Honda owners – and those who might want to become Honda owners – no longer have to travel north or south on Highway 99 to get to the nearest Honda dealership.

Price Honda of Turlock at 5220 N. Golden State Blvd., next door to Price Ford of Turlock, has been open for business since July 1.

“This isn’t just about adding another franchise,” said David Price, who co-owns both dealerships with James Figurell. “It’s an investment in Turlock and the customers and employees who have supported us over the years.”

“For us, this opening is really the beginning,” Figurell said. “We want to earn people’s business over years and generations by taking care of our customers and continuing to support the community we call home.”

Price and Figurell purchased the Ford dealership from Brian Garcia back in 2015. Soon after, they were presented with an opportunity to open a Honda dealership.

“Car companies are constantly analyzing markets to find out where they need more representation,” said Figurell. “Honda identified Turlock as a prime location. Then all the dealers applied to be awarded the ‘point.’ It’s not a bidding process; you’re applying for the privilege to build a facility. So, we put together our plan.”

That plan included a 40,000-square-foot facility on 5.1 acres of land, with 24 service bays. Their plan bested about 500 others, and they began construction in April 2025. Price and Figurell own 6.4 acres of land on the south side of the Ford store and 3.6 acres on the north side of the Honda store for any future expansions.

“Opening Price Honda of Turlock is something we have been working toward for a long time,” said Figurell, who said they retained 64 of the 65 Ford employees when they purchased the dealership from the Garcia family. “We wanted to build a dealership with great people, strong service, and a long-term commitment to the community.”

So far, customer response has been strong.

“Honda’s expectation was 35 to 40 cars sold in the first month, and we finished with 82,” said Figurell in an Aug. 26 interview. “And we’re tracking to do a little bit better than that this month. I don’t know if we’ll get to 100, but it should be close. So, so far, it’s been going great.”

The service side of the Honda operation is not yet as busy as the Ford store, but Figurell expects that will come once more cars are purchased from the store and when more current Honda owners realize they don’t need to drive to Modesto or Merced for service.

“That’s why we’re doing the $89 oil changes – and $59 oil changes after 2 p.m. – through the end of September,” said Figurell. “Yesterday, we almost did 40. I think we had 39 cars in the service drive. We have to hit 80 by the end of the year, and I think we’ll get there.”

The new dealership offers new and pre-owned vehicles.

“We have a ton of customers that are shopping both stores,” said Figurell. “They’re coming in here and looking at Hondas and they’ll say, ‘Well, let’s go look at the Fords.’ So, all the salespeople are trained both ways. Every salesperson at the Ford store was a certified Honda salesperson before we opened. And then we added an additional 10 salespeople at Honda, and their requirement was that they had to learn Honda and Ford, because we didn’t want the customers to have to flip back and forth between salespeople.”

Before the new store opened, Figurell sent members of his team to shop at dealerships throughout the valley to see what the experience was like. Then, they asked customers what they liked, or didn’t, about the car-buying experience.

“One of the frustrating things about buying a car is that there might be $2,500 to $3,500 worth of accessories on the car that you might not even want,” said Figurell. “We have them in stock, and if you’d like them, you can have them, but they’re going to be on the car. Where that has posed a challenge for us, from the buyer’s perspective, is we’ll get people that come in a say, ‘Hey, I want to buy a CR-V from you, but I’m getting a $2,500 discount from another dealer. Why are you not giving me the same discount?’ And the reason is I didn’t have $3,000 worth of stuff that cost a tenth of that, that I have discounted, to make you feel better about your purchase. So, that creates a challenge, but it’s just the right way to do business.”

Figurell, a native of Illinois and a graduate of the University of Texas, has two daughters: Ashely, 25, and Tiffany, 22. Both are Turlock High graduates. Tiffany, who began selling cars at Starks Ford of Queens while attending New York University, works with her dad at the Honda dealership.