Locate an Auto Repair Shop in Piedmont, South Dakota

Piedmont, SD Car Consumer Discussions

Re: dealership advice [iwantone]

by traindriver on Mon Aug 25 18:21:06 PDT 2008

Hello, I'm right up above you in the Upstate. A colleague at work commented recently about Phil Hughes Honda over in Athens, GA. They beat out the Upstate dealers on price and he was very satisfied with the experience. He's pretty sharp with money and I know that he did his homework. Most Hondas around here come from Piedmont in Anderson or Breakaway in Greenville. I've never heard anything really bad about either but I don't know how they are on price. I had an 89 Accord many years ago and used Piedmont and Vic Bailey in Spartanburg for service and was happy with both. Someone mentioned East Coast in Myrtle Beach. I believe that they are owned by the same people as Piedmont in Anderson. not positive though. As far as small towns go, in my experience there has been a lot less sales pressure. My worst experiences have been in the bigger towns. The two places I visited a few years ago in Atlanta were snake pits; I wouldn't go back to either if they were $3000 less. IF you do your homework, you will get a good deal most anywhere. The big difference in my opinion is the culture of the dealership and the BS you have to endure to get there. In 1996, my FIL bought my SIL a new Accord. There was a $200 difference between the Florence dealer and the Bennettsville dealer. (Bennettsville is tiny. They must have had the franchise since the 70's. Smallest town to have a Honda dealer that I have ever come across.) Let us know what you find out. I don't have a local dealer here. GSP, Anderson, Augusta, Columbia, and Athens are all about the same distance away from home. I might be in the market for an Accord next year and would be interested in what you find.

Re: My MPG [jaredjo]

by cdptrap on Sun Jul 22 16:33:53 PDT 2007

Hi Jaredjo, I am familiar with the East Bay. 880 up through 580 to 80 through to north of Berkeley. We have friends and relatives who live from Hayward up through Piedmont, Montclair, into Orinda and Moraga and then out into Berkeley, San Pablo and El Cerrito. HWY 13 is a familiar route, so is 24. That area is very hilly, with a lot of small streets and gerzillion street lights. Too many street lights close to each other makes it tough. If there is no traffic, we can use electric to move from light to light, if there is traffic, I have to get rolling and the gas engines kicks in but then I can coast earlier too as the car coasts well. One trick I have used whenever I am the first car or if there is no traffic, I would quickly pick up speed from stop to 25 or 30 and let it coast to the next light. This is possible for most of the lights in that area. Some half-block ones are impossible so I do not bother. The quick start burns little gas and the coast recharge the car batteries so it can be used later to cruise on electric-only in slow traffic or from light to light. I do this a lot in Oakland Chinatown area (dim sum runs :)). Another trick is to get up to speed and depending on traffic condition, gently press down on the accelerator so the needle stays near the top of but inside the zebra region ('06 version). This either kicks in the electric-power only to keep the momentum going or even if the gas engine kicks in, it runs at low RPM and uses less gas. I notice the HH seems most efficient at around 30-MPH when cllimbing a hill. On-board MPG read-out often returns 10+ MPG at this speed even up some rather steep hill. I do not lose much at the final tank computation. You can see if this is possible in the hills you have to negotiate. If possible, use of momentum helps too. Another owner who posted here shared this trick last year. As you head downhill to a dip before the next hill, use the accelerator to maintain or increase momemtum safely downhill as you enter the dip and as you climb, give it a little more power and then ease off and reduce power as the car reaches the peak for another downhill run. The goal here is not to maintain a set speed to the top but use no more power than absolutely necessary to reach the peak for the next downhill. Of course, the car will slow as it climbs and approaches the peak while you reduce power. You will have to decide how slow before it becomes unsafe or impractical. You may have to do this a few times to learn to time the easing off process just right. Too slow, you will end up having to step on it half way up to give more power, this will burn more gas. Too fast, and the car will rocket to the top in a blink :), so it will take some practice. Each hill is also different so it will take a few runs to get the hang of it for each hill. It usually takes me 5 to 7 runs to get the right feel. Same trick for when you start from a stop to climb up a hill. Gauge the climb and power needed and traffic condition so you can give it a go and then ease off as it slowly nears the peak. On some hills, the climb is so steep, all bets are off, so I just move at a reasonable speed to climb. The quick start works well if you are the lead car because the HH will move off real quick and reach posted speed half way up while the other cars are still laboring up the hill. By the time you slow enough at the peak, they will barely be catching up, then it is all downhill again at safe posted speed. So you can save some gas and not block traffic. All these of course assumes safe speed only, either below speed limit or at posted speed. Sorry it is long winded but hopefully, these are tricks that can help you a bit. It actually is impressive you can get 22 MPG on the HH in that area. As it breaks in more, may be 5000+ or 7500+, you may start seeing 24-MPG on occassion. Given that terrain, it will be interesting to see if it can ever get 26-MPG. I may be going up into Montclair again next week, will see what mileage I can get.

Re: 2007 Sprinter Colors [kenbaker]

by surlyoldbill on Mon Jul 23 21:19:06 PDT 2007

Actually, more than 90% of these vans are sold for commercial use, and white is the standard color. I looked for 6 months to find a non-white used passenger van with low miles. Ended up buying a '03 140 shc 2500 with 20k for $26k. It wasn't my first color choice, but piedmont red is better than plumber white! Ford has a VERY similar product that it sells in Europe called the Transit, and I'm surprised that they aren't testing it on the US market yet. Nissan and VW also have similar products. Look up UK vans and see what's available over there, you'll be shocked when you see that the Sprinter ISN'T the best thing going.

Re: EX-L w/ RES + NAV [donkeypunch1]

by strikera55 on Wed Sep 26 21:09:54 PDT 2007

I purchased our Slate Green / Olive EX-L w/ RES+NAV this weekend- 9/22/07. Used the method post from donkeypunch #16303 from Aug 31 with the following text; "Would like an out the door quotation on EXL RES NAV. Please itemize charges, Base Price, INCLUDE destination, only extras should be tax, title license. I understand that Honda is offering the special APR financing or the 2K dealer incentive. I would like your BEST price including the 2K incentive. Additionally, please include the color selection that you have available. I'm checking with several dealers in the area and will be purchasing in the next few days, so your promptness and bottom line is appreciated." We live in North Carolina, in the Piedmont Triad, so I went to the Honda site and entered the zip codes for Raleigh, Charlotte, Danville VA, and Greensboro. 23 locations in all. I sent my emails on Monday 9/17. One item to note was that I entered a bogus phone number, so that all my communication would be via email. I didn't want 23 Honda dealerships selling my phone number to others, or calling me with "special offers" for the next five years! I received 15 valid quotes over the next 72 hours. The most aggressive pricing received was from the Charlotte area, with Concord Honda leading the way. I really liked the communication I had with them. I then went back and forth with several dealers for the next 24-48 hours, getting some revisions in the quotes that I was most interested in. I finally sent follow-ups on Thursday to my top offers; Steve Jones Aberdeen, Honda Concord, Crown Charlotte, Flow Winston Salem, Vann York- High Point, Burlington, and Crown Greensboro. I told them I planned to visit the three top dealerships on Friday, and to purchase from the location that provided the best total value. I received aggressive follow-ups from Crown Greensboro, and Burlington, with offer to match from Flow, and Vann York. Since Crown Greensboro is the dealership that at that point had the most aggressive offer, and they were the dealership we had previously dealt with, decided to visit them first to determine what their final deal would be. I knew going there that they always install 3 standard dealer options (quote stated did not include dealer options), so I was concerned about "bait and switch" and also that they did not have the interior color desired, but wanted to see how much quote would change given these issues. I walked in with the email quote, and within 2 hours we were out the door with an agreement to "Dealer Trade" for the interior color desired for a cost of $300. We wanted the Mud Guards. We had the printout for the internet quote from Bernardi Parts for 76.05 + 12.94 ship. They normally charge 199for MG, but SM finally reluctantly agreed to split charge and provide for 100 if that was the deal breaker. We also purchased the First Place finish treatment, and they include their "Environmental Protection Package"- For three years, six treatments, they detail the interior and exterior of your Honda at no additional cost! Our final deal was as below; 28,819.00 - eprice (includes destination) 907.00 3% NC Tax 399.00 - Doc Fee 117.00 - New Tag 100.00 - Mud Guards 30,342.00 - SubTotal Cost for Vehicle 300.00 - Dealer Transfer Fee for interior color desired 504.00 - First Place Finish 31,146.00 - Total OTD cost for Slate Green/ Olive 07 Oddy w/ R&N + muds, First Place Finish. Just as an FYI - After we finished the deal, they also stated that there was a mistake in the quote; That it was supposed to be 30242 + all the other items, rather than including all the other items, however, since it wasn't clear in the email, that they would honor. Here is the exact verbiage from the quote; "2007 Honda Odyssey EX-L R&N is only $30,242. This includes the destination charge, the sales tax is $907, the documentation fee is $399, the licensing and registration fee is $117." They obtained the vehicle, and it was ready for pick-up on Saturday 9/22. We are loving our Oddy, now if the gas mileage will be better than some of the posts on the gas mileage forum.... Many thanks to this forum and to Donkeypunch! I know you saved me a lot of hassle, and several thousand dollars! This forum ROCKS! Thanks, Strikera55

Re: Surprises on the Sienna [ateixeira]

by josm100 on Fri Jun 08 14:37:38 PDT 2007

To each their own. I chose the Entourage SE because of the list of equipment included that no one could match for the price. I got all the standard SE equipment and the Premium Package, (heated front seats, backup sensors, fancy mirror) all for $24024 out the door. I don't know of any car company ,at least in the Piedmont (central NC) that can match that. I hope you enjoy your toyota as much as I enjoy the Hyundai.

I'd never given much thought to Subaru .................

by daysailer on Fri Apr 13 05:23:49 PDT 2007

since the cost, complexity and mass of AWD is hard to justify on pavement in the VA Piedmont. But recently I began to look for a car that is small enough and agile enough to drive daily that is also utilitarian and has a modest towing rating so that I can eliminate the need for a third vehicle. I was surprised to find that the Impreza wagon is the ONLY vehicle that might qualify. Apparently, Subaru addresses a niche market that no other manufacturer considers worth pursuing. The nearest competitors are the SAAB 9-3 or the Volvo V50, both of which are larger, much more expensive and less reliable. I hope that Subaru finds the means to remain viable - it may be my next vehicle.