Lease a Certified Pre-Owned Honda, No Dealer Visit Required
You can now lease a CPO Honda vehicle 100% digitally. The caveat is you need to use the Fair app and live in Southern California.
It is no secret that cars are getting more and more expensive. Buying a brand-new ride is nice but not always possible. Trying to score a great deal on a used car is often the best route to take. The challenge with that is that if you want to lease the used car. Oftentimes dealers do not offer a lease on used vehicles, so you are forced into a purchase. Honda is partnering with the used car leasing platform Fair to make used car leasing much easier.
We assume everyone is familiar with Honda, but you may not be familiar with Fair. Fair was founded in 2016 with the goal of providing used car leases to drivers. Originally drivers were able to lease cars without having to sign a typical two- or three-year lease contract. They have since added the option for extended leases while retaining the original month to month option as well. This partnership with Honda is the first time they are offering certified pre-owned vehicles on their app.
This new program is a six-month trial being rolled out to six Honda dealerships in Southern California. Customers can browse for vehicles directly through the Honda Certified Pre-Owned vehicle website. Once customers download the Fair app they can use it to select the car and complete the transaction. There is no need to set foot in a dealership. No negotiation, or physical paperwork to deal with. The customer can simply sign the contract with their finger and pick up the car at the dealership. For those that are truly dealership-adverse they can have the car delivered to them free of charge. No muss, no fuss.
Obviously, the size and scope of this program is limited but it offers a glimpse into what the future of car buying, or at least leasing, might be like. If the pilot program goes well, it is reasonable to believe that Honda will expand it to other markets. They may also offer additional services through the app such as extended warranties. Will traditional dealerships be a thing of the past? It is far too early to tell, and they may never be replaced entirely. Heck, what would the world be like without the option of going on dealership joyrides? However, it is quite possible that they will look far different than they do today.
The auto industry is a copycat industry if there ever was one. So, we are sure that other manufacturers will be watching this new Honda lease program very carefully. If it is a success, we are sure that several other automakers will jump into the fray in no time. We are anxiously awaiting the day when we can sit on the couch and order up a pre-owned volcano orange Acura NSX from our phone and have it delivered to our front door.
What do you think? Would you order a car directly from your phone and skip the dealership altogether? Would you miss the dealership experience, or would you be happy to see it go? Let us know your thoughts in the Honda-Tech forums.
Photos: HondaNews.com
Join the Honda-Tech forums now!
