AutoNation Honda 104 - Service Center

I have been a loyal customer for over a decade, which includes purchasing a used Honda Crosstour and bringing it and three Honda Civics in for most all major services. For each and every one of those ser includes purchasing a used Honda Crosstour and bringing it and three Honda Civics in for most all major services. For each and every one of those service trips I drove past nothing short of dozens of much closer and less expensive service options because of my faith in the integrity of Autonation Honda 104. Keep in mind that even with the events reviewed here, I have never had a problem with the friendliness of the sales or service personnel. The criticisms mentioned within this review are regarding the (IMO) poor practices and business decisions of Autonation Honda 104 (or possibly Autonation in general). My recent trip proved to be the final straw in a series of service trips. First, let's rewind to the purchase of my Honda Crosstour in 2017. During the purchase process I was handed a folder containing, among other things, the carfax report of my vehicle with complete history of the original ownership up to its purchase by AH104 as well as the service report from inspecting the vehicle and performing any needed service/repairs prior to sale. Among the things listed on that report as damaged and repaired was the VTC actuator, which is notoriously faulty on Accords and Crosstours manufactured within a certain year range that covers my vehicle (as I later found out through my own research). It should be noted at this point that along with my vehicle I also purchased the platinum vehicle protection plan as well as a litany of other similar items. Over the next couple years I did with my Crosstour what I had always done with my Civics: change the oil at least once per year, always supplying the business performing the change with Mobil 1 full synthetic for high mileage vehicles and a matching oil filter of comparable quality. Additionally, I always kept spare oil in my vehicle of the same kind to add as needed upon a few checks between oil changes. At this point, I started noticing a grinding sound like a fan blade stuttering upon each vehicle start. Recalling an almost identical situation a few years back with a friend's Accord (about which I thought nothing at the time), I began researching and discovered the notorious VTC actuator issue (of which Honda itself had been intimately aware for many years and identified as a badly-designed component). At this point, I immediately brought my vehicle to AH104, which determined that the VTC actuator needed to be replaced... again. It should be noted that I paid the $100 investigation fee for AH104 to determine what I already knew. Much to my dismay, I had to use my protection plan to have this work done despite the fact that (IMO) this should have been recall work because (IMO as an engineer) any faulty engine component should always be considered an imminent danger due to explosives (gasoline) and high heat being involved. Over the next couple of years, I noticed that I needed to add more and more oil, more frequently, despite there being no oil spots under my vehicle, no related smell/coloration in my exhaust, and consistently passing emissions tests. I decided it was time, once again, to bring my vehicle back to AH104 to look into this issue as well as why my vehicle was seemingly taking longer and longer to start. After having the vehicle for a couple of days, I received a call from the service manager of AH104 who informed me that the VTC actuator needed replaced (for the third time) and that my battery (that I had purchased only a year ago) was bad. I was sent a video by the technician who inspected my battery where there was clearly so much corrosion on the positive terminal clamp that there was no reasonable way to properly test the battery without removing it. The technician also indicated that the battery was leaking despite there being no visible signs of leakage or corresponding damage to surrounding parts. I don't count clamp corrosion as leakage. Irritated by the news and service I received, when I arrived to take my vehicle, I paid $200 for the two "investigations", one confirming again what I already knew with no indication of any actual work being performed to confirm it and the other being performed outright incorrectly with a false conclusion. I had no work done (aside from an oil change) because I was informed that due to my vehicle protection plan being expired by a few months, I would have to pay for any work out of my own pocket. Despite these insults, I asked about potential trade value for my vehicle towards a new Accord Sport. I was then presented with an absurdly-low number with the ridiculous reason being that according to carfax my vehicle had "severe damage" six months after the purchase of the vehicle by the original owner. This is the exact same supposedly "severe damage" that was stated on the carfax report presented to me BY AH104 when I purchased the vehicle FROM AH104! Really!? Good enough to take as trade then sell to me, but not not good enough to take as trade from me towards a brand new vehicle!? Unbelievable! I was informed that this was due to some policy change by AutoNation. Oh there was much wringing of hands and sympathetic words from the personnel of AH104, but not a single member of management stepped up to try to salvage this travesty of a situation even with my openly-expressed willingness to purchase a brand new vehicle despite the horror show I had experienced over many years. To confirm my suspicions, I took my vehicle to two different O'Reilly locations (where I had purchased my battery a year prior) to have them test the battery per the three year warranty. Upon hearing my story, the first location looked at me dumbfounded upon seeing the clamp corrosion and proceeded to scrape away the corrosion collected on top of the terminal to perform a test that indicated a good battery. The second location released the clamp, cleaned off all of the corrosion, then tested the battery: good. My vehicle still starts slowly. Bad battery, huh? I replaced it despite all that had transpired. No help. I feel like I was knowingly sold a lemon then robbed for repairs. Fool me once. Fool me twice. Fool me thrice. No more. More