Scratch Honda off the list ...

Headed up to Mall today with the intention of having a bit of fun with the Honda people. Came away somewhat peeved.

Firstly, let's remember back a few weeks when I had a second look at the CR-Z. They had none in the showroom, so I got offered a chance to sit in a customer car that was waiting delivery. I balked at that.

Let's think about that - the garage may have allowed a complete stranger random type person sit in a car that was waiting to be picked up. What would you think if your nearly new car went in for its first service and the garage let someone have a look in it ? You would probably recoil in horror and swear never to go near that garage again.

That was a few weeks ago though. How about tonight ...

They passed the first test by allowing someone to have a look around without being too obvious about rubbing the hands together and going "Potential Customerrrrrr" in that goblin voice familiar to all the Warcraft players. You would expect at least one "can we help ?" from the staff though. I guess that depends on who's on duty at the time.

Still, lack of effort in grooming a potential customer is justifiably reflected in lack of interest by that customer.

Let's hit the "that's just plain rude" : Part of my expected fun was asking when they were looking to get in the "sporty" version of the "sports" couple. No knowledge admitted to by the salesperson about any improved versions being on the way. (There is allegedly a faster CR-Z coming as Honda have admitted to the current one not having the performance to match the looks)

What I didn't expect was that while trying to converse with the salesperson, that the salesperson would only be half listening while one of his colleagues was passing on a message.
1 - If a potential customer is there, full attention should be with the person possibly paying your commission
2 - Unless it's "GTFO THE BUILDING'S ON FIRE!" any message can wait
3 - Customer is King.

I found that distraction to be highly insulting and indicative of a group that don't really want my business.

Oh well. Makes the decision on what car to aim for a little easier :-)

Oh ! Almost forgot. Impressions of the CR-Zzzzzz from sitting inside ...

Seats. Ok and fully reflecting the sporty aim for the car. Bucket sporty seats although I couldn't easily find the adjustment to lean back the seat a bit to a position suitable for a normal person not a short armed long legged mutant.
Dash and interior. Fine for a modern car, as they are continuing the fashion of surrounding the driver with Stuff. Lots of mysterious controls with OOO SHINY!!!!
I suspect this car would work well for short doses but would rapidly become tiring on a longer drive.

Exterior & design. Whereas the Lexus had a CT200h on show with a few golf club bags in the back, the CR-Z is somewhat cramped. With seats, it's advertised as a 2+2 which translates to 2+2. The boot has a restricted entry with a high sill, whereas the Lexus boot has minimal sill height.
Again, fine for stuff like shopping but anything more serious (like lugging a heavy cricket bag around) will be a major pain.

I guess you can sum it up as Epic Fail on the side of the Honda people, although that should probably just read "Honda Person". A key part of car ownership is being able to trust the people who you're doing business with. Lack of trust makes you go elsewhere. Trouble is, if a finance deal is involved (or guaranteed servicing) then you can't go elsewhere. As soon as you buy, you're committed. So it pays (literally) to be careful who you do business with.

And I'll not be taking my business to Honda :
Product isn't up to standard.
Garage is untrustworthy
Staff aren't interested in selling cars
The competition blows them away in all respects

It may be shiny enough to con the petrol heads but not this petrol head.