Sup guys

I brought my TL into Acura of Boston earlier in the week for the ignition switch recall, and I also talked them into fixing a few squeaks and rattles (sunroof panel, rear deck, center console, wobbly driver seat). They even gave me a free loaner car since I dropped my car off in the late afternoon. So far so good...

The next day I go back to get my car and most of the problems are fixed, and all at no cost to me! And they even washed and vaccuumed my car for me. So I'm thinking this is great! But...

As I'm driving home, I notice most of the coins in the change bin are gone!! I'm like WTF! There must have been over $5 in coins missing, and all I was left with was like $0.89! So I look around the car to see if other stuff was missing, and a pack of cigarettes in my glove box was missing too! Luckily, my CD wallet which was in the drivers door bin was still there, as well as my Alpine CD changer under my seat. So...

I don't know what to make of all this. Is it possible that some service guy at the Acura dealer ripped off my change and my smokes? I didn't notice anything missing while driving my car in, but I noticed right away as I left the dealer the next day. The only other time someone else could have done it was on Sunday when I left my car unlocked in my parking lot at work. The only thing with that is that I work in a very nice town, and me and my co-workers were walking through the lot the whole day because our offices were being moved upstairs. Also, the temp was about 40 degrees (in MA).

I'd be totally surprised and disappointed if someone at the dealer did it. But I also don't think it happened on Sunday at work. Anyone have any thoughts? I'm not worried about $5 and a pack of smokes. It's the principle that irks me!

Thanks for listening...

 

I wouldnt be suprise if one of the mechanics jacked those stuffs from you. i been there, Acura of Boston, they make me wait like half hour just to get a price on the OEM body kit and the installation they charge. I dunno about their service though. But the place is way bigger than my dealer (sunnyside acura). So now you learn that to never leave any coins in the coin tray.Call me cheap but I always takes all the coins out, locked the glove box, main switch off, and hand them the valet key.

 

when u told them about the squeeks and rattles did they know right away what you were talkin about..cuz i noticed my sunroof panel is making a little noise too and the sub in the back is also makin a rattle when i turn it up loud (im guessin its the cover or somethin?)...im just wonderin if the dealer hasnt heard about the problem how does he know what to fix? does he drive it around or what?

 

thats funny cause that happened to me the same way.. brought my car in for warranty on my rim, got a free car wash and went to get sum quaters and they are all gone. mayb they take it as a tip? lol

BTW: this was at Open Road Acura in NJ..

 

Dude, that is one strong vaccuum...........

 

Yeah it must have been, but I still have $0.89:p

Yes and no. They knew about the sunroof panel squeak. It's been well-documented on this site too. But I had to explain the rear deck rattle. It only happened when the music was turned up high, but that's no excuse. The guy told me they took the rear assembly apart and tried to re-secure everything. I haven't turned up the volume to test it yet. It didn't really bother me all that much to begin with, so I'm not too worried about it

 

I don't trust any of those mechanics. I always take all the change and valuables out before I go in for any type of service.

 

yup, same here, I always take whatever i think it is importand to me and put every lil thing in the glove camp. and lock it up, then hand over the valet key.

 

I've had change jacked at a car wash, where the attendant puts the car in. I thought that this was pretty pathetically stupid until I realized that if he does 20 cars a day and takes $1, that's not a bad take in spending money.

It's most likely one of the car porters would have jacked it, the mechanics make plenty of money, but at least here in Chicago, a lot of Hispanic immigrants work at the dealerships as car washers and porters. I don't know what they pay them, but I'm sure it's not much.

 

More than likely the car lot porters or sometimes even the sale staff (read: SLEAZE) I guess its just too tempting for the lower and under paid employees (regardless of race) to get some extra cash, I mean minimum wage aint a whole lot. As if it weren't bad enough that they do the jobs WE dont want...

Anyway, I would just chalk it up to a learning experience. As much as we all want to trust people, it only takes one bad apple in a barrel to mess it up for everyone.

 

people in columbine probably thought the same thing too...

 

Happened (same dealer) to a former co-worker of mine. His nice cell phone charger disappeared. He complained and they conviently found it. Speak to the Service Manager Terry (Top Notch guy). I've had this happen to me a few times in for the first couple of years I owned my Integra. (My car is always garaged and locked even at work...so it's never out of my site). It kind of stopped happening about 3 years ago (maybe I stopped leaving alot of change in the change holder). My '03 TL-P is being serviced by another Dealer out West, my wife left her favourite skagen watch in the car and it disappeared...I'm hoping that it's not the dealer since they've done a pretty good job so far. BTW. Boston Acura does seem to have pretty long waits. Speaking of Service. Boston Acura's team isn't so bad, they usually fix things on the first try and on time, plus the service "hosts" remember who you are and they including Terry have taken very good care of my Integra! My new dealer/service (Herb Connolly) is pretty decent; the mechanic was very detail oriented (I got to watch him work). I'm not sure if they'll know who I am when I walk through the doors though...I get a laugh from the guy who calls to check after every service...

 

lhommec13: I think you're missing the point. What really happened is the dealership is trying to save your life by trashing your cancer sticks and the money you use to buy them.

 

These threads are getting quite annoying...it's not Acura's fault, it's the person who serviced your car.

WHEN TAKING YOUR CAR IN FOR SERVICE, REMOVE YOUR VALUABLES. That includes, change, CDs, sunglasses, speaker bins in the trunk, amps, maps, cell phone adaptors...if it wasn't there when you drove it off the lot, it don't belong there when you bring it back to the lot.

End of story.

 

If that's the case, then don't contribute to the cause by posting a reply like that.

All I was doing was venting a little bit, and informing fellow TL owners about what happened when I brought my car into one particular dealer. And several people chimed in with similar stories...some at the very same dealer I went to. So if you ask me, I think there is some value in this thread in that other people will be forewarned when taking their cars in, either to this or other Acura dealers.

If you don't see the value in that, then keep your mouth shut and move on to the next thread.

 

edit

 

Actually there's nothing annoying about it because you can simply just not read it. Your saying that it's not Acura's fault, but in a way it is. I believe the mechanic was working for Acura and Acura hired him to perform a task and that doesn't include stealing. The guy lost some change and smokes, it's little things, but it's always the little things that makes people pissed off.

 

THe master mechanic fixes your car, but then he hands the car over to the minimum wage "cleaner" to clean your car....that's where it gets interesting. I'm not saying it's can't be the mechanic...I'm saying it can be ANYBODY!!!

 

Yea, that happened to me too..From Paragon Acura...Stole all my quarters...Worst experience of my life. Had to bring my car in at least 3 times before they fixed my problems..
Ed

 

you should complain no matter how small/inexpensive the item is. cause the people stealing are just going to keep doing it. dealers have records of who serviced your particular car...if you complain that something was stolen, then the dealers dont want to face a lawsuit or criminal charge of embezzlement. they would much rather solve your problem and/or fire the person responsible. remember, you have the power to screw the dealer just as much as they screwed you on the purchase price of your car.

 

LOL It must be nice for that guy to be retired and have a cushy little job with the followup calls after every service. He's definitely a nice guy.

I always take everything outta my car before I bring it in. Granted not everyone steals, but you never know. Next time you bring it in, leave a pack of exploding cigars and see what happens.

 

Everytime I took my car to the car wash or mechanic, that happened to me - I would always be missing something when I got it back - even one or two quarters they would take if that's all I had. The last time was at a car wash and they took my handsfree set for my cell phone. My husband says it never happens to him, and I'm just paranoid. Not so. And now, I never leave anything I want in my car at the car wash or the dealer, not even my stuffed raccoon that sits on my dash. (I took it with me to pick up my car the first time, and it sat well, so I left it there)

 

Whoa! I started this thread back in December, and it's still alive. Talk about longevity! Anyways, I've learned my lesson and won't leave anything of value in plain site anymore.

Anyone up for a MA/NH meet? It's been a few months since the last one, which I missed anyways. What do you say?

 

i hate them JACK A$$E$ there... esp the used car sales manager... messed up my deal on a cl there i go to bridgewater instead about the same distance... ppl there are MAD nice .. and everytime i dropp my car off they always give me a nice loaner... current one 2002 blue tl type s.... NO COMPLAINS SO FAR

 

Acura 101 West in Calabasas, CA .. nothing ever stolen.. They DO give reasonable service however, the service managers are morons, i've never seen ONE of em smile, apart from this guy Mike whom i believe was fired for some reason (yeah, good going Acura 101! fire your best manager!).

Next time i bring my ride in for a service (next week) i intend to talk to the general manager about this sh*t as i DO expect good service from an 'upper scale' car brand.

Tracer

 

ITs not just Acura Dealers. Almost all mechanic shops have mechanics that steal from your car. Before i got my TL i had an Integra and i brought it to a body shop to get a custom paint job. When everything was completed, i went to pick up my car and i had change missing, my sunglasses were missing, and my radar detector was gone. NOw that really pissed me off. I told the manager about it but they didnt want to do anything about it. They just deny everything. After that i didnt bother with it anymore. I just left.

 

ahhhh, your statement makes it sound like a) All hispanic immigrants are theives, as well as all hispanics that live in their native country. b) Only hispanic imigrant porters remove valuables from your car.

Most likely that was not your intention, however, you might also be a racist motherfvcker that just suffered a freudian slip....

 

Install some hidden cameras in your TL!! Get their asses fired or sue them if u can

 

WHEN TAKING YOUR CAR IN FOR SERVICE, REMOVE YOUR VALUABLES.[/b] That includes, change, CDs, sunglasses, speaker bins in the trunk, amps, maps, cell phone adaptors...if it wasn't there when you drove it off the lot, it don't belong there when you bring it back to the lot.



I Disagree to a point, I am not going to spend hours in my car taking out the amp, cap, custom box, etc.. because something in my engine is broken/needs replacement. I agree about the change and CD's I guess. It is acura's responsibility to thier customers to keep the quality of their staff under watch. If someone at Acura crashes my car, they are representing Acura, Acura is responsible. Therefore if someone is servicing my car at acura they are representing acura at all times, otherwords they wouldn't be near my car if they were not employees of acura. I should not have to judge the person working on my car (that's acura's job in the hiring process) or bring my car back to stock form just to have acura service my car due to possible theft.

If you really want to make sure your car is treated like gold from now on. Video tape you self putting a couple dollars into the car before taking it to get serivced. ( Video tape the serial numbers on the bills and make a mark on each bill ). Semi-hide the money in your car and just wait. I reccomend talking to the manager after the money is missing, tell him about the tape and the fact that you were

" Checking to see if this dealership is trustworthy, obviously you have answered your question and plan to take your business elsewhere. Glad it only cost a couple of bucks to find out how business is done here "

Sit back and wait to be pampared, I have been present when this was done to a dealership, not by me but this is how I saw it in action (I have seen it on thoes hiddden camera shows, but not in person) The customer was told the work on his car was complementary and a free oil change and "our deepest appologies".

Since then he actually has gone back to the same dealership but he gets treated like royalty since.

I haven't had any problems with my dealership to make me result to this, but if you don't trust the dealership/mechanic that is like not trusting your doctor, IT'S STUPID!

 

Exact same thing happend to me. Except my car was forwarded from my dealership to their contracted bodyshop for paint works. When I got the car back, the coins & CDs in my changer were missing. However, what really pissed me off was they stole my $350 pair of Oakley's............!!!!!!!!

 

Someone took my cell phone charger out of the center console, but left my change alone. Weird. I also remove all valuables.
And what valet key? Don't have one, I was given two regular keys when I bought the car.