Pair keep $53,000 car for free

Norm and Barb Wilkinson with Honda's Neil Dunn and the new car they ended up paying nothing for. Photo/Paul Taylor

For semi-retired Napier couple Norm and Barb Wilkinson, buying a new car late last year was exciting enough - but not as exciting as a phone call Mr Wilkinson got recently.

"At first I thought it was another one of those surveys," Mr Wilkinson said.

But the woman caller, from Auckland, said there was no survey involved, and told Mr Wilkinson that by purchasing his new Honda CRV he had gone into a draw to win the purchase price back.

"I'd forgotten all about it" he said.

"Then she told me I'd won."

So the $53,000 the couple had spent to buy their new pride and joy was about to go back into their savings account.

The competition was run by Honda New Zealand between November and January, where all the buyers of new vehicles go into the draw to get their purchase for nothing.

Going by the number of sales made during that period the Wilkinson's slice of luck was about one in a thousand.

Hawke's Bay Honda general manager Neil Dunn said he was delighted to see the prize come to the Bay, and equally delighted the Wilkinsons had picked it up.

"I have sold Barb and Norm five new Hondas in my time here and it's a thrill to see their loyalty rewarded," he said.

Mr Wilkinson said the "free" CRV was the 11th Honda they had owned, and due to the price was easily the most memorable.