Win A 2012 Honda Civic Si Coupe!

Music and Honda! Sounds like a chance to win a 2012 Civic Si Coupe! 

The Honda Music Sweeps has paired with the Austin City Limits Music Festical and is giving away a new Honda Civic! Register to win today! 

Want to win more than a new Civic? 

Come to Austin City Limits Music Festival October 12-14 and see The Black Keys, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Jack White, Neil Young, Iggy & The Stooges, AVICII, and much more! Stop by the Honda Zone at Austin City Limits for the Honda Civic Photobooth and another way to remember the day. 

The Honda Summer Clearance Event!

The Honda Summer Clearance Event is going on NOW!   

Which means it's the perfect time to buy yourself a new Honda! 

Browse our online inventory come visit us at Greg May Honda and see all the clearance specials we have to offer! 

Honda Pilot EX-L is the Winner of Cars.com SUV Shootout!

As we said in yesterday's post, the 2012 Honda CR-V was the winner in the Cars.com $25,000 Compact SUV Shootout. Well today we are proud to announce the 2012 Honda Pilot EX-L is the winner of the Cars.com $37,000 SUV Shootout! We are excited that Cars.com results prove what we already know, Honda SUV's are incredible vehicles. 
"The Pilot remains a nice balance of size, roominess, efficiency and versatility," said Joe Wiesenfelder with Cars.com, "and it appears that Honda is becoming more generous with features for the money." 
The three days of tests include

• A one-day mileage drive, which put the SUVs through roughly 230 miles of highway travel.
• One day of round-robin expert driving, where each expert or team of experts drove the seven SUVs over the same course for an hour.
• One day of family testing and driving, where the Koch family compared the features and cargo space of each SUV. Then dad Tarek Koch drove each SUV over the same drive route to test for ride and handling, acceleration, braking and more.

The seven SUV contenders were the 2012 Chevrolet Traverse, 2012 Dodge Durango, 2012 Ford Explorer, 2012 Honda Pilot, 2012 Kia Sorento, 2011 Mazda CX-9 and the 2011 Toyota Highlander.
The results showed that the Honda Pilot was the overall best vehicle, scoring a total of 752.1 points. "A great choice for growing families with a sense of adventure," Davis said. "The Pilot is the winner for me because of the high level of quality and comfort teamed to all the great entertainment features," David Thomas with Cars.com said. "I'm not sure how you top it."

2012 Honda CR-V is the winner of the Compact SUV Shootout

2012 Honda CR-V

Cars.com, the premier online resource for new- and used-car buyers, announced today that the 2012 Honda CR-V is the winner of the Compact SUV Shootout. The shootout included six compact SUVs under $25,000 that get at least a 30 mpg highway rating against each other in a series of tests.

The vehicles tested included, the 2012 Honda CR-V,  2012 Chevrolet Equinox, 2013 Ford Escape, 2012 Hyundai Tucson, 2013 Mazda CX-5 and 2012 Kia Sportage.

"This was a competitive shootout of an important segment, and we were impressed with all of the vehicles," said Patrick Olsen, Cars.com editor-in-chief. "The winning Honda CR-V is a great choice for compact SUV shoppers because of its impressive lineup of standard features, great comfort and overall ride, all combined with Honda's history of strong reliability."

The Shootout featured testing by experts from Cars.com, USA Today and "MotorWeek" to determine which one fit their needs of comfort, reliability and efficiency.

The vehicle testing included:

• A 200-mile drive ranging from urban streets to a wide-open interstate.
• Driving of every vehicle by every expert over the same course to test for overall ride, handling, acceleration and braking.
• One day of testing by a family in the market for a new vehicle; they joined the experts to give their impressions on the six compact SUVs.

"With fuel efficiency and affordability becoming top of mind for many car shoppers, the compact SUV segment is quickly becoming one of the most popular categories," said Olsen. 

The 2013 Honda Accord will feature the new HondaLink Technology

Coming this fall is the all new 2013 Honda Accord, featuring the HondaLink system which will utilize a driver's smartphone. The HondaLink will connect the driver's phone to host the applications, provide drivers with content such as Facebook newsfeeds, audiobook libraries and Internet radio.

The platform's operating system lies in part in the dash, in part in a smartphone app and in part in the cloud, Honda said.

Drivers will be able to download the HondaLink app to their phone and then register it to their specific vehicles, linking the phone to the car and providing channels, controlled from the smartphone, that can be anything from a text-to-speech rendering of a Facebook news feed to Pandora Internet radio presets, GigaOm reported.

Drivers can activate channels through a touch of a button on their smartphone or by voice command. 
This is the next step in total driver connection to technology. As Honda strives to maintain cutting edge advances and provide it's drivers with the most essential systems, we look forward to customers reactions to our newest addition. 

Road Trip Survival Kit

During these summer months many of us will take to the road and be traveling with kids. With the confinement of children in a car, their attention spans seem to decrease significantly. In order to maintain your attention to the road and keep the kids from sheer boredom, before you buckle up for your next road trip-- create a DIY travel kit for your kids! For a "Travel Snack Kit" fill a tackle box up by raiding the kitchen and assemble this food kit before your next trip. Use the items in this box to turn a simple snack into entertaining fun. 

Since nothing passes the time like playing games—"The Game Kit" is a must have! Once again fill a tackle box with things you find around the house, including your favorite small toys and games, and let the games begin.

In addition you can add detailed instructions for how to play games for the items in the box, like Yhatzi, Old Maid, War, Pick Up Sticks, Tic-Tac-Toe, Spades, Texas Hold 'em, and the list goes on and on. Feel free to improvise the contents of either of the kits with what you can find around the house or any of your favorite things! 

The Low Down on Valet Parking

source

It can be nerve-wracking handing your car keys to a total stranger at a valet station. You don't know if they're responsible drivers, what their definition of "gentle" is, or often where your car is headed. But you'd be surprised how far a smile, a good attitude and even a little pleasant small talk will get you. If you're pleasant and tip, most valets will go way beyond the call of duty. Here's what to keep in mind: 

• Realize that it's not all about you, there dealing with dozens of customers a day. Time is money for them.
• Don't leave valuables or anything illegal in your car. Smaller items are more likely to be taken.
• Clean the interior as well as the exterior once in awhile. 
• If your car is damaged or anything is missing, tell the valet manager and get a copy of the incident report and the contact information of their insurance company. Don't accept it if he asserts that the "release of liability" language on your ticket absolves them — it won't stand up in court.
• Valets at a hotel usually work for a contracted company, so if you have any problems with their service, notify hotel management. They can help resolve disputes in your favor.
• Be wary in major cities where valets must park cars on the street. If a valet parks illegally or forgets to feed the meter, the customer can get stuck with the ticket.
• Tip a little when you drop off the car, especially at a hotel, and your car will get better treatment. The valets will be more likely to 'keep it close' in the hope that you're a good tipper and that you'll reward them for bringing up your car quickly.
• Reward a valet for working hard. If it's raining and he appears with an umbrella, or he towels down your seat to keep you dry, he deserves a bigger tip. But don't worry about not giving a tip if you don't like the service.
• You get what you give, your car will usually get the same treatment that you give, for better or for worse.

There are plenty of honest, hard-working parking valets out there who want nothing more than to serve their customers and earn a living. So when you drop your car off, it's a good idea to look your valet in the eye and acknowledge that he's a person, too. If not for that reason, then at least to improve the odds of getting your car back exactly as you left it.

Road Trip Songs--Don't Get Out of the Fast Lane

One of my most cherished childhood memories was singing road trip songs on our family's infamous summer vacation to visit my grandparents and all those uncles and aunts who'd pinch my checks and reminisce on how much I'd grown. I decided to include the lyrics of my two favorite travel songs, or as my father used to call it, Car-aoke. 

Backseat Blues 

(sung to This Land is Your Land)

This side is my side; that side is your side.

Let's get along now; this is a long ride.

You see this line here - please don't cross over.

One side for you and one for me.

I had my eyes closed - faked I was sleeping.

So you got greedy and started creeping.

Try that again, Bub, and you'll be weeping.

One side for you and one for me.

Just like I warned you - now you are crying.

And Dad is angry - now you are lying.

You had it coming, there's no denying.

One side for you and one for me.

Don't Get Out of the Fast Lane

(sung to Take Me out to the Ballgame)

Don't get out of the fast lane. Don't let up on the gas.

I can't believe all the cars we've passed -

Wherever we're going, we're going there fast!

And it's zoom, zoom, zoom, down the freeway,

But don't break the speed limit please ...

Or the friend -ly Highway Patrol will request your keys!

What's your all-time favorite car song?

Honda Hybrids and Alternative Fuels

Looking for an environmentally responsible car that fits your budget and your lifestyle? Honda was the very first auto manufacturer to offer a mass-production hybrid model for the U.S. and Europe. We continue to offer a diverse lineup of hybrid and alternative-fuel vehicles to choose from—with more exciting options on the way.

One of our favorite models is the Honda CR-Z which starts at $19,695 and gets MPG 35 City and 39 Highway. With it's sleek design and 3-mode drive system (ECON, Normal, Sport) it offers all the benefits and features a driver needs. 

The Honda P-NUT Concept Model

The P-NUT, Personal- Neo Urban Transport is conceived around a small "footprint" for maximum convenience in tight urban settings, the Honda P-NUT features a sleek exterior design that allows for a spacious and open interior with excellent visibility.

The layout of the interior space, with its center driving position flanked by two rear seats, provides generous legroom for all occupants in a vehicle that has an exterior footprint similar to an ultra-compact car. The modular rear engine bay is designed to accommodate a wide variety of potential propulsion technologies including a conventional small displacement internal-combustion engine, a hybrid gasoline-electric powertrain, or a battery-electric powertrain.
This is a Honda Concept model so there is no telling when or if we will ever see this on the market, but it seems that this is a glimpse into the cars of the future! 

Happy Independence Day!!

Happy Independence Day! There is nothing quite like a day of relaxation by the pool, family BBQ, lighting sparklers and watching fireworks to sum up an American holiday! 

From all of us here at Greg May Honda, have a very happy 4th of July!