I just wondered if any of you would like to comment on my recent experience with my local Honda dealer. By way of background info? I have a Honda Jazz, 54 reg (Sept?), which I have owned from new. It was recently ready for its 25,000 mile service. At the same time It was booked in for some minor body work repairs, approx? £800, paid for by a third party insurer. All of this work was booked with the original supplying dealer, giving them about three weeks notice. A courtesy car was requested at this time. This is the second new Jazz that that I have had from this dealer.
All went well when I arrived to hand the car over. I then went to car park to collect the courtesy car. This was a ?51?reg Honda Accord, in a somewhat forlorn state of appearance. As I drove away I spotted that the radio needed a code inputting so returned to the service desk. They told me that they did not have the code and a new radio was on order.Great, I thought, I would be in the car for about 450 miles with no radio.
I then filled the car up for my travels and went home. It was at home that I spotted that the tax disc was due to expire at midnight that night. I was a bit concerned about getting pulled by the BiB so called the dealer. I also mentioned about the car not having any AA cover in place ;quite important as I travel 70 miles to work at night on the motorway. The dealer said they would give me a call back. I was asked to return the car and they would change it for me plus reimburse me for the £37 of petrol that I had put in the Accord. All went reasonably well, except a twenty minute wait while fuel (£20) was put in the new car. I was given to understand that the remaining £17 re? fuel would be knocked of the bill but it was not
I?m sorry for the long post but does this seem indicative of a fall in main dealer standards or am I just expecting too much when my trade was worth over £1300 to the dealership.
Thanks a lot
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I was disappointed when the dealer I use made a complete mess up of the hand-over of our new, 53 reg Jazz. I commented about this in the questionnaire that Honda sent, and a few days later I got a very grovelling apology from the dealer and an offer of the first service free, which seemed reasonable.
When I took it for said service, I?m 80% certain that they never touched the car ? it was parked in the same spot that I left it, and at the same jaunty angle. The car only did 4000 miles in its first year and the (fully synth) looked as clean before it went in as it did afterwards. Judging by the mess most dealers make of servicing, I?m not really bothered if they didn?t service it.
At least it moved on its second service, but (due to the mileage) it was still really only an oil change.
Regarding courtesy cars, the first time I got a Civic Executive (couldn?t believe how much road noise it produced) second time got a 55 reg Jazz which surprisingly seemed to ride much better than ours, despite being on 15? wheels, but I *SO* hated the ?Amstrad? looking stereo controls that Honda have fitted now.
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Bill payer,that sounds about right.I would add that at the service they told me that the front discs needded skimming for which I was charged £50 labour(+vat).I was also charged for screenwash,when I had filled it before taking it in.When I queried this I was told they had cleaned it out and refilled it.
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I was also charged for screenwash,when I had filled it before taking it in.When I queried this I was told they had cleaned it out and refilled it.
Dealers *always* say this, although I guess it's included in the price they quote anyway. However I'm always bemused by the way the way the invoice price is never the same as the quote. On the one service we've paid for on the Jazz it was quite a lot less because they didn't change the plugs (and there's 8 of course) or the pollen filter, as the car has done such a low mileage.
Where abouts are you - are you near the same place as your name? We *might* be using the same dealer.
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Not deleted,I'm in deleted.It just seems that hwenit comes to selling peeple cars the dealer is great and can't do enough.It's only afterwards that it is that they seem to act true to their real selves.
{By giving your location *could* pinpoint the dealer in which you're referring to - hence the deletion because of the no name / shame policy this site operates. DD}
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Sorry about that.I'll remember for the future .Thanks
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It's not the same dealer anyway.
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I detailed on here my beef with a Honda Dealer charging a totally undeclared and unwarranted "inspection charge" of £41 to tell me what I already knew, on the premise of possibly getting new brake discs under warranty.
The dealer M.D. tells me I was told, twice, so that's that.
Over two week ago I received yet another Honda publication telling me how great they are, so I wrote to Mr Ian Anderson, Customer Communications Manager at Honda UK, the author of the covering letter, with a resume of events, asking for his help.
Here we are, 4th December, I have had not so much as an acknowledgement.
Honda have slipped from being an upmarket brand who really cares about its customers and brand to being yet another mass market producer who just take their loyal customers for granted and wallow in their own smugness.
Is it that much bother to drop me a two line letter to say he is concerned, will investigate and hopefully regain my trust?
I am disgusted with Honda and having been one of their most satisfied customers having parted with at least £50K on cars and motorbikes to date, now have absolutely no intention of buying from them ever again.
Woody
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I hope you have told them you won't ever buy a Honda again.
Whatever manufacturer we are talking about, if it has got to the stage that a previous customer has decided to desert the marque, the manufacturer needs to be told the reason why.
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I hope you have told them you won't ever buy a Honda again.
If this were true then why should they bother to help you? Far better to 'leave the door open' as it were by saying that "this has seriously made me consider whether to purchase Honda products again" so that they can see that by assisting you they have a chance of future business.
Just my tuppenceworth....
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I?d just like to say a big thank you for the replies that were posted to my query. I dropped the dealership a letter and quickly received a call offering their apology for the state of the courtesy car. The issue regarding the brake disc skimming was somewhat skirted around though. As compensation I was offered a free minor service next time (about £130).
All in all not such a bad result
I?ve not been able to post a conclusion to my original post earlier due to loss of computer use but once again thanks to all.
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That's the sort of thing I would expect from a local small independant using trade ins as courtesy cars. Why not speak to the Dealer Principle and inform him of what happened?b You could also mention that your neighbour and some work mates viewed your Accord and were not impressed. The courtesy car reflects the dealership, a shoddy car might put others off which you could also mention! I would be after some "compo" like your £37 back for wasted visits to the dealer and time. If they don't play ball, contact Honda directly, tell them its the last time you buy Honda if its not resolved. Having said that, I done a similar thing with Ford and I now own a Mazda, things look much better and my local dealer is top notch and I could'nt be happier with them.
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Honda always come pretty high up the customer satisfaction surveys, and I daresay there will always be instances of poor service with any dealer of any brand.
An acquaintance of mine owns a few Honda dealerships. He's in the process of pulling out of the business. One of the main reasons is having to cope with the overwhelming customer-focussed demands coming from Honda UK that seem to be increasing year on year.
Dealerships vary. But woe betide the dealer who comes into the sights of Honda UK for repeated poor customer reports.
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I have three more comments/predictions to make regarding Honda:
1. Their new Civic will be a corporate catastrophe. The radical design and ludicrous lack of rear vision will alienate their traditional UK customer base. As for young buyers replacing the grey pound, well, firstly the youngsters are skint and mortgaged to the hilt and secondly small Hondas are pipe and slippers, period.
2. The new found arrogance seems to permiate the whole company. Their F1 season was pants, smugly believing their previous strong showing would continue with minimal further effort. Their dealers are arrogant, their literature is smug and self satisfied and as for their "Customer Relations Team", they had might as well close it in my experience.
3. Beware Honda petrol horses, for they appear to be considerably smaller horses than their european competitors. The previous 2.0 Litre Accord, 145 bhp was actually slower in the real world than a 1.8 Mondeo or Vectra. Vtec engines lack torque and it is torque that makes the wheels go round. The 'high powered engines' pitch is a carefully calculated marketing myth.
Heck, I have fallen out with Honda big time.
Woody.
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European Honda horses should be the same size as other manufacturers horses because engine performance has to meet a European directive but the same car sold in Japan can appear to be more powerful as they have no similar regulation and no trade descriptions act.
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I too have been a little disgruntled of late..
Bought a prelude for £12.5k in 2000 from a local dealer. I'm now on 130+k miles and have had the dealership service the car as recommended every 9K.
With service costs of between £150+ and £300+ a time, that adds up.
Recent service I asked about the replacement of the 2 x cam belts due in another 6k miles They wanted £225 just to do that. On top of the service costs. Decided to get it done. Went home and rang my next nearest dealer (30 miles away). They said thats the normal price BUT Honda were offering £25 off that price and they would also knock off another £25. £50 saving! Rang my dealer back and cancelled the fitting. Got a call back 10mins later saying about the £25 Honda were knocking off the price..
Question, why wasn't I offered that in the first place?
I quoted the other dealership, and my dealership said 'dont know how they can do it for that;.. well they can and I am booked in.. next month!
BUT you would think after all the money I have spent there they would price match? whats £25 when they charge £60 an hour?
I have also on two occasions been told I need something doing.. brakes pads was one, went to a specialist had them checked and they are fine..
Last service picked up that I needed a new bulb for my number plate BUT the lead was corroded and so the rear bumper would have to come off (estimated 1 hr labour £60 + bulb cost) after my last service, noticed a charge for the bulb? Checked and all working.. did they take the bumper off? definatly not (I checked as I knew I had a washer missing from when the CD player was fitted)..
So are they deliberatly trying to catch us out and screw us for our hard earned money? it would be a brave man to commit themselves to saying yes but I often wonder...
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I went to my local honda dealer for two replacement alloys. They were only lightly scuffed but i'm a pedant. So i thought i would put the old ones on e bay and get a few quid for them. Dropped the car off, arranged to pick up later on. Collected the keys from reception, and paid, found car, guess what? old alloys were not in the boot. Went back in and saw the service manager, who immediately said, oh, drive round the side and we'll give them you back then. Drove round the side to see my old alloys being taken out the boot of a mechanics car. Nice.
let me be the last to let you down....
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Thanks a lot for all the replies.After thinking about it over the weekend I think my best course of action may be to write to the dealership principal outlining the above.After driving other marques I had wanted to own a Honda but my experiences of late have somewhat dimmed my desire to stay loyal to them.
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Drove round the side to see my old alloys being taken out the boot of a mechanics car. Nice.
But there would be many people who, on finding the alloys in the boot next time they opened it, would be really miffed that the garage hadn't disposed of them.
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do me a favour! either way, it would have been nice to have been asked-
"Shall we put the old alloys in the boot for you sir?, or can we give them to our apprentice. He's sure your 17" alloys will fit on his metro"
let me be the last to let you down....
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My Honda horses seem as strong as anybody's, if not a bit better, as long as I don't mind showing them the whip.
And I reckon they'll still be up and running (in fact I know so because one is already ancient) when others have long gone to the knacker's yard...
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I?d just like to say a big thank you for the replies that were posted to my query. I dropped the dealership a letter and quickly received a call offering their apology for the state of the courtesy car. The issue regarding the brake disc skimming was somewhat skirted around though. As compensation I was offered a free minor service next time (about £130).
All in all not such a bad result
I?ve not been able to post a conclusion to my original post earlier due to loss of computer use but once again thanks to all.
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Thanks for posting the result.
I do get the impression with Honda that they give their dealers a right kicking if they mess up, and it could be that the dealers bonus depends on good customer service reports.
Your issue was resolved locally and the dealer, I guess, would have been keen to ensure that the complaint wasn't escalated to Honda.
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Most main dealers are dreadful at worst and faintly disappointing at best. Some are actually good. This seems to be the thrust of everyone's experiences I've read lately. The level of dishonesty and carelessness from dealers in this thread and others just echoes my own experiences.
The answer? Don't use main dealers! Ever! You don't have to any more, so why go to them? Find a decent independent specialist - stamps from him in the book are worth just as much to me as the main dealer's, as they are to most buyers.
I'd be surprised if I ever use a main dealer again. If we all stopped using them, and told all our friends / colleagues / family the same, they would go out of business or change their ways. You don't even need them to buy the new car from these days. Boycott them. Say no to £100 ph labour, rubbish service and lying from people in suits.
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