02/29/2008: It's been a rough week. I was looking for a car. At first I decided on a Sebring. On Friday we were driving around looking at cars that I found online when we pass this beautiful red LXI. We pull into the dealer and the car is magnificent! It's everything I wanted. Gorgeous red with a grey leather interior, the CD changer and all options. Also, it's right in my price range. So I take a look at the car and it looks nearly perfect. A quick test drive and I am hooked. The stickers on the windshield say $8995, so I tell them $7700 and I want the rearview mirror fixed, new floor mats and a second key. They come back with OK, but we'll add on a $500 dealer fee. I say deal! We do all of the paperwork and I am impressed with the salesperson, sales manager and the dealership itself. They have a movie theater, a cafe, a gym and it's all good.

A half hour later I am enjoying a top down cruise home. I get nearly home when I notice the steering wheel has been re-dyed or painted or whatever. Eh, no biggie, most of the steering wheels get crappy on these cars, no problem. Then I get home and I realize that I forgot my keys in Theresa's van and she went to pick up her mother an hour or so away. Hmm, I guess I'll borrow a sponge and bucket from the neighbor and wash it up quick. Wait a minute, what's this gap in the passenger mirror? I touch it and the housing comes off into my hand. Crap! I call the salesman and he says no problem, when you come in for the mirror, we'll fix that too. OK. Good. So then I realize that I didn't look under this car like I did all of the rest, so I lay down and take a look. OH S**T. It's wet under there. I reach under and drag my finger across the oil filter and realize that it has an oil leak! S**T!!!! I hop in and head back to the dealer. I call them and tell them that I want to return the car. They ask why and I explain. No problem they say.  I get there and they tell me that it could be residual oil from an oil change, because they check the cars thoroughly and it couldn't possibly have a leak. Also, there was no puddle in the spot it was sitting at, so not to worry. I'm starting to feel better. By now it's 6:05pm, so they have to open the service department and turn on the compressors. We get the car up onto a lift and... Yup, it has a leak. They tell me that it's just "seepage". Yea, right, I know what an oil leak looks like and this is not a full blow leak, but it's definitely starting to leak; either from the pan or the rear main seal.  They reluctantly agree to give me a refund, however I have to wait until Monday as they already deposited my cash and there is no one there to write me a check until Monday. 

The next day, I head out to look for another used car, when I stop at the Honda dealer. It's pouring rain and the salesman comes out to the car and asks to help me. I say no, but then decide to go inside where it's warm and dry to look a the Civics and Accords. I kept hearing Theresa's voice in the back of my head saying "Just buy a new or almost new economical car and be done with it!". So after looking a bit and test driving a a couple of cars, I put a deposit on a 2008 Honda Civic EX 5 speed, so they could locate it. They said it would be in Monday night, Tuesday morning the latest. By Wednesday they still didn't have the car, but promised it would be in by Wednesday night. So we made plans for me to pick it up Thursday morning. They call Theresa Wednesday night and said that it wasn't there yet. She explained to them not to bother as I would just go to another dealer. So they promised to have a rental waiting for me at 8 am. I get there at 8:05 and they tell me the guy is getting the car. By 8:30 I am getting mad. by 8:35 they finally get rolling on the rental. 8:50am I'm on the road with a rental... They promise they will have the car for me when I get off of work...

So I've been e-mailing back and forth with this guy at Tampa Hondaland and he claims he can get me the car for $585 less than Gateway Honda. Plus, he'll throw in window tint. So I call Gateway Honda back and he finally got the car. I explain to him about the other dealer and I get to talk to the sales manager. He tells me that he can't go any lower on the price, but he'll do the window tint. (Funny, because he wouldn't do it in the morning when I asked). I call back Gateway Honda and tell them that I have to go to the Tampa dealer. I mean, $600 is a lot of money to me. He starts laying this heavy guilt trip on me. We went out of our way to accommodate you, you've been nothing but a hassle, you changed the deal once already, blah, blah, blah. Then he tells me that he is going to keep $300 for the transfer fee and whatever for the rental and I can expect to get $120 back from my $500 deposit. 

So I returned the rental directly to Enterprise and called my bank to dispute their charges. I am beside myself, I am so furious! I talked to the guy at Tampa and he asks his boss, then comes back and says that they legal can't keep my deposit. He suggests that I go back and get it. So that's what I did. I apologize to the salesman (it's not his fault) that I couldn't work out a deal with his sales manager. He then says that, that guy went home and lets see what we can do. UGH! He brings out
another sales manager and this guy is like "what do we need to do?" I say give me my refund and let me go! He then starts on the same derogatory statements of his (get this) General Sales Manager. Yup, the guy being a jerk on the phone was the general sales manager! So, no refund as I turned around and had to walk out.

Hopefully all will go well when I go to pickup the car at Honda Tampaland. If not, I'm giving up on the Honda thing. Wish me luck!!

02/29/08: I went to pick up the car from the Tampa dealer and they had it all ready as they said they would, except, due to a mis-communication, they had a four door car waiting for me.

This dealer was much better to deal with though. They apologized and said they could have the right car tomorrow. The window tinting place is only open during the week though. So I can either pickup the car tomorrow and bring it back for tinting or they will deliver the car to me (tinted) on Monday. I opted for choice B. They also offered to pay for my rental. They are really great to deal with so far. So I agreed. We ran my credit and agreed to the terms and the payment and I didn't have to sign anything. They still haven't and won't run my bank card until the deal is to be finalized. These guys are SO much better than the first dealership! Stay tuned for the outcome on Monday...

03/03/08: I get there and the car is waiting for me. Perfect, they did everything I asked. Then they tell me that the car they found had mud flaps on it already, so they threw them in. They wrap up the paperwork and everything was perfect, no high pressure sales, no financing surprises. In fact, I couldn't get to the bank to get a check for my down payment and my bank only allows $3,000 per day to be charged to my debit card. So they let me take the car anyway and they will just spread the charges for the down payment over a three day period! They also threw in a Meguir's car kit with waxes and a shammy and sponge and crap. Oh yeah, and a nationwide, lifetime warranty for the drive train! I finally got a partial refund from the first dealership of $135 and I had to call America Honda Corp. They assigned a liaison to help me get the deposit back. The dealerships are independently owned and operated, but hopefully they can do something, if not I'll have to wait for my bank to dispute the charges and that can take up to 120 days. Even if I don't get the $365 back, I am still, so far ahead that I don't even care. I'll pursue it for the principal though.

03/06/08: I received a call from my American Honda Corp Liaison today. Looks like they've persuaded Gateway Honda to refund my deposit.