Motor Trend reports on a Honda Dealership experience.

[Sayjac]

Saw this in my inbox this morning and I thought, 'this stuff even happens to MT'. Perhaps I should have said Honda stealership experience in title but I didn't want it to be sensationalized. I'm thinking the stud and labor should have been covered under warranty(what do I know). That said, guess I'm not all that surprised but without a doubt I would NOT have been as kind as MT here. Stating the obvious, VERY BAD PR for Honda here. Just for reference, I own and have owned more than a few Hondas. Just thought members might find reading about the experience interesting.

PS Mods if this has been posted previously (I did a few searches), can delete.

2021 Honda Odyssey Long-Term Review Update: First Service Goes Nuts!

At the first service appointment for our long-term 2021 Honda Odyssey we uncover a mysterious expensive issue.

www.motortrend.com

 

[nomas]

Oh , hell no ! I would have fought that all the way up the chain .

 

[CharBaby]

Although I've had decent experiences at Honda dealerships, I've been reading about poor customer experiences from Honda owners for over 30 years.

 

[buster]

Meh it can happen at any dealership.

 

[Hermann]

After owning a 2005 Accord. If it was not right they will never be right. Mine had a bad case of "The Monday's" that could not be exorcised.

 

[PimTac]

One part of that invoice list jumped out at me. $17.00 for parts? (0w-20 oil, oil filter, drain plug, gasket)

That doesn’t seem right.

As for the stripped wheel lug, that should have been under warranty. A lot of questionable stuff here and MT exaggerating a bit to make the story.

 

[The Critic]

One part of that invoice list jumped out at me. $17.00 for parts? (0w-20 oil, oil filter, drain plug, gasket)

That doesn’t seem right.

As for the stripped wheel lug, that should have been under warranty. A lot of questionable stuff here and MT exaggerating a bit to make the story.

Not sure what you’re getting at. All of the story adds up to me.

If the dealer is part of the Honda oil program, those numbers look correct.

 

[PimTac]

Not sure what you’re getting at. All of the story adds up to me.

If the dealer is part of the Honda oil program, those numbers look correct.

It just seems like $17 for the oil and oil filter and the rest is really cheap. They use the $2 per quart special?

 

[The Critic]

It just seems like $17 for the oil and oil filter and the rest is really cheap. They use the $2 per quart special?

The OEM’s subsidize their Genuine oil programs.

This was Toyota’s as of last year:

https://toyotapartsandservicehub.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/2021-6-1-GTMO-One-Page_v2.pdf

There are also some backend incentives for participating in the genuine oil programs. Obviously the OEM’s buying power in combination with the dealer incentives will make the oil costs for lower than normal market levels.

 

[MNgopher]

My 2 cents: If I had never taken the wheels off, nor had they come off for other services - that's a warranty repair.

What I don't see in the story is did someone take a wheel off for some purpose? (Other than checking to see if anyone needed to fess up to something). And frankly, the magazines typically like to document all the services their loaners receive to give a real picture...

 

[SatinSilver]

It just seems like $17 for the oil and oil filter and the rest is really cheap. They use the $2 per quart special?

Agree but it's probably their 0w20 synblend version.

 

[RooflessVW]

I agree that the repair should have been either warranty or "goodwill."

 

[samven]

You cant expect them to call out Honda too loudly, after all there is ad revenue to consider and the factory loaner for testing.

 

[mk378]

If no one else had ever taken the wheel off, it must have been like that from the factory, which is of course a warranty situation. If the owner or a third party had worked on that wheel before and cross-threaded the nut, I don't see why they're upset with Honda.

 

[ryster]

One of the MT long-term updates talks of how this van was used for a "guys weekend", and the van sagging on the rear springs when loaded up with the eight guys and their stuff. Something tells me there were some untold stories from this "guys weekend".

 

[michaelluscher]

My experience with Honda dealers has been similar, if not worse
Service departments charging top dollar for middling to inferior work
A general aversion to warranty work
No desire to do any more than the bare minimum, but always time to upsell nonsense
And they absolutely will fight tooth and nail to avoid doing any kind of service campaign, extended warranty, goodwill whatever Honda calls theirs
When the service manager tells me that the lifetime seatbelt buckle warranty quoted in the owners manual is fake news, my blood began to boil
If that lug nut wasn't touched since factory assembly/PDI, it should be wholely on Honda's dime to fix
If it was caused by the dealer during routine repair/maintenance, it still should be covered by the dealer in house, or Honda
This doesn't look good for them, but Honda much like Apple, has a certain perception of being perfect, and never needing to admit fault or be held accountable
Honda service people IME have such a chip on their shoulder, I really wonder where they got it from
Ericthecarguy (as much as I disagree with him at times) was somewhat of an exception, admitting to common problems and solutions

 

[Hall]

Honda dealers ≠ Honda (of America)

 

[Ignatius]

Meh it can happen at any dealership.

I don't see what the big deal is, stuff like this happened every day at the Subaru dealership I previously worked at. Are people just shocked at the cost or what? Some brands have more expensive components and labor requirements than others, this is standard fare across the industry so what's the big deal?

 

[FZ1]

It's not just Honda: It's all dealerships. The high end car dealerships just smile more.

 

[JXW]

Purchased Civic Si in 2008. Had an issue after svc with just under 5k. GM/owner of the Honda store basically told me to go pound sand.

My reply " no problem, I buy a new car every 2 years, you will not have my business. Period."

I do not believe that all Honda stores are bad but in this case, my experience dictated little concern to the customer if any.

As with most things, it starts with a culture and ownership inspecting what they expect from the teams.

FYI after receiving a new clutch and the whole nine yards on 2019 JLU 6 speed, it would not shift to 1st. I could not drive away. Drove back into bay and it took quite a bit of patience from me and time, before I was told they would fix it. 2 days later it was repaired and returned to me.

Same vehicle with free oil changes for 2 years. No way in hell they dropped the oil before I took ownership. I dropped it with 200 miles on "Free oil" for m1 ow20 EP. Came out dark as night. My thoughts are they never actually changed the oil just wrote it up and gave back to owner (female). If true, how much does this repeat in the dealer world???