Hallelujah! It’s A Honda!

Saturday Ginny and I (along with about 25 other people) attended a new car owner’s clinic at Duval Honda where we bought our new car.

Three things struck me about this meeting:

(1). Other car buyers seem much smarter than I am. As the new customers asked questions, they constantly quoted Consumer Reports, Car Facts, and a bunch of other information sources they’d checked before buying their cars.

I observed that car dealerships are competing for a much better informed clientele than in previous generations.

Me, I checked the spare tire and jack (once bought a car without realizing they were missing) and decided that blue is a pretty color for our new car.

(2). The people working for the dealership really BELIEVE in their product. I’ve been in revivalist meetings where the speakers displayed less fervor than these salesmen, customer service reps, and parts guys.

To me, it’s a bit scary to see people care so much about a brand of machine. After all one brand of car is pretty much the same as the next, isn’t it? These Honda folks would burn me at the stake if I’d voiced that opinion in their meeting.

And here I thought Gator or Bulldog fans were fanatics.

(3). A minor defect in our new car bugs me inordinately. For that kind of money, I expected it to be perfect.

Ginny points out that considering the clunkers we’ve driven over the years -- cars I spent more time under than in -- the defect is not worth mentioning.

She says the defect is not in her new car, but in her old husband.

As my granddad used to say, “There’s some folks would complain if you was to hang them with a brand new rope”.