My Dealership Nightmare...

[Doppler Bob]

So I finally got my '07 Si back from its third gear replacement. Excellent.

Upon dropping the vehicle off, I asked if they gave me an improper front license plate bracket. That was it.

Then I pick the car up. Third gear is great on the ride home. The service guy also noted that they installed my license plate mount. Good.

When I got home, I went to the front bumper to check out how it was mounted, especially after hearing the nightmares on this forum of drilled bumpers. Sure as hell, they drilled a hole in my front bumper WITHOUT MY ASKING. Now aren't those two enormous bolts in the grill MORE than enough to hold the damn thing on?

But it gets better. Upon walking around the car, like I do every few days, I then noticed a ding behind my passenger door. Lets put it this way... the car was in winter storage, took a ride to my house where it sat for a night, then went to the dealership. I'd say they did it.

And then, to top it off, when taking pictures of the front license plate hole, I look on my hood and there is a lovely set of huge scratches across it.

The car was returned to the shop 45 minutes later. I was told that it would be all taken care of. We'll just have to see.


I'm absolutely sick over this. This coming from a President's award winning dealership.

Pics will be added when I get home.

[BlackSi10]

dang that sucks man...hopefully you get it all fixed

[volvo9]

I'm afraid of taking cars in for service. They pack them all in so tightly that damage occours ALL the time.

[SiCivic83]

You would think they would ask your permission first before they do anything that you don't know. I hope you get that fixed.

[Solo Intent]

im suprised they are claiming that they are at fault!!!

[z4k]

Most dealerships/service writers do a walk aroundbefore you leave and point out any dents/dings/scratches/damage to you so you are both aware. If they didn't do it they are at fault.

Similar thing happened with my moms VW Bug. Went in for service. Come out wth curb damage to the lower front bumper and scratches on the paint section of the interior door trim. All was covered.

Good Luck with yours. All should go well.

BTW if they ask to repair the bumper let them. Don't ask for a new one. A Plastic Weld/Patch will do just fine and you can only tell from the inside of the bumper.

[MellowGato]

I have a patch - dealer installed the plate the same way yours did. Have had the patch for a year and a half - can't tell from the outside - BUT - the paint on the front bumper cover is crap. I would say 40% of the paint is gone due to chips. Looks freakin' terrible.

Good luck

[Doppler Bob]

Thanks all. I will say that my service guy through all this has been incredibly nice. I forced myself to stay calm when I brought it back in... the old saying of "You catch more flies with honey than vinegar".

The scratches on the hood were rubbed out, they are repairing the bumper hole, and the ding will also be taken care of, no charge to me.

[I Vtec, do you?]

Ding / scratches suck but you guys really need to quit whining about this drilled bumper. Yes, it sucks, but Honda tells them to. What do you want? They're just doing their job

[honda_man12]

Ya when I had my car serviced, I notice a 3-4 inch scratch on my bumper and Im like wtf. They say it was already there but like you, I walk around my car everytime I park it to make sure there are no scratches/dings..I bitched enough and they fixed it...so you just gotta give them some attitude lol

[seguitarist]

It's all about how they resolve the issue, if they treat the issue well, they deserve their presidents award sill.

[Doppler Bob]

Originally Posted by I Vtec, do you?

Ding / scratches suck but you guys really need to quit whining about this drilled bumper. Yes, it sucks, but Honda tells them to. What do you want? They're just doing their job

If you've never seen the bracket, there are three spots for screws. The two in the grill are MORE than enough to keep it on there sturdy, I've seen far worse mounting setups on numerous other cars. That drilled hole is not necessary whatsoever.

And with that in mind... who the hell designs something that would require destroying a piece of the body? That's poor engineering on their part. You should not have to modify any part of a car to install something as simple as a license plate holder.

[Opticon]

[tsuru_ser]

That sucks...ive never dealt with honda dealers, but i have with nissan. I always make sure that they see that the car is in perfect condition. When i pick it up i check it for like 20 minutes before i leave the dealer cause then they will blame it on you. Hopefully they will fix your car.

[I Vtec, do you?]

Originally Posted by Doppler Bob

If you've never seen the bracket, there are three spots for screws. The two in the grill are MORE than enough to keep it on there sturdy, I've seen far worse mounting setups on numerous other cars. That drilled hole is not necessary whatsoever.

And with that in mind... who the hell designs something that would require destroying a piece of the body? That's poor engineering on their part. You should not have to modify any part of a car to install something as simple as a license plate holder.

I still don't get why you're bitching at the dealership, though. Again, they're doing what they're told. Don't you do what your boss tells you to at work? Wouldn't you be pissed if someone was bitching at you for what your boss told you to do?

[tukai]

Originally Posted by I Vtec, do you?

I still don't get why you're bitching at the dealership, though. Again, they're doing what they're told. Don't you do what your boss tells you to at work? Wouldn't you be pissed if someone was bitching at you for what your boss told you to do?

I always say there is no one cooler on this site than you. However you are wrong on this. It is not required at all to drill holes into the bumper to mount the lp. there are mounts underneath the bumper sort of where an intercooler would be that it bolts right onto.

[VTECnical]

Sucks. Best of luck. Let us know what happens.

[darkrom]

Ugh nightmare indeed. My dealer sold me the car with the mounting bracket, so I assumed it was drill free. I found out about 4 months later when the snow cleared that this was not the case. Still trying to figure out what to do with it now.

[GeezerSi]

I always give my car a thorough look over before I sign any papers and leave the dealership. I have caught several major problems that they missed, or didn't even look for.

They made good for all of the items I found, but I don't know if that would have been the case had I found them days later.

[volvo9]

Originally Posted by tukai

It is not required at all to drill holes into the bumper to mount the lp. there are mounts underneath the bumper sort of where an intercooler would be that it bolts right onto.

It's not required, but the hole was put in the upper part of the plate bracket by Honda to be used. The plate kit is uninstalled from the factory and comes with 2 screws for the lower mounting holes and one self tapping screw for the upper hole, HONDA designed it like this, the dealer is just finishing their job as part of the PDI process.

I worked at Acura for 2 years and we installed the upper bumper screw on every car, no one complained. The plate bracket is just a little floppy only using 2 screws so leave the top one out and people will complain it's floppy, install it and people will complain of a hole in the bumper because they want to remove their plate and break a law.

The holes should probrably go by state though, if your state requires a plate then who cares if there is a hole in the bumper, if you take the plate off your getting a ticket anyways.