aspen300
Jul 29th, 2012, 01:53 PM
I'm looking to buy a 2008 Honda CR-V. I'm wondering if someone could help me get an understanding of what the pros/cons are of buying this 2008 CR-V from a Honda Certified Dealership vs a private dealership. They both seem to be selling cars that have only had 1 previous owner on lease so I guess they both buy them at the same honda auctions?? Is there really a difference, I noticed the private dealerships generally seem to be selling for a lower price.
Pete_Coach
Jul 29th, 2012, 02:41 PM
A Dealership is a licensed franchised representative of the manufacturer and it's product.
Everyone else is a used car lot.
Not trying to be funny or demeaning but that is the long and short of it. A dealership sells new vehicles as well as used vehicles. only a dealer can sell you a manufacturer "certified" used car (of the make the dealer represents). Everyone else's "certified" cars are whatever they decide certification means and has no backing from the manufacturer.
macnut
Jul 29th, 2012, 04:43 PM
On the use of the term private dealership - might have started among young people in the GTA, but now I see it spreading even south of the border.
I thought they covered this stuff in Sr. High School Business Ed.
There is nothing private about an independent used car dealer.
In fact, a successful used car dealer can become a publicly-traded company like Carmax in the U.S.
And a franchised dealership is quite likely to be a privately held company.
Anyway, at the dealer auction, the franchised dealerships tend to cream off the best offerings, leaving the rest to the independent dealers. (Didn't know there are specific Honda auctions!)
That's one of the reasons for the price difference. There are others but that gets into how franchised dealerships operate, their overheads, different risks & protection of inventory assets compared to independents, etc.
So it depends on your appetite for risk vis a vis getting a bargain.
The safer bet may be a franchised dealership at a higher price, but nothing wrong with shopping at the independents too. Or privately - by which I mean private individuals.
Getting a used CR-V from, say, a Hyundai franchised dealership, can always be an option to save money, especially if they got it on a trade rather than at auction.