Help! I bought a certified 2002 a little over a month ago from Larry Hopkins Honda in Sunnyvale CA. When I was taking delivery of the car I noticed a crack and a scratch in the front bumper. At first the used car guy said that it was a used car and these things were part of the deal. The implication was that I already signed the paper work and had to take the car. When I showed him where on the 150 point inspection that it said the front bumper had met "honda standards" he changed his tune and we wrote into the contract that the front bumper must be repaired at no cost to me. I told them then that this was no small deal to me as I lived over 4 hours away and would have to make two trips, one to drop it off and one to pick it up and they promised a complete fix with a new bumper. Of course they tried to skimp on the fix and just bondo it at a cheap repair place but I got on the phone and made sure they were getting the new bumper as promised in the deal. When I got there after a 4 hour drive the front bumper was on...and painted a different shade of yellow than the rest of the car. They did not even match it to the fenders or the hood. It looks worse than it did with the crack. I waited three days for their promised phone call but never recieved one. That's when I called AHM.
At AHM I got a friendly but ineffective rep that only left messages at the dealership that went just as unreturned as mine were. A few days ago I got in contact with armeN from this board and he at least got a few return calls. Today I got my "final" answer from my original rep. The dealership is telling me to drive the 4 hours down and back to drop the car off again and then one more time to pick it up some time in the future. They will not pay for gas, they will not come to me to pick it up, and they will not allow me to use a local body shop to get the repair work done. I already know that the body shop they use is crap, there are bubbles in the paint work they did and no reputable shop would just paint a bumper and leave it unblended. For me to go to them I'm looking at a total of 16 hours of driving and about 1200+ miles for both trips. They had a chance to do this right, actually they had two chances. Once when they "certified" it and once when I brought it down the first time. I just got off the phone with their used car manger who hung up on me. AHM seems gutless in this situation. Who's left? I don't want to sue them for breach of contract but if that's the only option so be it. Anyone with any suggestions I'm all ears. Oh and triple blacklist Larry Hopkins and Steve Hopkins Honda from your buying lists. You can't trust these guys as far as you can throw them.

 

"These are not the droids you are looking for...."

Sorry, couldn't help it.

Basically, your best option is to start threatening to return the car. Have a lawyer draft a letter saying so. That will probably kick loose an agreement by the dealer to just pay for your new bumper paint job and be done with you.

Option two is you just pay for the new bumper yourself, and let it go as being not worth the hassle.

Option three is to try and escalate it at AHM.

It doesn't seem like there are any other reasonable options.

 

It sounds like to me that your being a pain in the ass and they are getting tired of dealing with you.

Painting the bumper shouldn't cost more then 150-200 just go get it done somewhere else. For goodness sake, you didn't purchase a 100K Ferrari its a honda. a MY2 in fact.

 

Oh, so if you were to buy something and it wasnt as expected, you're just going to take it in the ass and not say anything? Please let me sell you your next car.

 

hmm, I think you should call AHM again, and let them know that they didnt do a good job. If not, just repaint it yourself becuase getting a lawyer is going to cose more than just painting it.

 

If the dealer gave you a "WE OWE YOU" when you signed the contract, or the bumper replacement was written on the contract, you have every right to ask what is due to you. If it was not written, I think you are SOL.
Try to call and ask for GM or the owner and see if you can escalate the situation. Please be civil and calm. If they are not willing to work with you, consult a lawyer.

 

The dealership is definitely unreasonable at this point and contacting a lawyer would be excessive. Just either swallow the loss or keep contacting the dealership. Best of luck to you.

 

In answer to some of your questions:
SS2000GT: Thanks for the sympathy man, I hope you are treated in a similar fashion by random people. As it so happens I got an estimate from a reputable autobody place. To paint it properly means taking the whole bumper off again, removing badges, repainting, reassembling, and then blending the new paint with the old. This is NOT excessive. In fact it is the insurace industries legally required minimum to "fix" this kind of damage, and it costs around $1000. Sinse you think this is no big deal I'd be happy to accept your donations for the work.
Antonio88x: I have not given up on them yet. Armen was much more active and seemed to have some weight behind him. I'm waiting for his return call.
Buri73: Yes, it was written into the contract. Included in sale: wash, repair crack in front bumper. I think I have a good case for breech of contract sinse they had an opportunity to fix it and didn't. Every autobody place says that blending new parts to old is standard industry practice. For a shop not to have done it there must have been some special instruction from the dealership to do it as cheaply as possible.
I just talked to my lawyer friend and he told me to write the letter, in fact write everything from here on and to file a complaint with the bureau of automotive repair. I hope this works, like most of us here my car is my most beloved possesion and right now every time I look at the front bumper I want to puke!

 

One thing to keep in mind is that the bumper and the fenders are different materials, so it'll never be a 100% match. This is a special problem for the yellow paint.

But if it's really that off, get someone local to fix it and send them the bill with a nasty letter from a lawyer...

 

Stop making those trips man. Sorry to hear of your issue, but like they say, not worth the hassle and you continuing to drive 4 hours one way? Front bumper damage from road debris is my guess. Good luck in whatever you do.