Vent... **long*** My Week In Honda Hell

[02blksi]

Hello everyone,

As most may already know i took my car to the dealership this week, (tuesday) for warranty work. My car was bought in August of last year (02) its NBP in color, over the summer months I started to notice that my front and rear bumpers had started to develop a blueish/gray haze to them.. you could see that the body panels were alot darker in color than the bumpers. Also since day one my stock OEM spoiler was not painted enough.. Upon looking really closely in direct sunlight you could see the base primer (white) was showing through in various areas on my spoiler.. Needless to say I didnt want to believe that my newly purchased car was flawed.. Fast forward to last week, while out getting my car washed i noticed that the hazing of my bumpers was getting ALOT worse... I called my dealership here in ct that i bought my car from and explained my problem to the service dept. I spoke to the service manager and he was very polite and told me to bring it down and have the onsite "honda" body shop take a look and see what they say.. Sure enough brought it down had the shop manager and a tech look at it and they all agreed that my car was suffering from not enough paint syndrome. DIRECTLY FROM ENGLAND!!!-- The paper trail and phone calls started.. Firstly the service manager that originally referred me to the body shop stated that he needed to contact a local rep for the northeast (american honda rep) to ok the repair work. According to the "service manager" the dealership was only responsible for up to the first 400 dollars worth of repair work on a new warrantied car.. One week later and about 3 unanswered messages left to the service manager, i finally recieved the call saying that the rep authorized the work and i could bring the car down to the shop, receive a free rental (originally needed my car for 2 days only), and the "service manager" would just need to take some pictures of my car before the work is performed so that my claim to honda can be verified. Fast forward again to this week (tuesday) I go to the dealership, after taking everything out from my car, cds speakers radar detector important info about me etc i reluctantly dropped off my car... I requested my car be kept at all times in the garage (im very paranoid about vandilism/theft) the very nice secretary wrote everything down on my claim sheet and my car was left to be painted (front and rear bumpers and spoiler).. I was brought to enterprise rental car and picked up my rental car (2003 gmc suburban :) ).. two days later and after some fun days crusing around in the booburban "pimpin:)" I was more than ready to get my little pocket rocket back..A phone call to the dealership on thursday morning reassured me that the car was done and ready to be picked up... Took off from work dropped the rental car off, and arrived onsite at the dealership.. I didnt even bother going inside at first because i saw my car and wanted to inspect EVERYTHING... upon inspection i was dumbfounded at what i witnessed, paint the consistancy of sand paper, gouges along the fenderwells, scratches in both the front and rear bumpers and my SPOILER WASNT EVEN PAINTED!!!!!! I prompty went inside and asked to speak to the manager, he asked the problem and i politly explained my situation, we both went outside and the tech who performed the work was called. Needless to say the excuses that ensued just made me more aware what headaches im going to have here. --Tech said the car was supposed to be wet sanded and buffed still, and he was unaware that the spoiler was even supposed to be repainted. ---Oh god why me--- SOOOOO enterprise was called again and told they need to come get me once again and provide me with a rental since my car was once again not ready... I was dissapointed really dissapointed. I was promised that my car would be ready for friday by the manager in "perfect" condition... I was hopeful.. Went back to enterprise car rental , and picked up my 03 cadillac deville (pearl white) :) -- It was during the week and the kids that worked there didnt care what car i had so i had my choice of the lot :)-- Thursday nite went home and got changed went out for the nite-- friday morning came around i was feeling good, it was a brisk morning sunny and i was happy because i was going to see my girlfriend this weekend in boston and finally because my car was going to be ready today.. Went to work and received a call at around 12pm noon from the bodyshop stating the car is ready mr.02blksi ... I said are you sure half joking and half serious, she reasuured me "YES"... once again took off from work around lunchtime got in the caddy gave it a bit of gas and drove to enterprise--dropped off the rental-- got a ride to the dealership once again... I once again promptly inspected my car, and to my amazement the spoiler was painted!!! WOOHOOO looking good.. LOOK DOWN, WTF a huge gouge were the right rear sidemarker is installed on the bumper, GRRrr, Run my hand along the bumpers NO FUKIN WAY!! Still SANDPAPER consistency (rough feel like dirt underneath the paint), step back from bumper WTF ITS BLUE!!! like to much pearl blue in it !!! OHMY GOD KILL THE MORON WHO DID THIS, move to the front of the car notice right off the bat HOOD has a 4 inch scratch on it!!!!WTF IM GONNA KILL KILL, overyspray all over the front hood and the front bumper, FISHEYE everywhere in the paint, gouges scratches... oh god why me...... Stormed into the dealership brought a secretary out to my car to show her what im talking about, and she even totally agreed with me, brought an appraiser out with me to view my car He agreed it was sub par work, finally once again the asshole manager and dumbass redneck tech, they both agreed that it wasnt even close to being "acceptable" .. I was furious!!!!!! Imeditaly i went to the GM of the dealership spoke to him and let him know i was getting no where with the body shop... He promised me a soloution just give him some time to work this out, i reluctantly agreed.. BACK to enterprise :mad: for yet another rental!!!!!GOD damnit, and i wanted to meet up with the fellow ephatchers in jersey on SUNDAY !! MUTHER FERS!!! damnit!! 5pm friday the phone rings its the GM of the dealership, I was reasuredd that ALL the damage incurred on my car will be fixed !!! I was also informed that the paint dealer that they go to gave them the wrong paint code for my car, it just didnt match, and on monday 2 paint speacialists will be coming from the factory to mix the paint themselves... I said well ok but what about all the time i havent had my car, ( i threatend to call the district operations manager and that shook him up a bit) he said well what can i do for you to make you happy... I said:
--GIVE ME A COMPLETE DETAIL ON THE HOUSE for my missed work and agravation... not to mention the fact that i have bought to date (myself not including other famiuly members 3 HONDAS from that dealership --2 just last year alone)
--Booklet of oil changes for my weekend being ruined and not being able to take my car to a planned event..
He agreed...... He also said that he would personally call me when the car is done and to keep my current rental, (ford escape SUV :( ) until the car is done.... he promised me no later than tuesday this week coming up....


I really hope he keeps his promise, my next step will be to file a complaint with my local DMV about the body shop, and call American honda financing for a refund on car payment for one week (or however long this will go on).....

cliff notes:
Im angry at my shoddy dealership
I miss my car
I hate rental cars
Why couldnt they just give me new OEM bumpers instead of trying to rape american honda claims, repainting my old ones..
I hate the manager of the body shop
I hope my car is ready tuesday or heads are gonna roll...:mad:

---------------------THE END-----------------------------------------------

sorry for the rant im just sooooo pissed.--Joe

[snubnose]

That sucks so bad. I would politely ask for a new car.

[02blksi]

I was thinking that as well, but I really hope since everything is already done on this one (system, intake exhaust etc etc) i dont want it to come to that. DAMNIT i just hate this shit. --

Side note: I was so pissed yesterday went to my friends house and took my agression out on my suv rental 4x4 and snow and ice jumps does wonders for the soul. --end note --joe .

[glizard]

how many times have they tried to fix this?3? if so lemon law them.or better yet since it's not like you don't want the car offer them a buy back and trade ona replacement vehicle.it's thier defect and incompitant body shop that is the problem not the car.
ask for ta meeting w/ the local dsm and talk about a trade
trust me on this you can get alot further being nice w/honda but don't back down.if you are patient and persistant w/a smile you can probably get them to buyback and give you a new one

[02SilverSiHB]

Originally posted by 02blksi

cliff notes:
Im angry at my shoddy dealership
I miss my car
I hate rental cars
Why couldnt they just give me new OEM bumpers instead of trying to rape american honda claims, repainting my old ones..
I hate the manager of the body shop
I hope my car is ready tuesday or heads are gonna roll...:mad:

---------------------THE END-----------------------------------------------

sorry for the rant im just sooooo pissed.--Joe
thanks for the cliff notes...because that was long :) sorry to hear you having those probs.

[fyzm7357]

Damn...that really sucks....I hope that your dealership fixes everything finally and everything turns out ok...

[rgGolf4]

That sucks man. I'm not positive, but I don't think the lemon law is in place for paint problems. I think the only way a car is deemed a lemon is if its mechanical failure...but that may vary from state to state.

On the other hand, it sounds like the peole doing the body work have no idea what they are doing. I would have asked them to send it to a reputable shop and then have the bill paid for by Honda.

Also, I know its frustrating, but the manager seems to understand your frustration. Try not to blame the dealer so much as the techs working. Coming from VW service, I know what bad service is. At least they are making the effort to compensate for your inconvenience. Do yo uknow how many GTi owners would kill for service like that?

[02blksi]

very true rgolf very true!!! ..... that is why im giving my dealership till tuesday this upcoming week to get it worked out, if its not ready by then i will be taking it to my own body shop and having them pay for it.... It just sucks not having your car back ... --Thanks for the comments guys --Joe :)

[SmoothOperator]

oh man even I'm frustrated. Just reading your story pissed me off. I applaud your self control though. I'd have been screaming by this point. Best of luck man, let's hope you've got a shiny new paintjob by Tuesday!

[napapacoda]

Please let me know the dealership. I am in CT and am getting my car painted and fixed at a Honda dealership on Monday. I will cancel if I am going to the same one you are. Oh holy crap, now it all makes sense, it was Your SI i saw at Executive wasn't it when I went in!! The guy showed me an SI in the garage (he tried telling me it was an 03). If it was really your SI (and for some good reason I think it is now because its all unfolding like a puzzle in my head) I will have to cancel the appointment and find a different place to get my car fixed. I need a perfect color match and it just does not seem like that will happen if I go there. My brother went there about 3 years ago to fix his GSR after it got broken into, they never perfectly matched the color. I was hoping they got new workers. On a side note, did it look like they stole anything? I was thinking about leaving my amplifiers in the trunk, but am afraid they wont be there when I pick the car up.

[napapacoda]

Originally posted by 02blksi
very true rgolf very true!!! ..... that is why im giving my dealership till tuesday this upcoming week to get it worked out, if its not ready by then i will be taking it to my own body shop and having them pay for it.... It just sucks not having your car back ... --Thanks for the comments guys --Joe :)

Do you have any reccomendations for body shops in CT? My car needs to go to the shop because of an insurance claim that was the other drivers fault so I can basically go anywhere I want and they gotta pay. I was not worried until this second and now I am scared out of my wits to bring my car and have it fixed by them. Was the appraisers name August?

Also on a side note - Does enterprise pick you up and drop you back off at the dealership? Can you be under 25 and get a rental car through them?

[Honda02Si]

hey joe -!
i exactly kno what ur going thru, i had to go thru the same thing .My dad and i wash the car every week ( Sunday ) then after the wash she gets her lil steps- buffing and other important things to keep the baby shiny, if u kno what i mean ?! after we finished buffin my dad and i seen huge blue spots on the font bummer nd the back , but later that week we just thought it was b/c it was so cold, but after the 2nd week after washing the car again we seen it again, but it wasnt on the back bummer anymore , there were even more huge spots on the front bummer.Since hes so picky about his car and my baby ( black beauty ). after my dad got off work we went STRAIGHT to the dealer the 1 that promised us EVERYTHING since we were buying the car from the.When we went to the dealer he said he was gonna have his people do the best job ever, like i really believed him but ok, he also told us that we werent allowed to get a rental car which we were really pissed b/c i go to school at 7:00 my dad goes to work at 6:30 and my mom had to go to work too, the whole week was so messed up, after talking to the guys at the dealership, they told us to leave the car on sunday, so we did, after not getting a rental car. ! I couldnt wait til the guy called back b/c i knew they were gonna mess up my dads car and i kno my dad . he'll do anything for his black baby.The following wednesday they called us and told us to pick the car up ,so since i had exams that week at school my mom picked me up and we went staright to the dealership to pick the car up while my dad was at work.While at the dealership my dad had called my cell phone and told me to look over the car, so i did look . I wasnt happy at all what they did w.the car so i told him i was gonna tell my dad what happened and if we had any problems that we were gonna come back no matter what, i called my dad and told him bout the car that i wasnt so happy, my dad took a break from work and came home , after looking at the bummer and looking neither of us were happy, they were few scratches , some white stuff , and they even went over my vin #.(idiots ) w.a black color.
So my dad went back and asked for the manager, ( i was stuck at home studying for exams-bummer-) i wish i was there to get into the guys face about all his promises, they told us they were gonan call us when they wanted us to pick the car up .Thursday night they called us after i seen the the car on wednesday and left it there that night. Thursday he called us and told us to come pick the car up , promising once again that the car looked good, my dad got there and they had put another bummper from another black honda si on our car(brand-new).I wasnt so happy but my dad was, but its his car any way, i wanted a brand new civic :P !(white 1).. well joe i wish you all the luck w.ur lil' civic .. let me kno what happened .. ZDTRacingGroup@aol.com/DaddiezgRL@aol.com
my dads and mine e-mail addresses'.. Good Luck !*:'( :mad: :(

[icegrill]

Hey man I just wanted to say first off I feel so bad for you. I've had to spend way too much of my life dealing with PISS POOR body work! I know exactly how you feel.:mad: One place told my with my granada black pearl civic that "most customers don't notice" referring to all the extra scratches, overspray on trim, sanding scratches, and fuckups they put into the car. I was rageing. Anonther is "it was like that" Pure bullshit. I just get mad reading your post.

To make you not feel as bad my 2 week old silver si had a .5" crack in the paint on the passenger side fenderwell. Probably from the moron installing the splash gaurds. Luckly the dealer being 300 miles away let me pick a body shop in my city. I couldn't beleive how much work they had to do just to fix a crack this big
----- . They had to remove the bumper, headlight, door handle, belt molding, mirror. Just to blend into the fender and door, plus put a coat of clear down. I was so nervous about having it done. But it turned out mint. Actually perfect, better than the stock paint consistency. They broke the clips on the windshield molding, so instead of me arguing about they simply bought a whole new trim piece and put it on. I couldn't have been happier. I can't believe how the paint job really is'nt that good on our cars. Hope your situation turns out okay. :'(

[IceD out N CALI]

that sucks, hard to believe that people that paint cars for a living to make them look "perfect" cant get it right. best of luck to ya

[02blksi]

hey napacoda, yea it was Auggie. . BTW I pmed you please respond to my pm, and describe the car that you were shown, i want to know if it was mine or not.

On a side note there was another black si in the body shop parking lot, was that yours? thanks man --let me know --Joe:rolleyes:


Oh yea and to answer your question im only 21 and enterprise rented me 3 cars to date just fine. --fyi --joe

[napapacoda]

Your PM Box is full right now. Let me know when you clear up some space and I will reply to the last PM I got.

[02blksi]

sorry bout that, all clean now :) --joe thanks BTW. (just so you know btw means by the way :) --LOL

[poppasp1ce]

sorry bout your luck man, keep us updated though. funny thing when i was done washing/waxing my car. in direct sunlight, i can see little blue speckles, almost like blue glitter in the black paint. is this what your talking about? hope shit works out for you.

[Type X]

if that was my car
i would be the proud owner of a new

6cd changer
oem fogs
another set of floor mats

for my "trouble"

[2k2TaffetaEP3]

Sorry to hear about the situation you've been through.


Note to self: pats self on back for buying a white EP3

[Jpax]

Stab the guy with a fork..... NO wait a spoon and then ask for a new car, it always works.;)

:D

[02blksi]

popaspice--- That blue flake like glitter stuff is supposed to be their in our paint, my car didnt have to much of that it had developed a blueish haze all over the bumpers, it was most noticeable on really bright days and cloudy days ... by looking at the sheet metal and looking where it meets the bumpers you could see a significant difference in color.. --Joe :)

Thanks for the words guys, I really would like to get a set of oem foglights but thats another story. --maybe ill rethink what i wanted for my troubles .. LOL

[Honda02Si]

yo joe ,
from which dealership in the northeast did u get ur civic from .. ?!

[Honda02Si]

Originally posted by poppasp1ce
sorry bout your luck man, keep us updated though. funny thing when i was done washing/waxing my car. in direct sunlight, i can see little blue speckles, almost like blue glitter in the black paint. is this what your talking about? hope shit works out for you.

[02blksi]

god damnit im so pissed!!!! --- Im driving a FORD right now YUCK!!!!!! at least its 4x4 though. Rental off roading hehehe jk.

[atl-si]

So how's it coming now so far? I hate dealerships. I can't stand taking my car to these folks cause I know that once you buy their cars and are out the door they don't care about you. All they want is to make money off of you and they don't care about customer relationships. I remember a while back when I had my Eclipse, I had a problem with the car and took it into the shop. They replaced a bunch of stuff without calling me and I was pissed. I ended up keeping the parts with a discount:D . Anyways, I emailed the owner to complain, but to this day have yet received a reply. D@mn dealership shops!

[vectorhive]

i'm sorry to hear about your problems, but it does sound like the dealer is trying to keep you happy, which is not always the case.

i think you have the right to demand a flawless paintjob (i mean really flawless) at this point. i think a bunch of oil changes and detail are pretty nice gestures on their part. i'd also tell them to drop the car off at your work and take the rental back, that you cannot keep taking time off work.

[ShowstoppersUSA]

That's jacked up. I agree with Type X!

Rocky
Showstoppers USA

[02blksi]

update:
for those who are still tuned in... :)
Monday came and went no word from the dealership nor have i given them a call, tomorrow is D day, and if its not done i may just say here's the keys take it.. you own it:mad:

On a side note: just got a new toy tonight. :)
http://www.suzukicycles.com/sr_03/atv/images/bp_ltz400_angle_yellow.jpg

[natesi]

Sounds as bad as the work I had done at the ford dealership when I had my Focus, except they denied everything and said stuff like, "this isn't a $30,000 car". It was then that I knew I had to buy Japanese.

[Pradamuimui]

Call American Honda and bitch to them about the dealership. Trust me it WILL WORK!! You can call them at 1-800-999-1009.

Just call them, complain, and they will fix everything. Trust me the dealerships get really worried when they recieve calls from American Honda about customers that are unsatisfied!!!

[fyzm7357]

So today was the big day....any news on what happened????
Hope everything turned out well....

[napapacoda]

Hey, just wondering how it all went with Executive Honda.

[napapacoda]

Any Update?

[02blksi]

Sorry guys, Ive been a bit busy lately.

Anywho:)

I finally returned to the honda dealership, exactly one week later it was 2 weeks ago to date on a tuesday... I did the normal routine get the rental gased up and went to the dealership. Upon arrival, I did not see my car AT ALL! Keep in mind they had called me on monday night telling me the car was ready to be picked up, But due to me losing so much time the previous week from work i told them that they would have to wait for me to pick it up tomorrow AM. They said no problem. So fast forward back towards the morning. I arrived cars not on the lot. Went inside met the people again and told them i was here to pick up the car. Immediatly the manager shot past me and went into the shop area. Through a window were i watched the were JUST finishing Prepping my car.... --- So much for being ALL SET"-- So i sat there for apprx. 1 hr waiting patiently at first but i was getting more and more antsy as the minutes ticked away. Finally i heard my baby start up and the garage bays opened up... Out she came Looking Sexy as ever. !! Paint work was pretty good if not OEM quality, (for all i know the just swapped bumpers with a new car) everything looked on point. Except the shit load of wax they left along with swirl makrs everywhere from using a SHOP TOWEL to wipe the wax off.... I was to tired and angry to argue my point on the shitty detailing work they did so i told them thankyou and i was on my way,, happy to have her back, but VERY angry at my shitty experience with their body shop.... Fast forward two days later, phone rings and it was the customer service center for american honda, and well, boy did i let er have it, I bitched and moaned about the HORRIBLE work that i had experienced from WALLINGFORD HONDA!! (AKA EXECUTIVE HONDA IN WALLINGFROD) she assured me it would not happen again and honda would send me a free honda backpack tshirt and hat (woopppdeee fuggin dooo :rolleyes: ) ... To this date i have received nothing, and my car is safely at home with me where it belongs ! --

Cliffnotes:
When gettting body work done to your car TRUST no one! --Joe :):mad:

[fyzm7357]

Glad that everything turned out alright, sucks what you had to go through....

[napapacoda]

Glad to hear it all worked out. After hearing this story I switched out and am now going elsewhere. I still have to wait another few weeks for my car to be fixed, but what the hell, I'd rather wait and get a good job done the first time.