3 years ago
I have a 2003 Civic with an air bag light on. The ...
I have a 2003 Civic with an air bag light on. The previous owner had the bag replaced under recall by Beaverton Honda so I took it there thinking the light was related. Upon arrival, I was checked in at the bottom of the lot and drove up to the service center, where the advisor, Lance Swanson, met me with his tablet ready to start the process. After taking some notes, he guided me inside to the waiting area and let me know someone would be assisting me with my rental soon. Maybe 5 minutes later my name was called and I was handed the keys to a new Civic to use while mine was being worked on. They charge a reasonable $15/day for the rental, which actually wasn't due back until end of business the NEXT day, so basically a two day rental. Lance said he would call me in a few hours with the word on the car. He had a good suspicion of the problem and noted if his suspicion was correct, the item was covered by warranty and there would be no cost other than the rental. If not, their charge for diagnosis is $130. Seems a bit steep, but not the end of the world either. As promised, Lance called me in a couple hours and had good news - he was right and the part was covered under warranty. As most dealers do, they did a multi-point inspection to see if there are any other items needing to be addressed. Remember, most service writers are paid on commission so it's their job to try and get as much work done as needed. I thought the pricing on those issues was really high, but being that I am going to be selling the car, I politely declined the other issues and that was the end of it. No hard sales push.
Again, as promised, he called me early the next day to tell me the car was done and I could pick it up any time. I am currently shopping for a new car as this commuter Civic just isn't for me, but I actually REALLY liked the rental Civic they gave me and I was fully expecting a hard sales push to buy it upon return, but they just took the keys and gave me mine (which they washed and vacuumed by the way!) and I was on my way. Refreshing, but honestly, kind of disappointing as well. I might have been easily swayed being that I had driven the car for two days and really liked it. I think that was a missed opportunity for them. I've now moved on to a different brand. That said, overall, it was a fantastic experience.