I purchased a 2004 Acura TL from Don Ayers October 31, 2012 and I'm not happy with their service at all.
I dealt with Darren Bickel, who was somewhat pleasant to work with, but the more I think about it the more it seems like a "wolf in sheeps clothes" sort of deal. I admit that I should have taken more time getting the car checked out and researching things, but I had totaled my previous car and I was in somewhat of a rush to buy this car. I will list some of the things that I did not like about the experience and try to explain in detail.
The first thing that annoyed me was the fact that they want to tell you as little as possible about the car. This car was previously owned by another worker, and they did agree to print off a carfax for me (which I had already viewed online). Sometimes on the CarFax it states that the car was brought in for service but doesn't indicate what service was done. Since some of the service was done at Don Ayers I asked if they have a detailed service record of what was done to the car. The seller's response was somewhere along the lines of "I have no idea".
Secondly, the car had 103,000 miles on it. In the Honda industry, you should be very familiar with the 105,000 mile service, which includes changing the timing belt, water pump, tensioner, etc. This service costs about $1000-$1500 if you get it don at Don Ayers. However, I had never owned a Honda before and was unaware that this service would need to be completed immediately after purchasing the car, since it was at 103k already. They did not tell me this at the time of purchase even though there is no way a Honda dealer wouldn't know that this services needed to be completed. They were listing the car for RETAIL price, however. Which would have meant everything was perfect on the car. This car was nowhere near perfect, considering it would need about $1500 in maintenance in the near future. And the inside of the car was pretty beat up as well (seller scoffed at me when I asked if the car had been detailed before putting it up for sale).
Thirdly, I ended up purchasing the car for about 1500 under what they were asking, so you'd think even if I needed to get the 105k service done it would still be a pretty good deal, right? WRONG!
Upon driving the car home that day, I realized that it was shimmering going into 3rd and 4th gear. I was unaware at the time but this is common in Acura TLs when the transmission is beginning to give out. So I scheduled an appointment a few days later with the service department to have it checked, I was also experiencing a grinding noise every now and then when shifting. They drove the car and said they couldn't find anything wrong. I told them that the transmission fluid was brown and they said "well changing the fluid would probably be a good idea". So come to find out the fluid hadn't been changed in over 50,000 miles. In TLs you're supposed to change it every 15-20k because of the way the transmissions are built and the fluid breaks down quickly. Instead of doing the drain and fill which is recommended by the manual and every other car mechanic I've ever talked to, they tell me they've never heard of a drain and fill and they did a transmission flush. From what other mechanics have told me this is a terrible thing to do to an aging transmission.
So this had all happened within a week of getting the car. The transmission has been shifting better now that the fluid has been changed, but who knows what type of damage has already been done. Let me also list everything that has been replaced within the first month or so of owning the car:
-Timing belt
-serpentine belt
-water pump
-spark plugs
- air filter
-cabin filter
-power steering o-ring (power steering still squeals when it's cold outside)
This brings me to my last point of contention.
When buying the car I noticed that the tires were a bit worn but looked as though they could last another year or so. When taking the car to Tuffy for an oil change 3 weeks ago (as of now I refuse to spend another dime at Don Ayers) and tire rotation, I was informed that ALL FOUR tires were separating and the belt was sticking out of the tire. The owner of Tuffy told me that I'm lucky I'm not DEAD from all 4 tires blowing up on the highway! This is all documented on my sales records.
So to make a long story short, in a car that Don Ayers was selling for full retail price, I ended up paying $150 for Don Ayers to flush the transmission, I paid $700 for 4 new tires and an alignment, about $800 for the 105k service which I got done at an independent mechanic but it would have cost about $1500 at Don Ayers. LUCKY i'm not dead from my tires separating. I'm not sure if it is legal to sell somebody a car in this condition.
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