Well, so far my experience at Dick Ide Honda has been enjoyable, until this morning. My salesman, Adam, and the sales manager Roberto were a pleasure to work with - they always went out of their way to make sure I was happy, so they can rest assured this write up has nothing to do with them - they are doing their jobs, and doing them well.
This morning was the 2nd time I brought my 2009 Si FA5 into the dealership to get the rev hang issue looked at. I also let the service writer know that there was another problem - throttle lag. This throttle lag came into existence after my ECU was reflashed with an update from Honda on Friday. This is a new issue.
I went into the waiting room and opened up my laptop to get my workday started while I was waiting for the technician to come get me, as the service writer suggested we go for a drive together. My name was called and I walked into the other room where the technician greeted me.
As we walked outside, he handed my keys and I said, "Oh, I get to drive?" His response was "Yep, you can drive so you can show me what you are complaining about." I thought to myself - this guy is a real asshole and I can tell from the get go. His attitude from the start was very poor.
As we got in the car he didn't have much to say, and I told him that I've done extensive research on the topic of rev hang, and it is indeed, a problem. After driving up the street, I showed him how bad the rev hang was. He INSISTED that this is the way Honda engineered this, and if the RPM's dropped low too fast it would cause the car to jerk. I explained to him that the rev hang is NOT normal, and because of the rev hang, it makes it harder to rev match, causing the car to jerk. When you shift, the RPMs are supposed to drop to a point where you can engage the next gear without jerking the car. This is how EVERY manual transmission car drives. I explained to the tech that they reflashed my ECU, and the rev hang got worse. Along with the rev hang, a new throttle lag issue arose. He kept saying, "I don't feel the throttle lag at all, everything is normal." I honestly don't know how you couldn't notice it - this guy was a complete f#$%ing ASSHOLE!
This technician was being a real prick and I wanted to punch him in his mouth.
This guy's attitude was so poor, and he talked to me like I was a complete idiot. Not only that, he spoke to me with total disrespect. I was amazed at how this guy has obviously been getting away with talking to customers like this. I think its absolutely ridiculous that I just bought a $25,000 car and these problems exist. You bring a car to get fixed and it is supposed to get fixed - new problems are NOT supposed to arise.
As we pulled back into the dealership, he said "you can talk to my manager if you'd like."
My response was, "Nope, I'm getting the hell out of here, you guys obviously aren't going to help me, maybe I'll go in there and tell your boss that he's going to pay for my Hondata FlashPro to fix my car."
His response was "yeah, that's not going to happen." I'm telling you - it really amazes me how people talk to other people in general. I have a real problem with people who talk to me like that who don't know me.
We walked into his manager's office, and he walked right in front of me, cut me off, and said to his boss, "this guy here is compaining about his car and would like to have a word with you."
Once again, I wanted to punch him square in the mouth.
I sat down with his manager - unfortunately I didn't catch his name. I told him that I was unhappy. He didn't seem to give a shit. The technician sat down in a chair in the corner of the room while I was speaking to his manager. As I explained my rev hang and throttle lag issues, he said there was nothing they could do for me. He said he could call Honda and see if there was anything they could do. I explained to him that there was a TSB for the rev hang issue for the 2006 Si's, and it was resolved. Why can't they resolve this for my 2009?????
The technician started to open his mouth with his foul attitude and I said, "you know, I really don't want this guy in the same room as me right now, he's being a real asshole."
The tech stood up and put his hands up in the air and said "OK then" and left the room.
The manager then proceeded to tell me that he doesn't appreciate me talking to his tech like that.
WHAT?!?!?!?!?
I told the manager that his technician had absolutely no right talking to me like that, and I said that I don't deserve that kind of treatment given that I just spent all this money on a brand new car right off the lot. I was absolutely astonished.
The manager then said "How was he talking to you?" and then HE started giving me attitude.
I stood up and walked out.
In Conclusion
I was happy with Dick Ide Honda while I was working with Adam and Roberto. The service department there has been nothing but a pain in the rear. I've heard reports from people that the Dick Ide service department has tried ripping them off, and reports that the service department tried convincing them that tires purchased at Goodyear were no good, and that they should buy Toyo tires there, when the whole time, the wheel bearings were bad, not the tires. Not only that, there are many articles on the internet with complaints from this specific service department. I've actually heard rumors that Dick Ide service is not AAA approved. Not sure if this is true or not, and I'm not going back to ask!
UPDATE: Thursday, April 8th, 2010
I received a call from American Honda Motor Company today. I spoke with a guy named Brian - he explained to me that if the dealer flashes your ECU/ECM, the issue has been reported to improve. I really don't think that there has been an improvement seeing as though my rev hang issue has gotten worse, as well as a new throttle lag issue coming into the picture. I explained to Brian that the condition has worsened, and he recommended I try another dealer.
I made an appointment for Friday April 9th at John Holtz Honda in Rochester. I spoke with the service manager - Billy. He was VERY friendly and was very willing to help me. He said "bring your car in tomorrow at 3pm, we will take it for a road test with the Honda rep that will be here, and if he notices the problem you speak of, we will hook it up to the computer, roll up our sleeves, and try to tackle the problem for you."
Wow.
He actually said that they'd try to help me, because they like to make money, and like to make their customers happy. I couldn't believe it. You know what - at this point, even if the problem doesn't get fixed and I have to resort to purchasing a Hondata FlashPro, I don't even care anymore. The fact is - Holtz service department has been extremely friendly to me, and are willing to go out of their way to help me even though I didn't purchase my car there.
So to the manager and the technician who treated me like shit today, I hope this article shows up in search engines and people read it in the Rochester area so they are aware of how you treat your customers. I really can't believe that they didn't try to get me to come back when I started walking away - you know, to sit down and see how they could go above and beyond to see how they could make me happy, but instead, he just watched me walk out.
I guess I'm going to have to eventually purchase a Hondata FlashPro for $700 in order to FIX MY BRAND NEW CAR.
If I didn't love this car and if there were 2011's available, I would have demanded that I return my car and get a full refund today.
