Honda Of Altoona — Local services in Altoona

Here is a quick takeaway of my experience but if you want the long version, just read below.

Alyssa in sales was great to work with. She went above and beyond with her interactions with my family. Communication is hit and miss. Meaning, if you get ahold of a person it’s great but if you leave a voicemail. You’re never getting a call back. This is mainly pertaining to management. I had a cosmetic piece break off my car shortly after my purchase and it wasn’t going to get resolved until I made this review.

(Long Version) We came in for an appointment and we didn’t have luck with our first vehicle. We loved it but it didn’t have the third seating like we were told. Before I left I had them look at one other vehicle that they had on their lot and my family ended up purchasing it. (On June the 29th)

On July the 2nd my wife took our vehicle on the interstate and a piece of trim with a keypad, was coming loose. I had her push it in and the next day it popped out again. (July the 3rd) Upon further inspection of this vehicle I noticed that the passenger side was doing the same thing. I called the service department after hours and left a voicemail. (July the 3rd) I was hoping that I could bring it in to seal it or make a simple fix.

No one called me back. My wife ended up driving our vehicle again and the piece snapped off. (July the 9th) I called in that same day and spoke with the service department. I was told that they could look at it but more than likely I’d have a fee to just look at the vehicle on top of how much it’d cost to fix. I wasn’t satisfied so I called and tried to get ahold of a manager named Scott. I was sent to his voicemail. I also didn’t get a call back so I tried again before the end of the day. Luckily I got ahold of him.

I explained my situation and told Scott how I just purchased this vehicle. It was only three days apart from purchasing that this trim was coming off. I told him that I called service trying to get this looked at before anything happened but I didn’t get a call back. His response to me was that they wouldn’t cover it since it was body work. I could try submitting it to my personal insurance but that was it. He was “sorry.” What a way to help out your customer.

I had just spent a little under 20k on this vehicle and they couldn’t work with me. So I posted a negative review on here as my last resort.

I did get a call from the general manager after posting this. Mike P. wanted to talk and see what Honda could do on their end to help out the situation. I paid for the parts but Honda would be installing them for me at no charge. Not my top choice but I was glad that something was being done.

My wife took my vehicle in the 19th of July. They installed my new parts but accidentally messed up a trim piece in the process. This was no big deal to me because my wife told me that they were going to order the part and fix it. I was also supposed to get a call that same day, just to keep me updated. I haven’t heard from Honda. I did call the general manager on the 2nd of August but I got his voicemail.

I called again on the 6th of August but this time I got ahold of the service department. I was told that the part was in and I had it scheduled to be fixed on the 7th. It is now fixed...

If you are thinking of purchasing a vehicle here, I would strongly urge you to look elsewhere.

Upon inquiring about a 2014 Ford Taurus SHO online, we drove from Missouri to see the vehicle on 12/14/2024. 30 minutes before arriving at the dealership, we received a phone call from the salesman, James, stating that the car was currently in limp mode and throwing several codes. After telling him that we were 30 minutes away after making a 3 hour drive, he assured us that the mechanics would take a look immediately and try to have it resolved by the time we got there for the test drive. Upon arriving at the dealership, James informed us that they had unplugged a boost controller in order to remove the codes and get the engine light to turn off. We got to the dealership, took a test drive, and everything was fine so we ended up purchasing the vehicle. However, the test drive was done during an ice storm, so we didn’t have the ability to truly test drive it. We were told that there were no issues and the codes were simply because the boost controller was an aftermarket part. Two days after purchasing the vehicle, I noticed that the transmission was acting up. At the recommendation of Honda of Altoona, we took the car to a mechanic and was assured that the 3-month warranty would cover the cost of any needed repairs. The mechanic then sent me pictures (shown below) showing zip ties holding up a plastic sheet to cover a leak and hose clamps placed around the exhaust pipes. We purchased the vehicle under the impression that it had passed a 12-point inspection. Upon contacting Scott Brown and Chuck, both were surprised to hear this and asked to be sent pictures. After the insurance adjuster looked at the car, I was informed that it would not be covered by the warranty due to there being an aftermarket boost controller that was on the car when purchased with no indication that this would void the warranty. The boost controller in question was unplugged by the mechanics before the test drive and thrown in the engine bay. While purchasing the vehicle, James informed us that the mechanics had unplugged it in order to remove the codes and turn the engine light off. I did ask if it could be plugged in by the mechanics during the test-drive and was told no since it was an aftermarket part. At that point, I had no idea that there were any problems with the transmission. However, since the part was still wired to the gas pedal, it was never fully uninstalled from the vehicle, voiding out the warranty without our knowledge. The vehicle will not pass state inspection, although we purchased it under the impression that it had already passed a 12 point inspection. So now I am left with a $5,800 bill from the mechanic due to the vehicle needing a new transmission, a new axle (where the plastic sheet was zip tied), and a new exhaust (where the hose clamps were).

Update 04/01/2025: After being contacted by the manager Mike Poirier, the dealership apologized for our experience and agreed to pay the cost of parts...

UPDATE: Still no reply from the owner on my review, nor has the general manager got back with me via email I sent him at the beginning of the week. I wouldn’t just walk away, I’d run away from these crooks! They’ll reply to positive reviews, but don’t care to help out customers who had negative experiences! I’ll be in on Saturday to sign my cancellation papers for the service contract. I’ll also be making a complaint with the attorney general of Iowa etc due to Matt lying to me and saying I couldn’t remove the contract! I’ve found several other customers as well that went through the same issues. They will also be making complaints. Appreciate the 25k Civic though, that was a nice surprise discount :-)

Purchased a brand new 2025 Honda Civic on 3/31/25. After waiting patiently at the dealership for quite some time I was up for signing all of the paperwork. When we got down to it I was handed a brochure for a platinum plus service contract to the tune of $1,315.00. I asked the finance manager if we could remove the service contract, as I didn’t need or want it and his exact words were “you cannot remove it, it’s figured into the price of the car”. That rubbed me wrong as I’ve bought a lot of new vehicles throughout my adult life and have never been told no I couldn’t remove a service contract. After speaking with a contract lawyer this morning 4/1/2025 I was informed that the denial of a service contract isn’t against the rules, and wouldn’t stop me from being able to get financing or purchase said vehicle. Not to mention it’s incredibly shady for them to say I HAD to purchase said contract (I wish I’d recorded this). I was also informed that Iowa has fantastic laws regarding the purchase and cancellation of service contracts,10 days to cancel for full refund by law, and the contract itself states 60 days. I also wasn’t given a copy of the service contract with my purchase, the finance guy had to email it to me this morning. The part that really gets me though is I never wanted this contract, and now to cancel it I’m told I need to come in and sign paperwork. The dealer is about a 3-3.5 HR drive from my home roundtrip, not only will it burn my time but it will also burn up fuel and extra miles I dont need to put on my vehicle. The best part is I put down some cash on this deal, and had that warranty not been figured in I would of saved $1300 of my down payment as the lender required X amount down to finance the amount the dealership was asking for total (had finance amount been $1300 lower I wouldn’t of been required as much down).Finance guy tells me I now cannot recoup that but instead that my $1300 will go right back to the lender! Overall this whole experience was horrible, and the only good from it is that the Honda is a really nice car. What can you as a dealership do to make this right, and for me to edit my review? I’m willing to update my review and delete this negative one if the outcome is favorable. The ball is in your...