Acura of Serramonte

Reviews 3

GE

Geoff S

This review is for Acura of Serramontes service department. I wanted to give it a zero-star rating, but because of a bit of courtesy from my service advisor (I wont name him), I am giving 1-star to them. Recently, I have started hearing some loud strange noise primarily from the right front-end of my 12 Acura MDX. The noise can be described as either hissing or some mid-pitch whistling. Ive had my car for almost 4 full years since 2012, and Ive never heard this kind of noise before. So, I decided to take it into this dealership for a check-up as I work close by. The car has just about 49K miles and is still under its manufacturers warranty. When I was greeted by the service advisor, I described the issue to him and told him that hopefully this could be a warrantiable item (if its something major). He immediately tried to stay off the warranty topic and couldnt wait to tell me that "this is a business they are trying to run here", and for them to inspect the car I had to sign an estimate for $169 for a diagnosis with NO guarantee that they would find/cure the problem. I wanted the problem fixed and so I had no choice but to sign it. After that, he sent a mechanic (not naming the guy as well) to go for a test drive with me, and during the trip, the mechanic also told me that he heard the same noise, but rather a faint hissing noise. I then left the car there for him to service. A couple hours later, the service advisor called me back and informed that the mechanic was able to diagnose the source of the noise, which had to do with aftermarket (non-OEM) oil filter that I used when I went to a non-Acura shop for an oil change. He said that the noise was related to the oil pumping mechanism, and how the aftermarket part was incompatible with the car. I was quite perplexed at that time because what he said was illogical to me. How could an oil pumping sound be a hissing or whistling sound, right?? They went ahead to replace the filter for me, test drove the car, and claimed that they no longer heard the noise. Fine, I went there to pick my car up. Right after I left the service department and got on the road, the noise came back in NO TIME!! Their oil filter claim, from the moment I doubted it, was simply "baloney." That obviously didnt take care of the problem at all. I brought my car back the next day, and of course, we test drove my car again and this time the noise didnt happen during our trip. They promised me to check it out again so that I could be assured my cars fine. I told them I did some research online using blogs with information posted by other Acura owners with the same problem, and their respective dealers replaced their propeller shafts or drive shafts for them under warranty because they were defective (thus, the noise). They immediately didnt welcome my research and said that what happened to them might not be the same case here, but I told them to check those parts out anyways. Guess what? After a few hours, they called me back to say that its probably just wind noise. What the freak?! Ive had my car for 4 years, and I could easily tell whether it was wind noise or not. I didnt believe it, but sounds like it was another baloney claim by them. Who are they trying to protect or what are their concerns (I guess because if it turns out to be a warrantiable item, its not revenue generating for them)? I wasnt charged the second time, but I was completely dissatisfied with their workmanship. After 2 visits at this dealer, I am still hearing the same damn noise. What they did to my car was totally helpless. I paid $169 really for them to achieve nothing! Even the pros there couldnt tell me what the noise was about, and I am left with no more trust on this place and forced to take my car to a different Acura dealer for a hopefully much better and careful evaluation. Something is wrong with my car, and they are telling me nothings wrong! Thats screwed up! I will never come back again.

RE

Reem O

Started out good, and quickly went downhill. I moved out from Boston to SF, and was going to need a new car in SF, so I was doing my research early. Sales guy from Serramonte was very helpful and responsive over the phone in the 2 weeks before I moved out. The day after I go to SF, he arranged from a pick up from the city to the dealership. I knew which car I wanted, we went for a test drive, and I was feeling good. Then we started going over the numbers, and the first quote he gave me was not only exorbitant but also insulting. TWO hours later, we finally came to an acceptable agreement on the terms. I still hadnt met with the finance person yet. I waited ANOTHER HOUR to meet with finance. 40 minutes into reviewing the paperwork, we realized they hadnt included some of the options that I had asked for (wheel locks and trunk cover). Overall, it took OVER FIVE hours at the dealership to drive off with the car. I ended up buying the wheel locks and trunk cover from the parts department independently... however they didnt have them in stock, so I had to come back a few days later for pick up. I had made an appointment for them to install the wheel locks but they said I had to wait a couple of hours. So I left. A few days later, I realized that the satellite radio was not activated, and I still needed to get the wheel locks installed. Sales guy said I had to go to the dealership to activate the Sirius (lie) and that he would get my wheel locks installed as well, so we set up a time. When the time came, I called and found out neither he nor the service guy were working that day. I called him and he YELLED at me, trying to blame me. Being the closest Acura dealership to SF, maybe these guys dont have much competition. But as soon as they have your sale, they are unprofessional and disrespectful. Acura corporate needs to clean shop here - I am wishing I had walked out the first day, but I certainly wont be going back.

JO

Johnny Auyoung

I made two visits these past few days, one for an oil change and the another for the airbag recall. On the day of the oil change, I called Allister and he was very nice, accommodating to my schedule and answered any questions I had about my car. This also came with a complimentary car wash and interior vacuum. After the oil change, my car sounded much healthier during acceleration, especially during my daily commute to work, which has a long-ish (~2 minutes uphill) acceleration that made my car smell after I got to the top). After inquiring about the airbag recall letter I got months ago (I never decided to go to Acura until I needed an oil change), he ordered the parts for me and said it would probably arrive in about 2 weeks or maybe months. Less than a week later I got a call to make an appointment to replace the airbags; that was fast! On the day of the airbag replacement, for which I had to allot 3-hours for the appointment, Allister told me it typically takes 2 hours to get it done, and they finished in about 1.5; about 50% faster than the initial time expectation!...Plus another complimentary exterior wash & vacuum! I decided to wait in the lobby, where there was free wifi, pastries/doughnuts, tea/coffee, hot/cold water, soda, and TV. James Z. was also very helpful as I waited, answering questions about my car, updating me on the estimated time left, providing auto advice, and directing me to the shop for a new cabin filter, which I didnt know I needed until he mentioned it, because my car often smelled gross and I was never sure why. Hes very knowledgeable about cars! After the airbags were done, Allister was able to quickly change the filter for me so I didnt have to myself. Now my car doesnt smell like crap anymore when the fan/AC are on. Friendly, welcoming, fast, and efficient. Excellent service and shout out to Allister & James!