Fairfax Honda

i am so in the hole and late on car payments becaus ei fthis darm lemon tehy sold me

On 13 Oct 05 my 2003 Honda CRV was hit from the rear and I had it towed to Fairfax Honda. The car is still there today, 23 Nov, due to multiple issues all not of my doing. The last two weeks they impounded the car because they would not release it until Travelers Insurance sent them a check for the balance due for the accident.

Since the first day I had the car towed to Fairfax Honda I requested a body trim issue be repaired under the warranty. Especially since it was going to be in a body shop, anyway. I bought the car Nov 2002 and twice have had to have the black tape trim, drivers door, replaced. The tape again bubbled Aug 2005 and needed to be replaced. Fairfax Honda has not fixed the trim the entire time the car has been in their control. This is inspite of my repeated request they replace or address the trim problem(although they did check the door alignment).

I was even asked to come to Fairfax Honda and point out what I was talking about, because they could not find the problem. Tuesday, 22 Nov 05, I received the call the insurance check was received and I could come and get the car. I asked, again, about the warranty issue and trim. I was told today, 23 Nov, it would not be covered under warranty. They have had the car for a month and a half when the car was under warranty. Now it is out of warranty, still on their lot, and they say it isn't a warranty issue.

I contacted Brown's Honda who replaced the trim twice before and they said the car was out of warranty and their one year warranty for the work defaulted on 16 Nov 2005. Fairfax Honda had the car and would not release it to me so I could not get the car to them.

Honda is taking no responsibility for this warrenty issue and are going to make it my problem to pay for the trim. ALSO, since it has been replaced every year I've owned the car, I have no reason to believe it will not continue through the life of the car. (No one knows why it is doing it.) This will be a cost I'm not willing to carry for the next 7-10 years I own the car. I believe Honda should take some responsibility.

I dropped my car off for its 90,000 mile service on Thursday Feb. 20th. I had to get a rental car in which Honda did not offer to pay for which I found out they often do as a courtesy. Later that day Oscar the Silver Team leader calls me and lets me know they just about completed the 90K service and also informs me that the catalitic converter is deteriorating and the timing belt needs to be changed due to mileage. Charging over 2,000 for parts and labor. I told Oscar not to do anything else on my car until I give the okay. As a result of the high price I intsructed him to finish the 90K service but not to proceed any futher.

I then decide to search for a reputible mechanic to inspect my car and let me know what in his opinion needs to be done. This gentlemen's name is King Dao. I didn't originally know this but he has worked on the Consumer Affairs Board for Goodyear for many years and was also certified to testify in court upon his own inspection of vehicles for consumers. King is defintely not in the money exchange business. He did a substantial amount of work for me for only 700 dollars. He not only inspected the catatlitic converter for me, he inspected EVERYTHING in my car. Gave his suggestions of what needs to be done now and what can wait another month.

He pointed out that the fan belts were dry rotted and cracked and needed to be replaced. Something Oscar and his team seemed to overlook.

Another point I would like to illustrate is Oscar's or Honda's lack of integrity. As my car sat overnight in Honda's covered garage, something apparently dripped onto my car and stained it. I had no knowledge of this until King, who kindly went to pick up my car saving me the hassle of rearranging my schedule, got to the dealership. King even called Oscar to notify him he was on his way to pick up my car. Oscar never had the common courtesy to call myself, the owner of the vehicle or let King aware of the delay so he wouldn't waste a 45min drive.

Instead, King got the runaround on the phone. People were passing the buck. Once he arrived, King called me and let me know of the problem and King put Oscar on the phone. Oscar then gave me little information about the damage done to my car. It took until 4:00Pm for Paul who is Oscar's boss to call me and let me know my car was ready to be picked up. Paul offered to have the car delivered to me but since I was paying for a rental and at work I had to have them take my car to King.

Even after speaking with Paul, Oscar's boss, whom had no idea of the fiasco, he then tried to make me feel bad for calling and complaining to him. Paul tried to make me believe that Oscar didn't see the damage to my car until King got there to pick it up. I do not believe this whatsoever.

As for the checklist of items the mechanic is supposed to go through and check off and mark under each headline if it needs Immediate Attention or Excellent Condition, there was nothing marked indicating they even looked at anything. As King pointed out to me, they went straight to the nitty gritty, the timing belt and catalitic converter. No, notes were jotted down for reference for my sake, nothing telling me that the fan belts were dry rotted and it may cause a road side breakdown. NOTHING. Oh, and to top that off, I get in my car and the maintanence reset button wasn't even reset! You do this after every oil change.

The last point I would like to make is this. Honda sends out a customer satisfaction survey after every service on your car. Oscar NEVER FORGETS to tell me this and also gives me the guilt trip of please mark excellent on all the questions as this effects my pay. Come on folks, you do not tell a customer to do this. I don't need to say anymore.