Mistlin Honda

April 10, 2026, brough my leased (December) 2023 CR-V in for a scheduled service. History: First year, end of 2024, email notification from Honda and on the cars dashboard for service. Second year, end of 2 for a scheduled service. History: First year, end of 2024, email notification from Honda and on the cars dashboard for service. Second year, end of 2025, email from Honda stating service is due but no notice from the cars dashboard. Schedule the appointment but when I arrived, service clerk tells me to ignore the email and only follow notices from the dashboard. Clerk stated the emails are a NEW service feature and not accurate, appointment canceled. April 9th, 2026, dropped car off late Thursday as the appointment is early Friday morning. Service clerk hands me an estimate for $650.00 for oil change, air filter, tire rotation and other items he claimed the car is issuing service error codes. He continues to state only the first two years are covered and I did not do a service in 2025. I explained to him the above statement and he pulls up the records and he found the canceled appointment. Then he tries to point out that I have gone over my mileage, and I tell him I would not have if they had done the service 6 months ago as schedule. He requests to speak with his manager. I say, "Talk to him about this tire rotation as well because we both know I can take the car down to American Tire and have that done for free!" The clerk, without speaking to anyone say he will not charge me for the oil change or the tire rotation if I agree to the other services. I ask for the cost and on the written statement he write N/C (no cost) on oil change and on the tire rotation. Pulls out a calculator and writes in $525. Today, Friday morning April 10th, I go to pick up the car and he says the bill is over $700. I quickly pull out the sheet from last night and I tell him that is not what you said yesterday! He then tries to tell me it's a NEW system and when he enters the new information this is what came back. I said NO! This is more than what you were charging me before the Oil Change and Tire rotation was at N/C! He pulls out the calculator again, punches in some number and tells me he can do it for $541 and says something about some part costing more. I told him that Mistlin Honda has been around for decades and if they don't know what things cost by now, they need better people working for them. Anyway, I'm now upset at the xx, so I pay the extra $16 and leave. If I buy another Honda, it will not be from Mistlin Honda in Modesto! If I hear the words "New System" red flag, and I walk away as well. More

Please read this if you’re considering taking your car to be serviced here; it will save you a lot of money and headaches. I brought my car in last year for an AC problem. I was quoted a reasonable $180.00 t be serviced here; it will save you a lot of money and headaches. I brought my car in last year for an AC problem. I was quoted a reasonable $180.00 to assess the issue. I was asked to sign a document and didn’t think to look it over closely. This was a mistake. Once they determined the problem with my vehicle, they quoted me a steep estimate to make repairs. I politely declined and found another place that would do it for a fraction of the price. This, however, is where the predatory business practices started. The service provider whom I spoke to, whose name I will exclude from this, refused to return my vehicle unless I paid an additional charge of $720.00. This charge was never brought to my attention before, and caught me off guard. He explained that this was a “labor” cost, and that I would be charged this cost regardless of whether or not I had my vehicle repaired here. Now, I was quoted $180.00 to assess my vehicle and was being charged an additional $720.00 (I still had to pay the $180.00 from before), and yet, they still hadn’t done any repairs to my vehicle. This immediately set off red flags. You would think that this would be illegal, but after having reviewed the document they had me sign in the beginning, I noticed that they added a clause allowing them to charge me for assembly or partially completed work. They had properly set me up to pay them whatever amount they wanted, regardless of my consent after the fact of signing. This was devastating. Having what felt like no other option, I reluctantly agreed to let them finish the job. After all was said and done, I tried to let the experience go as a learning lesson. Unfortunately, this is not where the nightmare ended. The following year, I realized that my AC wasn’t working again. It was early summer and I could tell that it wasn’t blowing cold air on my short drives home from work. Luckily, my warranty was still active for the previous job they had done on it, so I brought it in for them to look at it (keep in mind, the warranty was close to expiring, with only 2 weeks left). Like last time, I was quoted $180.00 to assess my vehicle. Sure, the warranty would cover the cost of fixing it (assuming that it was the same problem as before), but I was urged to consider the possibility that it was a different problem. Again and again, the associate insisted that I might be charged if a different problem was found. Now, I was starting to wonder if they would purposefully attribute the problem to something else so they wouldn’t have to cover my costs. Worried over that thought, I listened as the associated suggested something else to me: that the AC wasn’t blowing cold because I wasn’t driving far enough for it to start working. I hadn’t considered this before and was now wondering if there was really anything wrong with it. I am not knowledgeable on vehicles and didn’t realize this could be a problem (spoilers, it’s not as prominent of an issue as he would have me believe). I let him test the AC of my vehicle and he assured me that the AC was fine: it was simply the heat of the summer making it not blow cold. Should I drive for long enough, it would give the AC enough time to kick in properly, thus resolving the issue. I bought this nonsensical reasoning and went on my way without having it checked. As you might have guessed, this was a big mistake. A few weeks later, I went on a long trip across California. The AC wasn’t working. I brought it back to the dealership and explained what had happened—that I had brought it in before while the warranty was still good and was convinced convinced by an associate that the AC was fine—but I was dismissed, and they refused to make good on the now expired warranty (expired, keep in mind, by a week). Do not make my mistakes; find a trustworthy mechanic that will not take advantage of you. If it is absolutely necessary, make this option your last resort. More