Comments on: Honda takes top spot from Toyota in customer retention study

By: tripleonefive

tripleonefive — Sat, 13 Dec 2008 01:03:19 +0000

RTT10: “Honda’s are great cars.” Yes they are.

By: jackjimturkey

jackjimturkey — Fri, 12 Dec 2008 18:01:21 +0000

No real surprises. When people like a car, or have a good relationship with a dealer, it’s hard to get them to switch.

Madcapp: “Honda is a better choice than Toyota.” That certainly seems to be the case these days.

tripleonefive: “We all know that (and its proven fact ) Honda and Toyota make the best cars when compared to anything from detroit.” That’s not a fact — it’s a conclusion you came to. Maybe you examined some facts to come to that conclusion?

golf4me: “The Sheeple have spoken…” good one.

Spingood Tanoya: I think some of those with lower than expected retention rates are cases of people falling in love with a particular model and the experience is not equal to the fantasy.

tripleonefive: “When there is proof that D3 make cars that are equal …” There won’t be. There will be more facts, leading to different conclusions, but you can’t “prove” something like this.

“Im in love with no machine but I prefer ones that are reliable and have high resale values.” Like the A8? a

Renton: “Honda kicks ass.” In a way, that’s true.
The S2000 is NOT hardcore.

12/10, 7:34 PMposted by:beatusmongous: “More people eat at McDonald’s than just about anywhere else, and more people return to McDonald’s than just about anywhere else. But that doesn’t make them ‘better’ than your local gourmet burger house.” damn, that’s profound. That’s exactly what this article is.

idrinorbarsaku: “I have nothing against honda.” I won’t say the same. I OWNED one.

“you need to have a great customer service like honda and toyota.” That speaks to the point I made earlier about having a good relationship with a dealer.

RTT10: “honda’s are great cars.” No, they’re not.

johnnycanuck: when gas was $4.61, I considered a couple of hondas, but went with a Kawasaki.

hangonbig3: “The absolute smartest car company around.” Honda is good at thinking long-term. That’s why they didn’t have Behemoths sitting on lots for 344 days, and had Fits flying off the shelves.

anti-believer: “They are the best.” No, they’re not.

idrinorbarsaku: “we have NEVER been to a ford, chevy, gmc, or ANY other domestic car dealer without feeling pressured to get more options/ a more expensive car.” and when that happens, people don’t want to go back.

DrFill: “I believe people have MUCH higher expectations of Hondas and Toyota than they do the Broke 3 vehicles.” I have high expectations of my Buick, but generally, across the board, they’re higher than they’d have been in the ’80s or ’90s

carstuff: “One item JD Power did not report out, as they have in the past, is what is the corporate retention rate.” Good question.My Buick counts as a lost customer for Oldsmobile, though that doesn’t matter as it would had I bought a Pontiac before.
Interesting that chevrolet is so high. Must be all the trucks they sell to people who do actual work.

bradleygt: “Suburban is by far the best Full size SUV out there.” Straight Thuth!

SSEAN54: I, too had a Honda Civic. Worst car i ever owned, but I’m not sure i would say today that Honda makes the worst cars. The fit is a stroke of genius. The new accord/tl has nothing to be ashamed of, and the Oddessy is the second-best minivan.

By: SSEAN54

SSEAN54 — Fri, 12 Dec 2008 03:45:55 +0000

wow! i had a Honda Civic. Replaced the exhaust twice, Catalytic converter, axles, bumper cover pins. Honda makes the WORST cars. I always see ghetto gangbangers driving them in bright orange, yellow and purple! the windows are black and the base of it nearly drags on the ground. many corollas resemble this too! nothing says “i’m ghetto” like a Honda!

By: idrinorbarsaku

idrinorbarsaku — Fri, 12 Dec 2008 02:44:45 +0000

bradleygt,
we’ve had 2 suburbans in the past, a 1998 Lt fully loaded, blue with grey interior, and a 2003 Lt red metallic with beige interior and every option. i have never missed a car as much as the 2003 suburban we had. i remember skipping class that day because it was getting delivered early in the morning to my local dealer. I actually thought the 2003 was really easy to drive because you can see all around you and judge distances far better than a sedan or something else. After we traded it in, we felt so bad and stuff that we went back to buy our suburban back, but the manager of the dealer had been using it as a personal vehicle and damaged the front bumper(mother f-er!!!!!!).

injunraiv,
i don’t buy cars because the dealer looks shiny, it just so happens that the service and better salesperson relationship happens to be better at these places that have a better environment(best example=LEXUS. We had a great salesperson named Josh at VW when we leased our first VW in 2005. that place was a dump, but we already knew the person there who got us in a 2005.5 jetta loaded at $25000 total sticker for only 125 a month for 36 months with 0 due at signing. sadly though, he went away when the that VW closed down after they built a new one(Ganley sucks!) now he’s with Subaru now:(

I’m sure people know what I am talking about

By: bradleygt

bradleygt — Thu, 11 Dec 2008 22:46:39 +0000

idr: as someone who has now worked for three different dealerships in the last few months and on different sides of town, i understand what you mean about dealer location and how it looks. First impressions can either make a deal or break it within the first few minutes and if either the salesperson or the dealership looks or acts crappy, you’re probably not buying from them.

The Chevy store I was at, was older, but they always kept it clean and we did the best we could to keep it looking good. Now was it as nice as some of the other newer stores on the block or other new Chevy dealerships in the area, of course not!! The Acura store was only four years old and very nice. And now the VW store I am in is a rat hole, but luckly we are moving into a new building in May ‘09 by the Acura store (same owner). I know I am loosing business being here, but I like the product and know the opportunity will be there when we move the the new location. I don’t know how it is where you live at, but I have to say that 80% of those I have worked with are salesproffesionals I would buy from becaue they are not idiots or jerks. Unfortantley there still are a few out there who give us bad names!

Good luck in your search for a new vehicle and if you go to Chevy again, the Suburban is by far the best Full size SUV out there if you are comfortable with that size. Its a beast, but man is it smooth riding and suprisinly not worse then a Tahoe or Sequia/Armada on gas. Black and Tan was alwasy my favorite in either LTZ or Z71, depending on if you like the luxury/contempory look or the Sporty/Modern look

By: injunraiv

injunraiv — Thu, 11 Dec 2008 22:31:27 +0000

@ idrinorbarsaku

Interesting comments. I have never heard anyone say they would buy a car from a dealer because the building is shiny. In my experience, service is much more important than flash. But I’m not deriding you, I’m actually enamored with this comment. Maybe I have been missing something…

By: idrinorbarsaku

idrinorbarsaku — Thu, 11 Dec 2008 18:50:17 +0000

I’m not really surprised about the rust on it because at the time when it was REALLY used, my dad always took care of it as he does with all his cars(good thing this habit got passed down to me). we also had a suburban that was always used during winter so when the Cressida did get salty, it would be clean the next day inside the garage.

By: oldraven

oldraven — Thu, 11 Dec 2008 18:45:17 +0000

Oh, I didn’t say they were the only ones. I live in Nova Scotia and have seen everything but Saturns and Corvettes rust to pieces. They’re just known for being particularly bad for rust.

By: Borat

Borat — Thu, 11 Dec 2008 17:36:24 +0000

oldraven, what you are saying is only partially true. All manufacturers switch to corrosion resisted metals and better paint compounds 15-20 years ago. The only non-rusted cars of 80’s were in Arizona, California and other “sunshine” states (or driven by older people during fair weather, otherwise garaged).
Toyota of old were much more reliable then what we got are seeing today (at least in US). This year Toyota was shaken by recalls, and yes, their sales and service staff are complete azzholes (not that Honda much better, but you don’t need to see them). I have 11.5 year old CR-V and it feels much tighter then 2.5 y.o. Pontiac Vibe GT (made by Toyota).

By: oldraven

oldraven — Thu, 11 Dec 2008 17:21:57 +0000

A Cressida without rust? Reliable, I’m not surprised. But rust free makes this thing a true anomaly. 80’s Toyota sheetmetal’s greatest love affair was with Oxygen. Their spawn, a rust pile that would never stop.

By: idrinorbarsaku

idrinorbarsaku — Thu, 11 Dec 2008 16:43:34 +0000

to that person that asked if anyone has a toyota, we just sold our 22 year old Toyota Cressida with 24X,XXX miles for 2000 bucks!!!!! we bought that car with 44XXX miles and the only problem we had was when a rock hit the radiator, went through it and broke the fan. it came from the bed of a pickup truck. it was one of the loudest noises i have ever heard. ! thats it!!!! this car was unbelievably reliable, idk if there is another toyota out there like that now. it didn’t even have a single rust spot on the body.

By: Struggle

Struggle — Thu, 11 Dec 2008 16:31:19 +0000

I have 2 four year old Honda’s for our daily drivers.

They are awesome and reliable. Period.

By: idrinorbarsaku

idrinorbarsaku — Thu, 11 Dec 2008 16:30:59 +0000

DrFill, you wouldn’t expect good (or great) sales/customer service at ANY non-luxury dealer, foreign or domestic because the domestics dealers suck and you think foreign ones suck just the same! With the exception of Mazda/kia/hyundai, other average priced cars have the same buying experience as a luxury dealer. it all starts when you walk into the door. I’m not sure where you live, but the foreign dealers in my area are completely different from any domestic dealer, even Cadillac! We walked into a GMC dealer looking at the Acadia one day. the first thing we noticed was that one of the lights near the door wasn’t working. then the tiles! they were so old and ugly that they looked like someone had vomited so much that it covered the hole sales floor. we left without trying it there. On the same street, there is Lexus. now i know some of you might be saying, “those dealers aren’t the same”, but to me, the cars we are interested in can come from either company. First of all, even the glass on the windows looks different. and when you walk in, you look at yourself to make sure you came with the right clothes on. to think that this place offers a car for the same price as gmc makes you wonder “wtf are they doing over there? and why on earth would i spend my hard earned money at a run down place when i can come over hear, fell good for being inside the dealer, know that the lease will be better because of its depreciation, and they always take care of their customers”

the street that I am talking about has many dealers! Of all of those, they can be placed under 2 categories.
the first one is, run-down looking dealers. These would be GMC(which has actually closed their doors as of a couple of weeks ago), kia, hyundai, chrysler, dodge, cadillac, mazda, ford and other small private dealers. I left Chevy out because the one dealer there just got built and it looks nice! but thats the only chevy dealer that looks incredible, and if we buy a chevy, its probably going to be a suburban from them!

the second is the new look, shiny tiles, luxury amenities to make you feel comfortable being there. this includes Honda, toyota, lexus, acura, vw, bmw, mercedes, jaguar(although IMO, their sales service people can suck a big one), Aston martin/lotus, infiniti.

I don’t think its hard to get the big picture here. i think our domestics need a big change if they want to become better. its like that one saying, if your neighbor is selling his house with a pool for the same price as you are selling yours without a pool, you better out one in fast!

what do you guys think of this?

By: oldraven

oldraven — Thu, 11 Dec 2008 15:59:39 +0000

JD Power is not pay to play. CR, on the other hand, is exactly that. Literally based on the opinions of those who read their magazine, not objective statistics from every source.

By: Borat

Borat — Thu, 11 Dec 2008 15:20:07 +0000

mayer_ray_nagin, you are right. Considering that Honda customers have highest education level (used to be Saab & Volvo before change of ownership) all that educated euro trash does not know about cars and all they care about not to buy Broken & Bankrupt 2.6 products.

By: bigjimid

bigjimid — Thu, 11 Dec 2008 15:07:01 +0000

Plus I think a big thing in choosing a car is how the basic features that everyone wants is done well. What I mean is that people know how they want their air conditioner controls to work, or how the seat adjusts, or if there is a 12v power source instead of a cigarette lighter. When a company focuses on the simple things and makes them the best they can be as far as look, feel, and location, people tend to like that way better than having a bunch of extra buttons, cup holders, and clutter they don’t want and will never use.

I give Honda a big thumbs up for the achievement. I’ve been in plenty of Hondas in my days (never owning one) and a good friend bought an 09 Fit the week it was released, and I can say the interior was done very well IMO.

By: beatusmongous

beatusmongous — Thu, 11 Dec 2008 14:50:28 +0000

I never denied that GM had some problems. What I’m saying is that Honda is not perfect. In fact, they are far from it. No one is even near perfect. That’s my point.

I’m no fanboy. Don’t put words in my mouth.

By: mayer_ray_nagin

mayer_ray_nagin — Thu, 11 Dec 2008 14:30:17 +0000

It might also be that Honda/Toyota buyers have very very low expectations, and Honda/Toyota are adept at meeting very low expectations, so their retarded customers feel happy and come back for more BS. Domestic buyers expect a lot more, and when some tiny thing goes wrong, they switch to the next guy and see if that is better.

By: DCG3

DCG3 — Thu, 11 Dec 2008 14:11:02 +0000

@1115 that just means that the vette has the fastest roof down time of any convertible by the way how’s your prius? You eco hippie a$$hole

By: carstuff

carstuff — Thu, 11 Dec 2008 11:17:27 +0000

One item JD Power did not report out, as they have in the past, is what is the corporate retention rate.

i.e. Lexus/Toyota/Scion.

In past years GM has been at the top of the list because many buyers move about the GM marques. The guy buying a GMC truck may purchase a Cadillac as his 2nd vehicle replacing his Buick.

Retention rate by this measure? 0

Retention rate by corporation? 100%

By: Rover3500

Rover3500 — Thu, 11 Dec 2008 08:50:26 +0000

Why do you people even acknowledge the retard that is 1115…just ignore the douchebag. by the way, does anyone heer actually own a Toyota?

By: Mutant@DCX

Mutant@DCX — Thu, 11 Dec 2008 06:58:38 +0000

JD Power kills puppys and pokes holes in the ozone layer

By: idrinorbarsaku

idrinorbarsaku — Thu, 11 Dec 2008 05:47:28 +0000

*they*

By: idrinorbarsaku

idrinorbarsaku — Thu, 11 Dec 2008 04:15:00 +0000

thats true DrFill, their expectations are very high compared to the rest, and the fact that their are first shows that they are succeeding

By: Renton

Renton — Thu, 11 Dec 2008 03:44:21 +0000

Nobody expects fancy interiors at that price point. They still run finer than the rest.

Nobody cares what you think about the US domestics, why don’t you sit by the phone and wait for them to call for advice.

By: DrFill

DrFill — Thu, 11 Dec 2008 03:44:19 +0000

I wouldn’t expect good (or great) sales/customer service at ANY non-luxury dealer, foreign or domestic!

This survey is important to me because I believe people have MUCH higher expectations of Hondas and Toyota than they do the Broke 3 vehicles.

This tells me Honda and Toyota regularly exceed their lofty reputations and expectations, according to customer’s wallets, the survey that counts the most
DrFill

By: Veda

Veda — Thu, 11 Dec 2008 03:38:34 +0000

I’m not gonna go into the fanboy discussion of which brand is the best blah blah but I’d have to say the new Fit and City really didn’t impress me. Actually everyone’s comment regarding the cheap interior material and overpricing is echoed throughout the industry. It’s just that maybe in US the competition is still a lot worse with the domestics around. But personally I wouldn’t buy another Honda for personal use unless it’s the AWD 3.7 TL. Ugly but nice car regardless…

By: idrinorbarsaku

idrinorbarsaku — Thu, 11 Dec 2008 03:35:37 +0000

DrFill.
thats exactly why i said i could care less what DJ says! I go by personally experience that my family and close friends that we have all had and we always have nice things to say about toyota/honda/ and others like lexus. we all have fallen under the same agreement that domestics have a bit worse dealer care for customers. You can’t just base decisions based on writings, you have to base them on personal experience. we have NEVER been to a ford, chevy, gmc, or ANY other domestic car dealer without feeling pressured to get more options/ a more expensive car. I don’t even want to start with their stop-in-service. I’m not trying to be mean against our big 3 because i hope they some day take over all other car companies, but this is how it has been for the dealers in my area. I have never had such a great experience as we had when we got the 08 lexus IS 250…just two words describe it…UNBELIEVABLY AMAZING!

By: anti-believer

anti-believer — Thu, 11 Dec 2008 03:15:38 +0000

HONDA #1

They are the best

By: DrFill

DrFill — Thu, 11 Dec 2008 02:48:18 +0000

idrinorbarsaku
If you do some “due dilligence”, JDPower also does Sales/Service experience surveys, and Toyota & Honda are regularly bottom-feeders in those contests

People don’t buy them because they get treated well, or they get the price they want.

Toyota and Honda owners usually HATE they dealership and the service department

They just like (or love) the car they bought. It does exactly what they were told it will do, usually by a friend or family member. It’s not magic, allthough it can seem that way

It maybe science
DrFill

By: hangonbig3

hangonbig3 — Thu, 11 Dec 2008 02:40:34 +0000

The absolute smartest car company around. Well done.

By: howsmydriving

howsmydriving — Thu, 11 Dec 2008 01:49:04 +0000

Congrats Honda, you earned and deserve it.

By: johnnycanuck

johnnycanuck — Thu, 11 Dec 2008 01:29:13 +0000

sorry… Stephen King, like anyone gives a sh*t.

By: johnnycanuck

johnnycanuck — Thu, 11 Dec 2008 01:27:37 +0000

JD Power can suck on the end of my hockey stick and choke on the tape, but since this is one statistic they can’t twist like a bad Steven King novel congrats to Honda. I ride a Honda and I know I would not hesitate to buy another of their bikes.

By: RTT10

RTT10 — Thu, 11 Dec 2008 01:19:03 +0000

honda’s are great cars, they deserve it, toyota has gonna WAY down in the past couple of years just like Mercedes.