Monday, April 29, 2013

Weekend Giveaway Winner Melanie Fisher

And the Weekend Giveaway winner is...




Melanie Poll Fisher!  Congratulations. 

 Come by the Ken Garff Honda of Orem dealership at 115 E. University Pkwy in Orem anytime Tuesday-Saturday to pick up your Cafe Rio gift card.   We are open 9-9.

Make sure to LIKE us on Facebook so you won't miss a single giveaway. 

Thursday, April 25, 2013

Mama Gets to Rock Out Too

 I love being a mom. Love it.

We had a hard time welcoming kids into our family as we battled the jungles of infertility. (It's National Infertility Awareness Week, by the way.) We were lucky and have been able to adopt three little boys.

Three little boys with big personalities. They are lovers of music, Star Wars junkies, Curious George enthusiasts, The Magic School Bus experts and everything in between.

Our old SUV didn't allow for mama to listen to her jams while the kids listened to theirs. And while I appreciate being able to quote you just about every line from Star Wars and sing along with Raffi's entire collection of songs, sometimes mama just needs to rock out on her own.

With the kids watching a show on the DVD Player of Awesomeness, I rocked out to some early 90's hip hop, of course. Those are my jams. I love that I only have to remember to bring my CDs in the car ONE TIME because the hard-drive loads my music and saves it in the music library.

Rockin out in my minivan.
  Since XM is available in the Odyssey as well, the husband and I love to reminisce those high school years with the 90's on 9. Something about those tunes bring out our own special kind of ridiculous...ly awesome!




Follow Lindsey Redfern of The R House as she falls in love with the 2013 Honda Odyssey. A reformed SUV enthusiast, she has seen the light and is passing her excitement onto you in the a form of really sweet deals. Get the all details on how she can save you a little cash.
      

Tuesday, April 23, 2013

I Call Her "Sugar"

by Andrea Harris

It was the kind of morning that made me want stay under the covers and forget all about my morning commute.  The snow and ice were piling up fast on the roads for the bazillionth day in a row and despite the new tires I got for Christmas (that’s how you know you’re an adult, by the way: tires for Christmas!), I was fishtailing just trying to get out of my own parking lot.  I had two choices: I-15 or Geneva Road.  The freeway, I reasoned would be cleaner.  Surely the state would have plowed it better and it would have been well-travelled in the morning rush.  Geneva Road on the other hand, has a slower speed limit and there were fewer cars. The fact that I was already 15 minutes late for work and it would be a dicey commute either way made my choice for me, I had to go the faster route.


I carefully made my way to I-15 the on ramp, noting my good fortune that the line was short and that everyone else was queueing up in the lane to my left.  I wondered momentarily if they knew something I didn’t.  Before I could give it too much more thought, the light turned green and off I went.  Half way down the ramp, I realized that I made the wrong choice, but once you’re on that ramp there’s no turning back.  I tried frantically to right myself as my back tires skidded dangerously and I was suddenly sliding down the ramp sideways and backwards.  I could see the faces of the others drivers in expressions of sympathy and fear as they swerved to miss me.  All I could think was that I should have taken Geneva Rd.


Adrenaline pumping, I entered the freeway.  “Ok,”  I thought to myself, “all you have to do is get to the next exit and you’re good.  Just stick right here in the slow lane and you’re home free.”  It would have taken a crowbar to get my hands off the wheel as I picked my way up the farthest right lane.   But I was starting to fishtail again.  It was true that the freeway was clearer than the residential roads, but the only place to push snow off the freeway is to move it to the sides.  And there I was, right in the thick of it.  I couldn’t have been going more than 40 mph, but to be honest, I don’t really know.  The lane to my left was obviously clearer and I made the split second decision to get out of the murk. Suddenly, I was spinning out of control.  The concrete barrier came up before I had time to even react. I hit it head on and came to rest headed south in north bound traffic.

I’ve been hit enough times to know what damaging impact sounds like.  It was bad. I mean, I’m not really a math person but a car moving at 40 mph + concrete wall = disaster.  Still, I didn’t dare get out of the car in the lousy conditions to look.  I only had to wait about 10 seconds before an officer pulled up, obviously responding to the 3 similar accidents I could see in my rearview mirror.  He made sure I was ok and took a quick look at the car before he asked if I knew where the Highway Department building was.  I did, and he blocked traffic while I got myself headed the right direction.  

Sitting in the parking lot, I called my boss to tell him I wouldn’t be coming in. I was pretty sure I had destroyed the front end of my car and really thought I was better off getting the paperwork dealt with and just going home.  The officer in the office came out to take a look at the damage to assess whether I should be cited for damaging city property.  I’m sure he’d looked at enough smashed up cars to be able to tell what sort of mark I’d left on the barrier.  We waded through the ankle deep snow to take look at what I’d done to my poor Sugar. (Yeah, I’m the girl who names her cars...and let’s be honest, that little red Honda was so sweet on the lot, I just had to have her! The heated seats, sun-roof, perky little spoiler, fuel economy.... I could go on and on... It was love at first sight!)  I wasn’t pleased. There was a gash in the bumper deep enough I was pretty sure I could see daylight through it and it was pretty well torn off on the passenger side. Still, it could have been worse. Then I noticed that hood was obviously crooked. It and the front end were no longer exactly parallel. Ugh. I knew what that meant: the frame was probably bent and the car could be a total loss.  It had been as bad as it sounded. I might have just murdered my girl. The officer was kind enough not to cite me and the wounded Sugar and I dragged ourselves home.

Within a few days, I was visiting body shops to see what could be done.  I was more than prepared to have someone tell me it was all over for her.  I must have visited at least 5 places gathering quotes.  Every single one of them told me exactly the same thing.  Sugar had done exactly what all Hondas do: performed perfectly in an accident.  The bumper had taken all the damage and had come off in a way that didn’t even ruin the brackets that held it on.  “Oh, yeah,” one body guy had told me, “take a look under here.” He pulled back the torn part of my bumper and handed me a flashlight. “Can you see the foam in there?  It’s not even crushed. Hondas are great if you’re going to get in accident.  They design them so that all this just breaks away and your engine doesn’t take any of the impact.”

I confess I was surprised. I had gotten my Honda knowing it had a great safety rating but I didn’t really think there was that much of a difference between how my pretty little Accord had fared and the way any of rest of the cars on the road would have done in similar circumstances. Later that week, though, I was talking to a friend about what had happened. I was grateful, of course, but bemoaning a little the $1,000+ it was probably going to take to get Sugar back to her glory.  “Are you kidding?!” my friend asked, shocked.  “A couple of years ago, I got in a little fender-bender in my Corolla and it cost me $4,000 to fix!”  I suddenly felt even luckier to be a Honda owner. Not only had Sugar kept me safe on that snowy morning, she was so well-designed that even though I’d done my best to bash the life right out of her, fixing her would cost a fraction of what I might have paid if I’d gotten one of the other cars I’d considered... She really was the perfect car and I fell in love with her all over again.                   




Monday, April 22, 2013

Weekend Giveaway Winner Kevin Manning!


The Weekend Giveaway Winner is....


Kevin Graham Manning!  Kevin gets a $20 Gift Card Barnes and Noble.  
One of his favorite books--The Last Lecture.


Congratulations!  Come by the Ken Garff Honda of Orem dealership at 115 E. University Pkwy in Orem anytime Tuesday-Saturday.  We are open 9-9.

Make sure to LIKE us on Facebook so you won't miss a single giveaway. 

Tuesday, April 16, 2013

What Happens When Something Goes Wrong...

On April 9th, Honda of Orem customer Daniel Ray Petersen dropped us a note in our Facebook message box.  With his permission, I'm sharing it with you.

This is the review I just posted on Facebook for my friends to see. Thanks guys. My wife and I shopped around A LOT all last year for a new vehicle, but you guys take the cake. Here it is:

Well, I'm not one to share glowing reviews often. Less expected is this one, since it's a car dealership, but I have been impressed. Two weeks ago we bought an '03 Honda Pilot from Ken Garff Honda in Orem. By some chance, neither of us noticed that the car hadn't been through safety and emissions yet. Last week the salesman we dealt with, Mark, called us and told us they had just realized this. Because Ogden is so far from Orem, he made arrangements for us to take the car to the Riverdale dealership, where they would do the tests, no charge to us. They should have been done before they sold us the car, he said, so they would take care of the cost.
The Petersens via Facebook  

I took the car in and it passed emissions but failed the safety inspections. Brakes, steering, engine mounts.... I was not pleased. I called Mark back to let him know what happened. I never guessed his response. Instead of grumbling or telling us we'd have to take care of it ourselves, he said, "Ouch, I'm sorry about that. I'll make arrangements for someone to drive up with a replacement vehicle, and we'll bring yours down here for a day to fix the stuff that's broken."

Did he mention how much it would cost us? Nope. Did he sound like it was inconvenient for him? Nope. The guy actually sounded cheerful about being able to fix it. Today they came and got the car, leaving us with a nice '11 VW Tuareg to drive. We got our car back just this evening, after about 9 hours away from home including drive time. Mark drove up himself both times. After we got the car back, he explained everything that had been done to it. He said it ended up being about $1200 worth of parts. Parts, not parts and labor. It would have been crazy expensive for us if we had to pay for this ourselves.

All in all, I have to say that I am grateful, and very pleasantly surprised. Yes, the dealership should have taken care of this before selling us the car. Any other car they sold, they do make sure it can pass both before they sell it. But the way they handled the situation, with concern for our time, happiness, and money - I've never met a dealership that was so willing to be the nice guy. Even though doing all this is really just the "right think to do" in this situation, I know that lots of other dealerships would never have been so willing. Some would have just called and said, "Hey, you need to take and get this done before we can submit the registration paperwork." and then shoved the whole cost on us. Some might have done the repairs but charged for the parts or the labor. And maybe some would have done the work and paid for it too, but grumbled every step of the way. Not these guys. Never once (and I asked several times to be sure) did they ask for anything out of my pocket, and every single time I brought up the subject they cheerfully stated very clearly that we would not have to cover a bit of it.

So, to you guys out at Ken Garff Honda in Orem: 5 stars. Bright, shiny ones.

Monday, April 15, 2013

Weekend Giveaway Winner Mike Evans!

The Weekend Giveaway Winner is....




Mike Evans!  Mike gets a $25 Gift Card to Sushi Ya in Orem.


Congratulations!  Come by the Ken Garff Honda of Orem dealership at 115 E. University Pkwy in Orem anytimeTuesday-Saturday.  We are open 9-9.

Make sure to LIKE us on Facebook so you won't miss a single giveaway. 

Monday, April 8, 2013

The R House Love Story Continues...

It's official: We really are minivan people.

I knew I would love it--the automatic doors won me over during my test drive. I knew my husband would love it--the DVD player (that Mom and Dad don't have to listen to) frees us up to listen to comedy on XM Radio. I knew all of that. What I didn't realize is how much my kids love this car! Recently we were at a playdate with friends. The kids had a blast and the weather was perfect. When it was time to leave, I only had to ask my kids ONE TIME to get their shoes on and meet me in the car. From the foyer window of my friend's house I opened the doors (opening doors from your keys is so Jetsons) and my kids piled in.

We are minivan people. Get $500 off ANY vehicle purchase or 10% off service at Ken Garff Honda of Orem just by mentioning my blog.

About 10 minutes later, I was still in the foyer chatting with my friend and planning our next get-to-together. Suddenly there was a knock at the door and my five year old said to me (with DVD player headphones already on), "Mom! Let's go! You said we were leaving 100 hours ago."  Usually I am the one that has to beg and round up and re-round up my kids when it is time to go home but, in their eyes, the fun doesn't end when we go home. They love the drive home as well! I can't promise you that your kids will be better listeners because you drive a pimped out minivan ...but they might! ;)


  Follow Lindsey Redfern of The R House as she falls in love with the 2013 Honda Odyssey. A reformed SUV enthusiast, she has seen the light and is passing her excitement onto you in the a form of really sweet deals. Get the all details on how she can save you a little cash.
 

Weekend Giveaway Winner!


And the winner of the $30 Texas Roadhouse gift card is...




Kristi Jackson


Congratulations!  Come by the Ken Garff Honda of Orem dealership at 115 E. University Pkwy in Orem anytime this week.  We are open 9-9 Mon-Sat.

Make sure to LIKE us on Facebook so you won't miss a single giveaway. 

Monday, April 1, 2013

Weekend Giveaway Winner



And the winner of the $25 Mimi's Cafe gift card is...





Leslie Vannoy Waters


Congratulations!  Come by the Ken Garff Honda of Orem dealership at 115 E. University Pkwy in Orem anytime this week.  We are open 9-9 Mon-Sat.

Make sure to LIKE us on Facebook so you won't miss a single giveaway.