Process improvement:

Dear Honda,

Wouldn't it make sense to make the manufacturer's financing the most attractive offer to approved potential Honda customers? Is there a possible miscommunication to dealers about how to treat customers approaching you about these terms and who visit with paperwork from the Honda website?

Maybe like:
"Gee, thanks customer X for your interest in buying a Honda and, what luck, you are actually approved by AHFC...we will hook you up with Salesperson Y who will talk you through all this stuff and see if our finance offer will work for you...and then afterward we will check on him or her to make sure you got the best finance terms available and if you didn't use the Honda financing, why you did not (or could not) go with that option."

Instead of:
If not, why bother offering a pre-approval American Honda Finance Company letter with an amount and so on if the dealer you bring it to is just going to glance at it and then tell you "Oh, that just shows how much you can *probably* borrow" and then offer to put it in the shredder bin while they get you financed with Wachovia Dealer Services?

I'm just saying.

Lots of people do the website thing hoping to take the edge off the nasty feelings they get around financing, terms, etc., and a lot of people apply online so they can go in armed with something and feeling like they have an idea of what to expect. If you're going to let dealers treat customers who walk in with that stuff like it is not important, worth nothing, or just a "recommendation" then you just let a bad practice happen: you are increasing the customer's anxiety about a major purchase.

Just my two cents...

 

Additional, AHFC should indicate the % APR in the pre-approve as well.

When I purchased my 09 Honda FIT Sport. I got a pre-approve from AHFC and I took it to a dealer. The dealer said AHFC % APR was higher than Chase. I had no prove that the dealer lied or not but I had to go with Chase since it was lower %APR.

There is no point of getting pre-approve from AHFC at all.