I came here in October '14 because I was looking for a Certified pre-owned vehicle. I heard too many horror stories about dealerships selling lemons, so I did my research and found a 2008 Accord coupe that I liked.
I met with a salesman, Neuman and told him about the car I saw on the website, listed under the pre-owned certified section. I asked him MULTIPLE times if the car was certified. He said yes, and even proceeded to show me a pamphlet of the 150+ point inspection that comes with each certified vehicle.
When he brought the car around, it was making noises. I asked him about it, but he gave me a confused look saying "What noise?" I figured it wasn't a big deal because the car was certified. It was from 2008 so I thought the parts may be old but still good, since it MUST have passed the certification process.
I took his word for it and went for a test drive. Then the negotiations followed and I drove away with my "new" car after 5 grueling hours at the dealership.
Fast forward 4 months, my car's engine light comes on. It's time for the oil change, but the car starts making strange noises. I take it to the dealership and ask them to check out the noise. Surprise! It's a power steering pump issue and it will cost me $2000+ to fix it. What a fool I've been.
Still, the car is certified and I was confident they would take care of it, because they never should have sold that vehicle if it didn't pass the certification process. WRONG. The guy who hands me the bill looks at me and tells me my car is NOT certified.
I walk over to Neuman and ask him why my car is not certified. He doesn't know and says it should be, if that's what he had told me couple months back. He tells me to "check the paperwork because it should all be in the papers." I drive home and scramble through all the papers, and that's when it hits me. They never gave me any certification papers. I ask him why he had lied about the car being certified. He says he doesn't know and doesn't remember.
So, this is my naivety. I should have had my guards up, regardless of how nice Neuman was toward the end of the night. I was more worried about financing and negotiating prices that I had took Neuman at his word, instead of asking for the proof. Maybe he decided to leave out the certification and they changed it after I left. Or maybe the car was never certified and Neuman had just lied about it to sell the car.
Well, good job, Honda. You got me. I was naïve and you took advantage of it. Kudos. But here's my wrathful side. After waiting a week for a response, I informed Gladys at Honda of DTLA that if she doesn't respond before 5pm today, I would follow up with my own course of actions. So I will break it down for you.
First, I'm going to leave the proper review for EVERY car dealership review websites on the internet.
Second, I will fill out the Customer Satisfaction Survey and leave the proper reviews.
Third, I will file a complaint with the Bureau of Automotive Repair.
Fourth, I will follow up with a complaint to the State Attorney General.
And LASTLY, I will contact every single Yelper on this page that has left a negative review. I will look into their situation and if it seems like they were screwed over just like I was (and was never compensated), I will ask them to repeat steps 1-4 with me, and make sure the State Attorney General hears about this dealership.
Honda of Downtown Los Angeles Reviews
DO NOT BUY USED CARS HERE!!!
I came here in October '14 because I was looking for a Certified pre-owned vehicle. I heard too many horror stories about dealerships selling lemons, so I did my research and found a 2008 Accord coupe that I liked.
I met with a salesman, Neuman and told him about the car I saw on the website, listed under the pre-owned certified section. I asked him MULTIPLE times if the car was certified. He said yes, and even proceeded to show me a pamphlet of the 150+ point inspection that comes with each certified vehicle.
When he brought the car around, it was making noises. I asked him about it, but he gave me a confused look saying "What noise?" I figured it wasn't a big deal because the car was certified. It was from 2008 so I thought the parts may be old but still good, since it MUST have passed the certification process.
I took his word for it and went for a test drive. Then the negotiations followed and I drove away with my "new" car after 5 grueling hours at the dealership.
Fast forward 4 months, my car's engine light comes on. It's time for the oil change, but the car starts making strange noises. I take it to the dealership and ask them to check out the noise. Surprise! It's a power steering pump issue and it will cost me $2000+ to fix it. What a fool I've been.
Still, the car is certified and I was confident they would take care of it, because they never should have sold that vehicle if it didn't pass the certification process. WRONG. The guy who hands me the bill looks at me and tells me my car is NOT certified.
I walk over to Neuman and ask him why my car is not certified. He doesn't know and says it should be, if that's what he had told me couple months back. He tells me to "check the paperwork because it should all be in the papers." I drive home and scramble through all the papers, and that's when it hits me. They never gave me any certification papers. I ask him why he had lied about the car being certified. He says he doesn't know and doesn't remember.
So, this is my naivety. I should have had my guards up, regardless of how nice Neuman was toward the end of the night. I was more worried about financing and negotiating prices that I had took Neuman at his word, instead of asking for the proof. Maybe he decided to leave out the certification and they changed it after I left. Or maybe the car was never certified and Neuman had just lied about it to sell the car.
Well, good job, Honda. You got me. I was naïve and you took advantage of it. Kudos. But here's my wrathful side. After waiting a week for a response, I informed Gladys at Honda of DTLA that if she doesn't respond before 5pm today, I would follow up with my own course of actions. So I will break it down for you.
First, I'm going to leave the proper review for EVERY car dealership review websites on the internet.
Second, I will fill out the Customer Satisfaction Survey and leave the proper reviews.
Third, I will file a complaint with the Bureau of Automotive Repair.
Fourth, I will follow up with a complaint to the State Attorney General.
And LASTLY, I will contact every single Yelper on this page that has left a negative review. I will look into their situation and if it seems like they were screwed over just like I was (and was never compensated), I will ask them to repeat steps 1-4 with me, and make sure the State Attorney General hears about this dealership.