[trainman605]

After spending the last two months trying to decide whether I should buy another Ridgeline or a Jeep Wrangler, I finally decided on the Ridgeline last Thursday and it's been a pain in the a_ _ every since then. First my dealer gave me a good price on an RTL-T 2WD around $1800 off of list, then last Thursday I changed my mind and decided to go with the RTL-T AWD and all hell broke out. They had one on their lot, blue with gray interior and they priced it to me for full list price, I said why full list, they said they are not to be had and we don't show to get another till the end of October, or the first week in November and that's the only one. I started checking other DFW dealers and their story is pretty much the same, full list if we get one and the way it looks we aren't going to get any for some time. I don't get it how Honda has let their dealers down and can't provide them with vehicles that the buying public wants. They might as well take the adds off of the TV as buying one just isn't going to happen, because dealers don't have them to sell. Maybe it because they have just been on the market for some four months now and Honda hasn't re-adjusted their production schedules for sales demands. All I can do is wait and see, things will probably change after the first of the year, but I'm not going to pay full price, I's just not like me to do so.

trainman

 

[fargin]

Personally I don't see it changing much in the next 6-12 months since it seems the plant is at capacity. The new Pilot has been out for over a year and dealers around me still only get 1-2 month max. The MDX was just refreshed and there is a new Odyssey around the corner also - I just don't see stock levels rising to where they are heavily discounted any time soon.

 

[ToneGuy007]

Dealers have the Ridgelines... just not the RTL-T or RTL-E. In fact I've seen more Black Editions available than the RTL-T&E. I think Honda underestimated the demand for the T&E versions and thought people would go more for the Black or RT, RTS, RTL trims. And I've seen a lot of 2WD versions available...

 

[DogOnBoard]

trainman506

^^^That's frustrating...and more evidence, I think, of the disconnect between Honda marketing and production. Given the limited and uneven supply of G2 RLs, I'm wondering if HMA (Lincoln plant) is responding to the high demand for Pilots and/or re-tooling for the next gen Odyssey. The RL has to compete for assembly line space with those two much more popular models.

Without Joe's insight, we don't have a clue what's going on behind the scenes. It's possible that Honda intended all along to create more demand for the RL than it could supply, in order to keep prices for the most desirable trims at or above MSRP. That might explain the persistent advertising we've seen. Another theory is that Honda is determined to avoid another model failure (e.g., Crosstour, CR-Z, Element, Civic Hybrid, Insight, Accord Plug-in Hybrid) and is committed to a strong ad campaign for the G2 RL regardless of limited production. Lastly, it could be that Honda was simply too conservative in estimating the initial demand for the new truck (especially the high trims) and didn't want to risk the scenario of having new RLs languishing on dealer lots.

 

[highpi]

I just left a Honda dealer a couple of hours ago and the sales guy said Honda was only making 46,000 Ridgelines for the year. He had one on the lot, a 2wd. He went on to say that Honda is very conservative on their production runs and they don't over produce and flood the discount and rental market. I don't know if that's true or not, just passing it along.

I did chuckle when I drove onto the lot, though. Out front was a 2016 Tacoma Limited. The sales guy said the gentleman was tired of the jittery ride and cramped cab of the Tacoma and wanted to test drive the Ridgeline. He took the Ridge home.

On a side note, the tailgate on the one Ridgeline on the lot wouldn't open in either direction. The sales guy said it was locked. I said "are you sure? Because there's this forum..."

 

[fargin]

I just left a Honda dealer a couple of hours ago and the sales guy said Honda was only making 46,000 Ridgelines for the year. He had one on the lot, a 2wd. He went on to say that Honda is very conservative on their production runs and they don't over produce and flood the discount and rental market. I don't know if that's true or not, just passing it along.

I did chuckle when I drove onto the lot, though. Out front was a 2016 Tacoma Limited. The sales guy said the gentleman was tired of the jittery ride and cramped cab of the Tacoma and wanted to test drive the Ridgeline. He took the Ridge home.

On a side note, the tailgate on the one Ridgeline on the lot wouldn't open in either direction. The sales guy said it was locked. I said "are you sure? Because there's this forum..."

46000 is probably pretty close, the first 2 full months of sales (July and August) sales were around 3500/month

The mysterious locking tailgate!

 

[HHansen]

After spending the last two months trying to decide whether I should buy another Ridgeline or a Jeep Wrangler, I finally decided on the Ridgeline last Thursday and it's been a pain in the a_ _ every since then. First my dealer gave me a good price on an RTL-T 2WD around $1800 off of list, then last Thursday I changed my mind and decided to go with the RTL-T AWD and all hell broke out. They had one on their lot, blue with gray interior and they priced it to me for full list price, I said why full list, they said they are not to be had and we don't show to get another till the end of October, or the first week in November and that's the only one. I started checking other DFW dealers and their story is pretty much the same, full list if we get one and the way it looks we aren't going to get any for some time. I don't get it how Honda has let their dealers down and can't provide them with vehicles that the buying public wants. They might as well take the adds off of the TV as buying one just isn't going to happen, because dealers don't have them to sell. Maybe it because they have just been on the market for some four months now and Honda hasn't re-adjusted their production schedules for sales demands. All I can do is wait and see, things will probably change after the first of the year, but I'm not going to pay full price, I's just not like me to do so.

trainman

If you have a trade you might be able to get your money there.
It's all about the difference anyway.
With my transaction I got dealer trade in Fair value as listed in Edmunds/KBB + another $500. This wasn't bad despite the fact my car needed tires and front brakes. With the RTL-T there is enough cake to slice. Start high and have a settle on price.

 

[TommyDeVito]

So wait, like the rest of us in Texas. The truck has only been out since June.

 

[longboat]

I've got five RTL-E trucks within a 250-mile radius, but none of them are green. Don't know if I'll be able to get my truck this year. On the bright side, I'm saving more payments!

 

[BolivarS]

Is there a web site where you can check what is available around you? I was just looking at dealers one by one and at... I don't know a dozen dealers in a 20 mile radius, maybe 30 miles, there are a few RTL-T, several black and a lot of sports. There are a bunch in the other trims as well. I don't remember seeing any RTL-Es, but I was looking for Ts and don't remember for sure about the Es.

 

[Mr. Black]

I've got five RTL-E trucks within a 250-mile radius, but none of them are green. Don't know if I'll be able to get my truck this year. On the bright side, I'm saving more payments!

You know this for fact or are you just checking websites?

Around here checking websites don't work.


The 5 you show would = ZERO.

 

[phineas]

My two cents: it appears that we have hit some sort of production delay or slowdown. And that demand may be outpacing availability of the higher-end trims. Given the fact that the MDX (which will also be produced at another factory, I forget which one) and the Odyssey are cranking up — not to mention the Pilot's popularity and its nearly $48K top-of-the-line price tag — it seems likely that supply is not going to get significantly better any time soon. If they crank out some RTL-Es and RTL-Ts in October, it's going to be a bloodbath at the dealerships throughout the end of the year. I would not assume that this gets better for the Ridgeline buyer. In fact, I don't think that bidding wars are outside of the realm of possibility. Probably at some point it does ease up, although I wouldn't bet on the 6 to 12 month timeframe. But your crystal ball is as good as mine.

 

[Carsmak]

IIRC, Joe posted a while back that the 4cyl MDX, was going to be moving to Marysville, but at this point, they should move the entire MDX elsewhere, maybe even back to Allison, Ontario. Currently Civic Sedans and the ILX are assembled there, a new Odyssey is less than a year away, and it too is rumored to have AWD as an option. There is not enough capacity at HMA for all these vehicles to be produced.

 

[Haymoose]

You know this for fact or are you just checking websites?

Around here checking websites don't work.


The 5 you show would = ZERO.

I had my heart set on an RTL-E and was first on my block to go test drive a Sport at a dealer north of here at Flow Honda - Statesville. They had ZERO RTL-Es onsite or at either sister dealers (Winston/Burlington.)

Just South of here, Priority Honda had a BE, couple RTLs, couple Sports, and a Blue RTL-E and a Mettailic RTL-E. Of course I was not ready to buy (selling old cars, etc.) 14 RLs between here (Richmond & Chesapeake, VA.) "Es" are long gone, BTW.

Honda of Concord had only Sports and RTLs. All of their Sports were in the showroom displaying ALL of the dealer add-ons. No RTL-E on the lot. (Hendrick Property)

Honda of S Charlotte and I went around and round over a maxed-out BE with everything but the tent screwed on. $4,000 of add-ons. I passed. Twice. (Hendrick Property)

Scott Clark has had the same 4 models (none E) for the 8 weeks I have been perving on the local dealer sites.

Gerry Wood Honda East of here has had the same three models for weeks, none the higher trims.

Hendrick Honda of Hickory has two BEs, one maxed out with all the add-ons, one with only wheel locks and flaps.

EVERYONE HAS NITRO!!

Hickory won me over after dealing and driving and hours of discussions with very interesting people (who may have thought the exact same of me!) All over my area the last 6-8 weeks. I'm not going to post the details of the deal until after I pickle it up Thursday! It is the BE (lots around here). I Do not know the details behind the lack of E trim levels anywhere. Perhaps market survey data pointed Honda toward FWD being a huge hit?

 

[phineas]

IIRC, Joe posted a while back that the 4cyl MDX, was going to be moving to Marysville, but at this point, they should move the entire MDX elsewhere, maybe even back to Allison, Ontario. Currently Civic Sedans and the ILX are assembled there, a new Odyssey is less than a year away, and it too is rumored to have AWD as an option. There is not enough capacity at HMA for all these vehicles to be produced.

Yup. They are headed for a manufacturing cluster bleep if they don't rearrange some things. According to a Detroit Free Press February 2015 article, Honda was then planning to retool the East Liberty, Ohio plant for MDX production. It's possible that's changed since. According to the article the plant was scheduled to begin manufacturing MDXs in April 2017.

 

[ToadVine]

Is there a web site where you can check what is available around you?

You can set up a search on cars.com and specify a distance.

Also, each Honda dealer has their own web site where you can see what's available.

 

[Mr. Black]

You can set up a search on cars.com and specify a distance.

Also, each Honda dealer has their own web site where you can see what's available.

Both of which were useless around here.

 

[trainman605]

After looking at all the North Texas Honda dealers on line and checking their inventories for a RTL-T AWD my dealer came up with another one today, they emailed me their price at 8:24 pm tonight. It's a Lunar Silver with black interior, pretty much the same as my 2008 RTL. After all the figures it came out something like this, $1685.00 below the list price of $38.680, a selling price of $36.995. This figure includes their add on pack, tinted windows, splash guards, pinstripes, trunk mat, free washes, nitrogen in the tires. I also have to pay the Texas Sales Tax 6.25%, License Plates, State Inspection for 2 years, and a $150 Dock Fee, all these fees are inline from what I can see. I will go by in the morning and check this vehicle out.

trainman

 

[phineas]

I hope it works out for you. Sounds like a good price.

 

[Carsmak]

Yup. They are headed for a manufacturing cluster bleep if they don't rearrange some things. According to a Detroit Free Press February 2015 article, Honda was then planning to retool the East Liberty, Ohio plant for MDX production. It's possible that's changed since. According to the article the plant was scheduled to begin manufacturing MDXs in April 2017.

And that could be correct, I was going strictly by memory, and East Liberty & Marysville are both in Ohio, which is truely all I remembered. Regardless of where they move stuff, only the Ridgeline G2 needs to be made in NAFTA region (US, Canada or Mexico), to avoid the Chicken Tax, which is chicken $#!+, if you ask me...