Frustrated with Dealership!

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I went to the Honda dealer today to have the tires rotated / brake fluid changed / and have the VTC actuator issue checked out (or at least documented). Well after waiting in the car for over 20 minutes I was finally addressed. They had to put the new car info in the system (car in sig) which took a little while, he didn't have the "code" for a brake flush so he went back inside for maybe 5 minutes or so. When he came back out and finally got everything jotted down that I wanted done, I asked how long it would take...he said by the end of the day!!! WHAT? Its never taken this long to do this type of work, I brought my old Accord in to this dealer for the same type of work and it took maybe 2 hours tops. Long story short I ended up leaving after 50 minutes of going no where and said that I cant wait around for that long and I would re-schedule. I did write a review on yelp that wont reflect well on their service department, as well as call Honda Corporate. So hopefully they will get their act together. I also asked Corporate about the TSB 09-010 for the VTC actuator grind...as soon as I said VTC actuator she immediately said that American Honda is aware of the issue and they are working on a resolution. She also said that as of now the engineers determined it wont hurt anything and its just a characteristic of the engine. She said they are working on a resolution, and thanked me for calling about the issue...she also said that they forward these complaints to the engineers. Just wanted to vent and also share about the VTC issue. Hopefully Honda Corporate follows up with this dealer and makes them straighten up, they should be treating us like gold, not trash. I also hope that Honda is truly working on a fix for this VTC issue. Just wanted to share!
 
Sounds like you didn't have an appointment and they had to enter your vehicles information in their system since it was the first time there.

As far as the "code" for a brake flush, if you look at a repair order there are what called "labor ops" that is the code for each job. If the writer was new or they changed management software, there is a whole different list of ops used.

What you wanted would be an all day thing at my work as well. The engine complaint would be diagnosed first, then depending on what they find, it would go to a lube guy for the oil change and brake flush. Makes no sense to have a line tech doing the maintenance work, and it makes no sense to have the oil changed on a vehicle before getting engine diagnosis done.
 
Honda dealerships are by far the worst I, or my family has dealt with. Surprisingly I've never had an issue with Ford. Chevy even comes ahead of honda and that's saying a lot... What year is the VTC actuator for?
 
Originally Posted By: lawman1909
Honda dealerships are by far the worst I, or my family has dealt with. Surprisingly I've never had an issue with Ford. Chevy even comes ahead of honda and that's saying a lot... What year is the VTC actuator for?
2008-current....it affects your CRV as well.
 
I'm no fan of dealerships but generally if you don't make an advance appointment for work other than something like an oil change, you are going to wait perhaps all day if they have a full schedule of scheduled work for that day. I honestly think you are being unreasonable unless you had a scheduled appointment.
 
Welcome to the 21th century. Do as much on line as possible - which is a lot. Go to dealer website, enter all your info, schedule appointment, arrange shuttle if available, etc. Be sure they confirm and contact you and adjust if needed. Better to get some issues resolved like dealer work load before you get there. The days of just driving in and getting service at once are over.
 
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With the exception of an oil change, if I brought in my vehicle without an appointment, I'd expect it to take a while. All day isn't unreasonable to me. Other people scheduled appointments, and by bringing in my vehicle without an appointment I'm basically asking them to fit it in when they have time.

As I said, I'd expect faster service if I was coming in for an oil change. But that's because they usually have someone who just keeps doing oil changes and simple maintenance stuff like that all day long. To me, the moment you toss in having the VTC actuator issue checked out, that pushes it into something that takes more time than the basic routine maintenance stuff, and therefore falls into that "fit it in when they have the time" sort of thing.
 
This is why I make an appt, or at least call ahead to see if I can just drop by when going into a shop. If diagnosing a problem is involved, you definitely want to have an appt, especially at the dealer.
 
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I don't expect service of that magnitude without an appointment unless you are the CEO of some large company-are you? What you feel is an emergency may not be to all others. Ed
 
this is why I have not been to a dealer since 2003 when my new f150 had a rear diff whine ~65mph and it took a day to change the fluid. ...I replaced a bad pinion bearing myself the following year.

Prior truck Ranger STX was in for warranty bad seat switch. And they half unplugged the stereo harness so within a few days a speaker started cutting out. I found the loose plug and pushed it back in.

Scammers and twits only in it for the money and could care less IMO.
 
Originally Posted By: madRiver
Did you actually have an appointment or just show up?


Yes, this is the most important part of the story.
 
Originally Posted By: Mr Nice
Were you aware of VTC issues with Accords *before* buying your car ?
Yes...but not to the extent of the issue. I just thought it was a here and there deal.
 
Originally Posted By: gregk24
People....I had an appointment! Haha. Booked it last week.

That would have been a good bit of info to include in your initial post. And you said, "When he came back out and finally got everything jotted down that I wanted done", which makes it sound like you just popped in unannounced. Did you specify at the time of making the appointment all that you wanted done? And what did you expect them to do about the VTC actuator issue if Honda corporate doesn't even have a fix for it yet?
 
Originally Posted By: bdcardinal
Sounds like you didn't have an appointment and they had to enter your vehicles information in their system since it was the first time there.

As far as the "code" for a brake flush, if you look at a repair order there are what called "labor ops" that is the code for each job. If the writer was new or they changed management software, there is a whole different list of ops used.

What you wanted would be an all day thing at my work as well. The engine complaint would be diagnosed first, then depending on what they find, it would go to a lube guy for the oil change and brake flush. Makes no sense to have a line tech doing the maintenance work, and it makes no sense to have the oil changed on a vehicle before getting engine diagnosis done.


X2.

What time did you show up? Even if you showed up at 8:00 AM, they don't know for sure what they will encounter and "by the end of the day" is a fair promise IMO. If you got there any time past 9:00 AM, there's a good chance they were fully booked for the day for anything beyond oil changes/really simple stuff.

Techs generally aren't sitting around. If the tech is on flat rate pay, it's not worth it for them to sit around waiting for work. If it's an hourly oil changer, the dealer isn't going to let them sit around doing nothing. Either way things work out so there is basically no labor slack. If you get in and out quickly at a dealer, things worked out and planets aligned for that to happen. Don't expect it every day for every repair or service.

The quickest oil change at the dealer I work at is probably when I change the oil on my Rangers under the bedliner awning.
 
Wow, lots of dealer defense on this one. Which is interesting since they have no defense at all seeing as how the OP had an appt. But watch the goalposts shift anyway...

OP, this is the main reason I learned to wrench myself. At the time I was driving 60kmi per year. Dealers, independents, chains, whatever wanted days for the simplest of maintenance and I just couldn't be without the car that long (and I didn't want to keep a backup). So I learned bit by bit, did the work at night after working all day and the car/truck was ready by morning. Coincidentally I was also living in FL but the dealers in NY haven't proven to be any better.

Honda of America is the reason the VTC actuator problem won't get resolved. Along with the trans issues and brake problems. I've found they really don't care at all. I hope that the aftermarket finds a resolution for the noise (which I'm sure is quite embarrassing). I've written to Honda of Japan in the past and gotten an encouraging reply for my trouble. Not sure there's a resolution forthcoming in this case though.
 
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