On 11/30/14 I purchased a 2012 "Honda Certified" Civic for my ex-wife. She really needed a RELIABLE replacement car and since I work 12 hours a day, 7 days a week, I only had a short time to deal with her request. It was a Sunday; and there was a slight drizzle; but she needed a car, so we went to the dealership when it was just getting dark.
I picked out the car we purchased online; did some research on it before we went; and it was available sitting visible from the street. We test drove it and felt it would meet her needs. Unfortunately, we were having to look at the car in a darkened condition; with a slight drizzle. That, along with being black in color the only thing we could VISIBLY see was there were NO apparent dents or dings (body damage) perceivable and it drove great; so we decided to purchase.
My ex told me, "Why don't we come back later"; but we were told that "The car may not be there if we waited" and since it was the only Honda in the price range that we could afford; we decided to go ahead and purchase. We were approved through Honda Finance (which has been great); however, our experience with the "dealership" has been LESS than acceptable.
The car was represented as "Honda Certified" and the sales person "Glen" did a nice job of taking us on the test drive and explaining the features of the car. However, when trouble actually happened, despite his offer for me to "give him a call if there is anything he could do" he has NEVER returned my call to this day.
Or "troubles" started three (3) days after we bought the car; while driving in the rain, my ex was just starting to make a left turn (at an intersection) and the car suddenly lost power (she nearly got hit). After that, she barely made it into a driveway to get it safely off the road.
So, (3) days after buying our "Honda Certified" car it had to be TOWED in. I had to take time off the next morning to go to the dealer. I was told "The failure was due to water getting into the system and causing a short". The service rep then asked me "Did you use a high pressure sprayer on the motor to clean it or something"?
I was absolutely flabbergasted that he would ask me that; and asked "Why would I need to do any such thing as we have only had the car (3) days and the motor was perfectly clean to begin with?" Nonetheless, I got the car back that day and took it back to my ex (after work); but she didn't want anything to do with it after being nearly broadsided (the previous night), so the car sat for practically a week.
But that was not the end of our "problem" with this dealership. (Read on):
Even if she started using the car immediately after the first incident, it still would not have been noticed that our NEWLY PURCHASED, "Honda Certified" car, had yet another FLAW!
As she rarely drives during the day (which is the only time the "Flaw" can be seen) and since the car just sat there because she didn't want to get back in it; the "flaw" was NOT discovered until two weeks later. The problem is, you can't see it from the back, the sides, when your getting in and out; or even in dim light. So the next problem was NOT discovered until (driving it during the day).
On 12/15/14, my ex had a doctor's appointment in the early afternoon. This was the FIRST time she saw the full view of the car (during daylight hours); and she noticed (coming out of the doctors office walking toward the car (directly from the front) that she could see all kinds of small scratches on the hood of her (NEWLY PURCHASED 2012) Honda.
She was absolutely shocked; "that any dealership would sell a car with this kind of paint damage". I had to wait until I got off work (at night) before I could look for myself; but could not really see anything as it was still dark. However, when I used a high intensity light I saw what she saw. There are HUNDREDS of small paint scratches going every which way; on the top (at the front section) of her hood, and some major paint chipping on a couple areas as well, (where to hood curves under in front).
I told her I can't take any more time off work; so I asked her to take it in herself and talk with the Sales Manager (to show him the condition we discovered); that all areas of the car look like NEW and the hood makes her NEW CAR look like she bought it from a junkyard with chipping, weather beaten paint.
She took it in the following day and called me from the dealership. She reported that she "tried to speak to the Manager who apparently had no time to deal with her"; and summarily dismissed her inquiry saying "its been over a month and a half", which does NOT make sense since we bought it 15 days (from that date).
Nonetheless, she was told, "take it to the service department". She asked him "If they use something to cover or seal the cracks when they do their detailing" and his reply was "No, we don't do anything like that". She was trying to find out if when they were preparing the car did anyone notice the damage before putting it for sale. But the "Manager" just dismissed her and sent her on her way.
She reported that "She felt, this man who you would think would be concerned with a NEW CUSTOMER would have, at the very least, been WILLING to discuss things and look more carefully into the matter. If nothing else, would have been at least concerned if the people who are intrusted in preparing the cars (FOR SALE) are covering things over instead of having them properly FIXED; as they represent them as "Honda Certified".
When we were discussing the price with our sales person (Glen) he indicated that "They don't discount anything off the price because all of the cars are "Certified" with a hundred plus factors in consideration and ALL cars are sold based on being in EXCELLENT CONDITION" which was the VALUE we paid based on my research prior to going to the dealer. However, having a CHIPPED and SCRATCHED FINISH is NOT EXCELLENT!
To continue on; Instead of the Manager demonstrating any care or concern, he essentially brushed my ex off and sent her to "Service" saying, "have them look at it"; but did NOT inform the "Service Department" to follow up with him or try to do ANYTHING to satisfy his NEW CUSTOMER.
She did as instructed; only to have the attendant ask, "Did you go through a sand storm or something?". Once again, instead of receiving the kind of COURTESY one would expect; as a NEW CUSTOMER, was met with an INSULTING REMARK.
However, the Lord was gracious; and she was finally able to speak to someone who was actually willing to listen; and realizing that (WE JUST PURCHASED THE CAR) felt that "this was something that should have been repaired BEFORE it was put on the sales lineup"; and offered to put in a REPAIR ORDER (to be handled and paid for by the dealership) AS IT SHOULD HAVE BEEN in the first place before the car was SOLD AND PRICED AS BEING IN EXCELLENT CONDITION!
Keep in mind that the previous circumstances occurred on 12/17/14. On the evening of 12/18/14 I received a call from the dealership's (internal) "Customer Service Dept" offering to give me a "Free 30 Day Courtesy Inspection". She knew NOTHING of what had transpired; so I took the opportunity to convey my displeasure to the young lady; who, as anyone with a lick of moral decency would, was not happy with how NEW CUSTOMERS had been treated.
She reported that "She would bring it to the attention of someone who could assist me further". Shortly afterword, I got another call (from the same department) from the supervisor of the department. She provided a phone number for me to call stating "Honda takes such things very seriously; and when you call please inform them that this relates to at "Honda Certified" purchase.
On 12/19/14, I called the "Head Office" at number I was given; who deals with "Customer Complaints". The person on the other end had little time for my explanations; so she hurried me off and said "Someone will contact you regarding your concerns". Someone did; and I received a call back (that same day) from a very nice lady who (after hearing my complaint) said, "This is an issue between you and the dealership; so the ONLY thing I can do is to contact the dealership and express your concerns". She reported that "She will be contacting the dealership as soon as she gets off the phone with me".
Today is (Wednesday) 12/24/14 and NO ONE (from the dealership) has bothered to call. It it my belief, that the "Corporate Customer Service Center" called (to relay my concerns) on Friday; and no one called then or Saturday, that her call; along with our "concerns" have fallen on DEAF EARS.
On Friday, I called the gentleman, who was so helpful to my ex; and was told, "All I could do is put in the work order; but they have not gotten back with an approval".
At this point, I'm NOT confident that the "Dealership" cares one way or the other; so I'm writing this REVIEW to express my WRITTEN declaration as to how people FEEL about businesses who care more about PROFIT; i.e., the cost of PROPERLY repairing the painted finish on a car they PRICED and REPRESENTED as "Certified" and in my view; displays a LACK of MORAL sensibility.
Dealerships (more often then not) hide behind their "contracts' that sow you up for 5 Years; believing that they can rely on their VOLUME of NEW "Customers" because there is NO "Cool Off" period; and once they have the LEGAL basis to FORCE you to KEEP the (cars with flaws they hope to sell) they can treat you as IRRELEVANT.
As a man of God; and someone who operates in my father's ministry; it saddens me to see how PROFIT is more IMPORTANT to businesses; who (on the outside) represent themselves as "Caring About Their Customers"; only to demonstrate that that only applies when you buy a NEW CAR; but for those who have no choice but to buy USED, you take your chances (even when they say the car goes through every inspection imaginable aka (Certified).
All in all, I would NOT recommend purchasing from this dealership; who obviously don't understand what the word "Certified" means; and could CARE LESS about people once they get you to sign a contract. And being a man who DOES care about others, I will do everything in my power to see to it that people are WARNED about this dealership!
AutoNation Honda Costa Mesa Reviews
On 11/30/14 I purchased a 2012 "Honda Certified" Civic for my ex-wife. She really needed a RELIABLE replacement car and since I work 12 hours a day, 7 days a week, I only had a short time to deal with her request. It was a Sunday; and there was a slight drizzle; but she needed a car, so we went to the dealership when it was just getting dark.
I picked out the car we purchased online; did some research on it before we went; and it was available sitting visible from the street. We test drove it and felt it would meet her needs. Unfortunately, we were having to look at the car in a darkened condition; with a slight drizzle. That, along with being black in color the only thing we could VISIBLY see was there were NO apparent dents or dings (body damage) perceivable and it drove great; so we decided to purchase.
My ex told me, "Why don't we come back later"; but we were told that "The car may not be there if we waited" and since it was the only Honda in the price range that we could afford; we decided to go ahead and purchase. We were approved through Honda Finance (which has been great); however, our experience with the "dealership" has been LESS than acceptable.
The car was represented as "Honda Certified" and the sales person "Glen" did a nice job of taking us on the test drive and explaining the features of the car. However, when trouble actually happened, despite his offer for me to "give him a call if there is anything he could do" he has NEVER returned my call to this day.
Or "troubles" started three (3) days after we bought the car; while driving in the rain, my ex was just starting to make a left turn (at an intersection) and the car suddenly lost power (she nearly got hit). After that, she barely made it into a driveway to get it safely off the road.
So, (3) days after buying our "Honda Certified" car it had to be TOWED in. I had to take time off the next morning to go to the dealer. I was told "The failure was due to water getting into the system and causing a short". The service rep then asked me "Did you use a high pressure sprayer on the motor to clean it or something"?
I was absolutely flabbergasted that he would ask me that; and asked "Why would I need to do any such thing as we have only had the car (3) days and the motor was perfectly clean to begin with?" Nonetheless, I got the car back that day and took it back to my ex (after work); but she didn't want anything to do with it after being nearly broadsided (the previous night), so the car sat for practically a week.
But that was not the end of our "problem" with this dealership. (Read on):
Even if she started using the car immediately after the first incident, it still would not have been noticed that our NEWLY PURCHASED, "Honda Certified" car, had yet another FLAW!
As she rarely drives during the day (which is the only time the "Flaw" can be seen) and since the car just sat there because she didn't want to get back in it; the "flaw" was NOT discovered until two weeks later. The problem is, you can't see it from the back, the sides, when your getting in and out; or even in dim light. So the next problem was NOT discovered until (driving it during the day).
On 12/15/14, my ex had a doctor's appointment in the early afternoon. This was the FIRST time she saw the full view of the car (during daylight hours); and she noticed (coming out of the doctors office walking toward the car (directly from the front) that she could see all kinds of small scratches on the hood of her (NEWLY PURCHASED 2012) Honda.
She was absolutely shocked; "that any dealership would sell a car with this kind of paint damage". I had to wait until I got off work (at night) before I could look for myself; but could not really see anything as it was still dark. However, when I used a high intensity light I saw what she saw. There are HUNDREDS of small paint scratches going every which way; on the top (at the front section) of her hood, and some major paint chipping on a couple areas as well, (where to hood curves under in front).
I told her I can't take any more time off work; so I asked her to take it in herself and talk with the Sales Manager (to show him the condition we discovered); that all areas of the car look like NEW and the hood makes her NEW CAR look like she bought it from a junkyard with chipping, weather beaten paint.
She took it in the following day and called me from the dealership. She reported that she "tried to speak to the Manager who apparently had no time to deal with her"; and summarily dismissed her inquiry saying "its been over a month and a half", which does NOT make sense since we bought it 15 days (from that date).
Nonetheless, she was told, "take it to the service department". She asked him "If they use something to cover or seal the cracks when they do their detailing" and his reply was "No, we don't do anything like that". She was trying to find out if when they were preparing the car did anyone notice the damage before putting it for sale. But the "Manager" just dismissed her and sent her on her way.
She reported that "She felt, this man who you would think would be concerned with a NEW CUSTOMER would have, at the very least, been WILLING to discuss things and look more carefully into the matter. If nothing else, would have been at least concerned if the people who are intrusted in preparing the cars (FOR SALE) are covering things over instead of having them properly FIXED; as they represent them as "Honda Certified".
When we were discussing the price with our sales person (Glen) he indicated that "They don't discount anything off the price because all of the cars are "Certified" with a hundred plus factors in consideration and ALL cars are sold based on being in EXCELLENT CONDITION" which was the VALUE we paid based on my research prior to going to the dealer. However, having a CHIPPED and SCRATCHED FINISH is NOT EXCELLENT!
To continue on; Instead of the Manager demonstrating any care or concern, he essentially brushed my ex off and sent her to "Service" saying, "have them look at it"; but did NOT inform the "Service Department" to follow up with him or try to do ANYTHING to satisfy his NEW CUSTOMER.
She did as instructed; only to have the attendant ask, "Did you go through a sand storm or something?". Once again, instead of receiving the kind of COURTESY one would expect; as a NEW CUSTOMER, was met with an INSULTING REMARK.
However, the Lord was gracious; and she was finally able to speak to someone who was actually willing to listen; and realizing that (WE JUST PURCHASED THE CAR) felt that "this was something that should have been repaired BEFORE it was put on the sales lineup"; and offered to put in a REPAIR ORDER (to be handled and paid for by the dealership) AS IT SHOULD HAVE BEEN in the first place before the car was SOLD AND PRICED AS BEING IN EXCELLENT CONDITION!
Keep in mind that the previous circumstances occurred on 12/17/14. On the evening of 12/18/14 I received a call from the dealership's (internal) "Customer Service Dept" offering to give me a "Free 30 Day Courtesy Inspection". She knew NOTHING of what had transpired; so I took the opportunity to convey my displeasure to the young lady; who, as anyone with a lick of moral decency would, was not happy with how NEW CUSTOMERS had been treated.
She reported that "She would bring it to the attention of someone who could assist me further". Shortly afterword, I got another call (from the same department) from the supervisor of the department. She provided a phone number for me to call stating "Honda takes such things very seriously; and when you call please inform them that this relates to at "Honda Certified" purchase.
On 12/19/14, I called the "Head Office" at number I was given; who deals with "Customer Complaints". The person on the other end had little time for my explanations; so she hurried me off and said "Someone will contact you regarding your concerns". Someone did; and I received a call back (that same day) from a very nice lady who (after hearing my complaint) said, "This is an issue between you and the dealership; so the ONLY thing I can do is to contact the dealership and express your concerns". She reported that "She will be contacting the dealership as soon as she gets off the phone with me".
Today is (Wednesday) 12/24/14 and NO ONE (from the dealership) has bothered to call. It it my belief, that the "Corporate Customer Service Center" called (to relay my concerns) on Friday; and no one called then or Saturday, that her call; along with our "concerns" have fallen on DEAF EARS.
On Friday, I called the gentleman, who was so helpful to my ex; and was told, "All I could do is put in the work order; but they have not gotten back with an approval".
At this point, I'm NOT confident that the "Dealership" cares one way or the other; so I'm writing this REVIEW to express my WRITTEN declaration as to how people FEEL about businesses who care more about PROFIT; i.e., the cost of PROPERLY repairing the painted finish on a car they PRICED and REPRESENTED as "Certified" and in my view; displays a LACK of MORAL sensibility.
Dealerships (more often then not) hide behind their "contracts' that sow you up for 5 Years; believing that they can rely on their VOLUME of NEW "Customers" because there is NO "Cool Off" period; and once they have the LEGAL basis to FORCE you to KEEP the (cars with flaws they hope to sell) they can treat you as IRRELEVANT.
As a man of God; and someone who operates in my father's ministry; it saddens me to see how PROFIT is more IMPORTANT to businesses; who (on the outside) represent themselves as "Caring About Their Customers"; only to demonstrate that that only applies when you buy a NEW CAR; but for those who have no choice but to buy USED, you take your chances (even when they say the car goes through every inspection imaginable aka (Certified).
All in all, I would NOT recommend purchasing from this dealership; who obviously don't understand what the word "Certified" means; and could CARE LESS about people once they get you to sign a contract. And being a man who DOES care about others, I will do everything in my power to see to it that people are WARNED about this dealership!