I got rid of my last car due to "fear that the front suspension might collapse any day now" and mistakenly TOLD MY MOM THAT I figured she needed some reassurance...)

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

and mistakenly TOLD MY MOM

Oooo yeah, I've been there (with different issues).

I love the feeling of knowing a decision is really right. Glad you had that with the Passat! I hope I can do something similar soon!

[firecat]

That's one of the reasons I stopped buying Hondas (the other is that they refuse to make seatbelt extenders) - I couldn't find any to test drive or even sit in. Priuses were also scarce when I was last in the market, but at least both Toyota dealerships I visited had one you could sit in. As for the test drive, because I knew they were scarce and I wanted to find out if the oddities like the touch screen drove me crazy, I rented one for a couple of days.

[plymouth.livejournal.com]

what car rental company will actually rent Prii? I've never seen one!

[firecat]

I rented it from the Toyota dealership...

[allanh.livejournal.com]

I'll tell ya again: take Randy up on his offer. He works in the auto industry, and is VERY good at finding dealers with cars in stock for test drives.

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

I hear and obey, O commanding one. :)