My Two Cents: How I Won a New Van

Back in 1999 the Honda Odyssey van was a hot commodity. After researching vans, we decided that the Odyssey was the one we wanted. We have had several Hondas and like their reliability and drive. The problem is that after visiting two local Honda dealers, we were told the same thing: there was up to a six-month wait to get one.

We had an 18-day road trip coming up in 3 weeks with the boys, ages 8 and 11 at the time. We would have to settle for taking it in our year old Honda CR-V, which was much smaller than the Odyssey. We really didn’t have much choice, until that fateful Friday came along when we got a call from the Honda dealer in New York. They had great news! An Odyssey deal just fell through and did we want the van? Could we be there at 9:00am the next morning? You bet we could!

At 8:00 the following morning, we pulled into the dealer’s parking lot. We waited alone in our car until 8:30, when another couple pulled in and waited in theirs. At 9:00 some employees arrived and we all entered to find our prospective salesperson.

Well, lo and behold, there was a problem. Apparently this van was promised to two people, us and the other couple. We tried to remain calm about it, but we were there first ones there and shouldn’t that count for something? Apparently not. The sales manager was consulted and after what seemed like forever, we were all brought into the same room to hear the news.

The van came as is. That meant we had to take it with all the bells and whistles they packed on, including the bicycle rack on top. We had absolutely no bargaining power for price. If one of us didn’t want to buy it for $31,000, they had a back up buyer right there. Of course we wanted the van, but we were trapped. We had a big vacation coming up in two weeks, plus it was the dark blue color that was our first choice. We were still in.

So, the brilliant idea of the sales manager was to flip a coin for it. I was flabbergasted. Really? Flip a coin to see if we were going to get a chance to buy a $31,000 van? It was surreal. Of course the 8 and 12-year-olds were quite excited and quickly chose heads. We all watched breathlessly as the coin was thrown in the air, landed on the floor, and then slowly rolled across the room. As if we needed to prolong the misery, we watched it roll and roll and roll. When it finally landed on heads, the kids jumped up and down exuberantly yelling, “We won!” But somehow it didn’t feel like we really won. Under normal circumstances, I know we would have been able to bargain them down a little on price and not have all the unnecessary drama connected with spending that kind of money.

In the end, we had a fabulous vacation to Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Quebec, Ontario, and Maine. We loved the Odyssey’s size, comfort and ride. The van had a great life with wonderful trips and memories. It was packed with kids for most of its life, held lots of musical equipment for gigs, and brought our boys to college. It lasted 12 years and traveled 198,500 miles before we traded it in last spring for another Honda. I am sold on Hondas, but I can do without flipping coins.