Issues with Capitol Honda

[larrys]

This started with Spugen having an issue with an '07 (tire dressing overspray onto the paint). I asked what dealer did it (Capitol Honda) and then ictvuser posted...

I would be interested in hearing your stories since I use Capitol Honda.

Here is a quick summary of the problems I had with Capitol Honda and the Pilot.

1) They scratched the paint but did own up to it and fixed it.
2) After they reinstalled my rear bumper cover, it was missing a screw.
3) When they replaced said screw they used a screw that was too long and it ended up almost poking thru the bumper cover
4) I asked for all 3 wipers to be replaced. When I pickup up the Pilot, the service advisor told me all the wipers were replaced including the rear. When I checked, the rear was not replaced. Turns out the part was not in stock.
5) Capitol Honda installed my backup sensors. Later my side brake lights did not work. They assumed it was my fault and said the earliest they could see it was a week later or I could leave it with them for several days and they would work on it when they had time. Had to complain to get them to see it the next day.
6) I asked them to price match an oil change from another Honda dealer. They refused. When I returned I showed them their own coupon stating they do price match afterwhich the price was adjusted.
7) The Bumper Flares were installed incorrectly and had to be reinstalled.

So, in an attempt to avoid thread drift, I thought I'd just start a separate thread here in the SF Bay Area forum (I doubt others who live outside this area care about this).

I bought my '06 Pilot there on Dec 31, 2005 and then got my girlfriends '06 Civic there in March of '06.

Pilot troubles:

• When they installed my Auto Day/Night mirror, they left a smudge on the headliner. Minor issue and they cleaned it up, but it's something they should have done before I picked it up.
• I took the car in for some work on the drivers door and they must have had a utility knife in their hand and left a nick on the plastic bezel around the window switches. I had to bring it to their attention and they then replaced it.
• Ink on the drives seat (see the original post for info on this). What idiot would move a customers car with a pen in their hip pocket?
• When they first tried to reupholster the drivers seat (for the ink issue), the left a MESS in the car.
• They left a used hog ring right on the drivers seat (luckily it didn't damage the leather).
• Left another used hog ring on the rear floor
• left LOTS of debris on the floor and left the rear floor mats a MESS.
• Just to make matters worse, they did a horrible upholstery job (that's when I had them use Bascom Trim).

Civic Issues:

• The antenna for the XM radio is installed in the upper right hand corner of the windshield and the wire is routed through the A-pillar. I recently noticed that the trim on the A-pillar was not seated properly. Obviously the installer didn’t get it properly put back in place. This was a simple and easy fix that I did myself. But, this is something they should have done when the radio was installed! Not something that the customer should find!
• We had them install the leather steering wheel cover and the leather puckers around the spokes. It just look bad. Again, they do lousy upholstry work. They should have had Bascom Trim do this.
• When they installed the Interior Illumination package they installed the light on the passenger side incorrectly. It was positioned wrong on the lower Glove Box Panel and was causing this panel to not stay in place. To fix it a new panel needed to be installed and the light reinstalled properly. The installation directions from Honda for this kit clearly show where the light is to be installed. Can’t their techs follow written directions? I had this repaired at Stevens Creek Honda.
• It appears that when installing the fog lights, the tech chipped the paint on the bumper. Now, to be fair, I can’t prove this, but, given the location of the chip it seems very likely to me that this is the case. About 2 – 3 weeks after we purchased the car we had a clear bra installed and the installer noted the chip. Normally I would have assumed that this happened while driving. But, since the chip is on top of the bumper, it seems very unlikely to have happened while driving. Given the close proximity of the chip to the fog light, I believe that this happened while the light was being installed.

So, anyone else have issues with Capitol Honda?

I’ve spoken with Pat Lyngar (their service manager) a number of times about the apparent total lack of quality in the work done in the service department and he has acknowledged that there are issues. But, I’ve yet to hear a single word from him about what’s being done to fix them. At this point, I can’t see a single reason why I should ever bring either of our cars back there for anything! Pat has offered me a complete exterior & interior detailing on my car as a way of apologizing. But, after issues with almost every service we’ve had done there I don’t think we would trust them to even wash our cars!

The real shame here is that we had a great buying experience there with Raul Lopez. After my great experience buying my Pilot from him I went straight to him when we wanted to buy the Civic. Too bad they've now lost us a customers.

Anyone else with horror stories about Capitol Honda?

Later,
Larry.

[robrecht]

You guys should also post your comments on the dealer rating section of the site: http://www.hondapilot.org/drview.php

That said, there seems to be a double listing for Capitol Honda and maybe some comments are missing?

At any rate, I find this section of HondaPilot.org to be of great potential value to us consumers. Wish more people were aware of it.

[rlman41299]

i've had a lot of isues with capitol honda. total cars i've bought from them: 4 civics, 1 accord and almost bought the pilot from them. the worst experience i had with them was with the accord. turned it in for a mojor maintenance for 30,000 miles that they have to do all the scheduled maintenance and keep the car for overnight. aside from that i paid for 4 wheel alignment, balance and rotate 4 tires and asked to drain and refill engine coolant and brake fluid.
next day i got the car and inspected everything in the service bay. asked for the manager for they checked that everything was done based on past experince with bringing my civics to them. i put a small paper by the drivers front tire check valve inside the cap. showed it to the service guy and he looked at me like i just put it there. opened the engine bay and noticed that my engine coolant reservoir was almost empty, my door hinges were not lubricated, i have old brake fluid in the reservoir and so forth. nothing was done except probably replace the engine oil. after that i've never been into that dealership and took all my cars to stevens creek.

[filmschool]

When looking for my Pilot, I checked them out and encountered the stereo type car sales person. He must have been real green because most car salespeople and sales managers get my vibe and do not pressure or play the run back and forth game. Anyways, I bought elsewhere.

This forum is very helpful to me because I am looking for a local shop for service. I bought it at Mike Harvey and their service has been great to date. Just too far. Anyone have comments or experiences with Los Gatos Honda?