I'm looking for a beater car to drive in the winter and the 100 miles to and from work. So I stopped at a Acura dealership in SJ to see if they had any old Integras.

Started talking to the dealer about the S, and he was saying how Honda was going to badge it as an Acura but right before they shipped, put the H on it instead. He said it should have been an Acura since they don't have a convertible, and how it would have been better because of the longer warranty.

I said true, but that it would probably have stickered more, and then would have been even more over MSRP once they got the gouging over with. I also agreed with him that they would probably handle the car better since they already sell more expensive cars.

He then told me that Acura does not allow them to price over MSRP. I didn't know that. Does anyone else? I know someone on h-a.net works (or used to) for an Acura dealership, but I forget who does. So, even though we have had this conversation a few times, maybe we would have been better off as an Acura. Good conversation though, except they just sold a 91 GS Integra with 33,000 miles, and it wasn't to me!! :D

ERIK

They can and do charge over sticker for their vehicles. Look at the ITR when it came out. It was at least $5K over sticker.

My friend is a Honda/Acura dealer and he told me that same thing, but he said that most dealers do it if they think they can get away with it.

Well, that's pretty interesting. Great business practice. Well, at least, I can call them on it, if I ever buy a new Acura from a dealership. That's real crappy though.

ERIK

Many Acura dealers certainly got away with it when they introduced the new 3.2TL in late '98 and early '99 when demand far exceeded supply.

I'm sure you'll see the same thing happening now with the new MDX...

Welcome to the world of capitalism!

Wasn't the NSX price gouged early on?

I just remembered that he told me that they couldn't over price the Acura SUV (I forget the model, I hate SUVs), and that it was 35K, loaded, and not going any higher. Now I wonder.

ERIK

They can and do...

Our local Acura dealer doesnt, but they had done a dealer trade on a CL fron Seattle. The Seattle car had a 3000 dollar market adjustment on it's window sticker.

Honda actually took some dealers to court to prevent charging over MSRP and lost. So Honda (or Acura) has no legal means to stop it.

Dealer integrity is what matters. Good luck finding it; it's in very short supply.

Rick

They are doing it right now with MDX in some dealerships.