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Originally Posted by kettleone
GreenandBlue, I really appreciate the time you took to write this.
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Not at all. Was hoping it would be helpful. I don't work for Honda (yet), but have some good relationships with a couple of people who do.
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Originally Posted by kettleone
If I had not wanted Navi, the dealer had 3 hybrids in stock.
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You'll find this to be the case, at least through April. Turns out that the 'take rate' on the Navi for the Civic exceeded expectations, and Honda has a backlog of orders for Civics with it (EX, Si, Hybrid). As you may know, this is the first time that Navi has been available on the Civic series, and many buyers want this option, it turns out.
In some cases, Corpoprate changed the car to a non-Navi vehicle, just to get the car built and out in the sales channel (yes, they're allowed to do this). If the customer doesn't like the car - no problem. The dealer gets to eat it if the customer backs out. This is especially true with the Si. I don't have the exact figures of the allocation adjustments, but can look them up.
Bottom line - if you
must have Navi, be willing to wait, and expect that there'll be not much dealing on the Navi cars until this situation is alleviated later in the year (I'm guessing it won't be until almost time for 'build out', though, which occurs about July).
However, if you can settle for a non-Navi car, the dealer may have *additional* cars to sell (both through allocation and cancelled orders), and if they're sitting on the lot, you're in a way better negotiating position.
A side note about colors - MagPearl and Opal Silver Blue, being exclusive to the hybrid, will take longer to arrive. You'll also not find too many of them sitting around. The next hardest will be the Alabaster, because of the two-tone interior. But if you want the Taffeta White or the Gal Gray - you're in the best position to find a deal (until gas goes up again this spring
Tulip - if you find the manufacturing process interesting, google the term
kanban when you get time. You may recognize it as 'just in time' or 'lean' manufacturing. Also, do some research on 'Toyota Production System'. Interesting stuff - it seems to work for the Japanese pretty well.
