Problem buying a 2019 - Michigan

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Danks

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I just got back from talking to the salesman at the local Honda dealer. My wife and I want to buy a 2019 Clarity - Crimson Pearl - Base Trim. He said that Honda is not currently allocating 2019 Clarity anywhere near Michigan so they are unable to order one. There is a 2018 with a vin in the 13,000's over on the east side of the state that they could dealer swap and get for an extra $700. He would like to sell us the Black 2018 they have - vin in the 19,000's. Cargurus site says there is a 2018 Crimson Pearl Base Trim in Ft. Wayne - vin in the 22,000's.

So questions. What does it mean for Michigan Clarity owners that Honda is not allocating any 2019's there? Service issues?

Of the choices available I would prefer the Ft Wayne car with the color I want and the high vin, but I'm reluctant to buy one place and service at another. Thoughts?

Thanks,
Al
 
I wouldn't worry at all about the buy in one place and service in another. If it bothers you at all, remove the dealers advertisement sticker off the trunk after you buy. I've done it with pretty much every car I've bought...
 
I normally purchase my Honda vehicles about 100 miles away from where I live, in another state. I have a long-standing relationship with this dealer as I have purchased 8 vehicles from there.

The dealer name gets removed when I get home (it is a 1" x 5" stick-on that comes off in about 10 seconds.)

I have a local dealer about 5 miles away. BUT -- I've not taken a vehicle of mine to a dealer for service (yes, I did have the TSB's installed because they didn't do it prior to delivery...) in many years. I think the last time I actually took one in was in 2011. :-)
 
A Honda dealer has to work on Honda that was purchased from any other dealer the same as if you got it from them.

When I buy a car I send my request out to bid to 12 or more dealers. All work is done by email and short phone calls. I refuse to go into a dealer until a good price is agreed on before I arrive. This will weed out the high pressure dealers. Who ever gives me the best price is who I purchase from. I have no loyalty to any dealer as they have no loyalty to me no matter how many cars you buy from them. I also tell them to remove any dealer stickers from the car before I will sign the paperwork as they are not paying for advertisement.
 
I buy from the dealer to that offers the best deal. it matters to the dealer you go to for service as the service department is s separate profit center and wants your business. the dealer I leased my Clarity Touring from (70 miles away) put nice metal tag frames with their name on them. I am not taking them off.
 
Danks said:
I just got back from talking to the salesman at the local Honda dealer. My wife and I want to buy a 2019 Clarity - Crimson Pearl - Base Trim. He said that Honda is not currently allocating 2019 Clarity anywhere near Michigan so they are unable to order one. There is a 2018 with a vin in the 13,000's over on the east side of the state that they could dealer swap and get for an extra $700. He would like to sell us the Black 2018 they have - vin in the 19,000's. Cargurus site says there is a 2018 Crimson Pearl Base Trim in Ft. Wayne - vin in the 22,000's.

So questions. What does it mean for Michigan Clarity owners that Honda is not allocating any 2019's there? Service issues?

Of the choices available I would prefer the Ft Wayne car with the color I want and the high vin, but I'm reluctant to buy one place and service at another. Thoughts?

Thanks,
Al
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First, get a second (or multiple) opinion on 2019 availability. A salesperson will tell you anything to sell what they have in stock rather than order. I'm very skeptical that the Clarity won't be available in Michigan in 2019. Second, there are some 2018 Clarity available right now here in the state, but you'll need to go to each dealer's site to check for red base vehicles. If you go to each Honda dealer's site, you'll find more vehicles than on the aftermarket inventory sites. A 2018 Touring might be a good deal right now, so unless you really don't want that trim, make some offers. I know one of the other members on here (@insightman) likes the dealer in AA and they have 2 red ones on the lot. And for sure don't be afraid to buy at any dealer and for sure don't pay extra to have a dealer do a trade. They do that all the time and it costs them very little for in-state trading. Our dealer traded for us to get the color we wanted with a dealer almost 100 miles away for free.
 
Robert_Alabama said:
I wouldn't worry at all about the buy in one place and service in another. If it bothers you at all, remove the dealers advertisement sticker off the trunk after you buy. I've done it with pretty much every car I've bought...
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Better yet tell them you don’t want any dealer badging as a condition of the sale.
 
Sandroad said:
First, get a second (or multiple) opinion on 2019 availability. A salesperson will tell you anything to sell what they have in stock rather than order. I'm very skeptical that the Clarity won't be available in Michigan in 2019. Second, there are some 2018 Clarity available right now here in the state, but you'll need to go to each dealer's site to check for red base vehicles. If you go to each Honda dealer's site, you'll find more vehicles than on the aftermarket inventory sites. A 2018 Touring might be a good deal right now, so unless you really don't want that trim, make some offers. I know one of the other members on here (@insightman) likes the dealer in AA and they have 2 red ones on the lot. And for sure don't be afraid to buy at any dealer and for sure don't pay extra to have a dealer do a trade. They do that all the time and it costs them very little for in-state trading. Our dealer traded for us to get the color we wanted with a dealer almost 100 miles away for free.
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Sandroad,

Thanks. I was also wondering about the 2019 availability story. I'll check with some other dealers. I've gone to most of the dealer's sites in MI. Most of the red cars are touring. The 2 in AA are touring. My wife and I looked at them, the Moonlit Forest Pearl, and the Silver Metallic that they had to settle what color we (she) wanted.

I think the $700 extra for the dealer swap is technically $700 less off than what they were offering us to take the car on their lot.

Al
 
Danks said:
I just got back from talking to the salesman at the local Honda dealer. My wife and I want to buy a 2019 Clarity - Crimson Pearl - Base Trim. He said that Honda is not currently allocating 2019 Clarity anywhere near Michigan so they are unable to order one. There is a 2018 with a vin in the 13,000's over on the east side of the state that they could dealer swap and get for an extra $700. He would like to sell us the Black 2018 they have - vin in the 19,000's. Cargurus site says there is a 2018 Crimson Pearl Base Trim in Ft. Wayne - vin in the 22,000's.

So questions. What does it mean for Michigan Clarity owners that Honda is not allocating any 2019's there? Service issues?

Of the choices available I would prefer the Ft Wayne car with the color I want and the high vin, but I'm reluctant to buy one place and service at another. Thoughts?

Thanks,
Al
Click to expand...
Al, I contacted my salesman in Ann Arbor, Mi. and he said that he did not have any 2019 Clarity's on the lot but he could get them from another dealer.
If you want his contact information you are welcome to DM me.

Sent from my SM-G955U using Inside EVs mobile app
 
The Clarity is a low volume car. In 2018 Honda only made 25,000. Honda sells more Accords in a good month than Clarity cars were manufactured all of 2018.
That being said having trouble finding the Clarity of your choice is not surprising. Part of the reason I got my Clarity while I still had 3 months left on my CRV lease. At least I have the CRV until the weather gets nice.
 
228ra said:
Better yet tell them you don’t want any dealer badging as a condition of the sale.
Click to expand...

Yup, this is what I did. One of my pet peeves is seeing dealers' stickers and/or frames for license plates on other cars.

And to add what others have mentioned I also purchased my Clarity from a dealer that's not the closest one to where I live. Granted, they are close to where I work but the reason I bought from them was because of the price, add-ons, and high VIN number in the color/trim I wanted.
 
My local dealer has sold exactly one Clarity. It sat for around a year on the lot, and I was only one of two people that even looked at it. I doubt they will order another unless they are forced to.
 
Danks said:
I just got back from talking to the salesman at the local Honda dealer. My wife and I want to buy a 2019 Clarity - Crimson Pearl - Base Trim. He said that Honda is not currently allocating 2019 Clarity anywhere near Michigan so they are unable to order one. There is a 2018 with a vin in the 13,000's over on the east side of the state that they could dealer swap and get for an extra $700. He would like to sell us the Black 2018 they have - vin in the 19,000's. Cargurus site says there is a 2018 Crimson Pearl Base Trim in Ft. Wayne - vin in the 22,000's.

So questions. What does it mean for Michigan Clarity owners that Honda is not allocating any 2019's there? Service issues?

Of the choices available I would prefer the Ft Wayne car with the color I want and the high vin, but I'm reluctant to buy one place and service at another. Thoughts?

Thanks,
Al
Click to expand...
Battle Creek Honda has 2 White 2018's new available now.
 
Honda is not allocating any Clarity's in Michigan because they are only available on the west coast. They should be able to get the Clarity Plug-in. Different car. I do know that when I picked mine up a few weeks ago, they had a stop sale recall on it for an AC relay component, but as soon as that was replaced we took it home.
 
tterag said:
Honda is not allocating any Clarity's in Michigan because they are only available on the west coast. They should be able to get the Clarity Plug-in. Different car. I do know that when I picked mine up a few weeks ago, they had a stop sale recall on it for an AC relay component, but as soon as that was replaced we took it home.
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I am talking the Clarity Plug-in. That is the car the dealer said is not being allocated to Michigan. When I search on Cargurus for 2019 Clarity Plug-in the only ones I find are in CA, OR, NY, MA, CT, MD - so that fits what the dealer said.
 
It wouldn’t surprise me at all if Honda has bailed on experimenting with this car in the middle states already and is only going to sell them going forward in those costal states with big EV incentives. They simply don’t sell in the middle of the country, especially now that gas got cheap again. Here in Indiana I have yet to see another. Almost nobody wants them, dealers aren’t equipped to repair anything complex or even charge them, etc.

I’m speculating of course and have no inside knowledge, and I might be flat wrong. But it’ll be interesting to see if 2019s ever appear mid-country or if they are already gone forever...
 
California, Connecticut, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, and Vermont have adopted requirements to be ZEV (zero emission vehicle) states. One of the requirements is a minimum percentage of vehicles sold that have zero tailpipe emissions. Manufacturers concentrate EV stocking in those states because that’s where sales are most likely. Subaru and Audi and Honda already do this with some of their models (and maybe other manufacturers too). With some models, dealers can still order them in any state, but won’t be stocking them. Perhaps that will be the case for the Clarity PHEV? As additional states adopt the ZEV requirements, EV sales will likely spread out more nationally.
 
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