Who has sold or thinking of selling?

[Heavymetals]

The point of my posting is that there are short term lease deals.

Wether they are advantageous or not is in the eye of the beholder.

The returned car is now "used" if that is a problem for anyone.

As long as it had the full factory warranty I didn't care. (it does).

If my car was an "exposure" car, it wasn't flogged, the brake rotors were not scored, the tires looked OEM and the car smelled brand new.

I did inquire if it had been tracked and stuffed in the weeds.

You other posters are wasting your time speculating on what deal the previous owner had.

 

[dshinke21]

But the speculation is always the most fun! :excitement: I certainly didn't mean to say your car wasn't what you were told. Just wanted people to know a 6 month lease isn't an option through Acura. If you want to take the risk of leasing one and trading it back in after 6 months, be my guest! But with the market where it is now I don't see why anyone would.

 

[dshinke21]

I looked into this a bit personally as I had a number of people asking me questions when the very first 2018 showed up for sale at a dealership in Chicago. Mostly potential clients or past customers saying "Hey I thought you told me this wouldn't happen". I called them and talked with them for a bit. It was a sold car that they put on the website simply for the exposure. Every dealership I have called since then, which would be 3-4 that has showed a 2018 on the website has told the same story.

I called each dealer twice. Once posing as a customer and once as a dealer and got the same answer both times.



If you want to look at it that way then it would be more accurate to look at them as cars that were purchased and then sold as a retired or used demonstrator. By considering them as a 6 month lease that means the car would be sold as a CPO car whereas this is entirely different. These retired NSX exposure cars are unique in that you can save money when you buy them as they have miles but they have the benefits of a new car in that you may purchase or lease. You can not lease a traditional Pre-owned car through Acura.

Well folks, seems like I've got to take back this statement. A 2018 showed up right in our very own backyard that was a dealer order and is available for sale. Never had a customer that backed out or anything, just ordered it up for their showfloor. Hope this is just a special case, if not I'm not feeling great about what things look like for 2018.

 

[Bricks and Bio]

Like I have been saying based on input from the NSX Specialist.

A dealer can order a 2018 without having a customer.

Some dealerships have ongoing business for these cars.

We will soon be getting into Spring and that brings buyers out.

This is a one off situation car. I believe at least 3 LaFerrari owners purchased a Gen 2 NSX.

Here is a recent piece from Barrons pointing to Acura's use of showing them at high roller events and providing some thrill rides in the desert to hook folks.

https://www.barrons.com/articles/ma...geted-event-at-a-time-1520977315?mod=hp_penta

 

[nsx878]

I don't see what the big deal is for a dealer to order a 2108 NSX for their shops....? If they want to have one on the floor and have had success selling in the past, doesn't bother me.
What I don't understand is who is going to buy one at $200K when there are still so many new and low mileage 2017 cars out there $50K or more less? I haven't heard that there is any rebates on the 18's? But I suppose that those of who own one now, should be rooting for Acura to succeed in their plan to market to the high end crowd, and as a result, car prices will be propped up. They HAVE to get through the 2017 backlog to think about selling the 2018's.

I think now that the cars are getting out in the public and car shows, etc. people are starting to understand the uniqueness, and perhaps the intrinsic value of the car.... ??

 

[Bricks and Bio]

As of today, there are a paltry 36 new ones on cars.com

7 of the 36 are 2018 cars.

15 of these are over $200K and another 7 are $190K to just under $200K (i.e. the dead units if the dealer isn't playing ball).

So there is really next to nothing out there for inventory at this point.

 

[dshinke21]

Like I have been saying based on input from the NSX Specialist.

A dealer can order a 2018 without having a customer.

Some dealerships have ongoing business for these cars.

We will soon be getting into Spring and that brings buyers out.

This is a one off situation car. I believe at least 3 LaFerrari owners purchased a Gen 2 NSX.

Here is a recent piece from Barrons pointing to Acura's use of showing them at high roller events and providing some thrill rides in the desert to hook folks.

https://www.barrons.com/articles/ma...geted-event-at-a-time-1520977315?mod=hp_penta

I am an NSX specialist. Everything I've been told from Acura was that I must have a customer order to get a 2018 unit. Since discovering this 2018 unit was ordered for the showfloor and not for a customer I have since reached out to my regional sales manager to see why the public and myself were being told they were customer order only.

The issue with this is that when dealers were allowed to order for the showfloor the market was flooded and the 30k incentive was introduced because of this. At one point there were 150+ new 2017 NSX's available. That is simply unacceptable for a vehicle that is designed around and intended for a build to order process. Many missed out on the experience of ordering and touring the factory which is saddening to me.

While I'm sure everyone who got a fantastic deal on there car is more than happy with it, I am speaking from a dealer perspective. It is hard to sell the experience of building your car, touring the factoring, driving and NSX on track at the proving grounds, etc.. when most customers are shopping for a car that's on the showfloor built close to their preferred spec. That is experience is part of the price you are paying for the car. Acura is trying hard to set the NSX apart as a car that gives an exceptional experience like one you would expect from any high end supercar manufactures. While it's not there yet I personally would love to see them get there. In order to command the $150,000 to $200,000 price tag this car does, they need to work on the buying experience as well.

I truly believe in the engineers that Acura has and in the technology that have produced and implemented into this car. I'm not worried about that aspect. What concerns me is the business side of things. These car's and their customers can not be treated like the rest of the mass produced vehicles they produce. This is a special, hand crafted vehicle that caters to a market they don't have a ton of familiarity with. I'd like to see that process get refined over time and as the car improves hopefully wrinkles will get ironed out.

 

[nsx878]

So did the dealers order on their own and flood the market or did Acura force them onto dealers? I thought I saw in a thread somewhere that Acura told dealers if they didn't take one of the first allocations, they'd be moved to the back of the line? (or something like that?) With all the hype from Acura, you'd think lots of dealers would want one, not knowing they'd face such an uphill battle over pricing.

I agree with marketing to a more elite high level wealthy client. Perhaps the "wine & dine" approach will work...... But they never got that program off the ground. I got an email after I bought my car "inviting" me to tour the factory. I thought, wow that would be cool, then I opened the email and they want to milk me for thousands of dollars to tour the factory..... I just spent large dollars on their car and they have to milk you for more? Does Chevrolet charge you if you ask to go to their factory to watch your car be built and drive it home? I can see charging for the on track driving experience, but to tour the factory for $2k?

But how do you sell cars from a brochure? It has to be in front of you ..... I saw my first one at a car show, and it hooked me immediately, and I owned one 2 weeks later.
I also heard that even interested parties weren't allowed to drive the car (probably not in all instances) Do Ferrari dealers allow "test" rides to anyone who walks in the door?
I think Honda/Acura truly believed they had a car that was going to rock the world (it rocks my world!) but the price of the car became it's downfall......
Going forward with the concierge approach may be the only way to sell cars at a higher price...... 17 cars sold in February, and not sure if 17's or 18's or a mixture. March sales #'s will be telling of the future.

 

[dshinke21]

It's a combination of Acura's allocation process and dealers mishandling things. Blame goes to everyone really. I truly think the best thing they did was to create the exposure program. Allow dealers to invest money into purchasing a car to use as a demo or test drive car and pay them for doing so. This allowed me to put many clients behind the wheel and ultimately resulted in 2 NSX sales.

If they were to refine the process I believe they should have one or a few dealers in each market set up with an exposure car and let them throw VIP as you said "wine and dine" events for potential customers. Make sure to have highly knowledgeable specialists at the events to explain the cars and give people the experience that leaves them walking away saying I HAVE to buy one. I'm currently working on a track event to allow clients to experience the NSX on track with some of the many highly skilled and incredibly knowledgeable NSX experts that Acura has available. Allowing customers to experience launch control and the incredible handling this car has on the track will move units. The car sells itself, just have to get the right people behind the wheel in the right situations.

 

[Bricks and Bio]

I was told early on regarding 2018s that dealers could still order them (sans customer) so that kind of speaks to the weakness of their internal messaging.

Regarding buyer's experience, I ordered my car and there was absolutely no effort made on Acura's end to keep me informed. In plain English, they suck at this.

You can't even get the car in yellow. These folks do not understand the exotic market. The car was an engineering project on steroids that lacked the customer focus it needed.

Combine that with dealers trying to collect high prices via MSRP and market adjustments, poorly trained staff, lack of customer follow up and other brands creating great cars and supporting them brings us to where we are.

 

[nsx878]

It's very difficult to describe the feelings and emotions that you get from driving the NSX. You HAVE to drive it to understand, so I agree that Acura needs to put qualified buyers in the car to experience it..... I bought mine having never driven one. I saw one and sat in it, but no test drives. I had to rely on magazine reviews and Youtube videos, and those were all over the place. The car did not get any Love from the press . But if you listened to the people who really know cars, like Chris Harris, after they panned the car over a few ticky tacky things, they'd say the car was fast and fabulous. For me, this was a swift and unexpected venture into supercar ownership. When waiting for the car to arrive I was nervous, but once I drove it I understood how unique the car really is. Not perfect by any means but quite unique and amazing. It seems like I learn something every time I drive it. But Acura dropped the ball in marketing, and overestimating their ability to penetrate the mid range supercar market which is oversaturated in my opinion. But had the car been perfect and been selling at the intended $200K range, I'd have never been able to buy one........ So I am very thankful that I have one!!

 

[dshinke21]

I was told early on regarding 2018s that dealers could still order them (sans customer) so that kind of speaks to the weakness of their internal messaging.

Regarding buyer's experience, I ordered my car and there was absolutely no effort made on Acura's end to keep me informed. In plain English, they suck at this.

You can't even get the car in yellow. These folks do not understand the exotic market. The car was an engineering project on steroids that lacked the customer focus it needed.

Combine that with dealers trying to collect high prices via MSRP and market adjustments, poorly trained staff, lack of customer follow up and other brands creating great cars and supporting them brings us to where we are.

This is a similar sentiment I myself have as a specialist who genuinely tries to provide an excellent experience and who works hard to go above and beyond knowing all possible intricacies of the car. While I understand the reason for allowing any dealer who wants to sell and service the cars do so, I think it would be best if they did restrict to a few dealers for each market. While they have "specialists" now that name hardly means anything. The training you had to go through was borderline pathetic and you could learn more about the car after 30 minutes on google than you did through this training. They need to ensure that the specialists truly are the ones that know the car inside and out and can provide the level of customer service this requires. I will be sure to pass the information of your buyers experience up the food chain.