In reading this whole thing, I don't see what the deal is to get pissed about. So a $1.99 oil cap is broken, but still functions, and the drain plug was on a little too tight. The car runs fine. Nothing exploded.
Honda of Annapolis service and other dealerships Rant.
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In reading this whole thing, I don't see what the deal is to get pissed about. So a $1.99 oil cap is broken, but still functions, and the drain plug was on a little too tight. The car runs fine. Nothing exploded.
So because nothing bad came of it, there's no big problem?
If you go to a restaurant and order food, the meat was not only under cooked but also dropped on the floor, but you found out about this later.... Nothing bad happened. Does that make it ok? What if you got food poisoning? Guess it doesn't matter since nothing bad happened.
I would have been happy with him admitting that maybe there was a chance one of his techs half assed something. Clearly that never happens.
Another honda issue I had I posted in the past but might as well repost.
I also had two honda dealerships tell me it would be around $2000-2500 to fix the 3rd gear grind that is common in SIs, when I told them how many miles it had they once again reminded me of about much a trans job cost. I asked about the warranty the car had and was told the bumper to bumper warranty had expired. I pointed out to the first dealership that the car still had a full power train warranty with honda and transmission falls powertrain, they told me once again the bumper to bumper warranty was expired but they would ask Honda of America if they could maybe extend the bumper to bumper warranty to cover the transmission issue but that was a maybe.....
Honda of Annapolis isn't where we bought the car but I called them 2nd, same answer $2000-2500. The bumper to bumper warranty has expired, however when I made a very clear statement of what part of Transmission IS NOT power train? They said, oh well wait, maybe it is covered.
If I didn't watch myself I would have been screwed, not by one but two Honda dealerships in a row.
Makes me wonder, would they have charged us $2000-2500 and then filed it with Honda of America as warranty work? That could have been a $3500-4500 pay day on 1 car.
you take your damn car to a CERTIFIED DEALERSHIP you expect things to be done correctly.
its plenty to be pissed about. Jeffies cars are all pretty much brand new. its not like hes driving his beater hooptie in for an oil change.
good example if you paid a guy to reshingle your roof, and afterwards it leaks, no big deal right? nothing to be pissed about, right?
its plenty to be pissed about. Jeffies cars are all pretty much brand new. its not like hes driving his beater hooptie in for an oil change.
good example if you paid a guy to reshingle your roof, and afterwards it leaks, no big deal right? nothing to be pissed about, right?
yeah, im def going to have to be on the big deal side.
its sad that the actual representatives of a major car manufacturer cant even put real techs in their garages anymore.
if the shop looks bad, the dealer looks bad, if the dealer looks bad, the brand looks bad.
plus, he got lucky that nothing actually got fucked up, but how many other people werent that lucky?
personally, i would have already talked to the GM and explained that what happened to you could have been much worse, and that there is no telling how many other cars did get the worst. bottom line is that these idiots could be costing him a lot of money thats not being shown properly.
its sad that the actual representatives of a major car manufacturer cant even put real techs in their garages anymore.
if the shop looks bad, the dealer looks bad, if the dealer looks bad, the brand looks bad.
plus, he got lucky that nothing actually got fucked up, but how many other people werent that lucky?
personally, i would have already talked to the GM and explained that what happened to you could have been much worse, and that there is no telling how many other cars did get the worst. bottom line is that these idiots could be costing him a lot of money thats not being shown properly.
95b16coupe
Well-Known Member
He definitely has reason to be pissed. I'm not saying that. What I am saying though is that he shouldn't be surprised about it. It's how the world is these days. It's bullshit but it's reality.
Your car wasn't undercooked, or dropped on the floor... and nothing costly came out of it...
If it was undercooked I would have sent it back anyway, so poor choice of example there. You however waited months to even remotely check out the work that they did do, so now you're pissed and you can't do anything about it. My entire point was, why get pissed and worked up about it? Doing nothing but harm to yourself. Everytime I got my car back from Honda I would sit in the parking lot and pop the hood to make sure everything was in order before driving off.
95b16coupe
Well-Known Member
yes, this is the solution.
mercedes dealer=5,000 mile road trip across the country straight off the lot.
honda dealer= park immediately and check all fluids, caps, hoses, bumpers for nicks and scratches, seats and floor for dirt and stains.
So next time a dealership does an oil change I should take the car home, jack it up, and break the drain plug loose? What about the crush washer?
Hmmmmm
Wait.. wouldn't that defeat the purpose of getting an oil change somewhere else due to weather/time?
Why not just drain the oil while down there.
Hmmmmm
Wait.. wouldn't that defeat the purpose of getting an oil change somewhere else due to weather/time?
Why not just drain the oil while down there.
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95b16coupe
Well-Known Member
that is the only thing you wouldn't be able to check. other than that, you can look over the car pretty well before you drive off.
we understand the issue here, and there is no real good way to solve the problem.
you have 3 options
1) lower expectations on society and what you get with the hard earned dollars you spend
2) no matter what the situation is, do it yourself
3) have mercedes change the oil on your honda next time
I'd be pissed too Jeffie. If you're paying someone to work on your car there is absolutely no reason for it to be half-assed no matter what the price. If they want to charge $30 for an oil change they'd better add a disclaimer saying that $30 will net you shitty ass service and that if you want better service you'd better be ready to pay up. People are just too goddamned lazy to learn a skill these days. Fucking people that think everything should be handed to them and that they shouldn't have to actually work hard for a living. Welcome to America, we like to reward lazy people that shit half a dozen kids out, who gives a fuck about the people who want to go to college and better their future. All the bullshit money that goes towards people that shit a bunch of kids out should be given to people who are busting their ass off and going to school or people that want to go school but literally cannot afford it (like B).
So staying somewhat on topic... we want to put a midrange stereo system in Brittany's newer car (better speakers, aftermarket headunit, small amp and small sub). How the fuck do you find a reputable shop to do work? I'm sure I could do it myself, I really don't have the time though. It's just ridiculous how hard it is to find someone that will do decent work.
So staying somewhat on topic... we want to put a midrange stereo system in Brittany's newer car (better speakers, aftermarket headunit, small amp and small sub). How the fuck do you find a reputable shop to do work? I'm sure I could do it myself, I really don't have the time though. It's just ridiculous how hard it is to find someone that will do decent work.
The only problem I see is that the oil cap was broken. Thats why it was YOUR fault for not checking it before you left, regardless of if they fucked up or not. I just can't believe that you don't bother to check anything for 6 months but you are probably the most extremely picky person I know when it comes to their cars.
Ask around, there's a few local places that I do trust with work, and they are cheaper then the dealership. However non of them are convenient for me.
People keep talking down on Honda but lets be real here, Honda sells cars that are touching into the high $30K range. Lets not forget about the S2000. I'd like to think of their dealerships as being one of the trusted places to take a car for work even more so basic stuff like oil changes and brakes.
Granted I dont think my torqued down drainplug is all that common I do think it was rushed since it was a weekend, all I want is for someone to man up and say they could have done it wrong.
Clearly Honda never screws up.
Who cares about the oil cap, thats a $7 at cost item. What I care about is my oil pan. That could have been a $200-400 for the part + 2-3-4 hours of labor. Not sure if I'd have to pull the axles/exhaust or not.
Oil cap is nothing.
hondafreak513
Well-Known Member
And not to say in the next oil change or two that the drain bolt will probably strip out due to the over torqued bolt from them..
EGProject
YEEEEAAHHHHH
Unfortunately, it all comes down to the fact that low-mid end dealer = low to mid end standards of employee practices. I don't want to generalize here because I know there are plenty of really good Honda/Nissan/etc techs out there. But as it sits a dealer that sells 15-29k cars isn't going to be paying their techs a shit ton of money and those techs are likely under the gun to meet certain productivity levels.
That being said there is the off chance that someone DID simply screw up and break the oil cap and/or over torque the oil drain bolt (I highly doubt this one). CS 101 says that the Service Mngr should have simply apologized for the inconvenience and offered you a coupon/perk for your next visit. The fact he straight out denied any wrongdoing for such a simple mistake makes him and his dealer that much worse.
On the other hand, there are MANY highline dealers that will rip you off and fuck you straight out just the same. I'm not going to name names, but in the local NE area *cough*Brookline Audi*cough* is notorious for horrendous customer service, crappy warranty repairs and almost no customer services for loaners/etc. They exist only because of their location right in Boston.
That being said there is the off chance that someone DID simply screw up and break the oil cap and/or over torque the oil drain bolt (I highly doubt this one). CS 101 says that the Service Mngr should have simply apologized for the inconvenience and offered you a coupon/perk for your next visit. The fact he straight out denied any wrongdoing for such a simple mistake makes him and his dealer that much worse.
On the other hand, there are MANY highline dealers that will rip you off and fuck you straight out just the same. I'm not going to name names, but in the local NE area *cough*Brookline Audi*cough* is notorious for horrendous customer service, crappy warranty repairs and almost no customer services for loaners/etc. They exist only because of their location right in Boston.
Mercedes of Annapolis = fail
Still not sure how an oil filter can go from $12 one month to $22 the next + 3.xx for crush washer. WTF?
Their prices make about as much sense as when you get service done and they charge you $10 bucks for a compact Chevy loaner car. When I say compact I'm talking the little Fit like car. I will never buy a Mercedes from Annapolis. Really, Chevy Aveo? Like WTF. Not to mention sitting around the waiting room for about 45 minutes only to be told I was forgot about (at least he admitted fault)
Euro Motor Cars, every thing is taken care, no down time, you don't even have time to sit down, you pull up, the service adviser hands you keys to another benz and you drive off. You go to pick up your car and its spotless and ready to go.
i believe the point is this:
you go to a place to spend your money, you expect quality service.
doesnt matter where you go, you expect quality, whether it be in the item, or the customer service.
mcdonalds, nobody expects quality food, but people do expect good service.
obviously, this place gives neither.
you go to a place to spend your money, you expect quality service.
doesnt matter where you go, you expect quality, whether it be in the item, or the customer service.
mcdonalds, nobody expects quality food, but people do expect good service.
obviously, this place gives neither.
Like when I brought the CR-Z in for them to figure out the driver's seat rail issue, only to get it back with grease on the PASSENGER seat (side facing the door) and dirt on the headliner. They bought new a new passenger seat cover, because they couldn't get the dirt + grease out, and came really close to buying me a new headliner too. They didn't install it, I installed it myself and I probably did a much better job than they would have. I probably should have done the ricer thing and had it embroidered before I put it on, but wtf-ever. I just wanted to be done with it.
I side with jeffie on this one. When I take my car to a dealership, I expect them to know more and know better than me. I don't expect to have to fix another problem when they get done with my car.
Btw, the driver's seat still has issues with the rail. They're contacting honda of america after replacing the rail (supposedly, but I dunno because I don't see any tool marks on the bolts) to find a solution. It's been 7 days.
I side with jeffie on this one. When I take my car to a dealership, I expect them to know more and know better than me. I don't expect to have to fix another problem when they get done with my car.
Btw, the driver's seat still has issues with the rail. They're contacting honda of america after replacing the rail (supposedly, but I dunno because I don't see any tool marks on the bolts) to find a solution. It's been 7 days.
EGProject
YEEEEAAHHHHH
34k miles on my Fit and the only time my Fit saw a Honda dealer was the day I brought it back for my free inspection sticker. I'm dreading taking it in for the LMA recall that is opening in March - luckily my dealership chain owns a Honda store and I know a few techs there.
What I don't understand are high line dealers giving out shitty cars. Most manufacturers help dealers recoup part of the cost of leasing loaner cars so that the customer is satisfied, yet I hear so many horror stories of people getting crap loaner cars from other dealers. Our dealership (Audi) used to use a few A4 loaners, some Accords and Camrys and then relied on Enterprise for the rest. As our dealer became more profitable they invested in a larger fleet of Audis and less Enterprise cars. Now, we have over 60 Audi loaners and we don't even have an Enterprise kiosk anymore. We even have someone staffed just to manage loaner vehicles.
It works on another level, it makes people feel the money they spend on customer-pay service is worth it given they get a 1-3k mile 2011 loaner to drive for the day/week. It also gets people thinking about buying a newer car, or a different model. This should be true for all dealers, not just highline makes.
Very surprisingly, a local ultra-luxury dealer Boch Luxe (Ferrari/Maserati) does not have in-house loaners. A customer of ours (who also owned a Maserati GT) took his GT in for an oil change and he needed 4 tires and an alignment. He was going to leave for the day. They offered him a Kia enterprise loaner.
2 weeks later he traded his GT for a new Panamera and service experience was a main factor.
What I don't understand are high line dealers giving out shitty cars. Most manufacturers help dealers recoup part of the cost of leasing loaner cars so that the customer is satisfied, yet I hear so many horror stories of people getting crap loaner cars from other dealers. Our dealership (Audi) used to use a few A4 loaners, some Accords and Camrys and then relied on Enterprise for the rest. As our dealer became more profitable they invested in a larger fleet of Audis and less Enterprise cars. Now, we have over 60 Audi loaners and we don't even have an Enterprise kiosk anymore. We even have someone staffed just to manage loaner vehicles.
It works on another level, it makes people feel the money they spend on customer-pay service is worth it given they get a 1-3k mile 2011 loaner to drive for the day/week. It also gets people thinking about buying a newer car, or a different model. This should be true for all dealers, not just highline makes.
Very surprisingly, a local ultra-luxury dealer Boch Luxe (Ferrari/Maserati) does not have in-house loaners. A customer of ours (who also owned a Maserati GT) took his GT in for an oil change and he needed 4 tires and an alignment. He was going to leave for the day. They offered him a Kia enterprise loaner.
2 weeks later he traded his GT for a new Panamera and service experience was a main factor.