Well, I hoped that my first car buying experience wouldn't be like this, but fate has not smiled upon me or my blue baby. On January 22nd, 2006, I became the new owner of a beautiful 2006 Laguna Blue Pearl S2000 after a lenghty back-and-forth between Norm Reeves Honda in Cerritos, CA, and some Honda dealer down in Long Beach. Without getting too far into the details of THAT mess: I walked in to buy the car I test drove the week before; I found out it was already bought by one of their salesmen because they didn't think I was coming back; they then tried to sell me on a different color; I started to walk away; they suddenly "found" a match at a different dealer; I ended up signing the paperwork for 2 different VINs due to a clerical mistake they made; and something like 8 hours down the line I finally drove home with my new baby. Whew. Life seemed to be complete.

Unfortunately, after a few weeks of S2K driving bliss, I noticed a nasty oil spot forming on my driveway. This didn't seem right for a brand new car, and definitely not right for a new Honda, plus my friend with an '00 New Formula Red said that he's never seen an oil spot with his car, so I decided to get this fixed ASAP. In a lapse of judgement I'll never forgive myself for, I took her back to the dealer where I bought it from (Norm Reeves Honda Stuporstore). After 6 hours of waiting, I was told to bring her back again the next week because they needed to order parts from Japan to fix the leak, which is understandable, but then they also said that they still needed to take the oil pan apart to be sure if they ordered the right parts ("S2000s are like tricky, man"). That's kinda odd, I wondered to myself, because I thought that's what they were doing while I sat around waiting for my car... Well, it turns out that while I was waiting, someone, somehow, managed to run the front end of my car across a wall. Nice.

Noone there knows who did it. Noone there knows how it possibly could have happened. All they knew is that they were going to fix it all for me: the oil leak, the scraped up bumper and fender, everything. The next week. So after a week of driving around with a scarred and battered car, they popped me into a crappy rental Kia and I assumed that in time all would be well. Why I assume such stupid things, I'll never know... maybe it's my trust in my fellow man? Well, I'll never make that mistake again, especially when it comes to my car. After a week of driving around that POS Kia Optima I finally got my car back last Wednesday.

To be honest, they did a nice job of fixing the damage THEY caused. However, after having time to go over her this past weekend, I noticed a few more things that the body shop seems to have actually ADDED: like deep spiral swirls on my hood that weren't there before, the nasty horizontal marks on the left rear fender and gas cover (probably made by the jeans of some double-wide paint tech from the body shop carelessly brushing up against her), the primer colored fingerprints on my steering wheel (probably from the same guy), the two inch long curb scrape on my right rear rim (mr. double-wide again), and, of course, that nasty oil spot on my driveway that just keeps getting bigger and bigger. After all of that BS, she's still leaking oil!

So now what? I really wish my first post here didn't have to be so dark but I'm stuck with the cards I've been dealt. Do you think Norm Reeves take her back and fix everything that I just mentioned? Should I even trust them with my car again? I picked her up at night during the middle of the week so, because of my work schedule, my first chance to really look at the car in daylight was on Saturday. I didn't call them right away after noticing all the new damage because, for one thing, I couldn't actually believe they made things worse and, also, I really don't want to be without my car again for another week but I probably have no choice. I know there are other good SoCal S2000 dealers, like Weseloh Honda, but I doubt they will be willing to fix all of these problems without charging me for. This situation really sucks, but hey, I love the car.

 

Ugh. Sorry to hear it, man. Unfortunately, bad dealer stories are more common around here than they should be. Even after 6 years of model production, many of these dealers still rarely see S2000s, and they don't know what they're doing.

That said, the damage you're talking about is sloppy handling, not lack of knowledge.

I'm concerned about the treatment you've gotten. Does CA have a lemon law? No WAY a new S2000 should be leaking oil.

 

This reads like a horror story

I hope things work out for you.

 

I feel you man. I've been through some pretty crappy service with my car also. My car has been out for at least 5 months last year alone with repairs that should have taken no more than a week if somebody actually got to them. Just hang in there and demand that EVERYTHING be fixed or ask them to buy back your car.

 

At this point I'd demand the whole car be repainted and the oil leak fixed now.tell them the next move is the local TV news and lawyers

 

A few years ago, I had a bad experience with a VW dealership fixing my sunroof improperly - the roof got stuck open because the cable snapped and when they "fixed it" (one week and $800 later), the roof only opened halfway which they tried to tell me was normal. I emailed the manager of the dealership (not just the shop manager) with my entire story. I was polite and completely matter-of-fact in my email. I heard back from the shop manager within a couple of days and he said that they were going to do whatever it takes to make it right. I'd suggest going over the head of the repair shop on this one, too.

 

I had a friend here in Alabama purchase a Toyota 4Runner. He took it back the next week and had them detail it because when the deal was done it was dark and the dealer insisted on a detailing of the car. When he got it back, it had serious swirl and scrape marks all over the paint. Well after a month of battling Toyota Corporate gave him a brand new vehicle!!!!
I know it is Toyota, but they did the right thing. I think your situation is worse with the oil and all but the same with the paint. It will never be the same, you need a new car. DEMAND IT and DO NOT BACK DOWN!!!!

 

/\/\/\/\ I agree the car you have now is not the car you agreed to. I would demand a new car! The grounds for my demand woudl be, the paint swirls, scratches, chips, and other blemishes that the dealer caused after the purchase. The fact that the NEW car is leaking oil, could be an indicator of whats to come. I would definatly get away from that particular car

 

report them to BBB if you don't get what you want

 

If you bought the car, I would not paint it. I would try the lemon law because they can't fix the oil leak. The swirls can be taken out by a good detail shop. If you leased the car and are not considering buying it, I would not be as upset. Any time you paint the whole car, when you go to trade it in it seriously effects the value of the car. I hope whatever happens you get it resolved so it is beneficial to you, after all you are the customer. Good luck, I hope it works out.