Local car dealers going extra mile for Presidents Day sales

LYNN – Car dealerships launched their annual blowout sales this weekend to mark Presidents Day, complete with low-financing, sign and drive options and a bevy of enticing incentives.The long-standing tradition began early in the last century, when Alvan T. Fuller kept his Commonwealth Avenue Cadillac dealership in Boston open for buyers on Washington’s birthday to promote the sale of Cadillacs and Packards.On Sunday, the tradition continued at Kelly Honda, located at 540 Lynnway.Somerville resident Teresa Bowman and her husband Brian toted their toddler Fynn around with them Sunday in the quest for the perfect deal.After shopping around online for a few weeks, Teresa said she decided to make the trek to Lynn because of the sheer number of dealerships located on the Lynnway.?This is the first place we came to (Kelly Honda) and chose a Honda CRV because it’s the best in class,” she said. “We have a Dodge Intrepid and are going to trade it for a pre-owned vehicle.”Bowman said the dealership took $1,000 off of the price of the vehicle with the President’s Day sale, and knocked a couple hundred dollars off of a couple of other items.General Manager Carl Diemer said the dealership is going the extra mile for its customers this holiday. Business was said to have been steady throughout the day Sunday.?We’ve enhanced a lot of the factory incentives in celebration of President’s Day to make it more attractive (to buy a car), but we continuously have good deals the entire year,” he said.The holiday sale is a time when dealerships want to unload older models to make way for the fresh spring line.Some of the deals being offered at the Honda dealership include no fees, along with no money down and sign and drive offers until the end of the month.Those deals lured Colleen Sainato of Nahant to Kelly Honda to test drive the Honda Pilot.?We’re still looking, but we have a 7-month old baby and have outgrown our current car (Jeep) and Hondas are very good cars,” she said. “There’s always a good deal going on though, it’s a big game in the car dealership.”