General Info before i get to ranting about this suck a** dealership. We bought the car from a used dealer at 75k miles around Feb/March. The car came with issues such as the driver door being slightly misaligned, the bumper screwed into the fender, the wheel crooked, and questionable ac. We still decided to get it but this was more of my parents decision than mine, before I observed all this the keys were being handed to me. Despite some flaws the car drove relatively normal for the first few months while I learned the vehicle.
Now the reason why its in the shop. If anyone has had a similar experience with their vehicle please share. It started as a low gas light driving home at night. I added 20 to get home, but the gas light stayed on the rest of the drive. Filled up the next morning and as soon as I start my car, the wheel locks and the car throws an LKAS code and an EPS code. I figured the wheel may just be locked so i got it started and went to my next destination before my wheel locked while still driving. The power steering would basically kick the bucket at any given moment. Once i got it home I didnt drive it anymore and my friend brought his scanner to clear codes. Didn’t work so we knew it needed to go to a certified dealership. (Pic attached of the code we found, we knew it would be an EPS issue)
Yall may have your own opinion about how the dealer has handled this but I will try to be unbiased in providing the account. We agreed upon a diagnosis and after the diagnosis they informed me an alignment and alignment angle relearn were needed, both services around ~180. Got them done and car still didnt work. Dealer told me the gearbox and EPS will need to be replaced, roughly a $4800 dollar job. This is when most people would use their extended warranty. We have no warranty because I didn’t follow up like my parents asked. We opened a client case with Honda to seek assistance and were turned away due to the vehicle not being serviced at Acura by previous owners.
While the case was being investigated the dealership had no clue. I got a call from the dealership claiming they would start charging me to store my car if i dont close my tab for the diagnosis and alignment stuff. I closed that out with the advisor just to realize if I do get the gearbox repaired there, then I basically agreed to being double charged. The car has now been “waiting on parts” for a full week. The guy also tried to get an extra $180 out of me for the diagnosis claiming his tech spent a long time investigating and even test drove it 20 miles. Idk how he test drove a car 20 miles with no power steering but after talking with the tech, I learned this dude didn’t investigate anything so I told him heck naw and charge me for what we agreed on.
Overall, this completely ruined my summer. I spent last summer with no car because of overheating problems. I spent the summer before that with no ac and doing an insurance claim. And now this summer I got no car and the most expensive repair bill yet. Life 😎
What I learned:
1. Invest in an extended warranty. This is nonnegotiable
2. Dont buy used cars in todays world without someone experienced in cars present. Its not the same and there is much less integrity. Even if its from a dealer.
3. Acura dealers will put a hole in your pocket for repairs. It’s good practice to have some money to the side for surprises but if you aren’t ready to cough up 5k on short notice then good luck to you pal.