Hello Gulf Coasters!
I tried to buy a 2006 Element at Royal Honda in Metairie this week. The Carfax said it had been in an accident, so I had it checked out at CARS repair shop behind the Whole Foods. They verified body work had been done, said the stuff under the hood looked great, suggested getting it put on an alignment machine (they were swamped at the time and had another car on their machine).
I made the sale contingent on the alignment, which Royal at first refused to do. I offered to pay for it, and they agreed. The numbers revealed out-of-spec measurements which cannot be aligned back into spec. I had to walk away from the deal.
I worked with Jared Hotard and he was a jerk. I also worked with Mike Billups, who was GREAT! I overheard other salesmen using very high-pressure negotiating techniques with other customers. So my overall impression of the dealership is not good.
I'm back to square one and thinking of buying new. Has anyone had a good experience at a gulf coast Honda dealership? I'd be less picky about the color if I knew I could work with nice people and get a fair price.