Locate an Auto Repair Shop in Smith Lake, New Mexico

Smith Lake, NM Car Consumer Discussions

Re: Easy Negotiating in Houston, Texas [sel0511]

by lockloop on Sat Oct 11 09:00:54 PDT 2008

Sel0611, That is a lot of information there. That was really helpful. I have a few more questions. When you negotiate online between several dealerships, do you forward the email from one sales person to another to prove you have a better deal? I wonder if that is something ethical to do. I lives in Clear Lake city, I am not going to Russel and Smith to do any repair work. Therefore, I don't think that extended warranty will do me any good. But why do you feel the need to pay extra for the extended warranty? Is it because you think Mazda's reliability is not that good? thanks

Re: Actually Captain Smith of the Titanic... [iluvmysephia1]

by rockylee on Sun Jul 27 17:25:52 PDT 2008

Hey, rock, ya gonna move on down here to Arizona and build solar-generated electric rigs with me? Let's start up our own company, man. iluv, I'm not big on solar power pal, but thanks for the offer. Arizona, is waaaaaay to hot for me pal, and I like michigans 4 season climate, and we have lots of trees, lakes, rivers. -Rocky

09 Pilot 2WD EX-L in Houston

by rockettr on Mon Jul 14 15:07:09 PDT 2008

Thanks to everyone who posted before. The information was very useful in my search. I just purchased an 09 Pilot EX-L (2wd) in Houston from Russell Smith for $33,500 out the door. That's roughly $175 over invoice before taxes and fees. One general tip for anyone looking for a specific vehicle, if the dealer's website doesn't give you all of the info that you are looking for, but they do give you the VIN, go to Honda's accessory e-store and enter the VIN. That will give you all of the trim and color details. This saved me some time narrowing down to just the dealers that had what I wanted. For those in the area here's a brief summary of my impression of some of the local dealers: Baytown & Lake Jackson - I heard good things about both of these from other posters, but they didn't have the color combination I was looking for (or even very many 09's), so I didn't communicate with them very much. Clear Lake - The only dealership that I wasn't able to search their inventory online (what's up with that?). Luckily they were also the closest to my house, so going in person wasn't a problem. I found out they didn't have the color combination I was looking for. When I told them that, the salesman said "We won't be getting any more 2009's in until September. No one else will either because the Honda plant is closed for the summer." I'm glad they weren't getting my money after that statement. David McDavid - Had color combination I wanted, but suddenly stopped communicating with me when I was trying to work out the details on the price. Not sure if they just lost interest or if the salesman quit. Goodson West - Provided the best initial quote. I was a little suspicious if they'd actually honor it though since they based it off the 2008 MSRP instead of the 2009 MSRP. Sand Dollar - Spoke and emailed them quite a bit. They provided a good quote (just a couple hundred more than Goodson) on the 2009, but they didn't have it in stock and would have had to trade or order it. I would have gone with them if they had it in stock or if none of the other dealers worked out. Russell & Smith - Very pleasant, easy experience. Initial quote wasn't great, but when I mentioned the best quote I had received they agreed to beat it. No problems when I went in to get the vehicle. Price didn't change, no dealer installed options had been put on, and no strong sell on accessories or extended warranties. I was out in about 90 minutes with the car. Sterling McCall & Katy - After getting an initial quote, neither was very responsive to emailed questions. Hope this info helps someone else. Good luck.

Pilot 09 Buying Experience & Dealer Review

by hle81 on Sat Jun 28 21:28:56 PDT 2008

Hello everyone. Thank you for your great information and help! It really helped me purchase my new Pilot 09 EXL. Bought it today and I love it! I live in Houston, TX and I found out that Honda dealers here are really mean and won't work with you. Many were manipulative and even condescending. John Eagle- sent me two emails with "incorrect" pricing. Came in to dealership and was told that it was a mistake. They then quoted me for a Pilot 09 EXL with RES for $34,999 + TTL + Fees + Accessories = $39,000+. Would not budge with negotiating. I was told they cannot remove the dealer installed options so I had to pay for it. - I told them to quote me an EXL only = $37k+. Goodson - was very condescending. Online quote was $33,530+ttl. Came in and they quoted $34,230 + $1,200 in options + TTL= $38,100. they reduce price to $37,100. I told them it was beyond my budget, They told me to get a cheaper car! Russell & Smith - quoted $33,764+ttl which will be $36,137 drive out. I bargained OTD $34,000. They rejected it without a counter offer. It was like they didn't want my business. Gillman - $35,130.00 +TTL online. Offered to help me choose a 2008 with lots of rebates since it was beyond my budget. Honda of Clear Lake - I called and was quoted $33,600 OTD! Best price but refused to email me quote. I called, left two messages and no one returned my phone call. Their dealership is 1 hour away - I explained that - and that is why I didn't want to drive far and not have a printed quote in hand. No one called me or emailed me. Baytown Honda - quoted 36,100 OTD for 09 EXL. But when I said I was quoted $33,600 by Clear Lake, they worked with me. Called me back with counter offer of $33,800 as long as I financed with them. I was planning to do so anyway but I told them I would if their offer became $33,000 even OTD. They declined but said that it was the best offer they've given so far on the 09 Pilot. I went with Baytown. They were really nice. They didn't suggest that I get another car that's cheaper. They worked with what I could afford and matched price. Returned my emails and calls repeatedly. I think I bugged the heck out them. Thank you to redant4. Your emails really helped. But unfortunately, I guess where I live the best deal was $33,800 OTD. El Paso had good deals but 10 hour drive is too far and shipping was an extra $900. So even thought Baytown was a couple of hundred dollars more, it was closer to Houston. Thank you renew2 for your suggestion to check Baytown Honda. I wouldn't have looked otherwise.

jeffyscott...

by iluvmysephia1 on Fri Apr 25 11:44:35 PDT 2008

I would highly recommend the Kia brand, in response to your post about possible first cars for your kids. I bought my first Kia in the spring of '99, and that Sephia didn't even have today's Kia Long-Haul Warranty. The small sedan needed a few Warranty-covered repairs, one being a fuel pump wiring kit and another being a fuel filler vapor kit. Both were covered under Warranty. It needed a new gas cap, too, in order to stop the "check engine light" deal, where it shows an evaporative leak and pops a "check engine light" when there isn't really a leak. I needed to learn that one had to tighten the gas cap and click it enough times that it satisfied the sensor to keep quiet. I eventually bought some 70,000 miles Yokohama radials and Konig Diva wheels in a package from Discount Tire. Handling and "fun" factor tripled after buying those. I loved my Kia sedan so much that I wanted to try out another Kia. The brand had me impressed and I had been a lifetime domestic car buyer, mostly Ford purchases. In Sept. of 2001 I was itching to pull the trigger on another new Kia. My wife loves the Sportage SUV, so even though I had my eye on a new 2002 Kia Spectra sedan, my wife made this comment. "I don't want another one of those small cars. I love the Sportage." Off to the group of Sportage's on our dealer's lot. I also loved the Sportage's design. The Pepper Red 5-speed Sportage 4X4 we were centering our focus on listed for $17,075. My wife loved it the moment she got inside it. We test drove and then went inside for haggling...I...I mean dealing. Or dickering. Striking a common ground between buyer and seller. They offered a really reasonable trade-in value on our '99 Kia Sephia. Good enough to get our signatures on the dotted line. Our '01 Sportage 4X4 turned out to be another very nice vehicle from Kia for us. It did need a fuel-filler door kit replaced, and an alert mechanic noticed some staining on the radiator. It was decided that we needed a new radiator as the original one was leaking. So that was replaced under the Long-Haul Warranty. Now we had the Big Daddy of car Warranty's. Aside from a new gas cap to stave off the same "check engine light" deal we had with the '99 Sephia, that radiator and new fuel-filler door were the only things we needed fixed. Later a power window regulator needed replacing, also covered under Warranty. As the years went by our '01 Sportage 4X4 proved to be a reliable rig and helped us get out of some slippery road conditions with it's 4WD system, too. I was stranded once in my Sportage 4X4. While going to school in mid-Missouri, one morning I was driving to a clinical teaching hospital on the Lake of the Ozarks. I noticed, while still about 30 miles away from my destination, that my headlights were starting to dim. Humm...impending alternator failure? I'd been down this road before and knew the warning signs. Soon my AM/FM/cassette player went dead. I moved on, getting closer to the hospital. All of a sudden the small SUV puttered to a stop, my gas pedal went all the way to the floor with no resistance. My Sportage 4X4 was dying on the road. I locked the rig up and started walking back towards a small town I had just passed about 10 miles back. A teacher picked me up on the way, I only had walked about 100 yards when he stopped and gave me a lift. He told me of a mechanic that was good, back in town where he taught school. I normally don't hitch-hike any more, that was done in the 70's mostly, right? ;) But this was different, I needed to get some help for my small SUV. In town he pointed right to the small gas station that offered mechanical help as well. Turns out it was my alternator that failed. The alternator and tow ended up costing me about $310. The owner walked out to me and told me that was one of the problems buying foreign rigs...their parts are harder to find and when you do, they cost more. Couldn't disagree with him after hearing that alternator part cost. Anyhow, while he said the part wouldn't come in until the next day, I needed to rent a car. Enterprise Rent-A-Car, out of Lebanon, MO, came to my rescue. What car would I get to rent, I wondered. They drove out a 2004 Mitsubishi Lancer sedan, with an automatic tranny. Humm...I've always wonderd about Mitsubishi rigs and how they drive. I like the looks of the Lancer, I thought to myself. The Lancer was a little buzz-noisy in the cabin but a decent little car. Decent enough to plant good memories for later in my mind about the Mitsubishi brand of automobile. I liked the looks of that '04 Lancer sedan and filed away the experience. The next day the Sportage 4X4 was repaired and everything went well in picking it up and returning the Lancer to Enterprise from same repair shop. This repair occurred at about the 88,000 mile mark. The only other time the Sportage 4X4 cost me any out-of-pocket money was when a brake light switch went out. I took it to the Missouri Kia dealer we went to while living in Missouri, located in Brad PItt's hometown, Springfield, MO. That Kia dealer was as good as the one we started out at in Washington state, Jerry Smith Kia in Anacortes, WA. Later Jerry Smith Kia moved to our home town in Washington, Burlington, WA. Jerry Smith Kia was a great Kia dealer, in that, instead of arguing with you or making you feel like a dufus when you needed something, they were willing to fix your problem. Not only that, much of the time they looked to pay for the problem with the Long-Haul Warranty! I was pleased as punch to have found them! After we moved to Missouri, this Kia dealer in Springfield was just as smart in customer dealings. Your dealer makes a big part of your experience with a particular car brand, oh yes it does. The Springfield Kia dealer charged me about $95 to replace my '01 Sportage 4X4's brake light switch. I had no recent data to compare that cost with...a Ford dealer's price on that, or a Hyundai dealer's price, etc. But I came away from that service visit feeling good about things, I recall. So, in 5 1/2 years of '01 Kia Sportage 4X4 ownership, my wife and I had out-of-pocket reapir costs of about $400. Hard to argue with. Of course, it needed its L-O-F's, brakes replaced, tires, etc. All of the normal things a car needs to have done for maintenance. But I consider $400 in 5 1/2 years very, very reasonable. I was waiting for Kia to build a 4-door sporty sedan that really had sporty, spartan looks. Mitsubishi beat them to the punch. When I got the first looks of the 2008 Mitsubishi Lancer GTS, I had to do a double take. Then a triple take. Then a quadruple take. Wow, had to look closer. The rest is history. I remembered my '04 Mitsubishi Lancer 4-door sedan car rental in the fall of 2004. Favorably, too. To be continued.

Re: which is best [smithed]

by paisan on Wed Dec 26 18:48:33 PST 2007

I've always liked towing with the automtics. I'd personally go with the Isuzu/GM Duramax though. -mike