Reply With QuoteThe obvious first step would be to contact the dealership and ask them to remove or disable the vibration sensor.
I thought about putting this under the "I Am A F***ing Idiot" Thread, since it definitely qualifies, but I think it can stand on its own for venting purposes. Plus I want attention, and hopefully some advice.
So here's the story: about a month ago the transmission on our trusty '97 Honda Civic gave out after it's 200,000th mile (the odometer stopped working around 195,000 - so close, yet so far) so we needed to get a new ride quickly. Rather than doing any real homework, we impulsively ran to the local Honda dealership and picked out an '08 Honda Fit Sport. The salesman himself was a very nice guy, but then he handed us off to the business guy.
Long story short, we ended up spending $350 on an extra security system. He told us wasn't an alarm (my wife explicitly stated that she did not want any kind of honking car alarm) but rather an immobilizer setup that prevented a thief from starting the car without the key, making it hotwire-proof. Sounded good at the time, since we live in San Francisco and park on the street.
So the other night I parked on a fairly busy street and walked two blocks to my apartment (street parking sucks). The next morning I found three notes on my windshield complaining that the alarm had been going off frequently throughout the night and keeping the whole neighborhood awake. One was polite, one said the police had been informed and given my license plate number, and the other one said something along the lines of "Fix alarm or entire machine will require repair." Basically I'm lucky no one keyed it - I would've had a hard time blaming them if they had.
So I did a little way-too-late Googling, and as it turns out, the guy who sold us the alarm thing is a fucking liar. For one thing, the Fit Sport comes with a built-in alarm stock, plus a microchipped key setup that already makes hotwiring impossible (we had another key made at a different dealership, and the guy there told us there hadn't been a Honda hotwired since they started using the chips). What he sold us is, apparently, a vibration sensor designed to set off the horn-honking alarm when someone tries to break a window. It apparently also sets off the alarm if a big truck or penis-compensator motorcycle drives by and vibrates it too much. He sold us this despite our explicitly stating that we did not want an alarm to go off at all, and now I have to get this thing removed before someone justifiably demolishes my car with a sledgehammer.
So the moral of the story is the obvious: always read up before buying a used car from a dealer. My question is, does anyone happen to have any experience dealing with a situation like this where they felt mislead about a purchase, and is there any recourse even though I don't have anything in writing from them making misleading claims?
The obvious first step would be to contact the dealership and ask them to remove or disable the vibration sensor.
Yeah, that's first on my to-do list tomorrow morning. Perhaps I'm a pessimist wasting everyone's time, but I'm predicting they're going to tell me to go to hell, on account of them liking money and not wanting to give it back if they don't have to.
You're in California. The state with perhaps the strongest consumer protection laws in the country. Make them fix it or take them to small-claims court for it, and have the judge smile thinly at them while they try to explain why they installed exactly the thing they informed you they were not installing.
This.Originally Posted by AaronSofaer
First off, disabling the device shouldn't cost them anything but 15 minutes of their time. Reimbursing will be where any struggle may come up.
The hard part in a situation like this is admitting that it happened. So, you're out of the hard part, and into the easy part now. Practice your hairy eyeball look in the mirror and then go back over to the dealer.
And immediately go over the dealer's head. If he has that kind of salesman, then the dealer himself is very likely a similar asshole who will gladhand you in the front and then pat the salesman on the back once you leave. Contact whatever the next step in Honda's food chain is, and promise massive social media ire.
If they give you trouble, hit the BBB and tell other dealers in the area what they did. The cutthoat sharks love a good bad story about the other guy.
Edit: Oh, and tape-based voice recorder if you really want to get serious. First question you ask, "Remember when we specifically asked you that we didn't want this if an alarm was going to go off?"
H.
Disagree. California's got some laws about recording people without their permission as well. Plus there's no reason to assume the dealer's an asshole and immediately go over their head, or to strat threatening to start a Facebook group about how Honda sucks.
Why not just start with a phone call? FFS maybe, and I know this is a giant stretch, it was an honest mistake on someone's part?
Well, I was assuming we were talking about what to do when they refused to reimburse him. Burn down the dealership proactively!!
H.
notlegaladvice:
What he said. Recording a conversation that the other person reasonably expects to be private is a crime under Penal Code section 632(a). This crime can be charged as either a misdemeanor or a felony (i.e., state prison, of the pound-me-in-the-ass variety). Even if nobody charged you with a crime, section 637.2 allows the other person to sue you, for a minimum award of $5,000 even if they have suffered no actual damages. God help you if you posted the recording on your Honda Sucks FB group, and Honda came after you for triple actual damages.
/notlegaladvice
Wait, what? I'm not in the USA, but here recording a conversation is perfectly ok if you are taking part in it and all the involved parties know you are (taking part, I mean, not recording). Those kind of penalties only apply if you are secretly recording a conversation between other, non consenting people.
Of course YMMV based on local laws and IANAL.
Resolution: Given the sleaziness with which the situation came about, I was surprised at how quickly they buckled when I came at them angry about being misled. I went straight to the manager of the dealership, and he turned out to be pretty reasonable. They agreed to remove the demon-alarm and refund my money, though I'm currently in a "the check's in the mail" situation.
Thanks for the tips, everybody - I'm glad I didn't need to resort to them.
MOAR BURN!!
Honda dealerships have a pretty good reputation for being fair. And anytime you buy a used car from a dealership for that brand you have a reasonable chance of being treated well. On top of that, car dealerships are getting killed right now, so they have every reason to want to make sure buyers are happy.
The law is different here in California, which is where NowhereDan lives. A lot of people assume the law is what it is where you are -- that as long as you're part of the conversation, it's OK to secretly tape it. In California, at least, it isn't.
I live in Louisiana and we can record anything here, even phone calls! At least one of the parties has to know about the taping and since I am one of the parties, it's all good! This guards against the police just randomly recording phone calls and such. Louisiana isn't good for much, most notable jobs!!!, but we are awesome at being able to record phone calls and conversations with people to protect yourself.
fwiw, the laws linked to refer to an expectation of privacy being needed to make it illegal. Students listening to their teacher lecture? Not against the law to tape it (although it's always good form to ask permission). Taping a phone conversation without consent or warrant? You're going to the slammer (or getting fined).
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