Back when the CVCC came out Honda’s were in HIGH demand, with dealer markups common. My friend looked at an early '80s Accord, dealer had a ‘fixed price’ $1500 over sticker. Friend said ‘no’, dealer said ‘goodby’.
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The 1st Generation Civic was purchased more than 40+ years ago so without doing some history research I can’t swear to specifics but what I recall was…
The initial Oil Shock had pretty much passed and along with it, the initial price gouging.
A/C installation, which was formerly done at the Port, was now being done at the factory.
Possibly other variants were available in other markets but the only cars available in my region were the Hatchback, 5 speed stick, A/C. Frankly, priced at around $2.000 well equiped, it’s hard to believe that anyone would want to buy less.
In contrast, the similarly priced Datsun (now Nissan) B210 came in a variety if styles and trims and wasn’t nearly as good and I won’t even get into poor design and quality of the Vega, Pinto and Renault LeCar
The point is that by simply limiting the number of styles and trims, Honda was able to produce a better car than their competitors at the same price point.
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Really? Learn sumthin new every day.
In 1974 when the Civic CVCC hit the American shore they were not in High Demand. They were an “unknown” to the American car market.
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True, but once they demonstrated their combination of economy, quality, and great driving experience demand went up.
Plans for 25 Scout Service centers at launch with 100 by 2032, press release copied below has the info.
October 28, 2024
NASHVILLE — Scout Motors’ detailed roadmap to sell an electric SUV and pickup straight to American consumers includes experience centers, speedy purchase transactions, stores in key U.S. markets and a flexible nationwide service footprint at launch in 2027.
Scout, which revealed the Traveler SUV and Terra pickup as production-intent concepts here on Oct. 24, is planning to open 25 brand-owned rooftops in the U.S. when production starts at a South Carolina plant in 2027.
The first 25 locations will be in 16 major markets, from New York to Miami and Seattle to San Diego.
The 25 locations will either be Scout Studios, where customers shop and interact with a sales adviser, or Scout Workshops, where service is performed, company officials say.
The Scout-owned facilities will be standalone sites or in retail centers such as malls.
Expansion
Scout plans to grow quickly after launching sales, targeting 57 retail and service sites in year two, including two in Canada.
Beyond that second year, Scout plans to add 10 rooftops annually until it reaches 100 in 2032. Ninety-three locations will be in the U.S. while seven will be in Canada, Thacker said.
“Those rooftops will put us within 200 miles of 85 percent or more of projected Scout owners,” Thacker said.
Thacker said the workshops will be the hub of its network and signaled Scout Motors is investing significantly in service operations.
Scout plans to have 1,300 service bays staffed by 1,400 technicians by 2032. A quarter of service demand will be handled by mobile service units, Thacker estimated.
Around 80 percent of each workshop’s square footage will be dedicated to service and work stalls. The remaining space will be customer-facing zones with a lounge-like amenities.
For Scout owners who live within 45 minutes of a workshop, the brand anticipates those customers will go there for service and repairs.
For more-remote customers within 200 miles of a workshop, Scout will rely on mobile service units. Scout may also create a list of certified service partners, Thacker said.
For customers that live beyond 200 miles of a workshop, Scout plans to have traveling mobile technicians, but Thacker expects those instances to be rare.
Warranty
Thacker said each Scout vehicle will come with a four-year, 48,000-mile comprehensive warranty; a seven-year, 100,000-mile electric drivetrain warranty and an eight-year, 100,000-mile high-voltage battery warranty.
Scout also intends to offer extended warranties.
The brand plans to open Scout Experience Centers, and the first one will open at the company’s plant in Blythewood, S.C. It is being created as the front door of the plant, Thacker said, as well as a place for customers to take delivery, a starting point for factory tours and an off-road driving experience.
“We want this to be a community hub,” Thacker said.
… and in just a few years, many dealers began to put an “ADP” sticker on the window, due to demand. I worked (in NJ) with a guy who drove to Rhode Island in order to buy a Civic CVCC without having to pay "ADP.
Hi Mike:
Are you sure about this?
I remember states requiring it. I believe New York was one of the first.
I don’t remember any federal mandate, nor can I find it documented anywhere.
They’re not required by federal law. They’re also not required in the state of Minnesota where I reside. This is from a NHTSA Technical Report titled “Evaluation of Rear Window Defrosting and Defogging Systems”:
You’re right…it’s NOT federally mandated. But many states have mandated it so it’s actually cheaper for a manufacturer to put it on all vehicles instead of some.
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+1
IIRC, they have been required in NY & NJ since the late '70s/early '80s.
Before they were mandated in NJ, my wacky old boss (the one who never filled his tank because “then they can cheat you” 
) special-ordered his Buick, and–for some strange reason–he chose to delete the rear defroster.
Anyway, it was amusing to see him trying to scrape his rear window with a pocket comb on wintery days. Of course, he could have bought a windshield scraper at Pep Boys or a similar store, but he never did.
I remember after the New Orleans flood and some were bused to new parts of the country, some had never seen a cow before, thought milk came from the 7 11, and didn’t know what a bank account was.
Some folks still think there is no country west of the Ohio river except California. We even argued about this here before but some prefer to fly instead of driving cross country to see what there is to see.
Being poor stinks, and I suspect that the ones you describe are probably young people. I must say that I met someone from a rural county in Pennsylvania. He had never left the county until he went to college in Eastern Pennsylvania. He had no idea of many of the conveniences in even the small city we were in.
I worked on a project with an engineer living in Magna, Utah. He was scared to come to the DC suburbs for the part of the project here. He wasn’t going to an area that dangerous ever. He asked me to sub for him so that he wouldn’t have to go to Satan’s playground. While those are my words, that’s essentially what he was saying. To someone that lives here, that is completely insane, but he’s not stupid. He’s just misinformed and has lived in a silo so long that he doesn’t realize that an overwhelmingly large number of people are very similar to each other.
There was a time when I was 16, I just walked to a play at night at the Washington monument. I guess I thought there might be some girls there. Never gave it a second thought, but not sure if I would do that now at 11 at night.
I’m sure dealerships are running a bit scared at the prospect of being sidestepped by manufacturers. Legacy wise, they were symbiotic and dealers enjoyed a mutually beneficial relationship with manufacturers.
It has been very hard to punch a hole in that business model and the dealerships banding together to protect their interests. Then Tesla came along and found a way to circumvent portions of that model. There’s a hole in the dam that’s about to become worse.
History is replete with examples of businesses trying to stop evolution but ultimately failing to do so. Those that fight the hardest and longest, lose the most. Those that accept change and try to work within the changes, usually fare the best…
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I wonder how many people recall Daewoo’s unorthodox approach to marketing their cars in The US. (Spoiler alert: It didn’t work very well for the company) This article is somewhat long, but I think it is interesting:
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That was very interesting read, thanks for posting it. Like any venture, the visionaries usually take the biggest lumps. Seems a lot of their ideas were borne out of desperation rather than well thought out strategies. Again, they were stymied by the established dealer network and their enshrined protections in state laws. Times change and subsequent efforts start to erode dams built to withstand such attacks. Where one succeeds, more are sure to follow…
I’m sorry but I’m going to need the cliff notes version. But hey, what could go wrong with high debt and marketing to broke college students.
There is a fine line between being visionary and stupid. Buying a car or refrigerator is not like ordering underwear on line. To the generation that doesn’t own a socket set and can’t change their own tire, will they not need a dealer to provide that service?
I vaguely remember the Daewoo advertising from back in the day
At the time, I thought it was an inferior product marketed to DESPERATE people
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What could go wrong with tax cuts? Some people believe that cutting taxes will create jobs and therefore increase revenues. Past results since 1980 say that’s not so. Tax cuts increase national debt.
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