orskier

I need some advice....

My car has been previously schratched by my dealership, which they fixed. Now I have a multitude of new scratches/damage. Here's the story.....feel free to just jump down to the pics. I took my car in 3 weeks ago to get vibration (flatspotting) and rear shelf rattle fixed. They replaced all 4 tires and replaced all the rear speakers. During the tire swap, the machine that pulls the tire onto the rim scrached each of my rims in a circular pattern. It's taken three weeks and finally their wheel guy came out to fix them. Due to the finish on our wheels, they are not even close to normal. The new rough surface picks up the Brembo dust like crazy and looks offset from the rest of the wheel. They are looking into replacing the wheels for me. BS that they scratched them in the first place.......

Now, back to the rattle, they improved it, but didn't get rid of it. I took the car in last week to get it looked at again. This time they spent a week on the phone with techline. They finally arrived at the dynomat solution. I got my car back after a week and a half. The rattle is still there, yet improved. I spent 10 seconds of my time and found it coming from the brake light on the ceiling. The problem I have is they scratched/damaged my car in MANY places!!!!!!!!

Please take a look at the pictures. I already informed the dealership about the fender scratch, but I didn't notice the others till today. What should I demand from the dealsership? Any advice is greatly appreciated.

Passenger side rear door entry:


Passenger side rear door entry:


Passenger side rear door entry:


Passenger side rear door handle:


Driver side rear door entry:


Driver side front fender scratch:

SonnySoMoney

Man, were those guys wearing cleats? Seriously, that is totally unacceptable and I think they need to make your car right again. The good thing is that it seems your dealership has done a good job of working with you in the past. That, of course doesn't excuse shoddy work. My only advice would be that you take your car in and show the manager. Be sure to mention how you are happy they have been so willing to help in the past, but how disappointed you are with the quality of the work. If you have another dealership nearby that you could take it to in the future, I would do so, and let the manager know you intend to do so. Sorry to hear about the mistreatment, good luck!

kosh2258

1. Make them fix every bit of damage. If they resist, keep pressuring them until they do, including filing a complaint with Acura, if it comes to that.

2. Find another dealer to do your work if at all possible. The people they have working in this shop are obviously careless and totally unprofessional.

If a shop had done that to my car, I'd have gone ballistic and demanded to see the general manager immediately.

Hank Z

Had the same thing happen....

For a simple state inspection, they placed large scratches in the driver's side front wheel and put a hole in the driver's side compartment on the door. Don't waste your time with the service manager; write a letter with the photos and send to the owner of the dealership and copy the service manager.

I did this and received a lot of attention.

That aside, Acura does not measure up in the luxury segment for service. I really like my TL but will probably never buy another given low quality service issues.

Good luck getting all fixed correctly!

SouthernBoy

I agree with y'all. Totally unacceptable. Just one more reason, and a big one at that, that I resist to the nth degree taking my car back to ANY dealership for ANY kind of service. Your experience with your TL is proof of my analness.

I will say that I did have a good experience at one dealer in March, 2004. At the time, I owned an '02 Altima SE and the MAF went out (a common failure for that year Altima.. especially with ones modded with after-market intakes like mine). I took the car (with the stock intake back on) to Brown's Nissan in Ashburn, VA. No scratches, no oil hands on the shifter or steering wheel, no problems at all. I was really surprised.

But your experience is completely out the window and unacceptable. I hope you get you just dues with these people. This is obscene.

Greg S

I recognize the scratches, they had one guy taking your rear seat in or out while looking for the rattle and taking the rear of the car apart. This is why I always insisted that two guys had to take the back seat out of a car when it was being worked on in my shops, one guy just isn't able to do it on his own.

mickey3c

I had the dealer put some scratches on my car and they would not return my calls I had to go there in person and walk into the service manager's office. They finally fixed the problem, but when he said something like I know how you feel about your baby. I said shit pal, you damaged my property, had you damaged my baby you would be having surgey about now!

orskier

This is exactly the feedback I was looking for. I thought I had already been at this point before with the wheel scratches. For this last appointment I didn't even want to leave the car overnight. I got the service manager involved and he promised top notch care for my car. Two of the team managers even looked my car over for scratches when I brought it in. I dealt directly with the service manager the whole time it was in the shop. I did tell him when I brought it in that I value a relationship with my dealership and this relationship is hurting due to neglect on my baby. He appreciated that and said he'll do what it takes to keep my business. Obviously his hiring and training doesn't stay in line with his words. There is another dealership that will now get my future business.

A simple expectation.....your car should come back from the dealership better than when it went in.

Oh, I also agree that if this is the type of service Acura shops do, then this will be my last Acura. (I love my car though!) I thought I moved beyond this type of service when I bought from a luxury car company...

SouthernBoy

According to J.D. Power (last year) you would have if you had bought a Lincoln. Lincoln-Mercury registered the top rated service of all auto brands.

Acura.. are you listening? View this man's pictures and listen.

Acuraluvr

iTrader: (2)

that is really bad handling....... make um fix it

Hybrid

All it usually takes to prevent damage like that is a blanket thrown over the threshold area. It seems to be basic incompetence that they don't take precautions like that.

As far as the wheels being damaged during a tire change, it is possible to do it without any damage. Costco did an excellent job for me when I switched to Pilot A/S tires.

mark 3M bra man

That's BS. That is why I try to do most of the work myself.

Make sure you will not give up before they fix it and do not settle for anything less then perfect.

Good luck, Mark.

caball88

holy cow who was working on your car stevie wonder?

crazymjb

I wouldn't not buy a car cause the service sucked if I really liked tha car. In the future go to one of those dealers that sells tons of stuff. Herb Chambers(in MA) has a ton of stuff, porches to toyotas(we arent buying ther becasue everyone we know who went to AOB has had great experiences, plud I dont know if HC sells acuras).

orskier

Here's a quick update for you guys. Thanks again for all your comments!

Since I was already working directly with the service manager, I spoke with him on the phone and indicated that I discovered this new damage. I emailed the pictures to him. He said he'd meet with his service guys to find out how this happened and would get back to me on the steps necessary to get everything resolved. I now have an appointment for Tuesday to get everything resolved. They are sending the car to the body shop to get the scratches fixed. The service manager said he will deliver the car back to me on Wednesday so we can verify all issues were resolved.

Keeping my fingers crossed that everything gets fixed and they don't cause any new damage......

I'll update again next week when I get my baby back...

ericajackhannahjamie?

this really makes me sad: How dealerships have no respect for customers cars!

crazymjb

If I were a car service man I would be really careful with peoaples cars, especially new ones(with the exception of hyundai or kia).

TLOBLLC

Please post the name of the dealer. It would be instructive for all of us to benefit from your experience.

orskier

The dealer is Acura of Portland (Dick Hannah dealerships). I will say, they have taken ownership of every issue to date. I just wish they didn't cause any damage in the first place.

Nodoze2004

Welcome to the wonderful world of high priced Honda ownership....Honda service (or worse) at a premium price! This is sadly the one area that truly reflects the 'value' aspect of the Acura product line. I hate to say it, but in some cases you truly do get what you pay for (they have to be saving money somewhere, and it appears that it is service)

In regards to your wheels, you need to pipe up and get NEW wheels not refinished ones.

I had the exact same issue with my wheels (the dealer etched each of them during a routine tire replacement to track down a vibration issue). That is why I INSIST on walking the car after each and every service appointment with the service tech. When I went to pickup the car (after they etched the wheels) they advised me that those marks were not made by the dealership, and that they were caused by dirt buildup on the wheels. I asked the guy what planet he thought I was from, or what HE was smoking? I stated that these marks correspond EXACTLY to improper tire removal and that this was unacceptable.

They offered to re-finish the wheels and I laughed at them! I demanded new wheels and have been waiting ever since (the 04 A-Spec gun metal wheels have been subsequently discontinued).

They snuck on 05 black chromes (18x8) during one of my recent visit's (for anothe issue) in an attempt to resolve the problem. The problem the dealer was trying to resolve was me. I call the service manager at least once every two days to find out the status of where my wheels are?? You can imagine my suprise when I arrived at the dealership to find the HIDEOUS wheels on my car. I advised the service manager that this was NOT a sufficient resolution to my problem.

I have now demanded that they do one of the following
1. Locate and install the original wheels I bought with the car (18x8.5 Gunmetal A-Spec)
OR
2. Cut me a check for full retail on those wheels (i.e. what I paid for them on my invoice).

Dealer damage of any kind to a vehicle is unacceptable. Acura is notorious for displaying a 'Who gives a flying Fcuk attitude' in the service bays. In my opinion this behavior stems from two things, piss poor management, and low paychecks.

slavka

I don't think this happens just in Acura. You take any car to any dealership, and as soon as their "little" fingers start touching stuff, u know it won't be the same. I had a Honda before, and took a car in for a minor recall fix. Got it back with scratches everywhere under the steering wheel.

Luckly I haven't had to take the car to the dealship for any major stuff, but oil changes and such I take it in to a private shop.. That way I stand right next to them and make sure they do the job right..

can't trust somebody to do the job right.. Everybody always wants to take the easy way out.. do a half ass job.

I say.. they screwed up ur car.. u don't let them off easy.. make sure they pay for their incompetence. and its not just one little scratch.. they really did a number on you.. And its not like its not noticable.. Mechanic must have known what he had done.. and yet nobody told you anything.

hope it all turns out ok for ya.. good luck

peacefrog

That is rediculous.........I had my TL in for service and some grease monkey put grease handprints all over my driver seat. It was dark when I picked up the car and didnt notice until the morning. Luckily I had some Lexol that took it off but man I was

orskier

Well, after 3 days in the shop, I got my car back today. They replaced all 4 wheels AND tires with brand new ones. All scratches on the paint and trim were fixed. I must say, it looks like the scratches were never there. I'm fairly anal about my car; therefore they had to have done a decent job if I'm happy with it. The service manager delivered the car to my office so we could do a full inspection together.

I hope my experience pushes Acura towards making changes so the rest of you never have to experience this.

Thanks for all the advice! Persistence pays off....

Brewmaster

Dude - congratulations ... Hate it that it happened in the first place but you are really lucky they made good on it....

If you haven't already done so, talk to the Service Manager AND the owner .. let them know you're not a complaining prick .. just have high expectations and that it's still unacceptable that it happened but that you appreciate their diligence in correcting the issue ... maybe they'll fire the grease monkey that dissed your ride.

orskier

That's exactly the conversation I had with the service manager yesterday. He totally understood.

He mentioned that my pictures are now on their wall of shame. They've had a meeting to discuss how to make sure this never happens again. He was surprised by the tech that caused the damage.

crazymjb

At least it was covered . Still an annoyance.

ElmerHiggins

Dude, what planet ARE you from? Be a little understanding, they are offering to fix the damage to the wheels, what do you have against them trying to refinish them to fix the problem. It is likely that they will be fixed nicely, and if they aren't then both of you guys will see that it was botched and that the only thing left to do is to replace the wheel somehow. Just because they refinish the wheel doesnt mean that you have to accept it if it is not fixed to satisfaction. GEEZ

noychris

good thing they've fixed it because if not, have them replaced you a new TL@@@@@@

orskier

In the interest of not being too long-winded I didn't put all the detail in my original post. Their "wheel" guy worked on my rims twice. When I spoke to him on his second visit, he indicated "this is as good as I can get them". Based on this, I requested replacement of the wheels. I agree, we do need to have a little understanding.

I just think we shouldn't settle for anything less than the condition before the damage.

Vicman17

In an effort to have one of my defective factory OEM tires (Michelin HX MXM4s), I had to settle for the Acura dealership close to my home. It was pretty bad timing since I didn't want to put any more miles on the crappy tires before replacing them. In short, the dealer (a notorious one for bad service experiences) damaged my rims. They informed me after the fact, and had already refinished the rim and replaced it with a new Michelin and also installed a non-spec tire valve that is about 1 1/2 inches too long.

The difference in service between this oen and my actual service dealer is night and day. Like what was said, I would not base the purchase of my car to the kind of service ONE dealership gives me, if I know I can shop around and get better service elsewhere.

Nocturneaubergine

When I brought my car in for service, the service attendant or whatever he is called, brought the garage door down onto my trunk, causing big scratches on the trunk and bumper. I told them to just take care of it and they didn't. I brought it back and physically gave them the damn touch up paint and made a big deal of it. they ended up buffing out the whole rear end to keep me happy. I am still not going back to them.

Ron A

Would you mind sharing the names of both dealers with us?

This also applies to others who have had good or bad experiences with dealers.

This kind of information is very helpful to the members of this forum, and would be much appreciated.

TBone2004

Be a little understanding? See - that right there is a growing problem today - everyone is always crying for patience and understanding for the idiots out there. Why should this guy waste another minute of his time "understanding" that some idiot can't do his job right? No, how about accountability and responsibility become the standard, not forgiveness and support of the idiot that messed up his rims. How 'bout the tech gets it taken out of his next paycheck - maybe then he will be more careful next time. Sure anything can be fixed, but why does he have to be patient and understanding. BS! Put it on the tech shoulders - he F'd up, so HE should be understanding that he will be paid next week in Rims and not cash. Go figure out what planet YOU are from. Everyone stop supporting the schmucks in the world. Cause the more you support and stand behind the idiots, the more stickers and warnings you will see on Sun Shades that say "Do not attempt to drive with this in window" Or on a hair dryer - "Do not stick this in water" STOP protecting the idiots. Wake up.

Vicman17

My sad experience was with Terrace Gate Acura in Eglinton Ave. Scarboro. (Toronto). All I can say is that I'm neither going back to that dealer or recommend someone to buy from there. These kinds of dealerships give Acura a bad name.

My good experiences is with my selling dealer- Downtown Acura where I'm always treated no differently than the guy who bought a new RL. Acura in Markham is also one of the best. My apologies for not including these on my first post.

KJSmitty

You get my vote!!!

Nothing I despise more, or remotely accept.....

"Incompetence and/or a lack of accountability"!!!!

If we as consumers/government continue to be "complacent" about quality and product issues, the future will continue to see even less quality..... But then again, we are quickly approaching the "throw away" theory of manufacturing...

It's the lack of consumer demand for quality that has created the manufacturers quality standards. It's not the fact that QA stinks at a car manufacturing plant, it's the fact that their quality control parameters are set (maximizing time and money) to what they know the majority of consumers will accept. Using the TL as an example, many on this forum have issues with paint, tires, body panel gaps / fit-n-finish, vibrations, etc. etc.... But heck, the car still sells like it's the best thing out their - and the fact that many of the initial 04 issues are still present in the 05 tells me the cost of changing a manufacturing process/product to fix said issues is not worth the benefit to Acura... It's business, and much of it we as consumers brought about ourselves....