Customer-Friendly SoCal Honda Dealership Suggestions Needed

Hi Everyone,

I am the Internet Sales Director at a Honda Dealership in Southern California. I am trying out Leasehackr after a few customers suggested it. What is the best way about posting pricing online? Also - are most Honda customers aware that all the dealerships have some required accessories on Honda vehicles?

My goal is to provide good deals to customers with a no-haggle, simple process but also conduct a business exchange where both parties benefit. I truly do not want to have a bunch of people asking for steep discounts that require losing money and having my General Sales Manager regret hiring me. Also - I truly do not wish to work with brokers because they are usually a bad experience.

I did register as an authorized dealer with my work email and am waiting for that to get pushed through so I can post in the marketplace sub-forum. Please let me know your thoughts. Thanks!

What would those required accessories be? I’ve leased a Civic and two CR-Vs that were all bone stock without a single dealer accessory added. And the CR-Vs were from a dealer that LOVES to install “PRO-PACK” and other stuff like pinstripes, you name it. As for the rest of your question this is the general template used around here for a transparent deal:

MSRP:
Selling Price:
Monthly Payment with tax:
Base Monthly Payment:
Drive-Off Amount:
Months:
Annual Mileage:
Money factor
Residual:
Incentives included in lease:
Leasehackr Score (Plug your deal into the Leasehackr calculator and attach a link)

Thats the long and short of it. Good luck, you’re gonna need a thick skin around here considering that Hondas generally don’t lease well as it is. A free tip to start off, the required dealer accessory line will most likely not fly around here. You know what kind of dealer discount you are authorized to offer, and if not I’m sure your GM will tell you. Just post your best deal and let the market decide if it’s worth it or not.

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Good luck but I based on your intro you may have a hard time. People are not looking for “good” deals but great deals. What makes working with brokers hard, the deep discounts they want?

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Glad to hear a Honda dealership wants to do business on LH.

I wish we had you around when I leased my Honda Pilot.
When I got that Pilot, the dealer had installed LoJack and a loss insurance certificate.
I had to fight to get the LoJack uninstalled.

Since there are other brands represented quite well here, it will be nice to balance out the Toyota LH dealership here (Cody Carter) who is an awesome sales person!

Yes a @ElectricEliminator stated: you need a thick skin here on this forum.

Otherwise enjoy the humor and increased sales you will have.

BTW It might be helpful if you can provide optional shipping / trucking services to those around the nation…

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Hi guys thanks for the responses. To answer the questions:

  1. My dealership has Honda Protection Package and an after-market alarm. We provide further discounts off of MSRP that makes up for it. Customers who don’t throw a tantrum when they leave often shop the price given and found it is competitive with any other dealership in the area regardless of the amenities. Again, most dealerships in SoCal have something added to their Hondas.

  2. Brokers take up a lot of time and time is money. If my store does actually make a deal with a broker it ends up being horrible for the store so we basically just stopped working with them.

Good deal, great deal - that is fine. Everyone wants a deal. If I can get some people the vehicle they want at a solid price that is great. If it turns into a grind-fest I will probably pass since I already do that 65 hours a week at work anyways.

Thanks all!

These are incongruous statements. If your dealership slaps all this stuff on, that’s fine, but forum members here generally won’t be interested in any of that (unless they are getting an Accord Sport and want wheel locks so it doesn’t end up on cinder blocks), or they will want a commiserate discount to make up for it. Most dealerships choosing to practice something that makes it the de facto way of doing business is different than Honda mandating it on a corporate level.

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Should I take the discount and reduce it based on the cost of the accessories? So it there is a $5500 discount and there is $1,000 of accessories just say there is a $4500 discount?

Well the discount is the discount, I don’t think most people around here will care why the discount is what it is as long as it is makes the deal competitive. Part of the problem is that dealer installed accessories are not residualized, correct? So that 1000 dollar (or whatever it is) “pro pack” packs 27 dollars a month onto a 36 month payment no matter what you do.

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People are actually paying for the accessories if you reduce the discount so your prior statement of increasing the discount to compensate for the accessories is inaccurate. You will see how things go. The easiest thing for you to do is to have a spreadsheet of your popular deals (as aggressive as possible) and people either take it or not. If you try to play the negotiation game here you will just waste your time.

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I would follow the @Cody_Carter Toyota thread. Are the deals truly lease hackr worthy? Not necessarily. Are they great for people who want a Toyota? Yes. If someone comes on here looking for a Toyota, they get pointed to him. Create a Google sheet with models and pricing with all the info people want as mentioned above like he does. Then it’s pretty simple no hassle great deal for those that want a Honda. Don’t expect great accolades for amazing deals though, as the most frequent commenters are going to continually mention how Hondas don’t lease well.

I will also mention that I leased a Honda and that add on comment seems like BS, unless it’s required for those dealers that use the online car aggregators such as, truecar and edmunds. The dealers that were cheapest through the lead gens had add ons that weren’t advertised till you looked at the sticker at the dealership. I found dealers not working through edmunds etc were willing to match the price without putting wheel locks etc on.

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I second this. Someone who really wants a Honda (and we get a LOT of them here) could really benefit from a straightforward, no BS, transparent dealer. Will the deals always be killer and Hackrworthy? No, but that’s the nature of Honda and Toyota generally, with the exception of some Toyota trucks. People in the market for those brands usually just don’t want to get screwed.

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Hi all, thanks for the suggestions and comments. I will take the information and work with my GSM to see how we would like to move forward.

On a side note would people really bother posting in a Honda Lease thread just to say Hondas don’t lease well? Regardless I will make sure not to feed the trolls and do my best to provide a no-hassle service.

I don’t want to beat a dead horse but this is probably $125 worth of stuff marked up to $1,000 to inflate your starting negotiation price (or anchor) for showroom customers. Around here you will get questioned about it’s legitimacy left and right. However you handle it just make it clear and don’t try to “sell” it for more than what it is. I’d be curious to find out what is actually included in the “protection package,” though.

^ This. If this is really your intention, then you will fit in just fine. I really do think people on this forum are lurking for straight up no hassle Honda deals - let me emphasize the word DEALS; no matter how bad they lease. Sometimes the heart wants what the heart wants.

As others have said, is it possible to go out and grind for a better deal than Cody Carter (Toyota) or Chevy Sales Girl (Chevy) offer? Maybe. But it will take work - Alot of work. Why go through that when I know I can just ask for their spreadsheet or numbers and KNOW it is one of the best if not the best deal?

Give legitimate great offers (that people have a hard time beating) and you’ll get deals.

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I’d say that it’s the first or second thing that comes up most of the time when people ask for Honda advice. Hard to say how people would treat advertisements here, since we never get them here, because well… You know…

This is off of a Reddit post from a Honda dealer providing “their cost” including installation on the pro pack:

  • Wheel Locks: $78
  • Splash Guard Set: $148
  • Trunk Tray: $125
  • Door Edge Guards: $128
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I loved when the sales guy said he couldn’t do better than $872 on the wheel locks they were charging $990 for because that is how much they paid the parts dept to install them.

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Lol. Aside from the trunk tray, this is probably what the sales department gets charged by the service department after “installation,” but thank you. Mostly junk unfortunately.

Click below.

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If you estimate 45/hr for dealer labor you can kinda figure it out for yourself too based on that. Then again that’s probably about an hour of work combined at most, but they are probably billing an hour per item there.

Good Morning All,

Just to clarify the Honda Protection Package is a forcefield that will allow you to re-enter earth’s atmosphere without a single scratch, ding, or dent.

In all seriousness Happy Monday, thanks for the help, and I hope to be able to create some solid deals for customers.

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Happy Monday! Short week! Whoop!

I think all the advice has already been given, but I would add that transparency is important and appreciated. If your dealership insists on adding these super-amazeballs-protect-your-Civic-from-the-apocalypse packages then just be clear on what the costs of that are and clearly break out the deal.