Friday, June 29, 2012
Thank you Dr. Karen for sharing such kind words! Great job team!
- I bought my Pilot at Paragon four years ago and have been taking it to their service center ever since, and I’m very satisfied with their service. The service rep who helps me every time is named Alex, and although it’s obvious I didn’t know anything about SUVs, he has never once demonstrated any of the sexist condescension so many men use when talking to women they assume don’t know what they’re talking about. Alex always explains the technician’s analysis (and estimate) in detail and patiently answers the dozens of questions I ask. (Once he even drew a diagram to help me understand why a pair of parts had to be changed even though only one was broken.) Last year, I heard a low clunk when I went over bumps and although neither he nor the technicians heard it when they went for a ride with me, they did extensive service and replaced several parts for free. (And then I discovered that the problem was that stuff got under the front license plate.) It’s always very crowded at the Service Center but the wait time has been as short as an hour. The last time the tuck needed a repairs, Alex explained why they would take several hours to fix it and then he got a technician to drive me home and pick me up when the truck was ready (which I was able to find out because he gave me his cell number and told me around when I should call him). The service isn’t cheap, but I’ve learned the hard way that you really do get what you pay for. And I like having things fixed once and well by experienced experts. Addendum: I also had to bring the truck to Paragon’s Repair Center two times because it got hit twice, and both times they made it look brand new. Talk to George, who’s one of the nicest people I’ve ever met and an expert at dealing with insurance agents! -Dr. Karen
Thursday, June 28, 2012
Honda Jazz Hybrid: Prius C rival here in December
The Jazz Hybrid will give Honda a direct rival for the city-sized Toyota Prius C, which went on sale in March from $23,990, usurping the $29,990 Honda Insight to take the title of Australia’s cheapest hybrid.
Honda Australia director Stephen Collins says he is not interested in entering a “price war” with Toyota and says making the Jazz Hybrid the cheapest petrol-electric vehicle on the market is not the primary goal. Regardless, he is hopeful Honda Australia’s fourth hybrid – following the Civic, Insight and CR-Z – will be priced below $25,000 when it launches in the coming months.
“It depends on a few things, but I think for a Jazz light car [sub-$25,000 is] pretty much in the ballpark of where you’ve got to be,” Collins told CarAdvice.
“We’re not setting out to have the cheapest hybrid. The key for us is making sure the Jazz Hybrid offers good value for money. We’ll make it as competitive as we can, we’ll spec it well, we’ll price it as good as we can, and ultimately the market determines where it goes from there.”
The Honda Jazz Hybrid teams a 65kW/121Nm 1.3-litre petrol engine with a 10kW/78Nm electric motor for a combined output of 75kW of power and 199Nm of torque. A continuously variable transmission sends drive to the front wheels, helping the Jazz Hybrid accelerate from 0-100km/h in 12.1 seconds.
According to the European combined test cycle, the Jazz Hybrid uses 4.5 litres of fuel per 100km, making it 22 per cent more fuel efficient than the conventional non-hybrid 1.3-litre Jazz GLi, but still 15 per cent thirstier than the Prius C at 3.9L/100km.
Honda will be hoping its Jazz Hybrid can mirror the success of the Toyota Prius C, which has become the top-selling compact hybrid in the country over the past three months. A total of 652 Prius C hatches have been delivered so far this year, putting it ahead of the Lexus CT200h (633), the standard Prius (443), the CR-Z (147) and the Insight (124).
Courtesy of CarAdvice.com
Wednesday, June 27, 2012
Tuesday, June 26, 2012
Dr. Karen, thank you for taking the time to write this amazing review! Keep up the great work!
Paragon Honda - (5) Star Review on Yelp
- When you buy a car or a truck, the point is to get the best possible price and deal--and the only way to do this is by (1) researching everything about the vehicle you want and what it should cost, (2) going to as many dealers as possible to find the one who will give you the best deal on everything you want, and (3) negotiating knowledgeably with the salesperson to get him or her to get the sales manager to lower the price as much as possible. That's what I did and that's why I bought my Pilot from Paragon. The salesman was very polite and attentive (and patiently answered my questions and took me out for test drives). But even if he wasn't, I still would have bought the truck from him because Paragon offered the lowest price. What I paid Paragon for a new Pilot (with all the upgraded features) was several thousand dollars less than I would have paid at local and regional competitors. I had no problems with the salespeople, and I got the truck I wanted at the price I wanted. (And it's "held up" perfectly despite driving on roads that are so bumpy they could knock the shocks off a trailer and in "stop and go" traffic on the LIE--which should have worn down the brakes but didn't.)I also had a good experience with the Honda Finance Manager, probably because I did extensive research on car loans and called multiple banks (and my credit union) to find out their rates. I knew that Honda Finance's was the lowest rate I could get. And once I made it clear to the Finance Manager exactly what "terms" and warranty I wanted, he didn't try to sell me anything extra. (The only additional warranty he did discuss and I did decide to buy was one for tires. And I'm glad I did because two of my tires had to be replaced after I swerved into the side median on the LIE to avoid a car whose driver cut me off without even turning his head to see if a car was in the lane.)If you don't want to take the time to use the internet to research the price of what you want and to learn how to negotiate prices with car dealers and finance managers, then you don't deserve the best deal. It's foolishly unrealistic to expect salespeople to educate you or to voluntarily reduce their commission just because you think they should. By the way, nasty put-downs, terrible stereotypes ("sketchy Russian body shop guy," "greasy little sales guy," "prepubescent man-child"), and angry accusations of dishonesty are not helpful to readers. They reveal more about the reviewer's personal problems than about what's being reviewed. (Ditto for people who complain about being victimized. No one "forced" you to do anything.)And no, I don't work for Paragon or know anyone who does (nor am I related to anyone there). The assertion that any reviewer whose experience was better than yours must be lying is an expression of narcissism that's not helpful for readers. -Dr. Karen G.
Monday, June 25, 2012
Honda Named "Brand of the Year" in the 2012 Harris Poll EquiTrend Equity Study
Courtesy of Honda Media Newsroom
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