traxtar3
Member
Ive been lingering on the forums for a little bit now, so I thought I'd share my experience with Go Honda 104th in Denver, CO.
At the time, I was driving a 2008 Nissan Xterra and after moving into the city, I was looking for something that got better gas milage but still had a bit of an edge. I was deciding between a Scion tC, Civic Si, and a Subaru Legacy.
After driving the Subaru and the Scion, I was not sold. Each had their issues that I wasn't completely happy with. Both are excellent cars, but they weren't for me. I didn't care how the Subaru handled and the Scion's interior was blegh.
As I was test driving cars, I had noticed that the clutch on my Xterra had started to weaken. I had read on the forums that when Nissan clutches start to go, they catastrophically fail...imminently. As I made my way up to Go Honda 104th, my clutch was beginning to slip more rapidly.
I began walking around the lot looking around and I was approached by a "seedy" salesman. They kind of guy that makes your skin crawl talking to him. After a brief conversation, he realized that he was not knowledgable enough to handle my case. He was more of a soccer mom, minivan salesman. He quickly passed me off to a more competent salesman. From then on out, my experience was dramatically different. The salesman's name was Brandon Valenza; a man I'd highly recommend.
Everything was up front: no bull. He started by asking what I wanted and then magically, made it appear. As I said, I did a lot of research. I knew exactly what I wanted to drive. A dark grey 2013 Honda Civic Si without nav.
From there, I test drove the car. We took it for about a 5 mile drive and that was all I needed to know I loved the car. The sticker price was just under $24K. Go Honda's policy was that they do not back down from the MSRP. But they could negotiate with trade in value and extended warranty.
When we were waiting for the estimate to come back, I was talking to Brandon (the salesman) about the car and different aftermarket options. The usual "guy talk". He owned a 2012 Si and was giving me the skinny. I want to re-iterate that he was completely pressure free. To him, he seemed to honestly not care if he sold a car that day or if I came back another time, as long as I was happy. The guys that were looking at my Xterra were taking their time, so Brandon offered to take me for a ride in his car. He had a performance intake and exhaust as well as a chip (from what I remember). He also had some misc cosmetic (JDM) stuff that looked really good. He took me around the block and really showed me what the Si could do. I had already decided to buy the car, but that put the nail in the coffin. I was sold.
After driving the car, we started talking dollars and cents. They took my Xterra for evaluation and came back with a low ball offer. They offered 9K, which was a full grand less than KBB. Standard dealer BS. I told them that it was not good enough and sent the offer back for reevaluation. I told them I would not take anything less than $10.5K. They immediately accepted, on the premise that I financed the Si through Honda. They offered me 1.9% APR w/ $2k down, so it was a no brainer for me (USAA offered me 3.6%).
Following my stint with Brandon, I was passed on to Brad Parker the finance guy to do all the paperwork. Most people hate the finance guy, but Brad was AWESOME!
I knew that I wanted an extended warranty because I have always needed to use it. I also wanted oil changes to be included for a few years since I lacked a garage to do it myself. Brad totally hooked me up. I conceded to get the most expensive warranty that covered EVERYTHING (oil changes, door dings, etc.) but he totally hooked me up! It would have cost about $5K, but he knocked it down to about $2500. He made it completely painless. We ended up passing the time talking about golf, motorcycles and his son in the Marines (I'm AD USAF).
At the end of the day, I ended up with the exact car I wanted, for about $2K less than I planned (including tax, ext warranty, bells, whistles, etc).
I would highly recommend Go Honda 104th if you are in Denver....as long as you talk to the right people.
At the time, I was driving a 2008 Nissan Xterra and after moving into the city, I was looking for something that got better gas milage but still had a bit of an edge. I was deciding between a Scion tC, Civic Si, and a Subaru Legacy.
After driving the Subaru and the Scion, I was not sold. Each had their issues that I wasn't completely happy with. Both are excellent cars, but they weren't for me. I didn't care how the Subaru handled and the Scion's interior was blegh.
As I was test driving cars, I had noticed that the clutch on my Xterra had started to weaken. I had read on the forums that when Nissan clutches start to go, they catastrophically fail...imminently. As I made my way up to Go Honda 104th, my clutch was beginning to slip more rapidly.
I began walking around the lot looking around and I was approached by a "seedy" salesman. They kind of guy that makes your skin crawl talking to him. After a brief conversation, he realized that he was not knowledgable enough to handle my case. He was more of a soccer mom, minivan salesman. He quickly passed me off to a more competent salesman. From then on out, my experience was dramatically different. The salesman's name was Brandon Valenza; a man I'd highly recommend.
Everything was up front: no bull. He started by asking what I wanted and then magically, made it appear. As I said, I did a lot of research. I knew exactly what I wanted to drive. A dark grey 2013 Honda Civic Si without nav.
From there, I test drove the car. We took it for about a 5 mile drive and that was all I needed to know I loved the car. The sticker price was just under $24K. Go Honda's policy was that they do not back down from the MSRP. But they could negotiate with trade in value and extended warranty.
When we were waiting for the estimate to come back, I was talking to Brandon (the salesman) about the car and different aftermarket options. The usual "guy talk". He owned a 2012 Si and was giving me the skinny. I want to re-iterate that he was completely pressure free. To him, he seemed to honestly not care if he sold a car that day or if I came back another time, as long as I was happy. The guys that were looking at my Xterra were taking their time, so Brandon offered to take me for a ride in his car. He had a performance intake and exhaust as well as a chip (from what I remember). He also had some misc cosmetic (JDM) stuff that looked really good. He took me around the block and really showed me what the Si could do. I had already decided to buy the car, but that put the nail in the coffin. I was sold.
After driving the car, we started talking dollars and cents. They took my Xterra for evaluation and came back with a low ball offer. They offered 9K, which was a full grand less than KBB. Standard dealer BS. I told them that it was not good enough and sent the offer back for reevaluation. I told them I would not take anything less than $10.5K. They immediately accepted, on the premise that I financed the Si through Honda. They offered me 1.9% APR w/ $2k down, so it was a no brainer for me (USAA offered me 3.6%).
Following my stint with Brandon, I was passed on to Brad Parker the finance guy to do all the paperwork. Most people hate the finance guy, but Brad was AWESOME!
I knew that I wanted an extended warranty because I have always needed to use it. I also wanted oil changes to be included for a few years since I lacked a garage to do it myself. Brad totally hooked me up. I conceded to get the most expensive warranty that covered EVERYTHING (oil changes, door dings, etc.) but he totally hooked me up! It would have cost about $5K, but he knocked it down to about $2500. He made it completely painless. We ended up passing the time talking about golf, motorcycles and his son in the Marines (I'm AD USAF).
At the end of the day, I ended up with the exact car I wanted, for about $2K less than I planned (including tax, ext warranty, bells, whistles, etc).
I would highly recommend Go Honda 104th if you are in Denver....as long as you talk to the right people.
