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Honda Dealer practices

4K views 24 replies 21 participants last post by  CheezyPoofs 
#1 ·
So I have a 17 Touring Sedan. I had the entire front covered in Xpel Clear bra. Including the lights. Then the entire car covered with Ceramic Pro. About a week later I noticed something that looked like drips on my headlights. I couldn't wipe it off so i took it back to the shop. The owner said that there is no way it could be from the bra because they squeegee everything. He said to wait a couple more weeks, bring it back and he would peel it off and check. I brought it back to him and as he said, it was not on the outside. It was inside.


He suggested I go to the dealer and tell them to replace them. This is a minor issue but I am extremely anal about my cars and any sort of distortion on the lense will bother me forever.

I go unannounced to the dealer closest to me and show them. The service writer is freaking out because of the cost of these lights and tries to get a manager. He can't so he says "screw it, I'm ordering them". Mid phone call the manager comes running out yelling "Stop!!!" The rep hangs up the phone And the manager goes over to my car, then heads down the hall to the new car area.


10 min later he comes back and asks me if I am ok with him swapping out a clean set from their showroom car with 8 miles on it. I ask to inspect them first.


After inspection, they are good to go. I asked him if they are going to try and sell that car with my headlights in it and he hesitates, and says "I'm going to see if this is an ongoing issue before I start ordering $1200 lights"


What are your thoughts on how this played out? I got what I wanted. But is someone else going to get screwed??


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#4 ·
I have a problem with my headlights also. Car is 2015 LX purchased sept 2014. Drivers headlight is starting to peel from very top of light down. So far it hasn't come down enough to be noticeable when hood is down it's covered. when I took car in for CVT software update I asked Dealer about it and he just said it wasn't covered by warranty. Any others having this peeling problem.
 
#5 ·
What are we learning from this guys and gals? Gen 7.5 for the win! Always will be top dog Accord :))
 
#8 ·
Truth!


No car is perfect.
Blasphemy, sir! Blasphemy! (see above) :)

I doubt I would notice the lights- I am a "function first" kinda guy. But I've been the OCD car guy in a past life, so I understand it, and don't judge. The dealer sounded like a problem solver- and was up front with you about the solution. Like others said, the buyer of the new car with your headlights may not even notice or care, and it simply may be a non-functional-affecting coating error from the supplier.

My buddy is a doctor and survived a very aggressive cancer. If I brought up this issue to him he would probably punch me in the head as being a trivial matter- telling me I should stop wasting my time on that and spend my time keeping my wonderful Vietnamese girlfriend happy and taking over the world. Financially, he is well-off so his solution is to just get a new Porsche or Audi every two years and not care.

But when I had my Stealth- I was "that guy".
 
#6 ·
No car is perfect. Look long enough and you will find something. I don't sweat the small stuff, eventually I will have a dent or a scratch. It is just part of driving in the real world.

A headlight is $1200?

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#9 ·
I disagree.

They did do right by you, by replacing your headlights and getting you on your way. However I don't like the shady tactics used by some dealers to just push cars out the door. Will the next customer notice? maybe not. Is it right? hardly. Personally I think they should have had the headlights swapped under warranty. Its a brand new car. It should be as close to perfect as the buyer wants. At least they told you the plan though, many service managers would say leave the car, we will take care of it and you'd never know that they swapped them with a different car.

This is the same as when some dealers sell accessory wheels and then keep the original wheels off the car and dont give them to the buyer. The resell them or swap them with damaged wheels cars.


Like the guy on here who had his 16' sport wheel replaced with one on the lot from a 17'. Think they're going to buy a new one for that 17? Nope. They're going to put the damaged one on and hope nobody notices.


I worked at dealerships. I've seen all of this and worse. It made me sick to my stomach, I quit because I didn't like the dishonesty.
 
#10 ·
This happens more than most people think. We had a dealer traded 2016 EX-L V6 come in and I noticed one of the LED strips on the headlight didn't work. The new owners were going to be at the dealership in less than 3 hours so we took another car off the lot and swapped headlights and ordered another for the lot car. Couldn't even tell.
 
#12 ·
They were going to cover it under warranty. But didn't want the expense. It would have been free for me either way.


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#16 ·
This kind of stuff makes me distrust some dealers. Maybe I'm reading too much into it, but I would've loved it if he said hey, we can order new ones and you can wait a few days or we can take care of you now with the ones from the showroom car. And when you asked if they'd sell it like that he should've said, without hesitation, absolutely not.

What worries me is fine, they did this with a minor cosmetic headlight issue. What else are they doing that with? They were quick to make that swap so it may have been done before.

Maybe with axels that vibrate just a little? Maybe a squeaky glove box?

But why even mess with this? If it's under warranty, does the dealer lose? Doesn't Honda of America cover the parts and labor? Or is there more hassle involved?


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#17 ·
I work at a GM dealership now and trust me... Honda cars come off the trucks pretty well built in comparison. Once in awhile we would get a new Honda that had some type of issue or another. One example was a brand new HR-V that had a badly scuffed front bumper right off the truck. We had our paint guy take care of it and you couldn't even tell. 90% of people who buy cars would not notice or care the car had been painted before taking delivery. We sold brand new Honda's with defects in the paint and the customer would come back and have it repaired at no cost to them.

These cars aren't perfect and defects happen from time to time. I can count a few places in my paint job that were badly prepped at the factory. Do I care? Not really. It's a car I drive every day so it won't stay perfect forever.
 
#19 ·
A car dealership is a retail store. They have to move the merchandise to stay in business. If a unit has a flaw they will repair the parts to satisfy the customer. They are not doing anything wrong or illegal. Cars are not shipped in containers and sometimes they get damaged after leaving the factory. Very dealer I know stores their inventory outdoors. If we have a hail storm come through, then they either repair all the damaged cars and hopefully reveal the prior damage to the customer or sell them as is at a bigger discount since they have insurance.
 
#23 ·
I go by a body shop near my house that has new card with the sticker on the windows. Guess they are from lot or delivery damage. When I went to pick up my LX the salesman said that when the detailer was backing out of the garage he hit another car. I had to pick another car which was a different color. Don't know what happened to that car or how severely it was damaged. I got 4 oil changes for the hassle.

The 1st time I washed my Equinox a week after I picked it up I noticed that near the top of the hatch that the paint had been buffed to the primer (I looked the car over bit not the roof). I took it back to the dealership who had more of an issue as how to bill it for warranty than to deny the repair. The piece near the hatch was removable. They told me they would remove the piece paint it and blend. They said 3 days. The
paint matched perfectly and after 7 years looks as good as new.
 
#24 ·
A quality, professional repair is a quality professional repair. These are machines, not living things.
 
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