Bel Air Honda
About us
Bel Air Honda is proud to provide an enjoyable car ownership experience for drivers in Fallston, MD and the surrounding Baltimore area. Whether you are planning to lease or purchase a new or pre-owned vehicle you can expect a courteous, professional and obligation-free experience at Bel Air Honda.
Services we offer
Auto Repair, New and Used Car Sales
Number of Stars | Image of Distribution | Number of Ratings |
---|---|---|
68% | ||
11% | ||
11% | ||
5% | ||
5% |
I purchased a 2011 Honda Accord from this dealership in July 2013 that had around 43,000 miles on it. While we were negotiating the price of the car I was told that if I purchased the car from Bel Air Honda I would have a warranty from Warranty Forever® covering the engine. I maintained the Accord changing the oil 5 times over 14 months at Bel Air Honda and Pep Boys Bel Air. Despite having documentation showing that the Accord was maintained, because I failed to document all the phone calls with Warranty Forever®, when the engine failed in September 2014 the warranty was declared void and I was held responsible for all of the $6,420.50 in repairs to the Accord and Bel Air Honda admitted no financial responsibility and did not negotiate on the price of repairs.
Bel Air Honda has argued that they have no connection with Warranty Forever® and therefore have no responsibility. This may be legally true but it is my opinion that selling a car with a warranty that is designed to fail is very bad costumer service.
After the warranty failed I began researching Warranty Forever®. The most interesting point showing that the warranty is latently defective is what Warranty Forever® itself said on the Better Business Bureau?s website. In responding to a complaint very similar to mine the company posted on July 10, 2014 ?In fact, {Warranty Forever} receives approximately 11,000 calls per month from vehicle owners, answers those calls in about 6 seconds (on average), and pays about $2 million in claims per year.?
If Warranty Forever® receives 132,000 calls a year and only pays $2,000,000 in claims per year can anyone honestly claim that administration and claims denial does not consume dramatically more funds than paying for repairs under the warranty?
In some ways Bel Air Honda knew this warranty was flawed. When I brought the Accord in on September 23, 2014 for servicing the Bel Honda service technician had no record of the warranty. After I presented the paper work for the warranty on September 25 another service technician told me that Bel Air Honda did not sell many of these warranties. She also confirmed that the oil in the engine when it failed was fine and she assumed the warranty would cover the engine. When the warranty was declared void I supplied the service manager with documentation showing the car was maintained in compliance with the warranty. His position was the Bel Air Honda held no responsibility. When I asked if he would negotiate on the price, he stated that ?Any reduction in cost would violate their contract.? I don?t know whose contract this would be since his position is the Warranty Forever® has nothing to do with Bel Air Honda.
I openly admit by failing to document all my calls to Warranty Forever®, I must assume the majority of the $6,420 bill and I paid the entire $6,420 before picking up the car. But when I wrote Bel Air Honda and said I thought I should be responsible for the $3,858 in parts and work not covered by the warranty but could Bel Air Honda assume some portion of the $2,562 labor to install the new engine, I received no response. What I did get in the mail 7 weeks after writing the service manager and 3 weeks after writing the general manager was a letter from the general manager offering to sell me an extended service plan. Basically they had ignored my previous mail.
Bottom line, I maintained my car and can prove it, but since I can?t prove I asked for permission to do oil changes in advance at Pep Boys, Bel Honda assumed no financial responsibility.
While my primary gripe is with Honda for not honoring my warranty despite selling me the vehicle, my other complaint is with the service department personnel not communicating with each other (the service advisor had none of the information I had provided when I made the appointment); nor with me regarding their policy toward warranties before wasting my day; not communicating in a timely manner (the service provider could not be located when I called for a status more than once); and not communicating at all when my shuttle driver was going to be over an hour late in picking me up. Just not a good experience.
Once I became aware of it, I put an end to that. But I took the car back a four wheel alignment that mostly any shop can do, they came back and told me that one of the rear shocks was shot and leaking oil. Not trusting them because of my prior experience, I thanked them for performing the alignment and took the car home. I jacked up the car and looked for any evidence that there was any oil leaking out of the shock. None. Nothing.
In another situation, they wanted to charge me nearly $600 for a brake job. I bought the pads and did the job myself for less than $100.
I will never go back.
Licensing
State Contractor License Requirements
All statements concerning insurance, licenses, and bonds are informational only, and are self-reported. Since insurance, licenses and bonds can expire and can be cancelled, homeowners should always check such information for themselves. To find more licensing information for your state, visit our Find Licensing Requirements page.
*Contact business to see additional licenses.