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Johnson City Honda

Johnson City, TN

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Candance of Magnolia, MS October 18, 2009

I would just like to echo your other comlaints about the etch fee and the high administration fees which totaled approxoimately 700. The dealership refused to sell me the 2008 Honda Fit unless I paid these fees. Ironically, after paying almost 400 in Administrative fees, the dealership failed to sign the title to put the car into my name. I have just mailed the title back to them. Additionally, I was required to pay some taxes which totaled about 146 although I do not live in Tennessee.

Pamela of Bristol, VA September 18, 2009

I purchased a 2008 Civic 15 months ago from this same dealership,different salesman. I have experienced difficulty in driving my civic because of the blind spots. I have also needed more seating area, since I have become a grandmother. So I went back to the same dealership. Danny met us in the parking lot. I told him what I was looking for and because I have only had my civic for 15 months, I owe more than the car is worth. He assures us that they could help us out with a really close payment. He told us the two cars that it would work on, we looked at both. Camry 07, and Honda 07.

We purchased the Honda Accord 07. I didn't ask for any gas. He had me sign a paper stating they owed us 10 gallon of gas. So when all the paperwork was done, (changed my insurance and everything),I asked for the gas ticket before we drove off in our Honda Accord. Danny laughed at me and says, you've got almost 1/2 tank. So we left in our new car.

The next day I recieved a courtesy call from a lady at the dealership, she told me there was'nt anything wrong that she wanted to know how we liked the Accord. I liked it. The following day Danny R calls me a 6:00pm and tells me that Honda Financial won't go that much on a 07, and that we have to bring the car back. We were shocked. We returned the car the next day, we were both sad and in shock. He tried to get us to buy a new one. A lot more money. We came back home with our original 08 Civic. Today is September 18, we received a letter in the mail from Danny congratulating us on our Accord. And about how we should tell our friends and family about them. If that doesn't add salt to the wound. In our opinion, that was so unprofessional and so unpersonable I,we, will never go back.

Carol of Bristol, TN November 17, 2008

Purchase date Oct 17 2008 – Used 2008 Accord purchased at Johnson City Honda. Price agreed upon was 18,000, financed through Johnson City Honda (although we can do it anywhere.).

My husband and I shopped there three different times that week looking at cars and offering bids. In fact Honda called my husband the day after we first were there with info about loans etc I returned the following day and offered a price however, my bid was turned down but they offered other prices for 5 different cars, I left and came back with my husband the next day, found a car and made an offer which was not accepted at first as we were driving away the salesman Scott came running and waving at us to stop as the used car manager had accepted our offer of 18,000. At no time, and in no place was there anything said or mentioned or a poster or paper placed in view about a 299.00 charge for ETCH, an insurance that the manager said we must have in order to purchase the car which we found out about after the purchase and a day later which is policy you cannot cancel I recently learned. I am insured with Allstate and we have been for many years, Allstate informed me that I do not need to have this insurance.

The day of purchase we were first asked if we would like to buy a car cleaning and washing contract by our salesman Scott, we said no and then were told that we would then move on and pay the price +++ which we thought meant to be the high administration charge of 389.95, registration 35.00 and tax 1508.37 (I believe we were taxed on the ETCH as well as paying interest for it but we didnt know the figures until way later. During this time we were first with the salesman, then shuffled on to his manager then with, as they referred to the Finance Dept. person, The Money Man?. The “Money Man� a young man named Ryan proceeded to try and pressure sell us various car products, contracts for maintenance, oil changes, body work..etc each with different pricing and new and betterdeals my husband was annoyed and announced as he rose that he was leaving.

Had we knwn then about ETCH we would have! The young man said you haven’t signed the papers yet, my husband sat down and the signing began and Ryan continued talking about which car product we would purchase and what the cost would be. The signing was rapid, my husband was upset at that point, one paper over another while Ryan talked about the administration fee, registration that they would take care of getting for us and the loan date and agreement and when to pay and the car care plan we took his wor if we did not want it he would remove it from the contract …and we signed and signed. During this period of time ETCH was NEVER mentioned although I did sign the ETCH paper which we later saw has my husband's name on it which I alone signed. This paper does not state we have to have this insurance. I later saw in small print on the back of this paper the rest of the story.

Anyway, there were too many papers, too much car plan talk and we should not have signed without a thorough review. We trusted that the contract was correct and never noticed that the sales price said 18,299.00. We went home and reviewed all the paper work and were shocked by this thinking this was a mistake and that ETCH was another car service we called as we did not read the paper at the dealership, just too many papers, stress and too old we're 66 and 68. They said it was Honda policy and would not sell a car without it..we by the way put down 10,000.00 on this car I went there Monday Oct 20th to talk to them about this and they insisted it was a Honda policy…after many questions they finally told me it was not a Honda policy but the dealership Johnson City Honda policy,and that no one ever mentioned this ETCH policy, nor was it on any sales material on the vehicles themselves and no sign anywhere within or without the store! Why would we know? I told them I was sorry we signed the contract before reading it, actually I told them that several times during the at least one hour talks I just foolishly trusted that the amount would be correct and business would be conducted fairly and honestly that they would honor the price which we all agreed upon at 18,000.00.

When talking to the Head Manager on Monday, Mr. Tom Kelly, while I was in the office of the Money Man? along with the Used Car Manager, I told Mr. Kelly that we didnt know about ETCH, all the other sales and finance people agreed we did not know about ETCH which didnt seem to make any difference with Mr. Kelly, and that I was sorry I didn’t read the contract before signing it and would he remove the charge. After a few moments he looked at me and simply said, Is this your signature? I said yes and he left the room. I told the used car manager that we never would have purchased this vehicle had we known and that I would be happy to return it to them now the used car salesman appeared upset and excused himself, followed Mr. Kelly outside only to return and apologize profusely. We are forced to pay for not only something we dont want or feel we need but for a scam.

This should have been part of the discussion regarding price besides what they needed to sell this car for no one ever even once talked about ETCH as part of what they “have to have. This is a major violation of our contract! Ryan said he would remove the car care plan charge which was for 495.00 however, as of Friday Nov 14 Honda Fiancial has not received word that JCHonda are returning our payment which means that the charge for the car care plan was not removed. What can we do other then complain and caution people to take their business elsewhere. Also, they said the car was in perfect condition and was checked but when I noticed through a button I did not know about that the oil was at 60% I brought it to Honda in Bristol. They said the car needed to be alligned and the tires rotated...also an oil change...to the tune of 127. more dollars... Damage Resulting = so far I am out the ETCH money299.00,. am not sure if I'm entitled to a refund for the other repair work done I believe a few days after they sold us the car and they have not removed the 495 plus interest and taxes on the car care plan they said they would remove but at present still exists.

Kate of Johnson City, TN November 21, 2007

They overcharged me by 500 on a routine 100k mile checkup. It got to the point where my mother had to make an appointment with the owner. They admitted fault and said they'd give us 200 back. That would at least be something, but they still haven't sent it to us (the 'it's in the mail' dodge routine) and we've been calling them over and over about this.

The second time I went there was shortly after the checkup because my engine light turned on. They proceeded to charge me 350 for something that was DEFINATELY under warranty (emissions recall for 96/97 civics) and it took me calling California and talking to Honda USA to force them to concede to their mistake. However, dodging me yet again, they said 1.) They'd mail me my check, then 2.) No we can't mail you your check you have to come in (I have to drive from another city) and now, 3.) Oh we're sorry you'll have to sign papers, but that person isn't in today. I've been waiting since August for both of my refunds...4 months and still nothing, not even an apology!

On a personal level, many of them are rude and unprofessional. They were playing with remote control toys when I drove out there yesterday waiting for someone to help me. It's almost a joke how appalling their service is. In summary, the management placates you with false promises until you're too tired to fight over it anymore. I will never do business with them ever again.

Wayne of Johnson City, TN September 30, 2005

I bought a brand new 2005 Honda Civic w/ an automatic transmission in early September. The car I wanted was not on the lot, so they had to deliver from a local market. A couple of days later, I returned complaining about a problem. The car would violently downshift between third and second gear. Christopher O'Quinn told me that it was a common problem w/ new Hondas, and he advised I drive the car for longer period to wear the brakes in.

A week and a half later, I returned to make a service appointment. They told me to bring it back on the weekend to check it out. They gave me an individual that would not be able to do anything until Monday because "He had to call Honda Tech Line, and I had to come back Monday morning." It turns out I needed a new transmission on a car w/ 1300 miles. However, Honda does not make new transmissions available. They wanted to install a "remanufactured" transmission. I refused, so I am now exhausting every avenue until it is resolved.

Make sure, before you sign the contract, that new parts will be used as replacement parts, and DO NOT BUY YOUR CAR FROM JOHNSON CITY HONDA!!!! They are the most useless dealership I have had the pleasure to do business with.

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