Honda of Columbia

Found nail and plugged tire.

Excellent as always

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See above.

It has been satisfactory.

At the outset I should say this is the first negative review I have ever posted on the Web of any service provider. As a former small business owner, I know that reputation and goodwill are essential, and I do not wish to do harm to anyone. Unlike some serial scorched-earth reviewers, I do not take lightly the power of the Internet to affect people's livelihoods and take no pleasure in tearing people down. That said, sites like Angie's List work only when members are honest. My experience with this service department was the worst I have ever had in the 30 years I have owned and maintained my cars.

I went in to have the HVAC system looked at because of a loud noise coming from the system at certain temperatures. First they tried changing the cabin air filter and cleaning out the housings. That was fine -- but it didn't fix the problem. I'm okay with that -- it's good to try something less expensive first -- so, back to the dealer again. Replaced the front blower motor. Still not fixed. Back again to try replacing the rear blower motor. Bingo! So that was the problem! Glad to have it fixed, but what about the front blower motor I paid over $200 for that didn't need replacing? That required another trip to remove the new front blower motor and put the old one back in, you know, because they would rather inconvenience me further and pay their tech to do more work that they can't charge me for rather than cut their losses and just eat the cost of the new part. I had to bring the car back in if I wanted my money back for the unnecessary replacement of the front blower motor. This was trip number four to the dealer, and while I wasn't thrilled at this point, I would not have felt compelled to post a bad review had the story ended there. But then I discovered that the DC socket in my console was dead. Apparently it got disconnected in the process of installing the rear blower fan. At this point, I was annoyed. I went back to the shop a fifth time to have them reconnect the outlet. When I left the dealer after that, I thought I was finally done. I was wrong. After reconnecting my outlet, the tech failed to reassemble the console properly, and it promptly fell apart. So I went in a sixth time to have them put it back together.

I could live with the first four visits -- well, really, I would have been much happier had I not been required to come back for the fourth time to allow them to recover the new fan motor they had unnecessarily installed in the front air unit. But the last two trips to fix problems resulting from their sloppy reassembly jobs pushed me over the edge.

The dealership is beautiful. The people are pleasant and have a very professional demeanor. They seem like nice folks, and I am sure they are. But there is no getting around the fact that they did a terrible job here. They were very apologetic and offered me a free oil change and tire rotation to try and make it up to me. But I declined. I appreciate that anybody can have a bad day or two. But I don't think I'm unreasonable in saying I don't ever want to go back there again, even to let them change my oil for free. What if the tech forgets to screw the oil plug back in or strips the threads, resulting on oil loss and engine damage? At this point, I have no confidence in them to finish a job correctly. And that is a shame.

Your experience may be different. But buyer beware.

Was greeted by a nice fella named Jon. I asked for an oil change (with coupon) and tire rotation, and went to the waiting room and after about an hour he came back and tried to sell me new air filters and windshield wipers. I said no thanks, since I check these items myself, and I know from the mileage too that they're not yet needed at all. No big deal - I'm used to getting that phoney baloney sales pitch. What I am NOT used to is that after paying and driving off, I checked my oil life percentage indicator. It said I had 50% oil life left! Pretty disturbing, considering that it was at 60% when I drove in. So fifty dollars later, and I had less oil life than before. So i figure maybe they just forgot to reset it, so I did a U turn and drove on back. By now I was wondering if they had actually even changed the oil. Jon was apparently at lunch, but I talked to a mechanic. He explained that they recently have started to set the oil life to 50% rather than 100% so that customers would "come back more often to receive the service they need." Wow! I asked him to show me that my oil had actually been replaced, which he politely did. I also asked him why I should not do what my owners manual recommends, which is to change the oil when the car's indicator says that I should. He said, "That's the way Honda does it. You can do it that way if you want to." Everybody with sense enough to use Google now knows that the old 3,000 mile oil change rule is outdated nonsense. Modern cars typically go 7,000 miles and more. My Accord analyzes the driving conditions as the mileage racks up, and gives an accurate estimate of the remaining oil life. That's not my opinion... that's what the manual says, and what anybody can find out with a little bit of reading. This trick of mis-setting the oil life percentage is fundamentally dishonest. It has no benefit for the customer. It serves only to enrich the dealership and harm the environment with needlessly discarded oil. I bought my car at this dealership, and I've serviced with them for several years now. But they really crossed the line with that. I'll buy my new Ridgeline someplace else, and share my experience with my Honda owner friends.

UPDATE after Honda of Columbia's response:

Dear Mr. Semones: Thanks for responding to my review. I'm glad you're interested in maintaining a good reputation, and I can assure you that I have no reason on earth to wish to needlessly say anything bad about Honda of Columbia. I have no connection whatsoever to the auto industry - I'm a teacher. And I have no personal animosity whatsoever towards your firm. In fact, I've always been treated politely at Honda of Columbia in the five years I did business there - even on the visit in question. My only purpose is to share the simple facts of my experience that day with the AngiesList community, just as I appreciate others doing here for me. If you don't mind, I will respond to your request for further information here, just to keep others "in the loop."

Here are the details from my invoice that should help you track down whatever you might need to know about the visit I described above. Surely anything else you need is available within your computer system:

Service Date: January 17, 2014
Invoice #: 323301
Customer #: 67329
Unit #: 011426
Invoice total: $46.76

Thanks again, and I hope you get this issue sorted out with your staff.

Prompt receipt, took longer than stated, car ready but rep had keys in his pocket costing another 15 minutes.

Honda Cars have several express bays for customers who just want a quick oil change. Other work is done in other service bays. On this visit, I was one of the first cars, so I was in and out in half an hour. Of course, it could be longer if your are 3rd or 4th in line. But, again, they have several lanes, so I can't imagine that the wait should ever be too long. Besides changing the oil, they also fill up the windshield wiper reservoir, etc.  Of course, you are receiving a Honda quality filter.



We have also had other services done there over the years, 30,000 or 60,000 miles services, etc.  replacement of certain parts and the like. I can't remember when we had a problem with the work.



NOTE: We have purchased 6 cars from Honda Cars over the years. We like the straightforward approach, low key salesmen we have had. Our last purchase was in May 2006, so I can't comment if their approach has changed much since then.



One thing I like about them is that they have had several mechanics and other personnel working there for many years and I always feel that they do quality work.  Labor costs has gone way up over the years, but they are still competitive or less than other major dealers.

Honda always provides timely service with very friendly staff.  They also have a very nice waiting room so waiting for your car is pleasant.

Everything took about 45 minutes.  They have a very comfortable waiting area with tv, free coffee and cookies.  All employees were very friendly and professional.

I went in for an oil change and was surprised that a belt also needed to changed.  After researching the belt on-line confirmed that iw was time to have it changed.  Even though I was put out because of the additional work, they were extremely courteous and even found a coupon that could be applied to the service.  Will continue to use them for maintenance on my car.

Fixed all the recalls and the squeaks and rattles.  Had air filter and cabin filter in stock at a normal cost, not dealer inflated.

They are courteous and seem knowledgeable. They're also very prompt - I've never had any problems with them.

They are on Angie's List.  They were very professional.  They were quick to get it done.  They provide good service.

Excellent as always.  Courteous, professional and straightforward in what they are doing.  Employees are long-time employees you recognize by face or name which is good and speaks for the dealership.  They stand behind their work and don't try to sell you something you either didn't ask for or don't need.  That is why this is the 3rd Honda of mine that they have taken care of.  Only thing that sucks these days is their new Lexington location.  Extremely difficult to get in and out of the dealership, no matter what time you go.  They need to get the Highway Department to mark the road with the big "X" so cars stop far enough back to let people come in and out while the traffic backs up on 378.

I find the service at Honda is always fair and they work hard to get you in and out.  I purchased my car approximately two years ago from Honda of Columbia and always have my service done there.  Very friendly and sparkling clean!  I do wish they would have specials on maintenance jobs.

I haven't had any problems with them. I've gone in for a couple of recalls and they are real effective with that. There was no charge for the recall and they didn't have to fix anything. They are very responsive and I didn't have to wait too long. I will continue to use them.

This was an oil change and it went as easy as could be.  Drove in, gave them the keys, they took the car and I waited in the waiting room with what seemed like about 50 other people.  When the car was ready, the service advisor came and got me, told me what all they did, walked me to the cashier and thanked me for my business.  This was my most recent and simple service with them and it was, as usual, an easy transaction.  However, I am WAY OVERDUE for a major service.  Since I use them exclusively to service my vehicle (this is my 3rd car I have had them take care of), the service advisor told me which service was due and how much it would cost.  I've just been avoiding it because since they moved to their new location, it is very inconvenient for me.  I've told the service advisors that too.  All they can do is apologize.