Berkeley Honda

We had been thinking about a Prius or Civic Hybrid for several months and I had already made some minor contacts with dealers. This fall we settled on the Civic and I requested renewed quotations from th several months and I had already made some minor contacts with dealers. This fall we settled on the Civic and I requested renewed quotations from the dealers I had contacted by email, and called Doten's again and talked to John Barth. I told him I was talking to other dealers but not the prices, and he quoted me an "internet price" that matched the lowest of the three email responses. Since we live in Berkeley, I set up a test drive for 6:45 that evening, and he sent us out with Marcel who was very friendly and helpful. He was reasonably knowledgable and able to say he did not know about other things. Marcel was not a hard sell, although he was slightly over-biased to the Civic Hybrid relative to the Prius (of course). They stayed until 8:45 (after 8 closing) to do our paperwork and were very helpful and friendly. Maryanne (spelling?) was the one to offer us the extras, but she only mentioned security or lo-jack, fabric and paint protection, and extended warantees. She was low-key and accepted our answers as final without pushing. I just arranged with Marcel to actually pick up the car tomorrow morning (very much at our convenience) and he agreed to have the parts guys make up the extra ignition keys we want so they will be ready when we get there. More

After spending a couple of fruitless weeks looking for a used Honda Pilot, I decided to bite the bullet and get dealer quotes on an '05 via the ConsumerGuide, Edmunds and Kelly websites. I received respons used Honda Pilot, I decided to bite the bullet and get dealer quotes on an '05 via the ConsumerGuide, Edmunds and Kelly websites. I received responses from representatives of all six of the dealers I selected, including Shannon, the internet manager at Jim Doten Honda. <br><br>Shannon's quote was the lowest (and got even lower after it was determined that I had purchased a new car from Doten ten years ago). Her manner was straightforward and professional throughout our e-mail communications - absolutely no car salesperson b.s. - unlike a couple of the "internet managers" who responded from other dealers. Both she and the business manager offered extra services but it was a soft sell and I only had to say "No" once.<br><br>I was very pleased with the overall transaction. My timeline: I submitted RFQs yesterday at 8am, received five quotes by 10am, finalized the deal with Shannon by 1pm, she located the vehicle at another dealer and retrieved it this am, I went in after 2pm and was driving home in my new Pilot before 3pm. More

Overall, reasonable experience but nothing to write home about. The guy who did the test drive with me was very friendly and low key, not pushy at all. He was sort of inexperienced and we spent a lot of tim about. The guy who did the test drive with me was very friendly and low key, not pushy at all. He was sort of inexperienced and we spent a lot of time wandering around the lots looking for the right vehicles, but I had time to kill so it was no big deal. <br><br>General impression was that staff was very well informed about products, except when it suited their financial purposes. I wanted a civic coupe with safety features (just totaled my 1996 civic) and the EX looked like the best bet (has antilock brake and side air bag options). Vehicle roof was too low (cuz of moon roof) so I decided I wanted an LX or DX. They indicated that side air bags are available in the LX but neglected to mention they were also available on the DX, when in fact you can get the DX with side air bags for a couple thousand $ less. They gave me a price quote on the LX (they didn’t have one in stock) which was well above the blue book rate (I found this later on the internet). But were very thorough and careful in explaining leasing options to me, and spent lots of time on this. They were never pushy, and were always very polite.<br><br>That night I looked on the net and realized I could get a DX with what I wanted, and emailed John to ask if they would sell it to me for the blue book rate. He never responded. The next day, I got quotes from San Leandro Honda and El Cerrito Honda’s internet department that were about $1000 below blue book! (I guess Honda is trying to unload its 2004 stock). I emailed John again to see if they would match that price…again no response. My general impression was that they were happy to spend time with me on the product, and were not pushy or intimidating, but once they realized I was going to do my homework and find out what the market cost was, they decided it wasn’t worth the time or effort to continue communicating with me, even an email reply to say they aren’t interested. Or maybe, he just doesn’t check his email, but it seems like the Sales Manager would bother to check his email. I would go there again to shop around if it was convenient (I live near Berkeley), and I think they treat their customers respectfully (that was my experience) but I wouldn’t have any high hopes of a good price or attempt to meet the market price. I think they mostly make profits from customers who can’t be bothered to shop around, even the 15 minutes it takes to check market rates on the internet. <br> More