jrsmiles

iTrader: (1)

About 3 weeks ago, I took my 07 TL-S in for a couple of minor things. My passenger window didn't auto up without reversing, and I had a blown speaker. I went in at 7:30am on a Saturday morning. I wait 2.5 hours for them to get me in and out. I left, and on the way out of the lot, I turned the radio on to enjoy my freshly swapped speaker, but it's still blown. They replaced the wrong speaker. I turned around and told them there was a mistake. They acknowledged and apologized, checked inventory and told me they would have to order the right speaker. I say, ok, I'll deal with it and left.

On the way home, I decided to check the window because I hadn't tested it yet. The window still has the same problem.

So, 2.5 hours waiting on a 40 mile round trip to the dealer early on my only day off to get absolutely nothing accomplished.

I call the service adviser and tell him I'm pretty annoyed this all happened and he asks me to bring it back. I told him I don't have time to wait and would greatly appreciate a loaner car. He says they typically don't give out loaners, and there are none available, we leave it at that.

A week and a half later, the part comes in, he calls me and says he'll give me an Enterprise rental on the house. I take the car back for them to fix the original problems, and also bring up some other issues. My HFL system has alternator whine when active, there is some vinyl covered trim peeling on the exterior, and my deck lid spoiler is oozing adhesive. I also paid for a tranny flush while it was in.

They keep my car for 4 days, while the lend me a Chevy Cobalt. They call me today to tell me it's ready, so I drive over ASAP to pick up my car, but the shop is closed and I can only pick up through the sales desk, no big deal.

I get to the car and my key fob will not unlock the door, I have to unlock manually in the keyhole. I start the car and check the speakers, all good. Check the window, all good. Look at the body items, all good. The problem I have now is that my HFL is completely dead and will not activate or turn on.

This is the second time they have failed to fix problems specifically outlined by the customer, and the first time they broke something entirely that worked before I brought it in.

What should I do? I'm inclined to get the service manager on the phone, because I'm tired of making the drive and getting hosed. I'm not looking to get something over on this place, I just want my issues fixed. I seriously do not have time to putz around back and forth at the dealership. Should I go to another dealer? Call Acura's service center? I'd be happy to leave the car with them again, but I'd like a better car to drive in the meantime, I hate sounding snobby, but I'm not feeling the Chevy Cobalt in my daily commute, I bought a nice car because I'm in it a lot. How about an Acura, or a Vette??

I could also take it to another dealer, but I've already got the issues started and documented with this dealer. Do Acura dealers typically provide service like this? I expected a little more from a high line brand. I had better experience with Ford, Cadillac and VW in the past. I'm wondering if the problem lies with this dealer selling and servicing GMC, Pontiac, Honda and Acura.

I understand these aren't devastating issues, but I'm still frustrated with the amount of time I've wasted trying to get something simple fixed.

01tl4tl

warranty probs should be fixed at any dealer without issue

loaner cars are subject to availabilty,, and on the weekend forget it!!
everyone comes in friday looking for a nicer ride for the weekend~

service writers are not the boss, not techs, and are there to SELL you upgrades

call the sevice MANAGER and discuss whats occured on each visit and the failures.
All they can do now is ask you to bring it back.. and hold a loaner car for you, then watch over the repairs this time!

May have been a lousy tech on their last days of employment, or who knows if the shop kid did the work.
For no post work inspection to be done is rediculous, and likely to make you go on the internet and tell several million people
Service writer writes down replace left speaker- they replace left speaker regardless of whats wrong-
techs dont test first when a new part is specified,,they replace it regardless~ as you have found

the manager should be able to resolve all your issues
If not- then corp gets a call AND bad survey results on the card you get with receipt
anything less than all 10s is a failing grade to corp-
who reads those cards-sends back to dealer for discussion at the weekly shop meetings
Good marks get bonus $$
bad marks get chewed out butts all around
corp thinks the manager should fix anything wrong at their end, you should not have to complain to corp

but if you do, call 1-800 382 2238 x5 gets a human
Everyone needs to register there- they send out recalls notices to last known owner

01tl4tl

good lesson here is never pick up the car when service is already closed
doesnt matter what they did,, but if tricky stuff,,

Girls at the desk with your keys can only read the form printout
If you had a problem, you want to verify its fixed or not while the manager is there

Ramrodthrusterpuppy

An Acura dealer that "typically doesn't give out loaners"? That's a new one...I thought that all Acura dealers gave out loaners for vehicles in service, that's part of being a Tier 1 dealer. It's really sad, I find that most Acura dealers really have poor service departments.

In contrast, we very recently purchased a pre-owned '08 FX35 for my wife from the local Infiniti dealer. Beautiful vehicle...really love it. But there were a few issues that should been picked up in the CPO inspection, that weren't. So I had brought it back in expecting a fight to get everything fixed the way it should've been. I was so presently surprised with how well the Service Dept. corrected the issues....no arguments, gave us a brand new FX35 as a loaner without a thought (freshly cleaned and detailed too), even let us keep it an extra day because we couldn't make it in. Everything was fixed perfectly and on top of that, the Service Mgr. gave us 3 free oil changes for the trouble. This is the way that a Tier 1 dealer should treat its customers. I'm not saying that all Acura service depts suck and all Infiniti service depts are the best....but in my experience, the contrast was stunning. Acura really needs to clean up their act and stop riding on the Honda reliability card that they have been for the last 20 years.

Tehvine

I just recently had a good experience with a dealer. Picked up my 04 6mt about 2.5 weeks ago and had already put 1400 miles on it. The warranty was only for 30days/1000 miles since it was used (80k mi). The dealer still took it in, resolved all of my issues no charge, now that's service.

gatrhumpy

iTrader: (1)

OP, you should definitely talk to the service manager. Tell him or her your concerns, and see if they will make it right. That is sickening.

jrsmiles

iTrader: (1)

Come to find out today that none of my interior lights work, and my key fob cannot be reset. I was in another town and pulled into another Acura dealership and the service tech could not get my key to reprogram. He said it has to be something else going on that they would have to diagnose.

To quote up above, it is sickening, to take your car in for some warranty trouble, then have them totally disable 3 other systems while trying to fix it, then give the car back like nothing happened? WTF?

I called the adviser today and he just told me to bring it back in and they have to look at it. He made it a point to tell me that they ate the cost of the rental car, I told him that doesn't even matter, my car is screwed. I asked him what I'm supposed to do and how do I handle this situation, and he didn't have an answer. I'll be speaking with the service manager as soon as I can get to him. I doubt he's in on Saturday, probably only the other techs.

princelybug

iTrader: (16)

+1.

If this doesn't work, call ACS.

If that doesn't work, call the BBB. Maybe you'll call them anyway?

DMZ

OP's story sounds somewhat similar to my experiences at Acura of Ramsey in Northern-most NJ. Most incompetent and inept service department I'VE ever dealt with. When we have these issues, the complainers here should also alert the rest of us as to the specific dealer in question. That means you jrsmiles.

Isn't it about time someone here started a DEALERS TO AVOID thread?
.
.

nfnsquared

Check fuse #6 (7.5A) in the underdash fusebox. It controls everything that you've lost: HFL control unit, interior lighting, and keyless receiver unit.

leedogg

get corporate acura involved

jrsmiles

iTrader: (1)

So I just got back from the 3rd visit to the dealership. I showed up at 8am and asked nicely for my car to be inspected for the problems that I reported over the phone to my adviser. My adviser told me yesterday he would inform the man on duty this morning that I was coming in and they should take care of it. This adviser, (not my normal guy) was a little hesitant at first to help me on a Saturday since he had 20 appointments and he has to take care of those first. I promptly told him I didn't care about his appointments my problem is 3 weeks old and a direct result of incompetence in his department, and I should receive a pass to the front of the line to either get another loaner, or find a simple fix if something was left unplugged. I became sort of flustered and escalated in front of about 5 other customers, explaining out loud to the adviser how they have failed to repair my car twice, and left systems broken that worked before I brought them in. He was a bit defensive but did his best to address the situation, he said no one told him I was coming, and he doesn't understand why one of his colleagues would schedule this for a Saturday. I told him I was about a minute away from calling Acura and creating an escalated problem with his manager and dealer and I expect things will be handled immediately. He took the car and said he'd do his best to bump it to the front.

I went to the waiting room for just over an hour and he came back and told me they are going to have to get Acura's tech department on the line to troubleshoot the issues. He was preparing a loaner car for me at that time. He gave me a new TSX and said they would be in touch Monday with either results from Acura or just to check in. He was apologetic and said he understands how frustrating this is and is confident the problems will be fixed.

At this point, I am happy with today's visit, but still quite dissatisfied with the entire situation. This all could have been avoided with a little QC or systems check after the work was completed the first time. Not to mention my initial visit that yielded absolutely no results. I have now driven about 100mi in dealership trips, been without my car for 5 full days, (not counting my current visit and future time) and spent close to 6 hours waiting at the dealership, not including the time on the phone and driving to and from. I've been late and left work early to handle this, and drug myself to the dealership early on my only days off. The value the time/gas/driving that I've spent is very important to me and this experience has opened my eyes to bad service.

I am one of the nicest and most passive people you can meet. I work in a business to business service industry, and I manage a team of 12 individuals. I know what incompetency is, what excuses sound like and I know how to solve problems. I don't feel I should have to become aggressive and threatening to a business when they fail to meet a simple benchmark of service. This whole ordeal has left me frustrated with the dealership, not necessarily the brand. This is my first Acura, but as I've mentioned before, I've had better experience at Ford/Honda/VW. Once this is wrapped up, I will more than likely take my car somewhere else for service since they've pretty much blown their chance at retaining this customer. They do a good job at making nice, but it shouldn't have to come to that.

The dealership in question is Regal Acura/Pontiac/GMC/Honda in Lakeland, FL.

BradE

If the service manager is no help, talk to the general manager of the dealership. He is the service managers boss.

If still no luck, then call Acura Corporate.

smarty666

The Service loaner policies and options/availability vary by stealership. All my local Acura dealers offer service loaners, where one has only TSX loaners, and two others have loaners of each different Acura model depending on what you bring in.

I've have found over years with warranty work, that usually you have to give them a couple days to 1 week before you want to bring a car in for warranty service work and come out with a loaner. If you wait until 2 days, 1 day, or the day your car goes in, typically all the loaners are out and you won't get one.

As someone else pointed out, forget getting a loaner on a Friday or Saturday unless you've brought your car in earlier in the week. They get so busy on those days, typically b/c that is when more people are able to be off from work and take their cars in.

I have found the best bet for getting a loaner car, is to go in a week before you want to bring the car in and let them see and document the problem and schedule the appointment a week later. They will put your name down for a loaner that week before so that you'll have one when you come back.

alexSU

iTrader: (3)

What a nightmare! Luckily I've never dealt with a bad Acura dealer, my local dealer is pretty good about getting shit done.

nfnsquared

Call them back and tell them to check fuse #6!!

smarty666

I have one Acura dealer that is absolutely terrible. They ignore or poo poo off any problems I have or warranty things that should be done. I had a power steering fluid leak in my gearbox at 10k miles. I kept loosing fluid after 2-3 days and was hearing a loud chainsaw like sound coming from the engine compartment and had trouble turning the wheel. Went to this shitty Acura dealer 3 times for this. Each time, they couldn't even bring the car in the bay, told me nothing was wrong and kept refilling my fluid level and sending me on my way.

I had to get Acura Client Services involved and they had to call the stealership and force them to bring in and look at my car. After the fourth trip in, after ACS scolded them, they took my car, I got a loaner for 4 days and they found the leak in my gearbox and replaced it. No problems since but they treated me like a dog in the street until I had to get ACS burn the fire under their ass.

What I would do is, write a letter to the dealership owner and ACS reporting what happened and the severely poor customer service of their service department and tell ACS that they do not represent Acura as a company well. After you write the letters, go to another Acura dealer where you'll be treated better.

After I had the trouble with my local Acura dealer, I stopped going to them and went to another one that was a little bit further away from me but actually treats me like a human being rather than a bum in the street. You nor I or any other Acura owner deserve that kind of crappy customer service.

06nbptl

Issues

06nbptl

Sorry for the mistake post above. I have had the window issue repaired 4 times over the past 1 year and it started happening again...sucks cause my comprehensive warranty ended 3 months ago. Also blew my speaker recently. The window problem is a real pain in the a$$.

Your problems are minor... when I bought my car it was a certified pre-owned. I was told I would receive the warranty documents within 6 to 8 weeks from the pre-owned manager. When I didn't receive them after 8 weeks I called Acura Canada to inquire and was told ownership was never changed on their end (with ministry of transportation it was, but not in Acura's system) and the guy would contact the Acura dealership to fix this. I called 4 weeks later and the ownership had been changed on Acura Canada's system but no certified pre-owned warranty. I told them to put my warranty on ASAP, this was the only reason I bought from a dealer was the warranty. They told me that Acura Canada doesn't get involved with disputes regarding pre-owned vehicles and that when he inquired with the dealer they said it wasnt a certified pre-owned. I lost it on the guy I told him that if that was the case Acura was a joke of a company since the dealers are representatives of Acura. They tried to work with the dealer but nothing was done. Finally, I faxed the guy a copy of all the emails I had from the pre-owned manager saying the warranty was on the car and docs would arrive shortly. The guy forwarded it to some manager (I think a regional manager) at Acura and they eventually put on my warranty....almost 7 months later!!! I would never ever recommend Downtown Acura in Toronto, your better off walking. They screwed me and Acura did nothing until I provided 6 months of emails proving that the dealer said it was certified pre-owned.

Dealers have 1 interest and it ain't me or you.

acurapartssource

Look for an Acura Dealer that has received the "Acura Precision Team Award" Only the Top 15% of Dealers can get this Award and its all about "World Class Customer Experience" out of all the dealers only 20-30 a year ever win the Award. Hopefully there is one near you, it's all about customer satisfaction