Page 1 of 5

New car with a Honda engine... err, it's a Honda

Posted: Wed Feb 14, 2018 9:36 pm
by renmure
Well, I've had a 5-star dealer experience this past while

I've been doing a bit of background reading on the new Civic Type R GT and popped into my nearest Honda dealer to look around their Demo car on the front forecourt.

The guy who came over a few minutes later introduced himself as the DP and asked if I was genuinely interested in buying one if it was the right car for me or if I was just looking for general information. Either way, he said was happy to help.

I said I was a potential buyer and he said, "come on, lets take if for a blast" and off we went for about 40 mins of him hammering the car / safely demonstrating the performance of the car on the back-roads. Fast car. Nice guy. Good driver. Really fast car. 2 litre vtec turbo, 316bhp, 400 torque things, lots of buttons and switches and stuff. Oh yeah, and red seats!!

Back at the Dealership all the salesmen were still with customers and he joked that he was probably too rusty to try and sell me one and he had a couple of meetings to attend but said if I could come back in the morning he would have the car fully fueled up and suggested that I take it away for the weekend and speak to a proper salesman when I brought it back. So, I did :)

I appreciate all Dealers can't do the same thing and I guess if I ended up not buying one then it's probably not a great way to do it anyhow, but it certainly led to a warm fuzzy feeling about the Dealership.

After returning the car, even the bit sitting opposite the salesman at his desk discussing the price was as straightforward as it could be and couldn't even be described as "haggling" since the DP joined us and said the price that they lost money on the sale... so I've come away knowing that "the deal" is as good as it could possibly be.

Anyhow, I've gone for a red one with the optional additional tailgate wing, and got the full 5 year service plan, the illumination pack to give the red glow interior and Type-R mat set for the front, back and boot. Should get it on the new 2018 plate on 1st March.

It does seem a bit odd getting one of these as a "sensible" car for days when 4 doors and a boot are needed, and maybe I'll need to get a baseball hat and wear it back to front... but hey.. I like it :)

General pic

Image

Re: New car with a Honda engine... err, it's a Honda

Posted: Wed Feb 14, 2018 9:49 pm
by pete
Excellent.

Re: New car with a Honda engine... err, it's a Honda

Posted: Wed Feb 14, 2018 9:58 pm
by rawsco
Love them.

Re: New car with a Honda engine... err, it's a Honda

Posted: Wed Feb 14, 2018 11:42 pm
by Stevoraith
That really is quite a spectacularly ugly thing!

Good to drive though by all accounts and nice to see someone going for something which isn’t the obvious choice Focus RS or Golf R (which is what I’d have as I’m too sensible!)

Also nice to hear there are still some decent dealers about too!

Re: New car with a Honda engine... err, it's a Honda

Posted: Wed Feb 14, 2018 11:49 pm
by renmure
I went to see the Focus RS and didn't even take a test drive. It was fairly bland looking. Just looking at it convinced me that I probably really do have an inner chav side. I wanted it to look like the previous RS model.. preferably in lime green.

Re: New car with a Honda engine... err, it's a Honda

Posted: Thu Feb 15, 2018 12:40 am
by rossybee
Jim, was this West End Honda in the Ferry?

If so, it'll have been James Ewart, fine lad :thumbsup

Re: New car with a Honda engine... err, it's a Honda

Posted: Thu Feb 15, 2018 1:07 am
by campbell
Great stuff Jim.

Best me to it red baseball hat!

Can't say I'm a fan of new Civic styling but that's a lorra car you bought.

Nice process too

Re: New car with a Honda engine... err, it's a Honda

Posted: Thu Feb 15, 2018 10:03 pm
by tenkfeet
A guy at work has one and loves it. The seats are the most comfortable I have ever sat in.

Loved my EP3 back in the day but sold it to get a microlight :-)

Re: New car with a Honda engine... err, it's a Honda

Posted: Fri Feb 16, 2018 9:05 pm
by renmure
Stevoraith wrote:
Wed Feb 14, 2018 11:42 pm
That really is quite a spectacularly ugly thing!
That's pretty much what Wendy said :)
rossybee wrote:
Thu Feb 15, 2018 12:40 am
Jim, was this West End Honda in the Ferry?
If so, it'll have been James Ewart, fine lad :thumbsup
Yes it was, and yes it was :)
I contacted a few Dealers to get prices since I knew exactly what I was after, but decided fairly early on that I would use them.
It's really been an almost pleasant experience so far.

tenkfeet wrote:
Thu Feb 15, 2018 10:03 pm
The seats are the most comfortable I have ever sat in.
They're certainly the most bling and red I've ever sat in :)

Re: New car with a Honda engine... err, it's a Honda

Posted: Sat Feb 17, 2018 2:00 pm
by ruadh08
Gordon Sheddon was parked next to me the other day at Gleneagles, in a new one, and it did look very good in the flesh. His was a dark colour, but you certainly didn't miss it!

Presumably he will be in some flash Audi now tho!

Re: New car with a Honda engine... err, it's a Honda

Posted: Thu Mar 01, 2018 9:08 pm
by renmure
It's been a while since I had the chance to collect a brand new car on the 1st day of the new registration.... unfortunately the Beast from the East has meant it will probably be another while before I get the chance to do it :blackeye

Anyhow, I braved 15 miles of snowdrifts in the Discovery and went down to the Dealership to at least sit in the drivers seat and make Brum Brum noises in the deserted snowbound showroom. Being out in the sticks means the Honda physically wouldn't have got the last 4 miles home so I'll get it over the weekend hopefully.

It's fairly Chav-ish in a brutally ugly sort of way. Personally, I like it with the extra high level wing. The interior illumination pack thingy is a nice gimmick with a deep red glow in the foot wells, dash, door sills and elsewhere. The salesman even gave me a free baseball cap :D ... (admittedly it was a McLaren Honda one) :blackeye

Image
Image
Image
Image
Image

New car with a Honda engine... err, it's a Honda

Posted: Thu Mar 01, 2018 10:56 pm
by campbell
Triple exhaust is a nice differentiator.

Lovely that you have such excitement to brave the drifts to go see it

Re: New car with a Honda engine... err, it's a Honda

Posted: Thu Mar 01, 2018 11:01 pm
by campbell

Re: New car with a Honda engine... err, it's a Honda

Posted: Thu Mar 01, 2018 11:09 pm
by renmure
campbell wrote:
Thu Mar 01, 2018 11:01 pm
You're in good company Jim:

https://www.topgear.com/car-news/hot-ha ... vic-type-r
I've not decided whether to use mine as a Time Attack car and thrash it on track.... or maybe just polish it and take it to Tescos.

Decisions, decisions, decisions.. :blackeye :mrgreen:

Re: New car with a Honda engine... err, it's a Honda

Posted: Thu Mar 01, 2018 11:25 pm
by campbell
Polish it and find your nearest Cruze. Which is probably at Tesco's right enough.