Wilde East Towne Honda

Review: I am a young single female, first time buyer. I went to the dealership to look at a lease option with a trade in car. After speaking with the sales representative, I was high pressured into signing up to lease a vehicle. The entire ordeal went fast and there was not a lot of explanation being conducted on their end. I did not understand the lease contract and I do not want this car.

After the paperwork was quickly pushed through, I took the vehicle home (about 8 miles away) and within 30 minutes realized I did not want to pay this amount for this vehicle. I immediately got in the car and went back to the dealership, this time alone and emotional (crying). I didn't know my options or what could be done at this point as I have only bought one care in my life which was right out of college. Walking into the dealership I explained how I felt to the sales person and they informed me that I could not return the vehicle because it was technically a used car at this point. The only "option" they could work out for me was to switch me into the other vehicle I was considering but I did not really like. This vehicle was valued at almost $40/month less when we talked about it earlier but he said they would have to do an even exchange. I asked for other options and they said there were no other options. They took the overall price down by $10, acting like they were doing me a favor. Being a single, young, vulnerable female , I didn't think I had any other options and went with it. I feel like I got lied to and taken advantage of at this point. Now paying more for the replacement vehicle than I had originally been told in the first place.

Since the dealership was now closed when I left, I drove the vehicle back to Milwaukee where I live, and the moment I got home I immediately knew this vehicle was not for me as I had figured in the first place. I could not justify paying that much money a month for a vehicle. Knowing that they were not open on Sundays , I sent multiple emails to the sales person and even called and left voicemails to see if there were any other options I could do at this point. This is a big investment for a young professional and I knew I was making the wrong decision and was lied to in the first place.

Monday morning came and I did not hear from the dealership. I had sent another email that morning and still did not receive anything. After calling and leaving another voicemail that afternoon, I finally got an email back saying there was nothing they could do. At this point I tried to get in contact with the manager to see if there were any options and explain my situation. They also said the same thing, "I cannot do anything for you". I reached out to a few dealerships and asked them there thoughts on trading in the vehicle. and knew the outcome would be that I would be taking a big hit financially if I did that. At this time, I was reviewing my lease with another dealership and they noticed that I had a carbon copy of the lease that was not signed by the dealership representative. I then again reached out to the sales manager and the sales representative stating that I would like something done and now I have a copy of an unsigned lease. Almost 2 days went by with absolutely no response. After sending repeated emails, I finally received a phone call from the sales representative stating that there was still nothing they could do. They did mention that it would be difficult to unwind the deal but it's ultimately up to the Managers if they wanted to do it or not. As for the lease, they said it was signed after I had left, by their company representative, and that I would receive a signed copy in the mail in a few days.

After receiving this information and still being told there was absolutely nothing they could do time after time, I went to Honda Corporate and filed a complaint. There was nothing they could do as the financial agreements are on the dealerships end and would be up to them if they wanted to help me out, clearly they did not. I once again called the Manager on Thursday evening and left a voicemail to please call me back. At this time I sent another email to the sales representative asking if they could at least put my down payment and trade in value towards my payments or help me out that way since they are forcing me to stay in a vehicle I don't want to be in. It is almost 24 hours later with, again, zero response.

At this point, there is no other option than to file a complaint against the dealership. Clearly I do not have enough power or say to get the customer service I deserve and I want to be taken seriously. I want them to know that they cannot walk all over and lie to a young female just because she wasn't as well versed in the car world.

I am completely unsatisfied with the level of customer service provided and how this situation was handled. On multiple accounts my phone calls and emails were not returned, resulting in a follow up phone call or email on my end before getting a response.Desired Settlement: I would like to ultimately return the vehicle and invest in something that I actually want. I do not want to work with Honda dealers moving forward as I am highly unsatisfied with the level of customer service being provided.

If I cannot return the vehicle, I would like my down payment and trade in vehicle to go towards my actual payments, so that in a year or so I can get into a different vehicle without being out 10K.

Consumer

Response:

[A default letter is provided here which indicates your acceptance of the business's response. If you wish, you may update it before sending it.]

I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID [redacted], and find that this resolution is satisfactory to me. I am writing to you in response to your email about the above mentioned complaint.

Drove to Madison last Saturday because we weren't able to make any kind of deal on my VW with Rock County Honda. My husband and I went to two other dealerships before WILDE East Towne Honda. Those two experiences were mostly "meh"! Not bad, not good.
We walked into Wilde and talked to Scott [redacted]. He was professional, friendly and thorough. We got the deal we wanted and bought a new CRV. I would suggest this dealership and Scott to anyone interested in being treated with respect and getting a fair deal!

Review: I went to wilde honda to get a new suv. I found one I liked and noticed a few things wrong with the suv. so I told them I wanted it fixed before buying the car. they had there mechanics look at the car said it was 2 sensors that was causing the engine to shake really bad. so they sent it to the ford dealership to get fixed. they fixed the sensors and still had the same problem with the car. so there master mechanics said thats how some cars get broken into like that. I think just about everyone knows a engine should not shake really bad!!!! I also had some people look at the car that know about cars! and they said a engine should not shake that bad!!! gotta be something wrong. My thought to all this is that I believe the car had more issues and they did not want to fix the car. they wanted me to buy it so I have issues down the road. I never seen the paper work them trying to fix the car also.Desired Settlement: At the time I put a down payment on the car of $2000. I went back to get my refund and the customer service was aweful! they wanted me to pay a 5% fee for the refund. I said they never told me that and that I wanted my full refund back! which I ended up getting back!

Business

Response:

We purchased a 2007 Ford Explorer in April, and performed a full safety inspection on the vehicle replacing 4 tires, and completed some

other work on rotors and brake pads upon receiving the vehicle. The

customer liked this vehicle and placed a deposit on it with a

contingency to have the vehicle inspected by a third party.

The

customer had their own mechanic look at the vehicle, and thought the O2

sensor needed to be replaced, as there appeared to be an abnormal

hesitation in the engine. We then had our Master Technician take a

second look, and their conclusion was if anything should solve the

customer concern - it would be replacing the O2 sensor. At this point we

opted to send the vehicle to a Ford automobile dealership to have the

vehicle inspected, which we did at our expense. The response from the

Ford Master Technician, as well as Ford Corporate, was the same,

replacing the sensor may resolve the customer concern - but this was not

an abnormal behavior for a Ford Explorer. As a result, we replaced two

sensors and spark plugs on the vehicle. A copy of the work performed is

on file.

Review: 09/12/2015 10:44AM CST

Dear Honda, [redacted], and whom it may concern,

. I have been, for the short term of my 11 year driving career a Honda owner. I have never been more dissatisfied with the most current Honda I own now. I have a 2007 Honda fit. It was supposed to be a “certified” used car from Wilde East Towne Honda in Madison Wi. Prior to purchasing this used car in November I noticed a problem with the back door. Before I purchased the vehicle I advised the dealer and they said “I’ll have a technician look at it.” To say the least it appeared to resolve the issue only temporarily. The handle above the license plate would stick and cause the door to either not unlock because of its position or to STAY OPEN after closing it causing personal items to be scattered over the road. I told the dealer about this issue after my purchase and they said you have a 3000mile/1month warranty but would have to pay 50% still. That is absurd!

My second issue with this vehicle they called certified is they said they did a million point inspection on it and that it was in tip top shape! Mind you I paid over 6 THOUSAND dollars for a vehicle with 160 thousand miles that is supposed to be a Honda in a way that it will run forever with little maintenance. Immediately after my great warranty expired the check engine light came on. I again called the dealer and they said well no warranty then you’ll have to pay hundreds of dollars just for a diagnostic check then parts and labor to fix the issue. Honestly I thought Honda was the best car ever! But I’m beginning to think otherwise! So me being a, what I’d like to think, a rather smart guy took this vehicle to my local auto parts store and used a check engine light reader. I plugged it in and it came back with a code to the effect that my 02 sensors are bad! ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!?!?!? A million point inspection and the door not fixed and now this!

On to the next issue! Im driving down the road and coming up to a stop sign and I press the clutch to go into neutral and my car DIES! No big deal so I just turn the key and she fires right back up! But this happens more frequently than not! This is another safety hazard!!!! Why does this car die all the freaking time!? So I called the dealership. They said oh it could be something in the fuel line or too low of idle is set….bring it in and we will look at it….ya RIGHT! So you can again charge me hundreds of dollars to diagnose it. Then hundreds even thousands more to fix it. This is my biggest concern as I don’t know when the car is going to die and cause an ACCIDENT! I don’t think Honda wants to turn into GM.

How about now we go on to my supposed last issue that I know of. I am driving and I go over the smallest bump in the road and hear a slight rattle. This slight rattle is no slight problem at all. My inner tie rods are shot! Again we go back to this million point inspection how do you miss this!? Now you know as well as I do that bad tie rods cause bad tire wear so not only will I have to pay for a parts and labor for tie rods ill have to get it re aligned. I will also have to purchase new tires sooner. So more THOUSANDS of dollars out the window! This is UNACCEPTABLE!!!!

I have been a very loyal customer until now and I’m wavering. I am looking for a resolution in the form of GETTING MY CAR FIXED! I don’t want any compensation other than Honda cash, credits, what have you in order to get my car fixed in a timely manner. I have forwarded this on to Honda dealership, Revdex.com, and Corporate.

I wait for your timely response! Via email please do not call as I work for a living.Desired Settlement: I am looking for a resolution in the form of GETTING MY CAR FIXED! I don’t want any compensation other than Honda cash, credits, what have you in order to get my car fixed in a timely manner.

Business

Response:

Good afternoon Jordan.We are sorry to hear you have had some conserns arise with your Honda Fit. You did mention our staff looked at the rear door and it seemed OK after that. According to our records, your vehicle has only been here 2 other times for regular services - one for tire change and rotate (6/17/15) and the other for a tire change and rotate with a master switch replacement (1/27/15) - which we did not charge you for. Other than that, we do not have any service records that we looked at your vehicle for anything else. When you purchased the vehicle with 163,000+ miles on it, it was not a Honda Certified Used Vehicle, it was a vehicle that we backed by our own Wilde Certified program - in the event something unforseen were to arise we offer a 1 month / 3,000 mile coverage which you signed the agreement for (scan attached). We perform a safety inspection on every vehicle we offer for sale, though we cannot foresee when something else on a vehicle may need a replacement - which is why we offer our own coverage. Unfortunately, when purchasing any vehicle with over 100,000 miles it becomes more difficult to know when something would happen.Our diagnostic charge is at most $110, typically $55. If there is service work that is performed as a result of the diagnostic check, there are times the diagnostic charge will be waived. We are surprised to hear any of this information after having your vehicle in here for service twice since the vehicle was purchased without any note on those service visits about your concerns.We are willing to discuss options for inspecting your vehicle and advising how to proceed, but without physically seeing your vehicle, there is little that we can do. If you are interested in having us look at your vehicle further, please reach out to our customer relations. You can contact [redacted] at ###-###-#### to discuss your concerns at your convenience.

Review: On Saturday March 21st my husband and I bought a new van. We bought it off the showroom floor. We asked our sales rep, [redacted], if he could order it in blue, he said no, as if it wasnt possible. He clearly didnt want to put any effort into the sale. When we got it home I looked at the color in the sun it was different than on the floor and didnt like it. We called [redacted] within in an hour of being home and expressed this and the desire for him to figure out how to get us blue or at least exchange it for gray. here is the rest of the timeline:

210935MAR15Arrived at Wilde:

211245MAR15: Arrive home with the van

211409MAR15: Called [redacted] and explained we wanted the blue van, not the red one. He told us he was very busy and would call us back after talking with his leadership by 0830 on Monday; 23 March 2015. (Call is in my call log, lasted 2min 10sec) Said he was too busy to talk to us at the moment. No mention of bringing the car back.

1333: Wrote [redacted] because he never responded/called like he said at 0830. Asking about the car (we have email)

23MAR15: Wrote [redacted] 3 times to try and find out how to get a different colored van. His response was very criptic and tried to sell us the touring elite to save us 700-1000 in accessories. (emails are saved)

on 23 March he stated he was back in the office at 2pm on Wednesday, however he never returned our emails and we had to again make contact with [redacted]. We wrote [redacted] again on 24MAR15 which he never returned.

24MAR15, we wrote [redacted] for clarification on what he was willing to help us with in getting a different color van. Well he never responded and or acknowledged the email for days.

26MAR15, we eventually called [redacted] only to have him tell us since we have owned the van a week that we were stuck with it.Desired Settlement: We would like at a minimum a gray van. They told us it would cost us $3,500 to switch vans. If [redacted] would have taken the time to tell us to come back in Saturday night, we would have been there right away, instead he just kept blowing us off.

While trying to get this resolved I was also threatened with a harrassment suit if I continued to pursue a favorable outcome. I would like also like a written apology from [redacted] stating that he is sorry for his actions. In that apology I would like included that he is sorry for claiming that HE is respsonbile for giving us a $500 military discount. As someone who has [redacted] for 11 months and married to a Soldier who has served over 24 months in combat it is extremely offensive for someone filling out paperwork to claim they are responsible for the discount when we risked our lives for it and Honda offered it.

Business

Response:

We have reached out to the customer about the concern of the vehicle color. Upon management becoming aware we acted swiftly to resolve the concern. Customer should be completely satisfied.

Consumer

Response:

[A default letter is provided here which indicates your acceptance of the business's response. If you wish, you may update it before sending it.]

I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID [redacted], and find that this resolution is satisfactory to me.

Deceitful...crooked...Buyers Beware!! We leased a new CRV from Wilde East Towne. From the salesman to the " Sales Manager" to the Finance Dept the price consistently changed. And we were not given much of a chance to look at the bill of sale. When we did, unfortunately after the fact, we saw that there was an $545.00 delivery fee added...and that there was a loss of $ in our trade amounting to $826.00. We were pressured into buying a maintenance agreement(we said NO twice.. [redacted] persisted and we just wanted to go home so we finally said ok...the payment was supposed to go up $18.00..but it went up $26.00 instead,... we tried to cancel the next day the next day... we were told that we could...but no money would be refunded and there went another $450.00.We wanted to call the whole thing off and take back our vehicle...But Phil...the wonderful manage told us we signed a contract and that was that. Funny that he knew the state of WI 3 day right of rescission law pertains to off premises sales. I am sure we are not the only people this establishment has taken advantage of.

I bought a van from Wilde right when they opened - their grand opening was a week after I picked the van up. Everything was fine. Found the van online and when I got there, it was as described. They didn't mess around with me on price or anything else. They DID tell me that the van (which was used) would need a new steering rack before they felt they could sell it; okay, fine, they did that. Some several months later the (newly replaced) rack began to fail - but Wilde made good on it! Replaced it again at no charge. Hard to argue with that. They follow up very infrequently with emails (and I did give them my email address). I had no problems and would encourage buyers to check them out.