My wife and I purchased a low mileage 2006 Accord LX from them in Oct 2009 at a very reasonable price. As we were closing the deal, we were offered an extended warranty for $2138 that would cover repairs for 4 years or 100K miles. I'm usually very skeptical of these 'add-on' warranties and usually decline, but the dealership was offering a 100% Money Back Guarantee if no claims were filed against the extended warranty. I reasoned that if the car needed major repairs, the warranty would come in handy. If no repairs were ever needed, we would get our $2138 back. Seemed like a safe idea. \r
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WRONG!\r
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As the 4 year period of the guarantee was approaching, we contacted the dealership to verify the conditions for receiving our money back. On paper, we were required to show up at the dealership in person (no-problem), still own the car (we still do), and have no repair claims against the warranty (none needed). At first, the dealership passed us off to the extended warranty company. We called the dealership again and explained to them the money back guarantee was made by the dealership and not the warranty company. The Business Manager, Jaime Burkhard, told us that the dealership that made the guarantee was Stephen Vincel Honda and that the dealership had since changed hands to West County Honda. In short, the new dealership would no longer honor the guarantee! If we wanted to pursue this, he recommended that we get a lawyer. \r
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This was very disappointing! I realize $2138 isn't a huge sum of money and no lawyer would touch this for free. I also had problems with their logic behind not honoring the guarantee. If I owed $2138 to Steven Vincel Honda, would West County Honda not expect me to pay? If a painter had painted the Stephen Vincel Honda showroom for $2138 just before the sale, would West County Honda be expected to pay? When one business purchases another business, don't they purchase both assets and debts? If the buying business gets to pick-and-choose which debts they will honor that seems to be a pretty sweet deal for the buying business. In the end, we expected West County Honda to 'do the right thing'. They did not and we are disappointed. Please be careful when dealing with them so you don't get cheated as well.
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