Piazza Acura of Reading

I've Acura TL and a Honda AccordI take my car's to this shop time to time to get oil changeHowever, every time I get a phone call from the dealer during service, I get recommendations of other service I should get done where the cost normally ends up in thousands of dollarsFew examples below: Acura TL - most recent service 9/18: took my TL for an oil changeMid-day, I get a phone call with few service recommendations: Radiator is leaking and need to get it replaced - estimated cost $-- Funny thing, I just had my radiator replaced a month ago due to another problemRefused the service requestEngine oil is leaking and need to replace a pipe or some other item - estimated cost $-- refused the service Pads and Rotors are low on rear of the car - estimated cost $-- Refused the service requestTire thread is low on of tiresRecommend to replace the tires - estimated cost $Refused the requestRough total estimate = $I've a very trust-able, knowledgeable mechanic that I take my car for all major recommendationsHe is also the person who replaced my Radiator so I wanted him to take a look and see why Acura was asking me to replace entire Radiator when the new one is only a month oldI showed him the recommendations and after checking out my car, the only thing that came out to be faulty was a hose that ran from my engine to radiator which was leakingTotal cost of fix $with labor- cost of fixing through my mechanic = $including parts and labor- according to my mechanic - its a known problem in all AcuraThe leak is "sooo minor" that it doesn't even make sense to apply the fixTotal cost = $- Pads and rotors has still to months of life left on them - total cost = $- Tires and thread has still to months of life left on them - total cost = $Total repair cost = $Total money saved = $Acura TL - last year, I took my car in to get a tire checked out since it was still under year warranty for getting it replaced if I had any issuesThey checked the tire out and it was normal, however, they told me that my wheel lug was broken and needed to be replacedThey said that they'd have to weld the lug and replace itIn order to do the job, it would cost roughly bucksI refused the service and asked for my car backI took my car to my mechanicWhile he was checking, he confirmed that the lug needed to be replaced, however, laughed at the suggestion made by the Acura dealer of welding the lug to cut it and replaceHe asked me to come to the shop, handed me a hammer, and asked me to give a nice hit on the lug and voila, the lug simply came offTotal cost of replacing a broken lug with labor - pricelessThere have been many instances where the recommendations made by the Acura/Honda dealer are outrageous and if someone did not have a backup plan, they'd be down a lot of money listening to this dealerI seriously question the honesty of the people working at this dealer along with the skills that their mechanics hold in the shopSomeone should investigate and see if they are even running a good business

August 18, 2014
In response to your letter ID #[redacted], we received [redacted]'s vehicle on 6/18/14 for repairs. Upon disassembly for repairs, we found additional damages and prepared a supplement for [redacted] insurance Co. to approve. Recently, there was a hail storm in this area that has...

crippled the process of handling a claim, both for the insurance company and the shop due to the above normal claim volume. [redacted] supplement process is automated. Once our supplement was approved on 6/27/14, we could move forward with repairs and the ordering of additional parts. Along with the 4th of July holiday and vehicles already in process that had approvals to repair, we repaired [redacted]'s after the balance of the approved parts came in and were able to put back into the schedule to complete repairs. A final supplement was approved by [redacted] on 7/8/14. The vehicle was completed and the customer picked up his vehicle on 7/11/14 which is well under the policy coverage of 30 days of rental.Thank you in advance for your attention to this matter. If I can be of further assistance, please do not hesitate to call.Sincerely,Joe B[redacted] Body Shop Manager Reading Collision Center

Review: I drop off my 2013 Acura [redacted] for body repair work on June 17th, 2014. Base on insurance term and the shop agreement I should have the car back by the June 20th, 2014. I call the shop on the 20th to pick up my car and the shop told me the car need sublement(additional work) and the shop submitted the request to insurance company for this addtional cost and it the car won't be done until June 27th. I call insurance company to verify, However, Insurance company told me they never recieve any document from the shop. I again call the shop on June 27th to pick up the car and the shop told me again they are waiting for paper work on insurance company and the car won't be done until July second. I call again on July 2nd and the shop told me they are waiting for a part which will be delivered on the July 7th. On July 7th the shop told me they got the wrong part and tell me to wait for couple more day. I finally get my car on July 11th and insurance company([redacted]) tell me the the shop was significant delay in repair the car and they will only pay for the car rental up to June 27th. The body shop general manager (Piazza Acura) deny that his shop was the delay and refuse to cover the rental cost. I acquire the paper work from both insurance and body shop. The paper work reveal that the body shop did not submit the sublement request until June 24th ( the shop should have submit the sublement between June 17-June 20th).Desired Settlement: The shop( Piazza Acura) must pay for the car rental that wasn't cover by insurance company due its delay.

Business

Response:

August 18, 2014In response to your letter ID #[redacted], we received [redacted]'s vehicle on 6/18/14 for repairs. Upon disassembly for repairs, we found additional damages and prepared a supplement for [redacted] insurance Co. to approve. Recently, there was a hail storm in this area that has crippled the process of handling a claim, both for the insurance company and the shop due to the above normal claim volume. [redacted] supplement process is automated. Once our supplement was approved on 6/27/14, we could move forward with repairs and the ordering of additional parts. Along with the 4th of July holiday and vehicles already in process that had approvals to repair, we repaired [redacted]'s after the balance of the approved parts came in and were able to put back into the schedule to complete repairs. A final supplement was approved by [redacted] on 7/8/14. The vehicle was completed and the customer picked up his vehicle on 7/11/14 which is well under the policy coverage of 30 days of rental.Thank you in advance for your attention to this matter. If I can be of further assistance, please do not hesitate to call.Sincerely,Joe B[redacted] Body Shop Manager Reading Collision Center

I've 2008 Acura TL and a 2005 Honda Accord. I take my car's to this shop time to time to get oil change. However, every time I get a phone call from the dealer during service, I get recommendations of other service I should get done where the cost normally ends up in thousands of dollars. Few examples below:
1. Acura TL - most recent service 9/18: took my TL for an oil change. Mid-day, I get a phone call with few service recommendations:
1.1. Radiator is leaking and need to get it replaced - estimated cost $900. -- Funny thing, I just had my radiator replaced a month ago due to another problem. Refused the service request.
1.2. Engine oil is leaking and need to replace a pipe or some other item - estimated cost $800 -- refused the service
1.3. Pads and Rotors are low on rear of the car - estimated cost $300 -- Refused the service request.
1.4. Tire thread is low on 2 of 4 tires. Recommend to replace the 2 tires - estimated cost $440. Refused the request.
Rough total estimate = $2440
I've a very trust-able, knowledgeable mechanic that I take my car for all major recommendations. He is also the person who replaced my Radiator so I wanted him to take a look and see why Acura was asking me to replace entire Radiator when the new one is only a month old. I showed him the recommendations and after checking out my car, the only thing that came out to be faulty was a hose that ran from my engine to radiator which was leaking. Total cost of fix $80 with labor.
1.1 - cost of fixing through my mechanic = $80 including parts and labor.
1.2 - according to my mechanic - its a known problem in all Acura. The leak is "sooo minor" that it doesn't even make sense to apply the fix. Total cost = $0.
1.3 - Pads and rotors has still 2 to 3 months of life left on them - total cost = $0.
1.4 - Tires and thread has still 4 to 5 months of life left on them - total cost = $0
Total repair cost = $80.
Total money saved = $2360.
2. Acura TL - last year, I took my car in to get a tire checked out since it was still under 1 year warranty for getting it replaced if I had any issues. They checked the tire out and it was normal, however, they told me that my wheel lug was broken and needed to be replaced. They said that they'd have to weld the lug and replace it. In order to do the job, it would cost roughly 1000 bucks. I refused the service and asked for my car back.
I took my car to my mechanic. While he was checking, he confirmed that the lug needed to be replaced, however, laughed at the suggestion made by the Acura dealer of welding the lug to cut it and replace. He asked me to come to the shop, handed me a hammer, and asked me to give a nice hit on the lug and voila, the lug simply came off. Total cost of replacing a broken lug with labor - priceless.
There have been many instances where the recommendations made by the Acura/Honda dealer are outrageous and if someone did not have a backup plan, they'd be down a lot of money listening to this dealer.
I seriously question the honesty of the people working at this dealer along with the skills that their mechanics hold in the shop. Someone should investigate and see if they are even running a good business.