AUBURN - Honda's slogan is "the power of dreams," but for a time, Bill Fox's nightmare was that renovation at the Fox Honda dealership on Grant Avenue would never be completed.

"It started in June, and it was supposed to go on 10 weeks. It turned into almost 10 months," said Fox, whose sister, Jane, owns the Grant Avenue dealership. The siblings and other partners owns the building and other Fox car dealerships in Auburn, Fulton and Corning.

The renovation work, by Zausmer, Frisch, Scruton and Aggarwal Inc. of Syracuse, is finally winding up on the Honda building. The dealership spent more than $300,000 on the renovations, which included a totally new facade and redesigned sales and service areas. The Foxes took on the project after they sold the Auburn Auto Mall back to General Motors in 2002 and moved down the street.

They became involved in the Honda Image Program, a nationwide branding effort the Torrance, Calif.-based corporation is undertaking to give all of its 1,100 franchises the same look and feel. It is geared to make customers feel comfortable and confident about dealing with Honda.

Andy Boyd, spokesman for the American Honda Motor Co., said the program has gone on for three years, with between 70 and 80 percent of the dealers involved.

"It's had a high rate of acceptance," said Boyd, based in Torrance. "We're making Honda easily-recognized."

Fox said the 11,000-square-foot building is staying the same size, but a drive-up service area has been added, complete with an overhang, so customers don't have to brave the weather to see a service representative. The body shop and the service area has also been improved.

It's not just the space that's different; it's the staff. At the dealership a year ago, there were 24 employees, and now there are 31. Fox said sales have doubled since his family took over the dealership from Sam Dell in 1995.

"Auburn is a good place to be in the car business," he said.

Other departments have been relocated within the Honda dealership.

One of the biggest changes that customers will notice is the small offices for the sales staff have been removed in favor of a large open sales area where each staff member has table space for literature and other information to provide to customers.

Boyd said the design was done with the intention of eliminating the image of sales negotiations being done secretly in small corners.

"It's the whole idea of business being conducted in the sunshine," Boyd said.

Fox said that change, as well as several others, were borrowed from companies like Saturn, which went into business based on the concept of openness of the selling process, which was incorporated into the physical space of its showrooms.

The new service area is actually less open, but more visible, and is designed around a concept that was originally developed by Toyota.

The hallway that leads to the customer waiting area is lined with windows that open to the service bays, so customers can watch their cars being repaired without actually entering the service department, Fox said.

"We would have customers wander into the service area, and about two times a year, someone would fall," he said. "Research has shown this concept satisfies the customer because they can see what's going on, and most don't need to be right in the area, so it's safer." And everything - down to new white floor tiles and the Honda cylinder outside the dealership - follows the corporate color scheme of blue and white. Fox said he wasn't thrilled by the cylinder, but he understands the importance of continuity, and of the renovation itself.

He said there's been a lot of dust and debris, but in the long run, the makeover will be worth it.

"It's been a terrible mess and it seemed to go on and on," Fox said.

"But the other side of the coin is that Honda sells a good machine, and they are not going to let dealers get away with being substandard."