Jin Kim sent a message to Michael Jackson that said:
NOT A HAPPY CUSTOMER with HONDA SERVICE at AUTONATION HONDA of LEWISVILLE
1st weekend - Went in for a regular maintenance - completed oil changes, filter changes, and conducted alignment recommended by the dealership. After alignment, noticed a significant steering pull to the left. Returned to the dealership. They realigned the wheels and conducted a steering balance. Drove home in heavy rain. (could not notice a difference due to weather condition)
2nd weekend - Returned to Autonation Honda of Lewisville and spoke to manager about the steering issue. Technician noticed a steering pull, so conducted another alignment and steering wheel balance. (still pulling to the left when driving straight) Advisor (Jimmy McCormack) claimed that it must be a defective tire. Asked him why Honda would even sell a car with defect tires in the first place. Dealership decided to replace 1 tire for free. (per Jimmy McCormack - service advisor)
3rd weekend - returned to Autonation Honda of Lewisville to get the new tire installed. Replaced the front right tire with brand new OEM tire from Continental. Car still pulls to one side. They rotated the front tires to the back, and installed back ones to the front. Now the car steers straight. HOWEVER, as I was doing a HAND-CARWASH, I noticed clawed/ripped/puncutred marks on the newly installed tire that Honda installed 20 minutes before. Took a picture and sent it to the advisor, and he claimed that they would NEVER install a tire that way and their mounting equipment is never that way. I asked for a QC check document or pictures, but they couldn't provide any. Took the car to a local tire shop and asked if these punctures would be safe enough to drive, and he claims that someone must have mounted the low profile tire incorrectly, since the clawed marks are very evenly spaced. Asked if a carwash could cause the issue, and he said no - a carwash would have damaged all tires, not just one. Also, if a wash could damage that, the rims and the lips of the tire would also be damaged. (I also know this as a fact)
Jimmy McCormack and Autonation Honda of Lewisville are giving me runarounds again when asking for a proper escalation point for this mess. I just spent close to 20 hours of my 3 Saturdays to deal with improper service practices conducted by Autonation Honda of Lewisville.
The service advisor claims that they would never do such thing to cause damage to a tire during installation, and would never even mount a tire if damage was noticed by the technician. He claims that whoever drove the car off from the lot must have punctured/damaged the tire on the way back home. Since the drive was me, he probably meant "me". I can assure you that I drove out extremely carefully from the dealership in order to feel if any noticeable steering pull further existed.
At this point, I am exhausted and frustrated dealing with this dealership and its service department. As a customer and a avid fan of Honda vehicles, this is very disappointing. Even though the manufacturer builds a reliable car, the service department continues to mess up the vehicle after each service. I am trying to resolve this issue by getting to the bottom of this - finding out the root cause, and holding people who damaged my car accountable for their actions. I will no longer tolerate the unprofessional behavior of avoiding responsibilities; trying to blame the customer rather than owning up to their own mistakes.
I will never ever buy another Honda vehicle again if this issue does not get resolved properly.
* I have pictures of the puncture tire to prove incorrect mounting of the tire (showing evenly spaced and evenly shaped claw marks - low profile tire mounting equipment that squeeze one end of the tire during installation)
Jin Kim
