Review: Village Honda (Beyonder member salesperson)
After a hail storm went through the NW corner on August 12, 2012... I thought of the idea of purchasing an extremely (not really repairable, or not worth repairing) hail damaged brand new vehicle.
This particular hail storm impacted a wide range of areas covering the city, (actually I believe more areas than the last "big" hail storm July 12, 2010)
Few Beyonders threw out the idea of "group buying" hail damaged new cars for cheap (but they were throwing stupid lowballed numbers that wouldn't really work)... I added myself into one of those threads interested in the group buy, nobody really followed through or got anything going I don't think.
I guess someone took me seriously and PM'ed me... nixrx8 (NICK, a sales rep for Village Honda)
But life isn't always about all play... part of my career is to follow hail storm damaged vehicles and remove the dents (that can be pushed out perfectly), that particular dealer damage, not so much, not in that area.
But Nick was pretty patient knowing I'd be really busy (working at dealership with hail damage where the dents can be removed perfectly with PDR)
Texted with Nick for a few days about pricing on a Civic, always wanted a Honda for a beater... all the cool kids back in high school had Civics.
Anyways, that was the sideline story where another import dealer was a complete waste of time, fucking lies, false/confusing info... (which is NOT Nick, that's what I'm saying)... So that night after that other dealer wasted my time, since I was in that area... thought I'd check out the newly built Village Honda damaged lot (between the texts with Nick, he told me to just get a few stock numbers and he'll get some prices for me)(sidestory): In between texting Nick... I found myself ONE group-buy partner... which is a guy that manages PDR technicians for a big PDR corporation (these PDR companies bid for bulk work, then they break it down hiring employees or self-employ contractors)... this guy's regular job is closing deals, like meeting with huge insurance companies, getting them to commit to send $$$ Millions worth of hail claims to the PDR corporation.
So this would be the perfect group-buy partner.
So I'm working away, group-buy partner calls me saying he found a dealer that'll give us what we wanted. (buying 2 cars, cash)... but being in the "car industry"... we were clear what bargain we wanted, no misunderstanding whatsoever: MSRP but full disclosure discount applied on actual insurance claim payout, BUT we'll pay the normal salesperson profit per vehicle fee, pre-delivery inspection, tire tax, paperwork fees...
Short version is... (this ISN'T Village Honda) another import dealer in that automall, their sales guy TRICKED "my" PDR sales guy to get us in their door. (over the phone, it was totally understood they're giving us actual insurance payout discount, plus gst and fees)...
Total waste of time at this other import dealer... Fucking Chinaman salesman too... Don't even wanna waste time writing about them specifically, gave us the "let me ask my manager for the numbers for you", guy even had the nerves saying: "oh this is perfect, you guys (idiots) fix dents, this is perfect, you can fix it yourself and sell it and make some GOOD money"....... We pretty much laughed in his Asian face... it's like buddy, there's been hundreds of "dent shops" knocking on your door this week, why isn't any "dent companies" fixing these... cuz it's not pushable... and it's not even economical to replace and repaint these... We just want to buy some beaters for our own use, LIKE WE DISCUSSED and thought was understood on the phone.
Within the course of 2-3 days, our whole deal went down through texting... Cuz I'm really busy trying to make $$$ to pay for this somehow. (Nick was really accommodating)
Then I had no idea what happened, next thing you know, I was grabbing a money order/draft from my bank near the dealer I was working at...
Told Nick I had the money as agreed, he had the paperwork (purchase paper) done within like 20 hours... Before you know it, he was delivering my Civic to where I was working (that was part of my conditions)
But I mean remember, with hail damage units there are down sides to them... check with your insurance about comphensive coverage... AND, as shown in photos of MY Civic, you are dealing with a LOT, a LOT of "door dings" from the sky that you have to live with... But for me, I'm just gonna bag the shit outta this. (within Honda Canada allowable warranty guidelines of course)
The price itself I won't talk about... but retaining my creditbility as a reviewer... of course, common sense, you all know the actual cost to repair this hail damage (properly) would NOT be the discount given to me; BUT, because this is pretty sever, the amount $ of discount was still "somewhat" worth it for ME, to use it as a beater for a few years, with mechanical warranty these next few years I don't wanna spend maintaining (major issues) on my own cars anymore... (aside from the fact that these types of damage can't be fixed using PDR for perfect finish, even if I was to fix it half-ass... that still doesn't make sense, cuz why wouldn't I just go into work, and get paid following hail storms, chasing insurance's tail working on customer vehicles, getting paid properly)... During delivery, even Nick "tried" squeezing that line to me (oh you can fix these after)... even though I already handed him my $$$ and he got the sale... But I stopped him in time before I treated him like the dumb Asian sales guy from the other import dealer earlier.
In summary:
- Bought a hail damaged Honda Civic from Village Honda
- Salesperson NICK, also a Beyonder nixrx8
- Good communication, through out my inquiries (knowing I'm checking other places, questioning him back and forth on different potentials, situations)... he was 100% clear, didn't misled (pet peeve in new car buying scene), he's pretty smart the way he words things so you don't have false hope on a certain deal (so he's not trying to trick you, we all got to be realistic; this ain't China where the listed price on a $200 "Nike" shoe can end up to be $25 just by pretending to be walking away from the street vendor)
- He did end up bugling a VERY little bit from his original price quoted to me... but that's probably out of pity, lol
- Price I paid, even though wasn't as much as I'd like, but again, consider the purchasing EXPERIENCE in itself... I got a product that I paid for, thing is, nothing to bitch about; but being accurate in review; nope, not a steal of a deal.
- With hail damaged units, make sure you know what's involved with your insurance/comphensive
But even if you weren't purchasing a hail damaged unit, if you're in the market for a Honda... I say definitely include Nick as one of the stops to visit.
Here're some photos of my new beater.
Just becareful with corner edges, big hail hitting these spots will crack paint. (It was late night when I grabbed a few stock #'s for Nick that night... so that's my fault)
Inside, you won't notice the difference I suppose.
Just not sure if I should regular plate it, or custom plate it???
Quote
Originally Posted by DonJuan
So just disclosing that. Of course if you like Nick's services and wanna use me as reference, that'd be greatful appreicate, but not necessary... If only I can get 50+ Beyonders buying a Honda every month... I'd quit my day job... or at least make it just a part time.
treasures n eerything.
