Avoid IMAGE HONDA, Centennial Pkwy in Hamilton if you - Not happy in Hamilton
Avoid IMAGE HONDA, Centennial Pkwy in Hamilton if you can. Unbelievable experience with this crowd.
The last Friday in January, I bought a used Honda Fit with low mileage for top dollar - to be expected given the lack of cars for sale. Everyone seemed friendly. Unfortunately, the sale was done in a rush at the end of the day and the finance woman told me she'd noticed we always used Krown Rust. She told me that I wouldn't be able to use it on the 2020 Fit because it would gum up the electronics. So she sold me an oil deal that I shouldn't have agreed to - and sent me the details that evening. Upon reading about it, I realized that this $1099 plus tax oil treatment would do nothing to protect the underside of the car which is what I had told her I needed. I left phone messages and emailed her and the salesman saying I did not want the treatment. They cancelled it - which was good. On the Monday, I spoke to my 30-year trusted garage mechanic and he said it wasn't true. I could still do the rust prevention on the underside of newer cars. So, in my opinion, she tried to sell this to me under false pretenses. The managers Rick and Amy eventually said that Honda "does not recommend" Krown. But that is SO NOT what she told me. In my opinion, she lied.
That was my FIRST bad experience. The SECOND was that when I bought the 2020 Fit, I traded in our old 2011 one but a couple of days later, realized I shouldn’t have. My son suddenly needed a car as he was moving out. So I texted the salesman back, but he said it was already gone. The manager later told me that this was true and that the deal had later fallen through – though I had no way to check that. Wow, what a fast sale!!... hardly time to clean the car up!
A week or more later, I got a text from the salesman to say I'd left the 407 transponder in the car and he'd leave it at the desk for me to pick up. He did not tell me that the car was now available. When I came in, the car was in the lot, for sale! I couldn't believe it. We needed a car and, as we knew about the good maintenance history of this one, we sucked up the loss and repurchased it. I felt that the salesman had not told me the truth. When I told the story to the second salesman about how TWICE I’d been shafted and did not trust the dealership, I also asked for a new set of tires that were needed as a gesture of good will. They did include them in the deal – which I thought was good. Still, if they had no culpability, why would they have agreed?
But then came the THIRD and worst experience of all. On the long weekend in May, as my son was driving north, the oil light came on and the engine started smoking. They pulled over on the highway and were towed to a wonderful garage in Keswick. The garage called to say the engine had burned out and needed replacing. There was no plug in the underside oil pan – and no oil. They said we should complain to whoever changed the oil on that car. You can guess – it was IMAGE HONDA. I called to complain and they were not helpful. Rick, the manager, did call the garage in Keswick who told him that it was obvious the plug had fallen out. It must have been installed improperly and slowly gotten loose. We found oil on my son’s outdoor parking spot which must have been dropping for awhile. But Rick and Amy refused to admit this was the case – and offered the lamest excuses – arguing with every point, including what the Keswick garage had said. They could offer no explanation for how it had happened, and took no responsibility. Naturally, sadly, this happened three days after the three-month warranty expired!
STAY AWAY! Can’t trust them. Go to Sterling Honda if you can. They've always been very helpful and have better ratings.
Read More
Dealer Reviews
Service Reviews
Cars for Sale
Dealer Log In