My brother works in this sector and is transitioning to a less physical part of it. That's just the problem. There aren't enough people and it's insanely taxing (he climbs roofs and attics all the time). The cost to get trained and then train them is high.

Equipment cost has skyrocketed so bad that a tool that cost him $5k 3 years ago he could sell used right now for $8k aimce new its $10k.

He doesn't even own the dealerships anymore and he's just eeehhh as a person.

I've personally owned neither but my dad had a Camry for years and I really liked it when I would use it and drive it. I've owned Ford, Hyundai and now VW.

​

My best friend swears by Honda and, although I like them, I like to have more pep in my car than they do. Out of the two, I enjoyed selling Toyotas a lot more. I thought they had more features available for the same price point as Honda but they were more fun to drive. The irony is that, when I was working in that industry, I sold more used Honda's than Toyotas haha.

On sedans I prefer Hyundai over Nissan. On SUV's I prefer Nissan and Hyundai equally but drop Honda down (they're just boxy and not fun to drive). The new Elantra is sleek and very nice - and mine lasted years and years and years with little maintenance.

​

I worked at a Volkswagen dealership and we had a lot of people comparing our SUV's to Mazda. But we had a TON of Mazda trade ins, lease buy outs, etc.

Yeah they "got away" with it when everything hit in 2020 but Honda's been doing it for so long they don't care.

​

I went to Boch Nissan in Norwood when I was looking for a car (prior to getting into the industry) and they swapped on me. Went to look at one model and I showed up; it was gone. They instead brought out a Sentra with, I kid you not, the side molding held on by wood glue. Tried to tell me it was OEM and thought they could pull it over on me as a young woman. Noped out out there; went to Mirak and got an Elantra. They were very good to me and I realized that when I got into the industry.

​

Even if they're at MSRP just check doc fees. They're widely different from dealership to dealership.

Honda encourages their franchises to sell above MSRP. They've been doing it for years, hugely hyped it up when the HRV first was released.

What I can tell you from working in the auto industry:

Quirk doesn't trade with anyone which gives them the power if they have the only model and combo you want in the area. They will only trade with other Quirk stores

Honda and Toyota are inventory leaders, not gross leaders. Meaning they're looking to sell the highest amount vs holding gross in cars. Works for you to have them compete against each other.

There are several dealers I wouldn't trust. Honda North in Reading is good. Chambers is decent.

Mirak is a solid dealership as is Watertown Toyota. There are ones I wouldn't buy from - Ira being one of them.