What to do with car dealer?

E

eyeguy

New member
If you were unhappy with your dealer's service and the nearest other dealer was an hour away, would you sell the car and buy a different brand from a dealer with better service?
 
Seems a bit drastic to me unless it's very old. There are tens of thousands of non dealer repair places, why not investigate that angle?
 
I wouldnt sell it, i would go to that other dealer. I have the same problem with the mercedes dealership here in my town. They are HORRIBLE, but i still love the car. Just take that hour drive IMHO.
 
I agree. Don't just sell your car because you aren't happy with the dealer. Cars lose to much value for that. I would say just go to the other dealer. If you're within 40 miles of the selling dealer, you will still have to go to them, at least thats what most manufacturer warranties say. I would say just go in and be like 'look, I went to this place first, but the service is awful, its warranty work so you guys will get paid, can you fix it for me?', more than likely they will with no questions asked. :bigups
 
Within 40 miles of the selling dealer? I've never heard that one before.



When I've had warranty work done at a different dealership than where purchased the work was done, no questions asked, ever.
 
The nearest dealer besides the one I bought from is like 75 miles away. They did tell me that had I bought the car from them they would've worked me in since the car is new and it would take at most one hour to put a radio in.

The dealer tells me I had to get Honda's extended care warranty to even get a rental car from them. I've never heard of that from any other dealer. My work hours make it hard to try to get a ride and I don't think I should have to pay for a rental.

Anyway, I've cooled down some and I will keep my car. I'll just try to leave work early to get my work done. I still don't think it's fair to make a person buy an extended warranty to get a rental car for warranty work.
 
If the dealer has the part you should be in & out in an hour or less. I don't understand the need for a loaner car.



That's a common warranty item for 7th generation Accords, which is what I assume you have. The old unit comes out, the new goes in and you're on your way.
 
This is a brand new Civic. Well, it's 4 1/2 months old but it's still new. I guess I was mad they couldn't fit me in since it was such a "quick job". The rental car thing was for a power steering leak and a replacement panel. I just thought it was odd that I'd have to buy this extended warranty just to get a rental car for a warranty repair. Oh well, I've cooled down over it and it was a stupid idea. I think the next car I buy will be from a dealer that works on weekends though. It's just too big a pain to try to leave early from work. I guess it's good that I bought a Civic as there shouldn't be many problems.
 
Unfortunately the loaner programs vary from dealership to dealership. Keep the car. The civic is a great vehicle. I do understand your pain though. All the cars I like are sold by one dealer locally and I am not all that thrilled with their service department (sales depart is fine but service depart is poor). Unfortunately you have to deal with service people for a much longer time than the sales.



A interesting story like yours....My brother loves Audi's and currently has 2. One is getting quite old and needs to be replaced. I was talking to him a couple of weeks ago asking him which Audi he was going to get and he surprised me and said he may be switching to the dark side and was strongly considering a 3 series BMW (he gave me such a hard time when my wife got hers) because he just can't stand the Audi dealership in his town anymore. His audi dealership does not give loaners either (rides but no loaners unless the car is going to be in for an extended time frame).
 
I think I expected some sort of professional courtesy from this bunch. Especially since this was my second car from them plus I've referred so many people to the dealer. Oh well, what ya gonna do? Heck, I've even planned on getting my next Miata there. We'll see what happens.
 
Some of the regulars here have heard this all before from me....The treatment I get from dealers/shops pretty much determines which cars my wife and I drive for our good ones.



For the A8/S8 I patronize an Audi dealer who's over an hour away, with at least two other Audi dealers being located along the way. I basically drive the Audis instead of another make because of the way my dealer (Stoddard Imported Cars, Willoughby OH) takes care of me and my vehicles.



There's a very nice marque I'd be looking at seriously if my Audi dealer handled them, but for now I'd never buy a high-end car from somebody else.



No loaners? I'd talk with them. These days I get the loaners delivered to my house when my Audis need serviced, and my cars are *long* out of warranty. It's a professional courtesy they extend to keep my happy. But yeah, I had to ask for it (but I only had to ask once, I asked the owner). Remember that they can do whatever they want to do, it's all a matter of whether they want to eat the expense. If my dealer can send a guy 90 minutes each way (for free) when I need anything, I'd expect any dealer can do likewise if they want to.
 
I don't know if the local Audi dealer would do that or not, but I think with a Honda dealer and me buying a sub $20K car, it's not going to happen. Business is business regardless of cost, but I think the owner could care less after the sale regardless of how many cars I bought from him. I've seen him in action and it wasn't too pretty. If it were up to me I'd get the parts under warranty and do the work myself.

I kinda think the more it costs, the better the service. Wish it weren't that way, but I'm sure it is more times than not.
 
Don’t think and/or accept poor service because of the price of the car. A higher priced brand does not equate to better service (unless it is Lexus – which supposedly has the best service, period….don’t know personally b/c I have never owned a Lexus). If you want some horror stories of being treated badly and getting poor service, venture over to Rennlist.com and read about the terrible experiences at many Porsche dealerships across the country. In general I think Saturn dealerships offer great service. The truth is the service department makes a dealership lots of $$$ they should want your business.



A local dealer sells, MB, Audi, Porsche, BMW and VW out of one shop. They have one service department to service all these cars with different service managers. I have dealt with the BMW, Porsche and Volkswagen service managers on separate occasions. By far the best service manager was the VW guy. He always took care of us efficiently and in a friendly manner and provided loaners when the car was going be in the shop longer than a day both in and out of warranty work without even asking and provided a shuttle service for same day service. The worst guy to deal with is the BMW/Porsche guy. He makes you feel like you are imposing on them to get your car worked on and never offers to provide a car, you have to ask each time, does not return phone calls in a timely manner and is overall an unpleasant person to deal with.
 
I got the radio replaced today and I will say the guys working on the car are great. My big gripe was not getting a rental and not being able to get slipped in for a quick job. I think now I was being a little selfish about it. They let me stand next to them while they do their work and let me bug them with dumb questions without complaint. Not many will let you do that. I think if I'd talked to my salesman he might have worked me in. The only thing I don't like is leaving work and losing money for work on my car. It's hard for me to say it but I think I may have been a little selfish. Since it's a Honda, I don't think I'll be seeing them too often anyway.
 
I did that with my '02 Lexus IS300 after 2 years of the worst service I had ever experienced. The closest Lexus dealer is 45 miles away where I bought the car. The next closest is 60 miles and horrible traffic into Bellevue, WA. So when we decided to trade up to an SUV we went with a Jeep Grand Cherokee over the RX330 mostly because of the slimeball service manager at Lexus of Seattle. I loved both the IS and the RX but just didn't want to deal with their crap, I told my sales guy the second that service manager quits or gets fired i'll be down there to buy another Lexus.
 
Unfortunately, sounds like you're dealing with a typical Honda dealer...and one that knows that they don't have competition for a few miles. Unless they can show you in writing, I've got to think this nonsense of "if you only purchased from us" is just that. I've never heard of a non-selling dealer refusing to honor a warranty problem, regardless of make.



In my experience there is a difference in treatment between "premium" dealers and "standard" dealers, particularly with respect to service. The Audi story above echoes many others I've heard from friends who drive that make. Ditto Lexus, Infiniti, and Mercedes. Unfortunately...my wife recently bought an Acura, and we were this close to an Audi...I was really rooting for the Teuton. :) While the sales experience was great, it took less than a week to learn that the service dept. doesn't recognize the concept of premium branding. From logistics to QA, it's obvious we bought a Honda, no matter what it says on the decklid.



Anyway, sorry for the tangent. In your owner's manual you'll find a number for Honda of America Customer Service. I've got to think they'd be interested to hear about your recent experience, and offer a solution to the problem. Good luck!
 
I did call Honda and asked them why I had to buy their extended warranty or whatever it's called and they said it was up to the dealer if he wanted to supply the rental. I guess my plan from now on is to schedule my appointments as late as possible. At least when I leave work, I won't lose as much money. I do love the car though and would probably buy another tomorrow. I went 416 miles on less than 11 gallons!! The ride to me is so comfortable, I think I could drive an entire tank non stop were it not for the obligatory bathroom break!!
 
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