Honda of Serramonte — Attraction in Colma

First of all let me start out by saying this is only the second review I've ever written in my lifetime. I'm not one for writing reviews, but after my negative experience at Serramonte Honda Sales and going back and looking at reviews after the fact, I couldn't help but validate the numerous negative reviews given by others.

First of all their so-called salesperson Edmond, happened to be the person that answer the phone when I called to check availability, so he ended up being the person I was stuck with through the process. I have to assume the only reason that Edmond has a job as a salesperson there is because he has mastered the art of talking in circles. I have purchased a lot of vehicles at dealerships in my lifetime, so he didn't pull any wool over my eyes, but frustrating nonetheless.

Edmund could not answer any of my simple questions, or really provide any other assistance, except just wanting to know if I wanted the vehicle or not. He brought in his sales manager Jimmy, another real piece of work. As with Edmond I'm sure Jimmy only has a job there because of his mastering the art of BS.

To get to the chase, the whole process just felt very pushy, felt a little shady, and no sign of interest in any customer satisfaction. They just wanted to make a sale and move on. As I said I've bought cars at many dealerships, and this type of behavior is not uncommon, but this is by far the worst I've seen.

As I said before I did my homework, so after test driving, taking the car by my mechanic, I ultimately decided I wanted the vehicle. Again this is due to because I felt like it was a solid vehicle, not that I bought any of the BS that sales was dishing out.

After I told him I was interested in the vehicle, Edmond direct me to a screen to input some basic information to start the sales process. Without saying anything else he just walked away from his desk and that was the last I saw of him. After about 10 minutes I finally found somebody else, and ask them what the hell happened to my salesman we were right in the middle of making a sale. After about 5 or 10 minutes Jimmy, the sales manager came over to the desk, and kind of rudely asked did I need something. I told him I was right in the middle of a sale with Edmond, and again he said kind of rudely , Edmund is off, I'm working on it. Why didn't Edmond tell me that his shift was over and Jimmy was going to finish the process before he walked away from his desk. Who does that?

Finally about 40 minutes later the paperwork was done, or so I thought. After reviewing the paperwork closely, I saw the final price was almost $6000 higher than the price of the vehicle. I question Jimmy on this, and as we reviewed the line items, he had added about $2,500 in multiple rip off options that I did not ask for or were ever discussed. I had to wait another 20 to 30 minutes for him to remove those.

Then after waiting again for about another 15 minutes we were sent to financing. That process was rushed, they just pushed for signatures, and acted like it was an inconvenience when I wanted to read some of the documents I was signing. Make sure you slow them down, and read your documents carefully. There was some shady stuff they were trying to get me to sign. Just beware.

Finally after more than 3 hours at the dealership, the torture was finally over. Or was it?

The next day, I had a couple questions and minor requests pertaining to the CPO vehicle. Instead of dealing with the two idiots I dealt with the day before, I decided to reach out directly to the general manager, Patrick. Let's just say one phone call and three emails later, I never heard from anybody. That's the ghosting that all the negative reviews mention. When you get this kind of poor customer service from the general manager you know crap only travels downhill, so you can not expect anything better from anybody else that works there. Good customer service starts at the top.

If you're looking for less than a satisfactory experience, then I give Serramonte Honda sales...

One star because I like my car that I purchased, and another star for them attempting to fix their mistake and their lies.

I went to Honda of Serramonte to buy a 2021 under 20k mileage Honda Certified Pre-Owned car I saw listed online. I test drove the car with the salesman, Kirby, and specifically asked if the car came with any included warranty. He claimed it had no warranty included at all. That it had expired. I decided I wanted to buy the car and waited for hours for a financer to become available. Once available, the financer, Steven, really tried to rush me through the signing process, like I was wasting their time because they made me wait so late. I asked Steven the same question, if the car came with any warranty. He said no as well and convinced me to purchase an 8yr added warranty since the Honda Certified Pre-Owned car they were selling did not come with any warranty according to both Kirby, the salesman, and Steven, the financer.

After driving the car home, my Honda friends informed me that a Honda Certified Pre-Owned vehicle does in fact come with a limited warranty. Especially since it was on ly a 2021 with less than 20k mileage. I called the dealership back and they immediately back-pedaled and claimed both Kirby and Steven had said it didn't come with "added" warranty, which was a lie. I called them out on their lie and they assured me they would rewrite my contract with the correct information and cost this time.

The person who handled rewriting my contract was very rude. He denied that Kirby and Steven had lied and made it seem it was my fault they lied to me. He also tried to rush me through signing the documents, like Steven had. They eventually fixed my contract.

I then went to sell my old car. I came prepared with the KBB, carfax, etc. They low-balled me an offer that was over 1/4 the price less, $2,500, than what KBB listed my car was worth. At first they stood firm with their horribly low offer. I got up to walk away and they immediately back-pedaled again and drilled me on my information that I got directly from KBB. After making me wait another couple of hours, they finally raised their offer by $2,000, still less than what KBB listed. At that point, I was exhausted dealing with these people and accepted their low offer.

I did not expect an actual Honda dealership to behave so poorly. I knew car salesmen were slimy and schemie, but how they so blatantly lied to increase their comission was appalling. I am very disappointed in Honda.

Do yourself a favor and...

I can only conclude that the reviews are being gamed somehow - that’s the only way to explain the awfulness of my [multiple] experiences here versus a 4+ star rating.

First time I brought my car here instead of my regular mechanic I figured a dealership was the way to go for my recurring brake light issue: oh my, was that wrong. The issue came back within days, so I brought it back once more and asked for the job I paid for to be completed this time. However, the issue returned shortly afterwards in even WORSE shape somehow, and this time the whole electrical system in the affected area had apparently been jury-rigged by the mechanic to just barely hold up. Eventually had to take it to my regular, who was able to suss it all out and correct the damage.

You’d have thought I’d learned my lesson but I had an engine sensor issue pop up that needed quick resolution - again I thought maybe they’d get it right this second time. Instead, they drove my car for 30 miles just hoping it would reset on its own and when that failed, they asked me to bring it back (after my 4 hours spent waiting on their “diagnostic.”)

They asked if I could come back yet again (third time) the next day; at this point, I just wanted it done, 20 mile round trip be damned.

But when I pulled up this time, I sat there for a while waiting for someone. A woman pulled up after me. When the attendant finally showed up he assigned me a place in line after her... and when I told him politely that I’d arrived before she did, he just said “oh” and looked around a little with a confused expression, then just walked away.

That was the final straw folks. I politely asked him to remove his number, drove off, and called in to request that they never, ever attempt to contact me about anything again.

Go elsewhere. Anywhere. Seriously.

PS: Look at the big, expensive piece of real estate they sit on, think about how many salaries are being paid in the place… then remember you’re paying for...