I wouldn't hesitate to stopby SF Honda before you finalize
I have to say that the customer service I received from Christopher Scharf was what I wished all car sales people would behave like. None of that back and forth stalling, keeping you at the dealership for hours. Never over talked the merchandise nor pushed for a sale, he just helped me get the information I was looking for. I was considering either the Toyota Highlander or Honda Pilot and you know what I ended up with.
What is unusual about Chris Scharf's customer service is that he continued to give me the information I needed without expecting an immediate sale. The reason is that when I stopped by on Fri, 7/31, in hopes that I could take advantage of the Federal stimulus program, "Cash for Clunkers", SF Honda had already decided to suspend participation with the program as the funding was exhausted. Without the $4,500 rebate, I wasn't planning to make my purchase and he knew this... but still he showed me the Pilots he had in stock and explained the features as best he could and even let us test drive one.
I had tried several days earlier, contacting the Internet Sales department, to get an on-line quote on a 2009 Pilot EX-L 4WD, and the availability and colors if available. Without success... and running out of time on the "Cash for Clunkers" program, I just stopped by the dealership to see if I could get a live person help. Chris Scharf told me exactly what was in stock, went over the 3x 2009 Pilots, all 3 were exactly what we were looking for. I was struggling on waiting for the program to be reinstated and possibly loosing the Pilots. Chris Scharf can see the struggle and just suggested that I wait as $4,500 was an outrageous consumer benefit to not take advantage of. He reassured me that since SF Honda had several models, he didn't think they would all disappear immediately. Well, today, SF Honda reinstated their participation and we purchased our Pilot. I got a great deal without no haggling on price as the best price they could offer was a excellent price. Checkout True Car dot Com and see what I mean by a excellent price, that's what they gave me. If you checkout all the other Bay Area Honda dealers, you going to find that they rate closer to 2.5 to 3 stars by yelp users. SF Honda rates 4 stars overall, but go see Chris Scharf if you're looking for a Honda as he's a 5 star rating. Thumbs up for Chris.
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Another used-car horror story by Dave G. at InsiderPages
Most of us have all heard horror stories about used/new car dealer and salesman. Well, unfortunately here is another. I found a great deal on a used SUV via the internet. I called the dealership a couple of times to inquire about the vehicle, and each time spoke with a different salesperson. Each one gave me a different story (although each one said the car was a gem) about the previous owner and history of the car. One of them even went as far as to tell me that it was owned previously by a little old lady who took very good care of the car. Only because of the price did I venture all the way from Sacramento to San Francisco to view the car. The used car salesperson again gave me a glowing report of the car, but not much else. During the test drive he had almost no knowledge at all about the vehicle (in fairness to him this was a Lexus at a Honda dealership - but still he should have known more being that he sold used cars of all makes). The salesman promised many things such as a detailed history from Carfax, a second key (which he promised I would have), and a replacement air filter for the air conditioning system. I purchased the vehicle only because of the price. The customer service was lousy. I was even witness to a manger belittling an employee (my salesperson) while I was there. Long story short, it wasn't until I got the Better Business Bureau involved that I got what was promised to me. Try to avoid this dealership and salesman.
Read more at sanfrancisco.citysearch.com