A Surprisingly Poor Experience
I purchased a 2012 Toyota Rav4 from Wilde Honda on July, 5th 2021. During the following few days I noticed an unusual "shudder" sound coming from the undercarriage. I called Wilde Honda, and after being transfered to the wrong department/person several times, I made an appointment to get my car looked at. The following two days I made several calls in an attempt to secure a "loaner" vehicle for the duration of the repair. Again I was transfered to the wrong department/person several times and several calls were "dropped" (unusual for my phone). I finally got through and they explained to me that no rentals would be available for the next two weeks. I made known that I had just purchased this vehicle from the very same dealership and that it needed a rather serious repair. This didn't seem to concern her, and she suggested I use their shuttle, which I was open to at this point. The shuttle only runs from 7am to 4pm, which is not terribly convenient for anyone who works first shift. I made separate transportation arrangements without Wilde Honda's help.
I dropped off the Rav4 on July 15th and left a note explaining that I believed the torque converter was faulty. The next day Andrew Canak (manager) explained to me that he had three technicians drive the vehicle and found nothing wrong with it. I offered to help by riding along with him and/or one of his technicians so I could point out the problem. He declined my request and said that his technicians didn't have time to keep driving my car around and that he couldn't fix something that doesn't need fixing. I asked Andrew if there was someone else who could help me. I asked for this person's contact information, but Andrew said that he did not have it. Clearly at a stand still, he suggested I contact my salesman.
I called my salesman, Spencer. I explained to him the situation in detail and insisted that he ride along with me in the Rav4. Spencer told me that he wasn't quite sure why I reached out to him and that he doesn't have much "pull" around Wilde Honda and that he wasn't sure what he could do even if it was clear to him that the Rav4 in fact did have a problem. However, Spencer agreed to ride along. He heard the "shudder" I had described and acknowledged that it needed to be looked at and fixed. I suggested that I ride along with a service tech so that they could identify and fix the issue. Spencer talked to his manager, Ali, (who clearly didn't want to speak to me directly), who denied my request to ride along with a technician. He did however suggest that I take my business to Wilde Toyota. Since the Rav4 had been at Wilde Honda since I dropped it off, I had driven a different vehicle there to meet with Spencer. They did not offer to shuttle my car to their affiliate dealership, Wilde Toyota, so I had to make separate arrangements to transport the Rav4 without Wilde Honda's help.
I dropped off the Rav4 at Wilde Toyota. John Milczarski (John gets five stars) called me from Wilde Toyota. He said he was able to replicate the "shudder" sound and that it was a faulty torque converter. He explained that the warranty people had to get involved and that the first step was to get the initial inspection report sent over from Wilde Honda. He told me that he deals with Wilde Honda all the time and that he didn't expect them to respond for several days because "they take their sweet time".
The repair was covered under the extended warranty that I purchased. Wilde Honda covered the $250 or so deductible, that's why you get one star instead of zero. I inquired as to why the repair was covered under my extended warranty which included a deductible instead of under Wilde Honda's 30 day warranty. I didn't receive a clear explanation, and frankly I was beat down by this point and was just glad to know my car would be repaired with seemingly no cost to me, besides the $1,500 powertrain warranty. Wilde Honda preferred that I use my extended warranty through Fidelity rather than I use their warranty, so I saved them $3,600 in repairs, you're welcome.
