Subject: Excellent Service Provided by Richard Brabo & Others at Ocean Honda

Dear Mr. John:

I’m writing to tell you how great it was to work with Ricard Brabo, one of your sales representatives. I met Richard as I was car shopping due to an unfortunate car accident in the snow country that left me whole, but my previous car totaled.

I was looking for a car with “special safety features suitable for snow country and off-road experiences. Richard was/is a great listener and understood my concerns and needs and offered me the new 2008 Honda CRY AWD, as the solution to my driving needs. He explained in easily understood terms and safely demonstrated the safety features of this vehicle.

Richard’s superior knowledge of the safety features and his genuine concern to meet my driving needs resulted in my purchase of the 2008 Honda CRY AWD. (I had test drove and listened to the sales representatives of other car dealerships and none demonstrated Richard’s knowlege and genuine concern).

So, my hat is off to Richard. Also, I just want to give kudos to other Ocean Honda staff, including Roy Lundy, your finance manager, Roy was also knowledgeable and helpful in helping me to make my decision to purchase. Additionally, as a Project Manager and a small business owner, I was quite impressed with your service department; it is efficient, well run and staffed with very personable and helpful staff. The service obviously doesn’t just stop when you purchase a car.

Sheryl B.
Aptos, CA.

The news out of Wall Street may be scary, but Steve John is moving full steam ahead with a new multimillion-dollar dealership for Ocean Honda.

At a ground-breaking party Wednesday for 125 people, he didn’t want to say how much it cost, quipping, “I’ve got to sell a lot of Hondas.”

A two-story, 43,000-square-foot showroom and repair facility like John is building could cost $7 million to $8 million, said Eric Van Olst, Honda’s Northern California sales manager. That doesn’t include the cost of the 4.2 acres on Soquel Drive near Home Depot and Safeway, which is nearly twice as large as the existing dealership in Capitola.

Ocean Honda’s new home is one of four large Honda dealerships under construction in Northern California, said Van Olst, who predicted car sales would rise slightly in 2009, when the 4-door Insight hybrid comes out, and rebound in 2010.

“Honda sales nationally are up 4 percent this year, while sales in Northern California are down 5 percent, still better than overall vehicle sales, which are off by 15 percent.”

John, 44, plans to hire more employees by the March opening because he’s expanding service bays from 16 to 28. He employs 77 people now.

“We didn’t steal him away,” county Supervisor Jan Beautz said of John and his dealership. “He needed more space.”

The move will shift sales tax revenue — potentially 1,200 cars a year — from Capitola to the county, which Beautz called “wonderful.”

Employees wearing Ocean’s blue shirts donned white hard hats as Mark Fitzpatrick of Valli Construction showed them the progress so far. He pointed out where the dealer will offer a while-you-wait oil change and drive-in car wash. For customers, there will be flat-screen televisions; for employees, new work benches.