I need some advice: In your experience do you get better service if you take it in where you bought it or does it not matter with Acura?

My daughter is thinking of getting a TSX. She lives in MD but I may be able to save a few bucks for her by being a repeat customer here in OH (where I bought my TL last year). I don't want to save a few bucks and then find out when she needs service either: 1) she gets low priority in scheduling or 2) gets poor service.

Any insight and experiences you have encountered with Acura is appreciated.

 

In my experience, I usually get better service from where I purchased the car.

 

How do you define better service ? like giving you priority, more attentive ?
If dealer X gives better service to people who bought car there vs those who didn't
then that dealer is NOT worth going to. Just some BS shyster. I don't want to buy nothing from them.

A good dealer treat ALL CUSTOMERS the same.

(re loaner car is a differebt matter)

 

Personally speaking, I really don't think it matters...It all depends on what type of a relationship you develop with the service guys...For example, I purchased my car in NJ and I live in AZ right now...The Acura dealership that I get my car serviced at is wonderful...As soon as I went there the first day, I just talked directly with the Service Manager and just built a good relationship with him and the dealership itself...so my advice is that if it saves you some $$$, go for it but just advise your daughter to create a good relationship with the dealer in MD and then she should be fine...

 

In my experience, I get better service at a different dealer. I started off giving service business to the dealer I purchased from. They didn't have many loaners, the loaners they had were older, sometimes trade-ins, and you had to schedule in advance to get one. Not only that, they didn't accept cars for warranty work on teh weekend. So, I switched to a dealer who was more courteous, had current model, low mileage loaners (and plenty of 'em) and were open to accept my car any time. I don't know there's a "bought here" service level. If they don't treat ALL their customers well, how will they stay in business?

The new dealer's level of customer service in the service dept. won me over from the dealer I bought from, and I'll definitely buy my next Acura from this other dealer. I won't go back to my purchasing dealership unless it's to get a bid for my new dealer to compete against.

So, I think the dealer treats 'em all the same. They never ask if I bought from them. They treat me well so I WILL buy from them in the future. Make sense?

 

unfortunately, it depends on the dealership. i go to a dealer new my workplace and they treat me great (better than the dealer i bought the car from). one of the guys at the desk even remembers my first name. great bunch of guys.

 

IMHO, Matelot & Jinen both make good points. The philosophy at the Acura dealer I worked at was that we serviced everyone equally well. The only two exceptions were:

-We only covered loaner cars for our customers who bought with us (once the TLC program came into effect, this was eliminated) unless we could get Acura to cover the cost for a replacement vehicle.

-Tie goes to our customer. In other words, if we had two customers and we had to choose which one to service first, etc, our customer got the nod.

Before I get flamed here, let me just say that:

A-we never abused the trust placed in us, and were always up front with our policies when questioned. Some weren't happy with our policies, but they usually respected why we did it.

B-we spent over $50,000 on rental vehicles EVERY month. If a customer ever asked why we didn't provide transportation after the warranty expired, this was the reason we gave. It was either that, or pad every bill $20 to cover our costs.

Honestly, I sometimes wonder how the dealer I worked at is still in business.

 

I live in KC Mo. Just had my A1 service done in Tampa Fl as I am here on vacation. Freman Acura treated me like I bought the car there. A1 service and wash for $59.00. Very pleased.