So I brought my Fit to the dealer for body work on some minor scratches that were there on delivery. They had the body shop fix that. There was a recall also on what I THOUGHT were the A Pillars, but they replaced the headliner. In the process, they scratched all along the top of my steering wheel.

They are saying the repair should cost about $30 and their "leather guy" can do it or I can get it done myself and send them the bill. My questions are.. is this a repair that will last? Will it match the rest of the wheel? Is this voiding a warranty? And most importantly is this something I should agree to and how they are supposed to do it?

At first they told me to go get it fixed and pay for it myself. I was like umm... are you telling me you won't pay for your own damage you caused??

 

The dealer caused it, the dealer should make it right.

I've never heard of a headliner recall, I'd check with Honda Customer Service about that.

This is why I passed up two cars with VINs well under 15,000. Any work done on a car is likely to damage something else so I won't take a car with existing issues that the dealer has to fix

 

You should not have to pay out of pocket for any damages caused by the dealer. As far as how long a repair lasts depends on how good the repair actually is, where the damage is at and what material its made of.
speak to the servic manager and if hes not helpful go up the chain of command. Service Director, General Manager and then corporate.... Good luck

 

Right, they are going to pay for it. What I need to know is will my wheel look like crap? Are they supposed to repair the scratched leather or replace the wheel?

 

You need to get them to cover it, I would demand a new steering wheel directly from Honda. If they don't agree, I would call Honda of America!

 

The leather is just a piece that wraps the wheel. You can buy it amazon and put it on yourself (not you to mean amy, but in general). I'm sure the "leather guy" COULD do a satisfactory job, though whether or not he WILL is debatable. New steering wheel seems like throwing out the baby with the bathwater.

That being said, if they give you any crap about fixing their own damage, there's always contract killings for the poor soul that scratched the wheel in the first place (kidding, but there is Honda North America and case managers would not be happy to hear that a dealer is so careless)! Trust that if you went into the showroom and scratched something on their cars, they would bill you for it in a heartbeat.

 

Amy, I'm not sure why or how the headliner would have to come down for that repair.

That being said they damaged your steering wheel & have to make it right. If this was my car I'd be pushing for a new steering wheel, not for them to repair scratches. The repair may look fine, but the question is how long will the repair last? If it starts looking bad a couple of years down the road you are going to be stuck with it. The only correct fix is a new wheel. Stand your ground, this is their problem not yours.

 

UPDATE. I got sick of this sales rep obviously lying to me. He sold me the car so I have bee dealing with him on this. The car had paint damage on delivery is how this started. So I dropped my car off at the dealer and they took it to their body shop they use. I had been contacted a week or 2 before by the service department that there was a recall on the A-Pillars for that airbag deployment issue. So I asked the sales rep to make sure the service department took a look at it while they had my car for a week.

I was due to pick up the car 1 week later, but the sales rep told me that since we had had a lot of rain, the paint had not cured yet so it was not ready. 1 week later I came to pick the car up and the headliner had been replaced. The sales rep told me that it was under recall and the recall was taken care of. My wheel was also scratched I discovered a few days later.

I called the service manager today. He said his department has not seen the car since the delivery inspection. He confirmed that there was NO recall on the headliner, it was the A Pillars. So he said he would personally visit the sales department and get to the bottom of this.

VERY SHADY. I am not happy at all. I will get the truth and I will push until this is rectified. My guess is that the body shop or someone damaged the headliner and wheel and replaced the headliner, and the sales rep must have lied about it. Which is NOT something you can do with my car. Accidents happen but you can't lie about it, and ESPECIALLY lie about a recall being taken care of??

 

Takes a week for paint to cure? I smell a fish. Yes paint needs to cure, but a day or so should do it. It's my gut feeling they are not being completely honest with you. Make sure you get the paper work stating the recall has been performed. Once you get your new wheel, take your Fit elsewhere for service. Who knows what they'd mess up next.

 

Hi amy_wilhelmina,

We are very sorry to hear about this very disappointing experience with the vehicle and the dealership. We can review the situation with you and the dealership if possible. Please private message us with the VIN, mileage, full name and dealer so we can better assist you.


Thank you,

Jonathan

 

Amy, sorry to hear this, glad HCS came to the rescue. I would avoid this dealer in the future. I personally have chosen a different dealer than I purchased the car from. One reason is convenience but the other is bad reviews. Good luck, I know Jonathan will take care of this the best he can!

 

A dealership should ALWAYS be ready and willing to satisfy the customer especially if the dealership was causing grief or damage.

Its a shame HCS has to step in at times to correct the dealership.

 

Amy, just read your thread and despite the dealership's unethical ways, am glad that HCS has come up to the plate to assist your situation. Am sure they will set it straight. Will look out for your post on the final resolved outcome.

 

Thanks HCS! I will be in contact if needed. But I have found that the service manager at the dealer is very concerned and helpful. He dug in to get the truth.

Sales person is still confused/shady. Service manager talked with him and sales guy was still under the impression that the headliner was a recall item? Even though Honda did not install it was the body shop simply because they accidentally broke it when trying to remove the antenna or something for painting. I called the body shop and they were very honest they said yes we broke it, we told the sales guy, we thought he told you what happened.

So not sure if it is possible that sales guy thinks the headliner was a recall since he was told they broke it and anyway a 3rd party shop can't do a recall. I think he is just playing dumb so he didn't have to tell me someone broke it. But they installed a new one so I wouldn't have cared, but I do care being lied to that a recall was done when it was not (what if it was a safety recall????) Sales guy also told me on a Friday I could not pick up the car since the paint was still curing since it had been raining a lot even though that is the day the car was ready aside from waiting for the headliner to arrive.

Anyway service manager was very apologetic and is going to find a place near me to repair the wheel scratch and if I don't 100% like the repair he is going to have my nearest dealer replace the whole steering wheel. Love the service manager, will never speak with the sales guy again. This is not the first time he has withheld info or miscommunicated with me.

So looks like it's being resolved!

 

Good to hear Amy! Cudo's today HCS for getting in contact with you.

 

Why are you dealing with the "sales guy" at all?

Warranty issues should be handled through the service department where they at least should know how to lie more convincingly or even (gasp!) tell the truth!