I bought a new 2009 Honda FIT Sport AT/NAV/VSA during the Cash for Clunker Program. The saleman that I dealed with included wheel locks and splash guards for $300. He siad they were already installed in the car. I was OK with. However, when he took the car to me and I did not see the splash guards on the car. So I asked where it is? He when to part department and gave me a new set. He said if I wanted it installed, I had to wait or make an appointment to come back later. I said I could install it myself. When I got home, I tried to install it but the front splash guards did not fit 2009 FIT Sport due to side skirt.

I think Northwest Honda should find saleman who know what he is selling. Additional, $300 for wheel locks and Splash guards!!!! Overcharge!!!! Be careful.

I would not recommend this dealer for anyone.

 

The finance guy put $3,500 for extended warranty in my finance contract. He said it required by state law. I said “it is fine if it is required by law”. So I signed the contract. I went home and read. The extended warranty agreement states clearly that it is NOT required. So I went back to the dealer and asked for the sale manager. I told him that it was misleading. The finance guy took it off and redid the contract. Be careful with this dealer.

It is not worth for $3,500 for extended warranty. If your car was total, the extended warranty would be gone with it. The same principle applies to road hazard if rock hits your radiator or condenser. Additional, the warranty is not even from Honda Motor. It is from local company in MD. So if the company went out of business, your warranty would be gone as well.

 

Northwest Honda is the worst dealership experience I have ever had in my life. When I get home this evening, I'll post up the 2-page letter I sent to the general manager after I bought my car.

 

Here's the letter I sent to the GM at Northwest Honda after my new car buying experience...




February 19, 2009
Dear Mr. Roifino:

I am writing to you to express my discontent with my buying experience at Northwest Honda. I used to be a new car salesman myself, so I have a very sore spot for poor customer service.

On Friday, February 6, 2009, I purchased a 2009 Honda Fit. My salesman, Alan Kobin, was very friendly and helpful but I didn’t appreciate all the cursing that came out of his mouth. I heard a four-letter word multiple times and as a buyer, I felt either he wasn’t respectful of me, or he wasn’t taking his job seriously. He also did not negotiate the price of the vehicle. I test drove a Honda Fit on two separate occasions, and after the second test drive I asked if we could negotiate price and he said “Yeah, we’ll get to it later.” The next thing I know, I’m in the finance office without having discussed price at all.

My next point of dissatisfaction was with Tiana Robbins, the Finance Manager. I also mentioned to her that Alan had not negotiated the price, and all she said was “Oh…huh.” I am not an aggressive person, and unfortunately I was taken advantage of. What I should have done was walked out right there, but I chose to stay because I wanted the car.

When it came down to the financing, Tiana said the best she could get me approved for was 7.9%. I have a credit score of almost 800, so I was sure she could get a better rate than that. When I mentioned I was a member of SECU, she said she could do 4.74% as long as I got the member number for her. So the next day, February 7, 2009 I called Tiana back with the member number and she said everything would be fine. On Monday, she called me at work saying that I was not approved for the loan and I would have to come back into Northwest Honda and sign the paperwork for a loan at 7.9%.

I didn’t understand why I would not be approved, so I called SECU to find out. They said that they had not received an auto loan application from Tiana. They said it should only take about 45 minutes at the most to receive the faxed application and process it. I decided to apply for an auto loan through SECU online, and I was approved for the full amount in less than an hour. I called Tiana back and told her I was approved, and she said I still had to come in and sign a hold contract.

When I came in to Northwest Honda to speak to Tiana and sign the hold contract, she again stated that she had faxed the application over to SECU, and it was denied. When I asked to see the denial letter, she showed me a letter from January when I had visited Northwest Honda and I had larger negative equity on my trade. So this indicates one of two things: either Tiana never faxed over the new loan application and she was lying to me about the percent rate in order to get more money, or she actually did fax the application and it was never received by SECU. Another thing that upset me is that Tiana never followed up with SECU to check if it was sent to the wrong fax number or if it was lost in sending. If it was sent to the wrong number, my personal information with my social security number, address, etc could have been sitting on some random person’s fax machine.

So the next day, I signed the paperwork for the auto loan through SECU and drove back out to Northwest Honda for the third time to finalize the paperwork with Tiana.

As I stated earlier, because I used to sell new cars, I feel I should express my aggravation with other areas of Northwest Honda. There was a younger salesman wearing a yamika with his hair flipped up in the front, I’m sorry I don’t have his name, but he carried a cigarette in his hand from one end of the showroom floor to the other, then walked outside to smoke it. I’m not sure of the purpose of this, maybe he felt the need to show off to everyone that he was a smoker, but I thought it was childish and disrespectful. There was also another salesman wearing baggy khaki pants that were frayed at the bottom. At the dealership I used to work at, if I would have worn frayed pants to work I would have been sent home to change.

I also have a major issue with the used car finance manager, Todd. He was very cocky, arrogant, and belittling. He told me that someone four inches taller than me (I am 6’5” tall) bought a Mini Cooper from him. He told me to go outside and sit in a Mini Cooper. When I got in, I could not even sit up straight because my head hit the ceiling. There was also a price on that car that was about $8,000 more than the Honda Fit I was looking at, and the whole reason for looking at used cars was because the Fit was out of my price range. I’m no mathematician, but I’m pretty sure if I can’t afford $15,000 then I surely can’t afford $23,000. Especially since 9 times out of 10, used car financing is not as good as new car financing. When I mentioned that I knew I wouldn’t be able to afford certain cars on the lot, and I know how financing works because I used to sell cars, he put his hands in the air and said “Well you probably know more than I do anyway,” almost to the point of sarcastically insulting me.

I appreciate you taking the time to read this letter, and at the very least I hope some positive changes can be made at your dealership. Because of my bad experience, I will never buy from Northwest Honda again, nor will I take my car there for service, and I will do everything in my power to make sure that anyone I know that is interested in a Honda does not buy from Northwest.

Sincerely,

 

Here's the letter I sent to American Honda Motor Co., Inc, Honda Automobile Customer Service. Read the part about how the general manager HUNG UP on me while I explained my buying experience with his dealership. What a piece of shit.



To Whom It Concerns:

I am writing to you to explain my very negative buying experience at Northwest Honda in Owings Mills, Maryland. I have attached a copy of the letter that I sent to the general manager, Mr. Roifino, so you may have some background information. It may help to read that letter first, before continuing with this letter.

I mailed the letter to Mr. Roifino on Thursday, February 19, 2009. On Friday, February 20, 2009 I completed an online survey about my buying experience in which I gave a brief explanation about the events that happened. Saturday, February 21, 2009 I received a call from the general manager after he had seen my comments about the survey, but he had not seen my letter yet.

He spoke to me in a condescending tone as if I had made the story up. In regards to the finance manager stating that my loan was denied, he mentioned that SECU said I wasn’t a member. I have been a member of SECU for 2 years and I had paperwork with me to reflect that. I feel that if the finance manager was telling the truth about not finding my member number, she should have followed up or dug a little deeper to find my member instead of just assuming I was lying.

Then Mr. Roifino brought up the issue about my salesman cursing. He said “I’ve never heard Alan curse in the two years I’ve known him.” I said “Maybe he’s different around customers than he is around you.” To that he replied “Well he’s sold hundreds of cars and none of his customers have ever mentioned that.” So I said “Maybe they haven’t ever said so on the survey, or it wasn’t a big deal to them but I don’t think a salesman should be cursing in front of a customer.” Then he said “Ok well have a good weekend,” and he hung up. I felt like Mr. Roifino did not believe my story, and he had no regard whether I ever came back for service or not.

I truly love Honda automobiles and will never say anything bad about them, but my terrible experience at Northwest Honda will prevent me from ever setting foot in that dealership ever again. I hope this letter will help generate some change at that dealership so nobody has to go through what I went through in the future.

Sincerely,

 

I think the history repeat itself over and over but American Honda does not do anything. I wish American Honda should discontinue its franchise as GM or Chrysler to Northwest Honda.

I got pre-approve for car loan from American Honda Financial Services but when I went to Northwest Honda, the finance department there just thrower it away. He said if I chose AHFS, I had to pay 7.9% APR. I just paid off my car loan within 3 months due to high APR.

No one ever sent me a survey since Northwest Honda knew that it would get very bad negative feedback.

 

My mom bought an Accord from NW Honda, and for about three years they charged her to fix ripped CV boots every six months or so. When I saw the receipts, I told her this was an apparent rip off of an 80 yr old woman. Guess what? She spoke to her best friend, and the dealer was doing the same thing to her.

Mom switched dealers, and low and behold no more ripped CV boots.