To share my woes in trying to get my "E"....

I ordered my Element two weeks ago and as of yesterday still did not have any notice as to when she might arrive. I sent a fax to my salesman and called the dealership to speak to a Business Manager; no response.

I called this morning to tell them I was furious! The salesman had a day off yesterday, which is okay. The Business Manager to whom I was directed also was having a day off, which is why I received his voice-mail. I told them that it was very poor to be directed to somoene who was not in the office.

In any case, the salesman called me back and I explained my frustration:

1. Honda Canada is saying that they have a shipment coming in mid-month. I want a confirmation that there is a vehicle of my colour choice in that. I also asked for the VIN.
2. I want a detailed breakdown of the price of the vehcile with a listing of the accessories I am paying for and those they are providing for free to close the deal. I asked them to include the interest rate for the financing as well.
3. A breakdown of what accessories will be on the vehicle and what is going to be back-ordered. I understand that the security system and keyless remote entry are back-ordered. On such a new, unique vehcile, it's pretty important to have those accessories right away.

I am supposed to get a fax at my office this morning addressing those concerns. It really peeves me that I have asked for this information over and over throughout the last two weeks and only now can get it. I did say to them that I had really received the impression that the vehicle had not been ordered.

This is after having put down $500 CAD when I asked for the vehicle and a further $7000 CAD last Saturday to pay for the on-delivery charges. (I am putting $5000 CAD down as a down-payment.)

I hope no one else is having any difficulties like this?

Iskie

Iskie, that is unreal, and to be forwarded to another person who was not there. Had you considered going to another dealer.. as well which Element are you looking for (I realize it could not be a USA one, since you are in Canada, and would need those metric gauges).. but perhaps you can get some help somehow from someone here.

Please keep us posted, and I wish you success, if not a HUGE compensation for your frustration!!! :)

Thanks. Kvetching makes one feel better. :D

I have the Silver E, Y-Series on order. I hope that the dealer addresses my concerns today with the fax they are sending. The dealer is in the big "autopark" of car dealers here in Mississauga, so I had hoped they would be good - however I had crappy treatment from the Chev-Olds dealer in the same park.

My boyfriend has promised to create a movie of an my "E" when she arrives...so you're hopefully see me grinning from ear to ear at that time.

Iskie

Good luck, I hope it comes in soon.

Iskie I look forward to the grin flick of the E arrival!

My experience with what I call "dealer-row" is horrible no matter where they locate them.. i always had the best service from a place that was off the beaten track.. this could be due to the fact that I am complete hick and I relate well, but on the same side i get along excellent with city folk.. most of my friends are in or from Phillie.. hummm.,,

keep us posted.. and just look forward to the great arrival.. ENJOY!

Isketerol,
Don't feel bad. I've been waiting since the first week of January! and thats after I put a down payment of 3000.00 and another 4000.00 upon delivery.

Isketerol,

Dealer finance rates vary throughout the US and most likely in Canada as well but, I wanted to share with you the finance game I played...it works.
I shopped around on the internet for new car financing. One site (Peoples First) advertised a 4.89% rate for a 60 month note. My local dealer said they typically provide a 5% rate. When I mentioned that I had a 4.89% rate locked in thru another provider, they offered to work thru a bank and get me a 4.5% rate. I took this "quasi offer" back to People First and they lowered their rate to 4.45%. By the way, my dealer was unable to get the 4.5% rate ( was it BS? Who knows for sure). My suggestion is that you should shop around at credit unions and especially the internet (you do the typing, so it's a Low admin cost for them which results in better rates) for better rates.

GOOD LUCK with your Element journey

Silver,

That works, not just shop around for the Element's price, but for the loan rate as well. Good job.

geeze I was thrilled with my 4.9% which the best that has been around for years.. though they did have a promotion of 1.7% on Civics.. amazing isn't it? I hate that kinda game!

[quote:d5bbe7d3c7="GYPSYTDA"]geeze I was thrilled with my 4.9% which the best that has been around for years.. though they did have a promotion of 1.7% on Civics.. amazing isn't it? I hate that kinda game![/quote:d5bbe7d3c7]

Gypsy, the rate on the civics is 1.9 for up to 60 months, and trust me, I would love it if we could offer it on every honda cause it would make my job easier. Unfortunately, Honda Finance feels the Civic isthe only one worthy of a special rate right now, but let's face it, when you get to rates that low, the extra 2 or 3 points don't make that much difference in the monthly payments....lol

4.9 sounds good to me.

Update:

I received a fax from the dealer asking for the breakdown of the pricing - the fourth time I have asked for it. Once again, the salesman did not list the three accessories he said he would put in to close the deal as free. As well, the fiancnce rate was listed incorrectly ar 7.7% when it should have been 6.8%.

I am writing a detailed fax to spell out excatly my understanding of the deal with a firm but polite message that if it is not sorted out by Close of Business on Monday, I will expect a full refund of the money I have put down. I am also going to tell them I have already discussed this with Honda Canada in some detail.

I just don't think the salesman understands what is required of him. It distresses me all the more as I am also in Sales....

I hope to get this all sorted out tomorrow :D :!:

Iskie

OK, Lawyer's hat going on for a sec. (Warning Warning)

Here in the States, if something like this were to go on, I would say go back to the dealership and ask to speak to either an owner or manager or who ever is there in person. There is always someone there, if not the owner or top manager, there is some one there that is up the food chain.

Bring any paperwork that you have from when you put your money down. (Now, if when you sign a contract to buy a car, you should get all the information on the paper work. If you put any money down, you need to get a receipt for that, as well as something that says what the dealership is going to provide, and when. That should include all the extras, as well as a ball park on delivery date. While it goes without saying, you do need to read all the paper work that you are signing).

If you are unable to make any headway with your dealership, during normal business hours, ask for your refund. If they don't want to give it to you, or give you a very hard time, there are different places you can take things.

The state Atty General's office deals with consumer fraud. When I worked there, we used to get tons and tons of complaints about car dealership, and at times we did pull some dealers licenses. That is rare, but with enough complaints, it does happen. Next, Honda itself is another good place to complain. They don't want the bad press, or an upset customer. They make their money on their reputation as well as their reliability. Finally, go to the local media. The newspapers and TV stations sometimes on their news programs have a reporter who investigates and puts people on the spot. If you can't make any other headway, you can always try that.

Finally, providing the paperwork you have is complete, and says what they were to do, and did not. AND you have done everything that you were required to do, then you may want to think about taking people to court. Depending on the amount, smalls claims court is one possibility, you don't even need a lawyer there.

I know that this does not help much, but it is something.

Thanks for the advice. I hope I do not have to take it that far. The salesman is from Hong Kong - I think part of the problem is he just doesn't quite understand what I am asking for. I actually asked my boyfriend if he wanted to come with me to the dealership to act as my interpretor :D I have faith that the dealer will understand what I am looking for when I send the fax - completely detailed.

Incidently, I did have problems getting them to write the accessories on the original sales agreement - they claimed the Honda software did not include that information for the Element. They had to write it by hand - and they did not include the costs on it. Honda Canada told me that the do require that information to be entered properly.

I will keep you apprised - you guys have been very supportive.

Iskie

car_man_761: err my boo boo I thought it had stated 1.7% but still I was not considering a Civic anyhow.. but yeah great deal huh?

ibutchman: 4.9% is great but 4.45% would be even nicer (like Silver had noted), oh well too late.

RML: great legal speak, very cool!

Iskie: please do keep us posted, we all will be poking at our dealer voodoo dolls for ya.. grin! I wish you luck & a quick and happy resolution!

Iskie- Know how you feel - I work for an un-named Oriental government and things do "get lost in the translation". Good Luck and I hope you get what you're wanting plus a lot extra for your patience (I have them throw in the factory fog lights - while not that expensive to buy they do take a while to install - that way you can beat them up on labour charges)
Ding Ho (Chinese for good luck)

lon777: cool thought & suggestion.. we are all with you Iskie.. wishing and hoping all goes well... Good Luck..

you can often beat the prevailing interest rates. I just got 4.25% through the dealer on my Element I bought yesterday while my credit union is sticking to 4.9%. Not a great difference, but over the period of the loan it saves some money.

utahrex: congrats, but also some of those rates are also regional.. they are kind stiff about those things where I am. (I love in the bank card state, we are the main base zone for MBNA and a couple other big bank cards, sigh). Again Congrats good deal!

Before I bought my Element, I went online to get the e-mail addresses of all the Honda dealerships in my area. I then contacted each one and when one gave me a price, the next one was there to match or possibly beat it. I was lucky because I was contacted by a dealership as soon as an orange one came in. I also contacted different banks for interest rates which helped alot since they tried to stick it to me at the dealership! I got great deals, all from the comfort of my computer!

Yeah, i think in retrospect I should have probably shooped around a bit. I am going into the dealer again tomorrow to ask them what the deal is after three weeks and no "E".

Iskie

I just posted this in another section but this area seems more fitting. Isketorol- I truly feel your pain, read on...

__________________________
I just have to get this off of my chest. I have been waiting for over a month for my shoreline mist 2WD-EX.A to come in. It was suppose to come in tomorrow and be ready for me to pick up (accessories would arrive in approx 2 weeks). I called my salesperson at the dealership in Okla City this afternoon to see if I needed to bring anything. It is a 90 mile drive oneway and I did not want to turn around and have to drive back on Monday.

Well... the salesperson informed me that my E will not be here because the car they were going to trade didn't come in. This really sucks. If I didn't call I would have drove down to pick up my car and it wouldn't be there.

But that is not the first chapter in this story. I had already test drove a DX and EX at other dealerships and made a trip to OKC to see the silver color. I liked the color but did not like the interior, so I wanted to order the shorline mist. I asked the price and they would not give it to me unless I was seriosly wanting to order the vehicle (this should have been a sign). They finally quoted me MSRP and threw in some acccessories so I figured it was a pretty good deal and I gave them $500 to put the order in and signed the "Deal Sheet".

I was told it would be here Feb 15th but they could get it faster if they traded with another dealership so in all probability it would be here in a week.

A week later I called to check on the status and add some more accessories to the order. My sales person told me not to worry about the accessories, they had them all in stock and I would be taken care of.

Wednesday the 12th the salesperson called to tell me the vehicle will be in on Saturday but they would not have all of the accessories for another 2 weeks. Sooo, if the car was here I would still have to drive 180 miles to bring it back in 2 weeks and get them installed.

After I talked with the salesperson today and he informed me that my car wasn't in, I remembered someone saying on the forum they got their E in Norman, so I called the dealer in Norman and asked what they could do for me. In 20 minutes they located the E I am wanting, they have the accessories in stock and said, barring any unforseen circumstances, I can pick it up tomorrow.

Has anyone else had this much run around and confusion getting their Element? and does anyone know if I am still required to honor the "Deal Sheet", is it considered a binding contract?

Thanks for letting me vent, I love you guys! HAPPY VD!

The "deal sheet" here is Canada has some legalese on it that speaks to them being about to keep a certain amount of money. However, I am also sure that the dealer does not want someone complaining loudly and vehemently in their dealership, or loudly and vehemently to Honda either.

RML had some "legal Beagle" advice previously.

Best of luck.

Iskie

isketerol,

OK, lawyer hat.....

Well, lets start the nice guy way. Read over your copy of this deal sheet. It will tell you what rights you have, and what responsibilitys the dealer has. You go into the dealer where you signed the deal sheet. Ask to speak to the sales manager, and your salesmen at the same time. They will either blow you off and say one or both are not available, or they will sit down with you. If they blow you off, calmly ask to speak to anyone in charge re: a refund or credit. If they do meet with you. Tell them that you have been waiting and waiting, and have been made promises after promises. Tell them that you would like either the car, within a short amount of time, or you would like your money back. Explain that you can get the car you want from somewhere else, they have it in stock (or can get it), and they now need to make up their mind.

They will hem and haw for a bit, and make you a bunch of promises. Get anything they tell you in writting and ask to have a penality put in, for every extra week that they are unable to deliver the car to you, you get $500 off the price. They won't agree to it. When this fails, you tell them you are going elsewhere and you are going to sue in small claims court for the down payment unless they refund your money. Smalls claims court is a place where you don't need lawyers. You give your side, they give theirs. Now, 1st thing to know, it will cost them several dollars to pay someone to show up, and or if they hire a lawyer, it will cost them a bunch. Small claims is usually in the evening, and takes several hours. Believe me, they don't want to be there anymore than you do. If they have to be in small claims court, you can sue the dealership, the salesman, and the sales manager. NAME THEM ALL in the suit. That way, the salesman, and the salesmanager both have to show up. More pain in the rear to them, better for you. If you show, and they don't, you win.

Other places to complain. Most TV and radio stations have a reporter who looks into fraud cases. You can always report the dealership to them, dealerships hate bad press. You can always contact the DMV and the State Atty general. Both are responsible to some extent for car dealers in each state. I have even known people who made progress contacting their town mayor, local congressman's office. Depending on the size of the town and all.

The best what is going in nice, and polite, don't get upset, but be firm. Without looking at the deal sheet, I can't give direct legal advice, but this might work well for you. Good luck

Thanks RML, it's nice to have a lawyer in the family...

I promise I will be calm when I talk to them. It's almost like the salespeople made a bet when I first came into the dealership and wagered I was NOT going to buy. They have done everything possible to sabotage the deal while other people are driving off into the sunset in their new E's.

and yes... it is a automall and they don't return my phone calls either.

hey ive got an orange awd ex and ive got 4500 miles on it already and am starting to get annoyed at all the questions. i was in Vegas last weekend and next to a H2 and everyone i saw was checking me E out, no one even looked at the H2 poor H2 all lonely. also my friend was driving behind me down the strip and when we stopped he told me he was sick of watching everone looking and checking my E out. he said no one even looked at his 4runner. (maybe someday they will make an E body kit for his 4runner)

He could always paint his quarter panels metallic grey and pose as an imposter E...