McGrath Honda of Elgin

Never fixed the warranty extension issue verified. Attempted to fix, gave me a scratched up, unfinished, and botched paint job. When I complained, they passed me to the paint shop, [redacted] who blamed Honda for botching the job by immediately sending it through a car wash. Then [redacted] prolonged fixing the issue several months, then blamed me for driving the car on the highway and said they couldn't fix it. Took it back to Honda, who said the same thing, they will not fix the warrantied issue. Avoid both of these businesses, unless you like gambling. Never purchase a vehicle here under any circumstances. They will never admit fault and throw you under the bus in a second when something is their fault. This is by far the worst dealer or repair issue I have ever experienced.

Initial Business Response /* (1000, 8, 2014/07/28) */
Contact Name and Title: [redacted] GSM
Contact Phone: XXXXXXXXXX
Contact Email: [redacted]@mcgrathag.com
We are sorry for the communication issues Mr. [redacted] experienced while negotiating to purchase a Certified Pre-Owned Odyssey van...

from us. While working with Mr. [redacted] we found that he desired an Odyssey van with rear entertainment and to have a monthly payment of $475.00. Although we carry a large selection of Certified Pre-Owned vans the one Mr. [redacted] was interested in was not equipped with this option so we presented him with our accessory catalog and showed him several different option of rear entertainment system installed by one of our preferred vendors. Mr. [redacted] chose a very nice system that has a retail price of $2,000.00. After settling on the accessories to be installed our sales team and finance team worked together to make sure we can still meet Mr. [redacted]'s payment goal of $475.00 and were happy when we were able to accomplish this. Our main focus was reaching his monthly payment goal with the vehicle his wanted equipped the way he wanted it. The communication issue occurred when we presented the bill of sale to Mr. [redacted]. This document clearly breaks down the costs of the vehicle, this includes the price for the vehicle, the cost of the rear entertainment system and all other fees and taxes. Mr. [redacted] assumed the cost of the rear entertainment system would be absorbed by us and not charged to him. This of course was never our intent, the Odyssey van he desired was advertised at the sale price and all accessories were clearly listed. We at [redacted] Honda take customer satisfaction extremely serious and never want to lose a customer because of a misunderstanding. In an effort to regain Mr. [redacted]'s trust we would invite him back to our store to sit with our general manager and see if we can get closer to Mr. [redacted]'s expectations. Although we will not be providing him with a free DVD player I am confident that we can offer severals different options to make the purchase more appealing.
Initial Consumer Rebuttal /* (3000, 10, 2014/07/29) */
(The consumer indicated he/she DID NOT accept the response from the business.)
Thank you for the response. Unfortunately the response is incredibly inaccurate. The "payment goal" had nothing to do with the purchase price of the vehicle. The sales department provided me with a document stating that the rear entertainment system would be at no cost.
Also, putting the price of the RES system aside they still increased the price of the base vehicle at the last moment without my direct knowledge hoping that I wouldn't notice.
I find the way this dealership does business very inappropriate and will never visit this dealership for service or for future buying needs.
It is a shame such a great manufacture like Honda is represented by these dishonest characters.
Best regards,
[redacted]
Final Business Response /* (4000, 14, 2014/08/23) */
After speaking with my team again, they agreed the prices were clearly listed on the accessory sheet. Mr [redacted] never asked what the DVD player would cost and he was aware of the price on the accessory sheet. We agreed to the sale with Mr. [redacted] that he would pay our internet sales price as long as we could install a rear DVD and achieve his payment goal of $475. When Mr [redacted] was reviewing a bill of sale he questioned our team member, our team member explained the DVD player options and went over both the $1500 8.5" DVD player as well as the DVD player he chose that retailed for $2000. Mr.[redacted] decided not to follow thru with his purchase from our dealership and left. I would be more than happy to sit down with Mr. [redacted] and review the items again. [redacted] will always work effortlessly to assist and work out communications misunderstandings with our guest.

Initial Business Response /* (1000, 8, 2014/09/11) */
Contact Name and Title: [redacted]
Contact Phone: XXXXXXXXXX
Contact Email: [redacted]@mcgrathag.com
The vehicle arrived with a no start concern, we used every resource available to us including Honda Technical Engineering team...

to diagnose that the immobilizer system was the root cause of the failure to start. After replacement of the failed component multiple restarts and test drivers were made to confirm repair before we released the vehicle to Mr. [redacted]. When the vehicle was towed back to us it started right up. Unlike the last time we saw the vehicle there were several diagnostic trouble codes stored in the system to assist our technician in trouble shooting the vehicle. While in this process it was found that a fuse in the under hood dash board was making intermittent contact internal to that fuse. When contact was lost all data communication would reset and all trouble codes would clear. This type of failure is extremely rare and was found in the process of extensive diagnosis.
The first diagnosis was made to the best of our ability, the vehicle started multiple times and we test drove to confirm the repairs before we released the vehicle. The second failure could not be foreseen even after our attempt of multiple restarts and test driving the vehicle. McGrath Honda is committed to customer satisfaction, the hours spent working on the vehicle were extensive and were not billed to Mr. [redacted], nor was the loaner vehicle that we provided him. Because of the nature of the failure we will submit a request to America Honda for goodwill consideration for the repair.

Dear Mr. [redacted] Thank you for taking the time to speak to our General Manager, [redacted], today.  It sounds like you and [redacted] worked out a solution with your concern.  [redacted] said you will be coming in next Tuesday, March 29th to resign the paperwork and provide the extra cash needed to...

avoid financing the car.   As for the extra set of keys and manual, they were ordered last week and should be arriving soon.  I have provided my contact information below if I can assist you further.  Please note I will be out of the office 3-24- 3-31, in my absence please contact [redacted] @ [redacted] Sincerely, [redacted] McGrath Honda Customer Relations Manager[redacted]

Initial Business Response /* (1000, 15, 2014/12/04) */
On 9/2/14 Mr [redacted] came in and worked with one of our younger, newer salesman, [redacted] He had asked for a trade appraisal which we normally do not do on non Hondas unless someone is ready to purchase a vehicle. We are a Honda...

Dealership and when appraising non-Honda products, we are required to get 3 separate appraisal figures from other dealerships. In this case, Mr [redacted] had a Toyota Pick Up truck requiring us to call 3 other Toyota Dealerships. Honda dealerships normally do not sell many Pick Up trucks and our experience with Pick up trucks is somewhat limited. Mr [redacted] really wanted an appraisal and even though he was not ready to purchase a new vehicle, we appraised his vehicle. We did have his keys for a lengthy period of time but it was not to hold hostage. We were simply doing our do diligence to get Mr [redacted] the best possible deal on a vehicle that we do not have much experience with. We were waiting on call backs from 3 separate Toyota Dealerships and from talking to both the salesman and the manager, both said that when asked, the immediately returned the keys. The keys were just sitting on a desk and we were unaware that the customer was ready to leave.
Complimentary Oil Change coupons were mailed on 10/7/14 to XXXXX [redacted] IL XXXXX. If those coupons are lost, we would be happy to re-mail or to let Mr. Harper pick up in person.
All of our email addresses should be valid and work. We are unaware of any non-working email addresses. Please forward non working email so we can remove.
Please pass [redacted] our sincerest apologies to Mr. [redacted] We have no intentions of losing peoples business based on our inefficiencies to quickly appraise a vehicle. Unfortunately, newer salesman will always have a learning curve and sometimes they will always take a little longer to accomplish the same thing as some of our experienced salesman. Coupled with the fact that it was a trade-in that we do not have much experience with, it took us longer than it normally does. Again, no excuse, we need to improve certain aspects if we want to be a truly successful dealership. We do not believe, however, that we did any fraudulent or improper Revdex.com related practices. At no point was Mr [redacted] misled or lied to. Again, our sincerest apologies on the length of time spent at our dealership and we will work hard, going forward to more efficiently work car deals.

Dear Mr. [redacted]
Thank you for taking the time to speak to our General Manager, [redacted], today.  It sounds like you and [redacted] worked out a solution with your concern.  [redacted] said you will be coming in next Tuesday, March 29th to resign the paperwork and provide the extra cash...

needed to avoid financing the car.   As for the extra set of keys and manual, they were ordered last week and should be arriving soon.  
I have provided my contact information below if I can assist you further.  Please note I will be out of the office 3-24- 3-31, in my absence please contact [redacted] @ [redacted]
Sincerely, 
[redacted] McGrath Honda Customer Relations Manager
[redacted]

Initial Business Response /* (1000, 13, 2014/12/02) */
On the week of October 3rd, 2014, Ms. [redacted] had a talk with [redacted] is our internet department. She asked if we were willing to match a quote she had received from another dealership via an email. We always match written quotes so [redacted]...

naturally replied "yes" to her request as long as the car is the same car with same equipment. Ms [redacted] and her husband visited our dealership on 10/3/14 and met with our sales rep [redacted]. We greeted her with the utmost sincerity and respect. The quote she brought in had was valid "on instock units only" and specifically said "did not include any additional accessories installed on the vehicle." This was information written directly on her quote that she brought in. We honored that exact quote adding for the accessories and the locate fee and we located her a car at another dealership. We explained that the car we located had an accesory package that included Splash Guards and all weather mats. We did not put these accessories on the vehicle, they were accessories that were already on the vehicle from the St Charles Honda Dealership (a dealership that is with in our dealer group but run by an entirely different GM). The quote she had from [redacted] did not have an Illinois Doc fee and did not have the Illinois Plate Charge on the paperwork (it had Wisconsin plate charges that were slightly less). We explained that even in [redacted] they would need to charge you the correct plate amount as she resided in Illinois and that she would still have to pay the Illinois Doc Fee of 166.27. In total, for getting her an out of stock vehicle, adding for the All Weather Mats, Splash Guards, Doc Fee, and difference in Plates, we were able to be within $600 of her initial quote. The customer felt that we were too far off. We feel that we did everything we could have. We were up front and honest and very courteous in our dealings with this customer. [redacted] notes in our system also show that we told customer prior to her visit that she would be responsible for the doc fee diference and plate difference. She also has a note saying that she explained that accessories are different from vehicle to vehicle. We feel that we were very upfront in the dealing with the [redacted] starting with the phone conversation and properly disclosed all possible pricing keeping in mind that we were not aware that we were unaware of where we would locate a vehicle and what accessories that vehicle would have. We also included free of charge our [redacted] advantage package which includes many free items like oil changes and complimentary additional warranties and car washes for life.

It is unfortunate that the [redacted] left unsatisfied. We strive to offer customer service that is second to none. Although we can not make every single deal, we always want to leave our customers with a positive view of this business and our dealer group. I would like to offer Ms [redacted] my sincerest apology for not living up to that goal. Although I do not believe we did anything deceptive, we will continue to train and grow to help accomplish our goal of 100% customer satisfaction. I hope that at the very least, Ms [redacted] felt that everyone she dealt with was completely professional and treated the customers with respect

Dear Ms. Manley- 
I am very sorry for the inconveniences you've experienced, I had no intentions of placing blame on ATC.  I apologize for any delays on our part and the numerous phone calls you needed to make to get updates.  
[redacted] sent me the ATC confirmation, which was complete yesterday.  I have the confirmation packet in a PDF form, I'm happy to attach it to this response, but didn't want to do so without your permission as it contains your personal information and plate number.  [redacted] informed me that once we receive the confirmation the customer usually has the plates in their hands within 1-2 days.  They are over-nighted by ATC. 
You requested in your original Revdex.com compliant that you would like 'McGrath to train our employees on this matter'.  We will certainly review your experience with our finance & office team, and retrain to prevent further delays with out of state deals.  
I will have [redacted] follow-up with you today to ensure you received the plates.  
Thank you, 
[redacted]

Dear Mr. [redacted] I've looked into your concern.  It seems the customer who purchased from us and that you are referring to is '[redacted].  I will cut you a referral check for $100, but in the future please advise our sales management that you are referring a customer prior to them...

purchasing. You can do this by emailing '[redacted] or sending the customer in with a $100 referral card that would have your name on it.  I will include these referral cards with your check.  Please email me at [email protected] with your current address or where you would like us to send the check.  When I hear back from you I will notify our office manager to send your check.  [redacted]

It is shocking that after telling the sales department of my needs and my budget they pushed for prices higher than neighboring dealers. The sales person was determined to scam us in to buying the used car and pay more than the price of new car. He wanted to us to initial on some random price when we asked which car you are giving us the price for he didn't say anything he took off and came back and replied that the price of a used car.

Overall the experience of buying a car form Mcgrath Honda was horrendous, we had to deal with the attitude from the sales person to sales manager including the financial director. After repeatedly requesting that if we can agree on the OTD price don't want to buy the car we want the deposit back they refuse to do so, The sales manager shook hands on the out the door price including the fees and the financial sales person added after the OTD price of the car.
I will recommend other people to be very careful of this dealer's misleading tactics in scamming you of every penny they can squeeze out of you by adding fees after the agreed out the door prices.
None of the charges were explained I have requested that the taxes are of [redacted] county they still charged me for [redacted] the registration states [redacted] county, I am trying to reach them with numerous e-mails and phone calls yet there is no response. I will never recommend anyone to buy a car form Mcgrath Honda of Elgin ever again after three visits and 22 hours wasted in those three visits not one person own up to the promises they make before the purchase of the new car.

Terrible. Dishonest. Impersonal. Not knowledgeable about the car I was buying.

Look at their [redacted] rating: 1.5!

The prices they list online are fixed!
They do not budge on price. They explained, "We list our lowest price online, that's why its fixed, if we didn't no one would come in here."
Well, that's true!

The approx. 20 y/o that was showing me the car knew absolutely nothing about it stating that it was a custom color and had a body kit put on it by the previous owner, nope! None of that is true it was just an uncommon color and a standard Sport model.

Bullying sales tactics. Finally agreed to look at the other car loan rates they could offer me after being bullied into it.
2.5 HOURS LATER...
They didn't show me other loan rates, they applied and approved me for a Chase bank loan and shoved it in a stack of other papers for me to sign. DISHONEST.
Not to mention that loan had a 7.9% interest rate which they blamed on my credit when the loan I walked in there with had a 4.2% interest rate...
SLIMEY SLIMEY SLIMEY.

When sitting in the Business Manager's office, crying may I add because I was so upset with their service, his boss walked by and through the glass told his to hurry up, they had just sold 5 more cars. IMPERSONAL.

After all that they continued to mess everything up.
A few weeks later new license plates came in the mail even though I was very clear that I was transferring registration and didn't need new plates or the extra charge for them!

Absolutely terrible in every way.
RUN FAR, FAR AWAY FORM [redacted] HONDA!