I had won a free oil change there off the Auto board a while back. As timing would have it, I had just gotten an oil change, so I set it aside. Better part of a year later, I found the missing paperwork and gave them a ring.

I drive a Dodge, not a Honda, so I wanted to make sure they'd have the oil filter for my truck. Not a problem, they said.

While I had initially told them I'd be in at around lunch time, work got busy and I wasn't able to make it in until after work.

They were fast, the waiting area was clean and cool (and quiet, too, which was great just getting off work). The oil change and car wash didn't take very long at all, and I was out of there in no time.

Thank you, Allen Honda, for making it painless for me even this long after winning!

They have free wireless in the waiting room, too! I like that because I can take my laptop and get some work done while I wait...although it's usually not that long of a wait anyway.

They also have excellent popcorn and cookies for customers.

Thanks for the kind words all. We strive to be as respectful of people time as we can.

We have actually added more staff ( 2 technicians ) this summer as well to better serve our customers!

The cookies have added 10 lbs to me so far since I have worked here lol!

On a side note, some one thought I was Mr. Allen the other day in a thread, just to clarify I'm Kyle Parker not an actual Allen.

Have a great day all!

Bumping for my experience today:

Under no circumstances should anyone do business with this company.

I went in there today to purchase a top of the line used vehicle. When they brought out the financials they added around $3,500 to the cost for "add ons". The car already had all the bells and whistles. I advised them to honor the listed price on their website or I would walk. Jake (the sales manager) said they add that to all of their vehicles. I walked out.

Totally dishonest company. You should drive out of town before buying a vehicle from. Allen Honda.

Unfortunately, this has become standard at all car dealerships. A friend bought a car in Houston and had this happen, I went down a rabbit hole researching it, and sadly, they are all doing it.

There's dealers in Houston and Austin who don't. Seems to be the norm here in the microplex.

The Anchor said:

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Bumping for my experience today:

Under no circumstances should anyone do business with this company.

I went in there today to purchase a top of the line used vehicle. When they brought out the financials they added around $3,500 to the cost for "add ons". The car already had all the bells and whistles. I advised them to honor the listed price on their website or I would walk. Jake (the sales manager) said they add that to all of their vehicles. I walked out.

Totally dishonest company. You should drive out of town before buying a vehicle from. Allen Honda.

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Not sure if it's dishonest as you were told before signing and it wasn't a hidden charge, but sure is bad business practices. If the $3,500 is their profit margin, they should just have it incorporated in the advertised price. There is probably some fine print somewhere on one of their web pages that details upcharges are possible.

I have never been able to get competitive prices in the BCS area compared to Houston dealers.

It is dishonest to post a price for everyone to see and to not honor that price. It is dishonest to hide a fee somewhere on the website or not mention it at all until they are handing me the financials.

As far as the other above post regarding everyone doing it. That doesn't make it right. If everyone at a company is lying it isn't OK to lie as well.

L84Life said:

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Unfortunately, this has become standard at all car dealerships. A friend bought a car in Houston and had this happen, I went down a rabbit hole researching it, and sadly, they are all doing it.

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While it is definitely common since the covid shortages, there are plenty of dealers out there that do not do this or will let you negotiate out of them.

The best way to make this not the "standard" is to stop giving business to the dealers that do it and not accept that it's normal, because it's not.

Allen seems to be generally recognized as the worst about this in the area.

Curious what the added fees were on a USED vehicle.

Fourteen year bump. Nice.

localag88 said:

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Curious what the added fees were on a USED vehicle.

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I think their standard is their overpriced tint package, "nitrogen" filled tires (isn't air like 78% nitrogen to begin with?), and maybe some type of anti theft tracking service.

all dealers Do not do this.

I am shopping for a new truck at Tommy Vaughn and Bill Fick they are totally transparent with no games

also, probably some sort of ceramic coating on the paint

I have bought 2 used Hondas in the past year and a half. One was in Grapevine, one is south Houston. Both had "add-ons." Both dealerships were told we wouldn't pay for those. Both removed the add-on costs. It is possible.

We went to Allen multiple times when we were looking. When they finally got one on the lot that we liked, I called. The salesman stated they wouldn't remove them and basically acted like he didn't care if he lost our business. Now, they only get our business when we take it in for recalls.

Edited for clarity.

They don't care. They are targeting folks who'll pay that kind of stuff and not care. For example some dude out of town is replacing a car his daughter totaled rear-ending one of us townies…

no

Quote:

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Both had "add-ons." Both dealerships were told we wouldn't pay for those. Both removed the add-ons. It is possible.

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Sorry for my lack of understanding, just want to confirm. But this means they removed the additional/hidden costs, and did nothing to change the car, right?

I didn't make that super clear. Sorry! They took off the add-on costs on both vehicles so we got them for lower than the listed costs after negotiating. A few times, we had negotiated the price, and then they would inform us that we had to pay for the add-ons on top of that (Allen Honda was one of those.)

I would have to double-check with my husband, but I know one already had the clear strips on the edges of doors installed, one already had nitro tires, and I think both had the tracker things. They were supposed to uninstall the trackers, but my husband had to remove at least one of them once we got home.

everything is negotiable so do not let them tell you they can not change their price

bought a used honda truck from round rock hyundai in the last year and they had some add ons that amounted to less than a thousand dollars over the online advertised price but was able to negotiate with them to remove most of them

their offer on trade in vehicle was very much a lowball offer and they would not budge so sold it myself for four grand over their offer

overall it was pretty much in line with past experience at dealers which always seems to take longer than it should

There's value in pissing you off and wasting your time. They figure the more irritated you are the more likely you will cave and give in because you just want to get out of there. Which is 100% why I do all my negotiations over e-mail or phone. It's a sales tactic.

It's happening everywhere, and it's a slimy tactic used to try and get tons more money out of people that are either 1) desperate or 2) don't know any better.

When I bought a used truck last spring in Arlington, the "upgrades" took the cost almost 13k(!) over the advertised price online.

The key is always be willing to walk. We had time to do the song and dance that day, so we waited out the endless "let me go talk to my manager" bits and got a price that ended up being below the advertised price. But there will always be other cars and you're the one in control in that situation.

Allen Honda is awesome. Great service dept!

I just bought a new F250 from College Station Ford. Thanks to this and other TexAgs threads, I was ready for the add-ons. Sales manager came back and said they would add-on $1,900, but then remove them. When I asked them why the game, he said all dealers do it. I told them I'm out, walked away and of course they called the next day. I said they mention add-ons again and I'm done. They didn't. I got a good deal (which means I still got screwed) and got my truck.

75AG said:

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I just bought a new F250 from College Station Ford. Thanks to this and other TexAgs threads, I was ready for the add-ons. Sales manager came back and said they would add-on $1,900, but then remove them. When I asked them why the game, he said all dealers do it. I told them I'm out, walked away and of course they called the next day. I said they mention add-ons again and I'm done. They didn't. I got a good deal (which means I still got screwed) and got my truck.

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Very similar. Just bought a truck from them, and after being willing to walk, they matched an incredible deal from another dealer and when it came to the add-ons in the finance office, they offered, I said No, and that was it. I paid a stupid amount under MSRP, using deal match and Ford rebates and incentives. Probably the smoothest buying process I've ever had and I went in expecting all sorts of chicanery.

75AG said:

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I just bought a new F250 from College Station Ford. Thanks to this and other TexAgs threads, I was ready for the add-ons. Sales manager came back and said they would add-on $1,900, but then remove them. When I asked them why the game, he said all dealers do it. I told them I'm out, walked away and of course they called the next day. I said they mention add-ons again and I'm done. They didn't. I got a good deal (which means I still got screwed) and got my truck.

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Same experience with the Expedition we bought last year. Everything else was where I wanted it. Told them I just simply wasn't paying any of that. Got the whole "let me go talk to my manager" deal. I closed my notebook and told my wife that's it and get ready to go. Salesman came back, stuck his hand out, and said we have a deal. I'm sure they still made way more money off me than I'd care to know, but I thought it was a reasonable deal.

You've just got to be ready to walk and not get emotionally attached to a vehicle.

Thread makes me sad. I'm a long time Allen Honda customer (three vehicles) and I've noticed a marked deterioration in the quality of service and a huge uptick in prices (which may be more a wider issue than just them). It used to be there were quality folks there who were almost like close buddies and would treat you right.

Follow up on this.

This week I changed course and bought a new truck. I gave Aggieland Chevrolet a chance. They texted me the financials which showed a $4,000 "Taxable Fees" line item. I asked what that was and they said it is the normal add ons. I said no thanks and to remove them. In literally 2 seconds they were removed and we came to an agreement on the price. I was very impressed withe the sales guy (Quade Philbeck). I highly recommend them and him!

The Anchor

What was MSRP? Did they come off MSRP by at least 5k? Zero add-ons?

I can't give you exact numbers right now, but the out the door price was below their online price.

OK. Later, compare your price to Mac Haik in Houston. The prices you see is exactly what you pay, usually 5K to 10k off MSRP straight up.. I am curious.

Looks like Mac Haik is cheaper as long as they honor the online price.

ETA - even with that info I think I still would have purchased locally. My schedule is absolutely packed and the next time I would be able to go to Houston would be late summer. I needed a new vehicle. I have been driving a 17 year old car for a while and it was time.