Eric Reitnauer

Review of Honda of Serramonte

From the very first call to the dealership checkin...

From the very first call to the dealership checking availability for a vehicle, I was frustrated. Unfortunately the salesman that answered was impatient and seemingly annoyed that he had to check availability on a car that he assumed he wouldn't be selling (likely because of my out-of-state area code.) He said that he'd have to check and give me a call back later today which I agreed to. When he called back he wanted to set up an appointment to show the vehicle and I explained that we were a couple hours away and had one other stop to make. We would likely be there between five and 530. He sighed heavily he clarified that I understood their closing time is 7 o'clock and he would not be making a deal at midnight..I confirmed once again an ETA of about 530.

When we got to the dealership shortly after five, I asked to speak with the gentleman I spoke with on the phone. Upon seeing me he asked for the ID of the single person that would be test driving the car I gestured towards my wife and she gave him her ID.. Once in the car he wanted to know what vehicle we drove to the dealership, when we bought it etc. Seemed unnecessary and intrusive. After a rushed and uncomfortable test drive around the block filled the shouting directions to my wife and abrupt line changes we found ourselves back at the dealership never even having seen third gear. He was unsure of specific info regarding the car and was clearly a Honda salesman. He was however able to work in to the convo that they sell great warranties. When I attempted to explain that we weren't interested he snapped back that "he still sells warranties every day". Seemed odd at the time but more on that later.

Once back at the lot I asked how long it had the vehicle and he muttered something about a week or two which is clearly not the case as I had been watching the car online for almost a month and they put 1000 miles on it per the oil change clock (assuming they changed the oil as claimed.) While my wife and I were inspecting the vehicle he was once again impatient and seemed frustrated by inquiry.

When we sat down and got started on the paperwork the process started out rushed asking for proof of insurance etc. He informed us that there is a $99 charge to cover our insurance deductible in the event that the car was stolen. He must have gotten kick back on this bogus charge before because when I asked if we could opt out he sighed heavily, rolled his eyes and exclaimed "it's a good thing for the you and it is not optional! It is added to every single sale we make!" Reluctantly we initialed on the line and proceeded to the next item. An additional $2400 warranty was explained to my wife,with disregard to my presence. A great warranty that should absolutely be considered passing. My wife, clearly uncomfortable with his aggressive persuasiveness (gross used car salesman tactics) and said no I think we are good on a warranty. He asked why and at this point interjected to explain that it was out of our budget. He scoffed and laughed and asked how we would be paying. Because they have a $1500 on credit card payments, we agreed to pay $16,500 in cash, $1500 on the card and the remaining $7XX on a debit card. He told us that we would need a credit check even though we were paying cash. When I asked why he explained it is to combat money laundering and theft which made no sense. What is the purpose of a hard inquiry if no loan is being taken. He struggled to explain and resulted once again to it being a good thing and its non negotiable regardless of payment type.

Once in the sales room where they count the money etc. at the woman confirmed that the only reason they need a credit check is because we didn't pay for it in cash. Given that information hours ago, we would likely have opted for a full cash payment and avoided the inquiry. This is certainly not the type of customer service I would expect from affluent auto dealer. Aside from the actual vehicle, we are unhappy with the entirety of the buying experience and would not recommend this specific salesman sou Steven..