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Brown Honda Arlington

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Kevin of Washington, DC, writes:
The problem started about a year ago concerning the A/C unit in my Honda; after the unit was charged the previous year, it started malfunctioning. I took it back to the dealer to have it looked again, they requested $145.00 to charge it again which I felt I shouldn't be responsible for.

So I went to Merchant Auto Center to take advantage of an AC service special and their tech stated that my Honda has a national recall on the AC condenser. I immediately brought this the attention of the Honda dealer so they replaced the condenser.

While trying to fix the AC, they encountered another problem with a "ECU" circuit board within the dash which controls the AC switches. They stated that this is a $1100.00 part which they wanted me to pay for. I called Honda customer relations and told them my story. We came to an agreement that Honda and myself would split it down the middle.

I took the car in to have the service completed around 9 months later, called Honda customer relations to alert them that I was going in for the service, the rep cleared it with the dealership and take it in any time. I took it in and the service mgr called the district service to confirm the repair. The district mgr stated that because of the amount of time that lapsed, I would be subject to $145.00 diagnostics charge because they weren't sure that replacing the board would fix the problem.

In dealing with past experiences, the object of the dealer was to find another problem which would require more money until we arrived at that $1100.00 figure (speculation). In addition to having a problem with window switches, the main switch needed to be replaced, which their rep said was in stock, only to find it wasn't. They had one in stock but it didn't match the color of the interior.

So I suggested that they put one in temporarily until the right one came in. The service mgr said no. Once I bought that one, if I wanted to get the correct one I would have to pay for it again at around $345.00. I suggested a discount because it was not the correct color, he said "why sell it to you for a discount when I can get full price for it."

Now the windows and AC do not work and I was basically told to pick up my car until you can figure out if you want to play by their rules. I have documentation clearly stating everything. Inconvience, backing out of an agreement that was already established, no working AC and windows not working either. My wife finding other means of getting to work.

Maybe Kevin should start over and try to get the work done at another dealer.

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