Honda of Escondido reviews

Cynthia C

Mar 28, 2011

5 star for Tony Owen! See him if you need service. He is the first service person Ive come across who was honest and genuinely looking to help me out and not rip me off.Heres my LONGGGG story. After a bad experience with express tire and getting multiple diagnoses for my problem, I decided to bring it to a dealership to get down to the real problem. I know people cringe when you say dealership because that mean $$$, but it was necessary this time. The problem: Squealing serpentine belt.Express tire said it was due to a loosening belt and also informed me my oil pan was leaking. There diagnosis was to replace the oil pan (according to them it couldnt be repaired just replaced...BS!), serpentine belt and pulley. There quote: $400+ (89.99 belt, 189.99 pulley, 200 labor) to replace the pulley and belt! That weekend I got the pulley and belt for $24 and 30 minutes later the belt and pulley was replaced. It wasnt "lose" nor was it worn, but since it would need to be done anyways and the parts were cheap, why not? Few days later the squealing returned and I figured it was oil from, the pan getting onto the belt. The following weekend I was going to tackle the oil pan with my stepfather. After looking more closely, it looks like the leaking WASNT from the oil pan or oil filter. He suggested I take it to a few places to get a proper diagnose. It was amazing that out of 8 places I called, 6 just gave me a blind quote of $700+ and 2, one being Honda of Escondido told me they couldnt quote me till they check it out and make sure.I decided to go straight to Honda since who else would be better at looking at a Honda then the people who work on them day in and day out. Tony was professional, friendly and the most importantly HONEST! He saved me probably $1000+ in unnecessary repairs from WRONG diagnoses by others shops. 2 hours later the Honda mechanic found it wasnt oil leaking, but power steering fluid! My powers steering pump was leaking bad. Tonys quote to repair it with genuine parts put a new serpentine belt (since it was covered in fluid) and clean up my engine was FAIR, but still $600 of which I didnt have. If I did, I would have said yes in a heartbeat. Fortunately my sister works for an auto parts company and my stepfather was a mechanic in his past life so we will be working on it this weekend for much less.When I thanked Tony, but declined the service, he didnt give a attitude lie most places do when you tell them no, and was still curious and friendlyOn the way to the cashier he gave me some more advice and I am VERY thankful and blessed to have gotten Tony when I called into Honda Escondido. I will definitely be bringing my car here from now on when I have car issues (hopefully not anytime soon). P.S Awesome waiting lounge with FREE Starbucks coffee/hot coco, water, popcorn and vending machines. The whole dealership is spotless and nicely decorated with comfortable seating arrangements and a BIG TV.

fireskipper

Jan 13, 2011

We were contacted by this dealer through the Costco program. On our first visit they were friendly and took their time with us. We wanted to make sure we were getting the best price, so we didn't purchase at first visit. We requested bids via internet from many other dealers in our area. Because we first dealt with Escondido Honda, we gave them first opportunity to meet or beat one of our 3 lowest bids. Upon arrival at our second visit, the original friendliness was gone. The sales person we were dealing with, Paul Najor, was visually upset for us not taking their original offer (plus he never returned my phone call and took a long time to return emails; it felt like he just didn't care anymore; and his return emails were very short and seemed curt). Paul took our internet bid copies to his sales manager, who, according to Paul, offered to come down only to the highest internet bid we received (less than $100). We made a counter offer slightly above the highest of our 3 lowest bids, but Paul was not even interested in dealing further. He "immediately" said no and shook our hand. My wife and I were shocked by his quick refusal to negotiate further. We went to another dealer immediately who had provided an internet bid. We purchased our new car. Our purchase price was lower than the offer we made to Paul at Escondido Honda. It's unfortunate I didn't read their reviews before I went there. For if I had, I wouldn't have asked for Paul Najor.

2010wheels

Nov 28, 2010

I recently purchased a Honda at Honda of Escondido & I am as happy with the car as I am with the dealership. Specifically, I would like to mention Andrea Schramm who provided excellent customer service throughout the purchasing & delivery process. The dealership is motivated to sell cars and I got a great deal on a beautiful car. Thanks also to Lou, Tony, Jorge, Julie Vue for their help in completing paperwork and handling the details of registration. I have already recommended Honda of Escondido to several friends and co-workers and look forward to doing business there again soon. The professional team at Honda of Escondido delivers hassle-free, outstanding customer care. Many thanks!

livinginsandiego

May 1, 2010

I was on Edmonds.com and used the "Get Dealer Quotes" link to hook up with about 5 dealerships. I received quotes from all five. Honda of Escondido was quite a bit better than the rest and I found out why. I received quotes from the internet division and from the sales person Paul Najor. I confirmed the price with him and then asked what the out-the-door would be on another email. He got me into the dealership and showed me the price on an upgraded version that was on my mind --Civic EX/Nav to Civic EX-L/Navigation. We went into his office and he gave me the price difference after he looked it up. So this was the third time he was looking up the supposed price right? I asked him point blank if the reason for this good price was because of the $1000 factory to dealer incentive that he told me about via email and he confirmed. This EX-L wasn't in the color that I preferred so I wanted my wife to take a look at it as she'd be driving it part of the time. Later that evening I had my wife go back to the dealership with me. We took the car for a test drive and the car seemed fine to us so Paul goes back to his office. He comes back out and has discovered his mistake. He claimed that he quoted me the price for a model without the Navigation by mistake. But, on his email, he *DID* quote me for a model with Navigation because the MSRP that he quoted *is* the MSRP for a model with Nav. The only mistake was *his* quoted price, which he quoted again, and again. I guess he looked up the wrong price by mistake all those times then??? The thing about all of this is that I read a review of H. of Escondido from someone else where the exact same thing happened. I wanted to confirm, once again, before I packed the kids up and had my wife clear out her car for a trade in that his price was correct and that I wasn't going to have any surprises but Paul didn't answer my calls over the course of three hours --or my emails between when I first went in and when we were ready to go back. When he pulled this scam when I asked my wife if the car was okay with her and she responded that it was. Isn't this what we're supposed to avoid by internet sales? When I told him that I read a review that they do this tactic at Honda of Escondido he just responded as he walked away, "People make mistakes. Let me know what I can do for you if you're interested."

Theprincesswasp

Mar 21, 2010

Andrea Hammond was a pleasure to do business with. Extremely professional and was so helpful with answering slot of questions over my 2 month process in reaching a decision as which vehicle to purchase. Never once did she pressure me into a purchase! She went over every feature of the van and ensured that I had a in depth understanding of how all the features worked. Honda gave me an Awesome deal! From the General Manager to the Receptionist, all were great to meet. I would defintely purchase another vehicle from this dealership!