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H.T
15-02-2009, 09:34 PM
Hi All,

As per my introduction thread, I was hoping to get some feedback and hopefully some assistance with problems we have with new Accord Euro, as some of you may have had the same problems and had them sorted.

We entered into a contract to purchase our car three weeks ago, and were told that it would be delivered within a week. Two weeks ago we went into the dealership to pick up the car and before signing we asked if we could see the car first just to give it a quick look over, the dealer was quite anxios for us to sign, but we persisted to see the car first.

It was still in the pre-delivery bay and upon walking up to it we noticed a number of imperfections in the paint (its black) and what appeared to be small specs of rust (when it has the blue tinge) on the bonnet and other areas of the car, as well as this there were a number of swirl marks in the paint from the pre-delivery, when I pointed out the imperfections, the salesperson said, thats an easy fix and he had one of the workers grab some polish squirted it all over the car and started rubbing it in, well it must have been a cutting compound or harsh polish as it completely scratched the paint.

The salesperson then offered to have the car detailed, I said that the scratched looked pretty deep, so they offered to provide us with a replacement vehicle and were going to get back to us in a day or so's time.

Yesterday, we were advised that the vehicle was ready and made arrangements to pick it up before ending the call, I asked the salesperson if this vehicle was ok and that I didn't want them rushing again, he said that "Its Perfect" which got me real worried! We arrived at the dealership at 5pm as we were asked to attend when they were about to close, and was led to a car that was parked in a dark corner in there workshop, when I asked if we could turn some lights on I was told that they couldn't so I walked around the workshop and turned every light switch on, and yes there was a reason why it was parked in a dark corner!

It has more swirl marks then the first car, however there was only one imperfection that I could see on the bonnet, the salesperson was quite upset when I started pointing out the swirl marks and the whole management team and dealership owners came in to tell me that I am the fusiest person they have ever met, and what do I expect for a black car, and that's the extent of the quality of the paint etc (Having not owned a Honda, we did not know what to expect, the Black one in the showroom didn't have swirl marks)

Basically, they gave us two options;

They will have "There" detailers go over the car again, this was not going to happen!

Choose another colour, which we weren't interested in.

They then went on to say that it was the lights the car was under, so we took it outside and the swirl marks were still there.

As we were without a family car for a few weeks, and we didn't have any other options we had to take delivery of the vehicle, I asked the dealership owner if he would pay for a detailer of my choice to rectify the paint, and he "kindly" commented that I contact Honda Australia about the quality of the paint on the car and that "They" should pay for it.

Sorry for the long winded post, but I thought I would get some background info in as possibly one of you have had a similar problem and I would like to know how you got it resolved.

On the other hand, I may have built up an expectation that the car was going to be a quality vehicle and not have paint like all the other new cars out there we had looked at, and I am now just disappointed.

Some feedback would be great.

markoJEK1
15-02-2009, 09:43 PM
I work at a dealership and I am yet to see 'swirled' paint or bad looking paint just because its black on any of the new cars, the paint is in mint condition at all times , hyundais / suzuki / isuzu , any imperfections Ive seen the detailers deal with, and if they cant fix it I dont know what happens, I aint a detalier or a salesmen, I work in the service department. you have every right to be picky as you are purchasing a brand new car that shouldnt have any wear marks what so ever. Expecting the whole car to be immaculate when new thats not a big demand..

tron07
16-02-2009, 08:16 AM
I would have told them I decided that I dont want this particular vehicle and decided to change the colour..... later I will tell them I would want back my original colour and they would have to give me another colour.

Most important thing is to never sign anything before you are satisfied with it.

90LAN
16-02-2009, 08:24 AM
just ask for another car mate u are paying for it u should expect the best cond
just call head office and report their rudeness

night_wolf
16-02-2009, 09:41 AM
as stated by 90lan call head office and report their rudeness. if i were you mate i would be really worried what else they are hiding since they are in a rush for you to take the car of their hands. BUT there is no way in hell a black car straight out of the dealership shouldnt look mint. get on the phone and make them get your car back to mint condition!

ktvin09
16-02-2009, 10:11 AM
Something doddgy is going on there at the dealership mate, "come and get the car around the time we close"... I'd say call "Today Tonight" :p

No seriously, I think you have every right to contact Consumer Protection, then call up Honda and state the fact that you have already notified Consumer Protection, just to speed things up.

markCivicVti
16-02-2009, 12:32 PM
Sorry to hear mate. When I picked up my civic it had swirls too. I didn't notice it till i got home... it was my first new car so lesson learnt.

On the bright side.. after 6 months ownership i polished the thing myself and looked better than delivery day.

You have every right to expect a showroom finish on a new car - maybe unless its a ex demo.

H.T
16-02-2009, 08:34 PM
Thank you all for the replies.

If we had the time to spare we would have demanded another car, but my wife has been driving the S15 around, and it's not designed for Baby seats and prams.

The car itself is brand new, its 02/09 Compliance and had 8km on it, I think personally that it was the way it was pre-delivered that has caused the problems with the paint, that as well as the fact that the first car was a 08 Compliance and they claim that they were losing money on this car, but I guess thats a standard line...

Didn't get a chance to follow it up today, but will set some time aside this week, and will let you all know how it progress's.

night_wolf
17-02-2009, 04:28 PM
Thank you all for the replies.

If we had the time to spare we would have demanded another car, but my wife has been driving the S15 around, and it's not designed for Baby seats and prams.

The car itself is brand new, its 02/09 Compliance and had 8km on it, I think personally that it was the way it was pre-delivered that has caused the problems with the paint, that as well as the fact that the first car was a 08 Compliance and they claim that they were losing money on this car, but I guess thats a standard line...

Didn't get a chance to follow it up today, but will set some time aside this week, and will let you all know how it progress's.

mate most people have the same issue as you when upgrading to a family car. the sudden need for a baby seat, space for a pram. space for shopping. all this is normal. the dealership just preyed on your needs. but seriously call consumer affairs (or protection, cant remember exactly) they shall advacate on your behalf. most businesses get the shits when they hear their name. i would know cause i had to deal with them on regards to a collage matter.

:thumbsup:

H.T
21-02-2009, 08:46 AM
No progress to report... Just not enough time!

muzukashi
21-02-2009, 09:01 AM
sorry 2 hear man, hopefully once u get some legal action on their ass they should just honor your demands, wen u get the boot by any cust service you know that they have some shit 2 hide there.

dont worry about their 48 hour shit and just go legal&public with it, wen the spotlight is on them they all hate the extra attention esp when its bad :)

panda[cRx]
21-02-2009, 09:12 AM
u should have choosen another colour. even if it wasnt swirled or marked when u bought it it would be soon after. black shows EVERYTHING


mate most people have the same issue as you when upgrading to a family car. the sudden need for a baby seat, space for a pram. space for shopping. all this is normal. the dealership just preyed on your needs. but seriously call consumer affairs (or protection, cant remember exactly) they shall advacate on your behalf. most businesses get the shits when they hear their name. i would know cause i had to deal with them on regards to a collage matter.

:thumbsup:

gtfo they weren't preying on him because he needed the car. they would have done the best they could with what they were given. cars get marks of them all the time before they even get to dealers. they were probably doin the best they could with what they had.

lol @ people that think dealerships are all EVIL and making a gazillion dollars out of every car sale

night_wolf
21-02-2009, 06:54 PM
dont think none of us is sayin dealerships are evil or reapin money from us. think about it, their atitude towards the whole incident + customer doesnt tally up. hidden car in the dark, saying its all good? mate u wouldnt be happy if you were in H.T's shoes. YES dealerships have cars with defects on paint. they normally do everything to get rid of em before sale, with H.T's case that clearly hasnt happened. I and many others would do the best to get what we paid for, unless you are plucking money from a tree which wouldnt really be the case.

panda[cRx]
21-02-2009, 07:55 PM
you try getting any kinda mark out of nighthawk black or crystal black and tell me how you go?

OP should do as the dealer suggested and speak to customer relations. usually when customers have a bitch to them they get what they want as long as they are reasonable

H.T
22-02-2009, 06:13 PM
panda,

Dealers make a decent profit on cars, how else could they sustain being in business? Would you be in business if you were not making enough profit? Usually when cars are discounted the Manufacturer wears it, for example we were looking at purchasing a new Commodore before we purchased the Euro, a couple of months ago a SS was in the late forties to early fifties mark driveaway, up until about last month you could pick one up for $39,990 driveaway, it was close to a $10K discount, and it wasn't on one car it was on all SS's sold, the dealerships advised that they still made there regular profits and that the manufacturer wore the loss in profit...

After speaking with some friends over the weekend, I am going to just put everything in writing over the course of next week and send it on to the dealership and HA, that way it is documented as phone conversations are easily mis construed.

Will report on any progress during the course of the week.

H.T
31-03-2009, 08:41 AM
Well, over a month and it hasn't progressed any further.

I have just been given the run around and now the car is pinging...

EGB18CT
31-03-2009, 10:26 AM
mate pick a different colour, the nighthawk black although looks good for about a day if detailed by a pro, after that as soon as the sun warms up the paint it seems to flex/expand/etc and the swirls eventually come back, sometimes worse than before.

If you want swirls go balck, no matter what you do you will always have them apart from that day or so after being pro detailed (by pro don't mean your average car wash)

Gio
31-03-2009, 01:17 PM
;2134327']u should have choosen another colour. even if it wasnt swirled or marked when u bought it it would be soon after. black shows EVERYTHING

gtfo they weren't preying on him because he needed the car. they would have done the best they could with what they were given. cars get marks of them all the time before they even get to dealers. they were probably doin the best they could with what they had.

lol @ people that think dealerships are all EVIL and making a gazillion dollars out of every car sale

That is not the point Panda, my brother in law sells Hondas and there is no chance that his dealership would sell something with swirl marks all over it, it's plain rude and bad business practice to even entice someone into buying a 'new' car of that standard. Also, even if you did sign O.P, since the dealer was obviously rushing you into the sale for obvious reasons, you would most likely be able to take them to court, but thats another story.

Don't sign till you are 100% happy. End.


mate pick a different colour, the nighthawk black although looks good for about a day if detailed by a pro, after that as soon as the sun warms up the paint it seems to flex/expand/etc and the swirls eventually come back, sometimes worse than before.


What i dont understand is how the 'swirls' got there in the 1st place. My black ek is 10 years old and there are no 'swirls' in the paint and i wouldnt expect any to be.

simonnowis
31-03-2009, 02:28 PM
swirls to what extent? It could be just the polishing from factory, any pics?
having owned a black car its impossible to keep it mint unless you dont intend to drive it. in direct sunlight every little imperfection will show up on black even if polished/wax.
Im picky about imperfections to, thats why I bought a silver car. although black is nice it required washing 2 times a week, where as silver or any light colour looks clean even after a month.

Hitchy
01-04-2009, 07:23 PM
Absolutely no excusses for dealer behaving deceptively, but.....

Mate that worked in a Honda dealership said that the high gloss black is a nightmare for delivery. He said they basically didn't wash or touch the car uneccessarily, except for taking off the panels protective 'wrap'.
Pretty much the first time you wipe it in any way you will leave swirls if you look carefully in the right light.

Black is for show cars that are constantly detailed or for everyday use if you can live with the swirls.

P.S.
thats why I bought a silver car........ where as silver or any light colour looks clean even after a month.

Me too.... Good wash and coat of wax and the silver looks reasonable most of the time. Even better after it's rained!
Haven't washed it in a year and a half with water restrictions in Melb. Too busy (or lazy) to go commercial car wash and it looks OK.