So at the end of November, we reached the end of our Lease term with our Honda Odyssey. We had to deal with a couple of different Honda dealerships in this time, and let me tell you… They were two very different experiences.

Let me give you a little background on this…

Back in 2005, just three months after my girls were born, we were involved in a car accident that totaled my 10 month old Chevy Equinox. A month after that, I became a minivan mom… Something I swore I would never do… but something I’m so glad I did now. Hee hee. I went to Honda, in Roseville, CA and leased a 2006 Honda Odyssey. It was a fairly simple process. We agreed to 12K miles a year, knowing we’d not even get close, etc, etc… It was a decently easy transaction, considering the situation… and I started my love for the Honda Odyssey right then.

I loved that van. I never thought I could love a van, but I did. It had all the space we needed. We could take family around and on trips. It was easy to drive, and had great safety features… We loved it so much that we really wanted to keep it. Well, the end of our lease was coming up, and we weren’t sure how to deal with it. So I called Honda Financial, and we just renewed the lease for one more year. We did that two times, and at the end of that second time, we had to either buy it or turn it in… and this is where the experience begins.

This Honda Odyssey was a 2006, with 65K miles on it. The maintenance was kept up with. We really took care of it. Of course, it was our primary vehicle, and we wanted it to last us… I had taken it to the local Lejeune Honda Dealership a couple  of times for it’s maintenance checks, and each time had left with a weird feeling. The first experience was just after we moved out to NC from CA. The month before we made our cross country drive, we took the van in for it’s 30K mi check up. We had fluids replaced, filters replaced, everything checked and cleaned, and well, the works… It wasn’t cheap, but we knew we’d be good for the drive… and we were. Just a little bit after we got to NC, I’d say it was about a week or so, I took it in for an oil change. Surely it needed it. Well, while I was waiting for the van to be done, someone came to me holding a set of vials.

Yep… those are the vials… The first large vial is “my” transmission fluid, and it should look like the far left tiny vial. The second tall vial is “my” brake fluid, and it should look like the second clearish tiny vial. The third large vial is “my” power steering fluid, which should look like the third yellowish tiny vial. The last one on the far right is my coolant.. and that one isn’t much different. I felt like something just wasn’t right… I called Honda corporate, and asked for them to help me out. Of course they came back telling me that the mechanic did indeed take those samples from my car. Sure.. whatever.. I decided I would only take the van there when I had to… Of course, the next time I took it there, they tried pulling the same thing on me.. Whatever.

Ok, so fast forward to November 2011. Our lease is just about over. Honda Financial says we need to take the van to a dealership to finance it through them. We figure, we’ve had a great run with them over the lease, let’s try it out. I didn’t feel like driving an hour to Wilmington, so I figured it would just be a fairly simple loan app and go home. Um, No….

I pull in, and park the van. A Salesman, I think his name was Keith, comes to the van and just about opens my door.  My hubby tells him that we are interested in purchasing our leased vehicle and want to know what our options were. Of course, we get the whole “Well have you seen the new models?” question, and he tells my hubby we need to go outside and check the newer models out, so we can think about maybe turning ours in. We hesitantly go outside as he walks us through the new features. Hubby takes it for a test drive, and we got back into the sales guy’s office. The whole time it felt like he was talking to my husband, and not me. When we asked about what it would take to get us into a new one, he disappears for a bit and comes back with a paper showing us $570/month payments. I seriously Laughed Out Loud… I told him that payments had to be around what we had now… We had a budget and were perfectly fine with just purchasing our current vehicle. He left for a little bit longer and came back with $499/m payments… Again, I laughed and just said, can we work on a purchase of our current van… He didn’t want to deal with it so he shook our hands and we were out the door. Wow.. This was on a Saturday.

The following Monday morning, I called Honda Financial and explained what had happened. The agent I spoke to advised me that I just need to speak with the finance manager, and offered me the number to two other Honda Dealerships somewhat close to me. Both were 30mins or more away, but, if they were willing to help, it would be worth it. I called Pecheles Honda in New Bern. I hadn’t heard of them before, so I figured, I’d give them a try. I was connected to their Finance Manager, Brian Villenueve. I told him what had happened at Lejeune Honda, and what we were looking to do (purchase our lease), and gave him whatever information he needed to look into a loan for us.

The wait was on.

He called me back later on that day, explaining the options, and told us that it would be much easier to get us a lower interest rate if we were trying to get a newer vehicle. I had no idea that vehicle age, mileage, etc played into the loan rates we’d be offered, but wow.  He explained why different loans were weighted differently, etc. So I asked him… What would it take to get us into a newer model? Knowing full well the rates that were given to me from Lejeune Honda, I had no hope of really getting into a new vehicle. He asked me if I was free the next day, and I said that I could make myself free, and head over there to talk to him in person. I had a sneaking feeling that it was all because they wanted to sell me a new vehicle, and was expecting the worst… But really, it was so different.

On Tuesday morning, I got everyone off to school, and off I went to New Bern. I was so not sure how this would go. I was hoping for a quick in and done visit with the people at Pecheles Honda. It didn’t turn out like that, but the experience wasn’t a bad one either. So I get there, and was greeted at my car by a salesman with an umbrella. It wasn’t raining too badly anymore, so I kinda giggled that I wasn’t going to melt. He asked if he could help me, and rather than run around with a sales person, I told him right away that Brian, the Finance Manager was expecting me. The salesman brought me over to Brian, and the day began. Brian had obviously been through all the paperwork, and credit information before I got there. He had a nice folder with a bunch of papers in it that contained just about everything about me, and our previous lease. Brian explained the process of financing our 2006 Honda Odyssey, and  how because of the age, mileage, etc, it was harder to get really good rates to purchase our leased van. He told me that although he understood that I wasn’t initially interested in a new vehicle, it would be easier to get within my budget on a new model. He gave me a minute to think about it, and I figured, why not take a look at the new models. Brian went and got the Salesman who greeted me. His name was Dean Gilliken, and he was more than happy to show me a couple of the new Odyssey Models. I, of course, was instantly in love with the 2012 Honda Odyssey. It had bluetooth, USB, a back up camera, and a few other features that my 2006 model didn’t have. None of it mattered though, unless we could get into my budget. Now the work began..

I whole heartedly expected to have loved and then lost this new Odyssey… But it seemed that Brian and now Dean were very interested in helping me get it. I was given all of our options. Some with  a down payment and some without. Of course the down payment helped when it came to getting the monthly payments within our budget. It just meant giving up some of the savings we’d been working on building since moving in to our new home. After a couple of phone calls home, and standing out in the rain for a bit… We decided to go for getting the new Odyssey. Now, just a little bit longer, and a little bit of paperwork, and the new van was mine.

At the end of the day, I spent nearly 7 hours at that dealership. I know Brian and Dean had to be ready to move on from me at some point, but they never let on.. Hahahaha. In fact, they were both very courteous, friendly, and willing to do what they could to make sure I was able to leave Pecheles Honda with a vehicle in my budget. At the end of the day, I was pleasantly surprised at my experience with Brian and Dean… It was such a huge difference from my experience at the Honda Dealership here in Jacksonville. I’m very grateful to you both for all the time and work you put into keeping me in the Honda Family!

Anyone in the area who is in the market for a vehicle, if you’re considering Honda.. I highly recommend you go see Dean at Pecheles Honda… If you end up buying/leasing with them, you’ll probably get to work with Brian too… Tell them I say “Hi”, and please tell them that I sent you! They’ll know I kept my promise to tell the world about their awesome customer service..

I guess this whole story can be summed up as.. If you don’t get the service you deserve at one place, go to another one.. You’ll eventually find someone who cares enough to work with you… This rings true to any business.. not just car dealerships…

** Disclosure- I have not been compensated by Honda, Pecheles Honda, or the employees mentioned in this article. I just wanted to let everyone know the great service I experienced.