Although car sales people ARE often referred to as sharks we here at DCH Gardena Honda like to think OUR sales people are certainly NOT sharks! We do however find sharks, the REAL ones, very fascinating and tomorrow evening some of us will be getting up close and personal with some. What does all this have to do with Honda you ask? Well, Honda just so happens to be a founding sponsor of the Aquarium of the Pacific and the summer Shark Lagoon Nights series starts tomorrow! Nice tie in eh? :) For the next few weeks on Friday's the public is invited to get up close with the ocean’s ultimate predators at the Aquarium of the Pacific for FREE during Shark Lagoon Nights. Guests will have the opportunity to touch bamboo sharks and see large sharks such as Sandtigers as well as rays in the Aquarium’s Shark Lagoon. Hours are from 6:00 until 9:00 pm, click here for more details and be sure to tell our friends at the Aquarium that you heard about Shark Lagoon Nights from us at DCH Gardena Honda!

College students can enter to win a 2012 Honda Civic Si Coupe!
DCH Gardena Honda got word today American Honda has launched the Civic "Study Break" social marketing tour to promote the six all-new models of the 2012 Honda Civic at select universities on the West Coast. The tour, hosted on the Honda Civic's Facebook page, http://facebook.com/hondacivic, aims to connect with college students in a fun and engaging manner by providing them with the opportunity to explore the Civic lineup and the chance to win a 2012 Honda Civic Si Coupe.
"The goal of the Civic 'Study Break' tour is to engage with young buyers and introduce them to the all-new Civic," said Tom Peyton, brand manager at American Honda Motor Co., Inc. "It offers a unique and fun way for students to learn about the Civic's new interactive technologies and personalization features."
The Civic "Study Break" tour kicks off on April 21, 2011 at the Arizona State University campus and continues on to five other universities through May 12, 2011. Students will have the opportunity to explore various Civic models and receive a free lunch by texting special codes found on the vehicles. They can also register at www.civicstudybreak.com for the chance to win a 2012 Honda Civic Si Coupe. The tour stops include: University of Arizona (April 28); University of Southern California (May 3); University of California, Los Angeles (May 5); Stanford University (May 10) and University of California, Berkeley (May 12). The 2012 Civic has arrived at DCH Gardena Honda and goes on sale April 20th, stop in today to get a look in person! :)

At DCH Gardena Honda we are used to telling folks how much Honda vehicles are in high demand, usually though we are referring to how many people are buying new ones. As it turns out Honda cars are in high demand in other aspects too. LoJack Corporation (NASDAQ: LOJN) today released its second annual Vehicle Theft Recovery Report, highlighting results from its 2010 recoveries that provide valuable information on the ongoing issue of vehicle theft. Honda's topped the list of imports, with the 2000 Honda Civic ranking as LoJack’s most stolen vehicle recovered! Luckily the percentage of theft drops drastically as the year of the vehicle gets newer with the increased anti theft technology that manufactures are and have been implementing in newer cars. We still recommend LoJack as a safety net to the factory security system though! For the whole list of most stolen vehicles click here, and to replace your older Honda with a new and more secure one stop in to see us at DCH Gardena Honda today! :)

While the following is an internal memo from the Honda corporate headquarters, we felt it was worth risking getting in a bit of trouble to share as it is pretty much optimistic news!

TO:   All Honda and Acura Automobile Dealers
FROM:  John Mendel
RE:   Production and Allocation Update
DATE:  April 15, 2011

While it seems like much longer, the massive earthquake that devastated Japan occurred just 5 weeks ago. Japan continues to struggle with the long process of reconstruction. In that context, the recovery made by Honda and other Japanese companies is remarkable. More than a thousand associates at the Honda R&D auto development center, which was heavily damaged, are back to work at alternate locations. At this time all Honda production locations that build vehicles for the North American market are up and running, though on a limited basis due to parts supplies.
Thank you again for your continued patience and understanding

This is indeed great news and gives us all here at DCH Gardena Honda very positive outlook for the coming summer months and we are also happy for those affected that are able to get back to work and begin rebuilding a great nation!

Quite a few of us around DCH Gardena Honda are parents and like most people with kids on the road we are all extremely concerned with our kids safety. In fact the entire DCH organization cares deeply for the safety of our kids and all kids on the road. To that end the DCH Auto Group has partnered with Students Against Destructive Decisions (SADD) and their regional branches across the US. A dedicated web site has been put up and most of the dealerships in the group have adopted high school chapters local to them as well. Originally, the mission of the SADD was to help young people say "No" to drinking and driving. Today, the mission has expanded. Students have told us that positive peer pressure, role modeling and environmental strategies can prevent other destructive decisions and set a healthier, safer course for their lives.Each year SADD holds a national conference to educate and motivate members from across the country as they come together for a week of intense workshops, this years event will be at the end of June in Chicago. DCH Gardena Honda's adopted school, Leuzinger High School is hoping to send delegates to the conference and we here at the dealership are going to help make it happen! On Saturday, April 9th we will be hosting the DCH Gardena Honda 'Spring Clean 201' car wash fund raising event. Students from Leuzinger High will be here at the dealership washing cars while our sales managers work the barbecue, yes that means Free Food! There will also be music and tons of fun for all as we work to raise money for a great cause and awareness of teen safety and positive life choices. Please join us this Saturday, the recent rains have left everyone's cars grimy and in need of cleaning and you know you were gonna wash yours anyways so why not let us make it pretty and feed you at the same time!?! We hope to see you here and Thank You for your support! 

Without any good coverage of real sports this weekend, ie RACING! The staff around DCH Gardena Honda has been split between those few watching the b-ball and the rest of us sharing our favorite Honda racing stories from days past. One of our team members happened to say that he thought that it was a shame that Honda didnt race the Baja, we of course immediately responded with a loud but firm "au contraire mon frere!" We proceeded to not only explain Honda's long history in off road racing but also highlighted our lecture with the class win in last years Baja 100! From the Honda site: "Going into the 2010 43rd Score Baja 1000, Gavin Skilton and his team knew they had a distinct advantage. The 1,062-mile course was a high-speed affair, so the Ridgeline's Variable Torque Management® 4-Wheel Drive System (VTM-4®), and 4-wheel independent suspension really gave it a chance to shine. Gavin Skilton and co-driver Andy Grider piloted the Ridgeline race truck to victory, literally leaving their competitors in the dust. They covered the course more than 14 hours quicker than their closest competitor." We were happy to have cleared up this little misunderstanding and now look forward to this years Baja with even more fans among us! To see the amazing Ridgeline in person stop in today to DCH Gardena Honda and to read the rest of the coverage from the 2010 Baja 1000 click here! :)

One thing that gets under our skin here at DCH Gardena Honda is a back seat driver! It seems quite often folks riding in the back want to be in control, telling us how fast to go, when to turn and watch out for that guy on the sidewalk! Once again Honda is going to offer a chance to be a real back seat driver to 6 lucky winners in this years 'Fastest Seat in Racing' contest. We cant enter but those that can will be eligible for a package that includes: a ride in the IZOD IndyCar® 2-seater driven by an Indy 500 champion (pssst, it might just be the great Mario Andretti himself!), 2 credentials to the race (yes, pit passes and everything!), 3-day/2-night hotel accommodations, roundtrip airfare for 2, $1,000 worth of IZOD gear and spending cash! If we didnt luv working here so much we might resign just to enter... KIDDING boss! For your chance to enter click here. If you do win, you have to promise to hold up a sign that says, "Hi DCH Gardena Honda" while doing 200 mph down the straight, it'll be ok we swear! :)

The free Starbucks Coffee Bar here at DCH Gardena Honda is often the center of many a spirited discussion among the staff on car related topics. Today an article listing the 50 worst commutes in America got the conversation going as yours truly drives the route at #1! Most of us here commute from pretty far and we all agree that a Honda is the best car to endure traffic in but then again we are a bit biased so it was great to read a post by Forbes that confirmed what we have been saying all along! On this years "10 Best Cars for Commuting" there just so happen to be TWO Hondas, the Civic Hybrid and the Accord! Using data collected by the good folks at Consumer Reports the editors of Forbes ranked vehicles by fuel mileage and front seat head and leg room. Comfort was weighed with economy and of course Honda was the strongest contender! Its always nice to have confirmation of what we have been saying from folks like Forbes! Read the whole post over here, and stop in to DCH Gardena Honda today to get into your own Best Commuter Car! :)

The way cool lil CR-Z has been a hit around here at DCH Gardena Honda since the moment it hit the ground, now its set to even more awesome with some help from Honda tuning guru Mugen! Honda’s in-house tuner MUGEN in Europe and Honda UK are currently developing a heavily tuned version of Honda’s new CR-Z sport hybrid. Being prepared for a world debut at the Goodwood Festival of Speed in July, MUGEN Euro claims that the new model will deliver “Type R-like” performance with the potential of delivering even better fuel mileage! Featuring reworked suspension and brakes to improve chassis dynamics, MUGEN will also be adding some weight-saving materials such as a carbon fiber hood and special allow wheels to reduce unsprung mass. New fascias front and rear along with a new spoiler round out the package and improve aerodynamics. The staff at DCH Gardena Honda is hopefull that the Mugen CR-Z makes it stateside but there is no word just yet. Read more on the Mugen here and even more on the rumors over at our friends the Temple of VTEC here.

Just the fact that we work for a Honda dealer makes it pretty obvious that most of us here at DCH Gardena Honda are huge motor sports fans! This weekend is the official end of winter hibernation for us gear heads, at least those of us the follow the four wheeled action, with the 12 Hours of Sebring kicking off tomorrow. For well over 4 decades the biggest names in racing have cut their (racing) teeth on the tarmac at one of the nations oldest continued races. Sebring's 12-hour enduro usually serves as "dress rehearsal" for Le Mans, the brutal 3.7-mile circuit is the toughest road racing facility in the world and is an ideal place to "shakedown" unproven cars before the French 24-hour classic. Returning American Le Mans Series champ Highcroft Racing’s newly developed Honda Performance Development ARX-01e prototype is anticipated to be a strong contender this year with the fifth fastest practice times right behind the powerhouse teams of Audi and Peugeot. Although Honda's efforts on the two wheeled tracks started a few weeks ago, we are so excited to see some four wheel racing fury and this year is set to be an awesome one! Read more about the Highcroft Racing Team here and follow them on facebook here for all the up to the minute action from Sebring! More than likely the TV's on the showroom here at DCH Gardena Honda will be set to the racing, just dont tell the boss! :)