Honda Dealer in Austin

SuperHero

SuperHero

500+ Posts
Anyone purchase a new Honda in Austin lately? Which dealership/salesperson did you deal with? Experiences? Did you get one off the lot or have one brought in for you? How much over invoice did you pay for it?

Still debating whether to splurge and get an Acura TSX, or just stick w/ an Accord EX, and wanted to shop around a bit more. Thanks for any feedback.
 
It's tough to find a Honda in Austin with the proper height to weight ratio. I like my Honda's big and thick.

Seriously, the Honda on Koenig/2222, Howdy Honda, is suppossed to be good. I am casually looking around myself. I would go with the Accord personally.
 
While I did not pull the trigger, I did some extensive shopping at First Texas Honda. I found the sales reps to be quite friendly and had better than average car knowledge (I tend to know quite a bit more about autos than many young whippersnapper salesmen, so I am quite picky - and critical).

I advise you that your best "deal" will almost always come from dealer stock. A factory built order will almost never garner a big discount vis-a-vis inventory due to the many "holding" costs (taxes, interest and dwindling dealer holdback). That said, they want your business and will jump through hoops to sell you a model that wasn't just introduced to the public.

For whatever mystical reason, Honda's tend to sell for closer to MSRP than invoice, but the trend is changing. Honda's are getting crowded out by some pretty impressive competition (Nissan and Toyota). Be aggressive on the price and HEAVILY and REPEATEDLY suggest that you are aware of the competition (Maxima, Altima, Camry, Solara).

I am not one for the Accord given its bland (but safe) styling and reputation as being the car that EVERYBODY owns. That is good for resale, but bad for panache. I'd certainly consider the Acura line. Same Honda reliability with a bit more originality.

Best of luck!!!!
wink.gif
 
I thought Howdy was south of town. Maybe I'm wrong. Either way, there's a sales guy (Justin Denson) working at the Honda on 2222 (whatever the name may be) - and I would not use him as my salesperson if I were you.
 
I bought an '05 Odyssey in January. Once we decided on the Honda we shopped Howdy, First Texas, and Classic in San Marcos. While the salesmen were friendly and knowledgable none of the dealerships were willing to deal on this vehicle. I assume it's due to the supply/demand of the Odyssey, but the offeres/counter-offers they made on these vans were insulting (think $50-100 off MSRP). I got fed up and started calling dealerships in Houston, San Antonio, etc.

The Houston dealerships made us some decent offers but, we ended up buying from Greg May Honda in Waco. They were super friendly and made us a pretty good deal on a dealer trade (to get the color we wanted) and they were just a little bit closer. If you're willing to shop/buy outside of Austin, PM me and I'll dig up our saleman's info. If nothing else just to see how they compare to the local offers.
 
We bought a car from First Texas over the summer and had a pleasant experience. Do not go to the dealership on I-35 in Round Rock (I think it's Champion). They tried every screwy dealer ploy in the book. At first, I just laughed at him, but after a little while, it just got annoying.

Accuratehorn may have some thoughts on this topic.
 
I deal mainly with the parts departments, so I don't really know about people's experiences with the new car salesmen.
First Texas is on Koenig-seem to be good as far as I know.
Howdy Honda is out south. Don't go out there much, so don't have anything to say about them.
Classic Honda is out in Round Rock, and I hate their parts department, and I won't go there. They are not nice to shops.
May not coorelate to a bad experience buying a new car, though.
 
I stopped by the Round Rock dealership during lunch yesterday since I'm up here for work this week. The particular salesperson was a complete idiot. I only started seriously looking at Accords yesterday, and I knew more about the car than he did. Completely inexcusable. I got an e-mail from the internet sales person, and he's asking for about $500 above invoice.

I e-mailed and got a response from First Texas within 10 minutes. The guy seemed to know his stuff, and we talked on the phone for about 10 minutes. Right now there are only 2 of the color/transmission combo in Texas, so they may have to do some horsetrading with another dealership. I'll probably stop by tomorrow to get a value on my trade in.
 
I have delt with both First Texas (Keonig) and Howdy (S.I35). I will never go back to First Texas and will spread the word forever for everyone else not to go! Howdy has been great, I have never had a problem with them.

A friend of mine just bought a new Accord, and says he got the best deal in Killeen (Cleo Bay).
 
I use to work at First TX Honda and I wouldn't
hesitate to but from there. Just shop the dealers
against each other about price and buy from
the closest from your home.
 
Thanks for the responses guys. I got the car this morning from First Texas without much/any haggling. Price was EXTREMELY competitive, even though I drove off with a different color car than what I had in mind when I first walked in.

The salesperson had the Hornfans site on his monitor when I first walked in. Maybe I should've asked what his username was. Haha.

But thanks again for the input. I guess I'll be calling the other dealers to let them know to stop wasting their time on me now.
 
Howdy Honda is the best Austin Honda dealer. I'm a Nissan/Infinity guy but I have many friends that swear by Howdy. My next door neighbor used to be the head mechanic there and he had very good things to say about the integrity of the service dept unlike others he had worked for. He has now moved on to own his own shop but I still hear good things about Howdy sales and service.
 
I bought mine in 1997 from First Texas... very nice people especially the Service Dept.

The one on I -35 in RR are a holes. They basically insult the customer with their sleazy techniques. Should be reported to Honda corporate for bringing down the company image. Total scumbags.

The Howdy on the south side has nice folks.
 
I bought my honda at howdy and so did my brother. They are very friendly and help you out when your car is in service. They will also give you a good deal. Better than First texas and Champion IMO.
 
If you know exactly what you want, just call all the dealerships. We called every Honda dealership from San Antonio to Waco. McCombs Honda in San Antonio ended up being $750 cheaper than Howdy or First Honda. We even offered Howdy and First Honda the chance to match the price and they declined.
 
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