Gardena Honda — Local services in Gardena

It all started by me searching on Google for a 2025 Civic Sport, Gardena Honda was one of the first to pop up with one that had 973 miles on it. So I called the dealership to check and make sure the vehicle was in stock and it was so I was Transferred to sales department. The salesman who answered the phone was David Hernandez. I ask him questions about the vehicle, he answered my questions and so everything was good. I called me wife and daughter and ask them to go to Gardena Honda and if the vehicle was clean inside and out to go ahead and make the purchase. The sale at that moment was smooth because we had already been approved by our Credit Union to make the purchase. Once the deal was done and my daughter made it home I ask her about the keys because she only had 1 key for the vehicle. She stated that’s all the dealership gave me. So I called David the salesman who helped close the deal and ask about the spare key and was told there was no spare because the original person who purchased the car only returned 1 key, when the deal fell thru and they had to return the car back to the dealership which explains why the car had 973 miles on it. So David told me he would see what he could do the following day in regards to getting us a extra key. The next day 7/28/25 I called David for a update and was told that Management said no to providing us a extra key, and we would have to pay out of pocket for it on our own. I expressed how dissatisfied I was with that answer, so David said he would try once again and let me know later in the day. Later in the Day my wife called David for a update and was told Management said no again and it was out of his hands so my wife expressed concerns of knowing that someone has the spare key to the vehicle we had just purchase and she was not comfortable with that knowing that anything could happen. Thinking that person could come take the car with that key, and David response was that person is in LA County and we don’t live out that way so he doubt they would come take the car, and that he can’t help her with her anxiety she has about a car. Then he comes back and says that they will give us a spare key only if we do a 5 star review upfront. Once my wife called to tell me that information I reached out to the GM Marc Pereida to share my frustrations with the matter. I called the dealership 5 times asking to speak to him and left 2 VM’s at extension 8020 which is where the receptionist transferred me. Still have not heard back from him or anyone at Gardena Honda. On yesterday 7/30/25 my wife and daughter went back to Gardena Honda to drop off the payoff check for the Car to finance department and DJ in finance heard about the issues we had been having and he got the spare key made for us. He was very helpful and we thank him for what he was able to do for us. Now we are going to a different Honda dealer to have the keys reprogrammed. So that’s our first and last experience...

Customer service instantly stops the moment you drive off with your new vehicle. I leased a new car and returned my '22 civic on April 5 and was told by finance that i would no longer need to pay next month's and any remaining payments for the '22 vehicle since Gardena Honda would pay it off (and since i would no longer be in possession of the previous vehicle). But Gardena Honda never actually did that because next month's payment due date passed and Honda Financial (who was calling me everyday asking me to make a payment for lease that ended or for a car i no longer had) never received the payment nor were they notified about my new lease. At Honda Financial's advice, I called, left VMs and sent text messages at least once a day for several days to Gardena Honda's finance department but they never responded (even if the receptionist said they will if i left my number). Many days passed and the 30 day mark was getting closer before Honda Financial would report my missed payment to the credit bureaus and to my surprise, Gardena Honda called me - well, because they needed something from me (they said they needed 1 more signature). I had no choice but to head back to Gardena Honda, told them about the situation with Honda Financial and Gardena revised the contract of my newly leased vehicle and reiterated that they would handle the payment of the '22 vehicle but Gardena advised me to at least make last month's payment even if the lease ended (so that i will not have a credit hit) and promised that Honda Financial will refund me of my overpayment once Gardena pays. So i did as advised by Gardena, made the payment to the car i no longer owned and breathed a sigh of relief thinking that everything was finally settled. But that was wishful thinking - i inquired at Honda Financial about when i will get a refund of my overpayment but they said i would not be getting any because Gardena only paid the bare minimum and did not include last month's payment. Honda Financial said that Gardena will be responsible for issuing the refund. So i am back to square one with Gardena Honda's finance department - i called and left VMs and zero response. I've leased at this dealership multiple times in the past and the experience was not like this. Perhaps it's because of new ownership and their culture has changed and started to employ questionable business practices? As of the time of this writing, my ordeal is ongoing and i will have to look at other alternatives to handle this issue. Under the assumption that i have to return the vehicle at Gardena once the '25 lease is over, i dread the day that i have to deal with Gardena Honda's finance department again (though this will be the absolute last time that i will lease or buy a vehicle from this dealership due to this bad experience). Again, CUSTOMER SERVICE STOPS ONCE THEY GET WHAT THEY WANT.

Update: 5/30/3025 - left VMs and sent emails to CRM but 0 response. This really is...

Lied. My Honda Clarity was under warranty for the AC Condenser, but when I took it in to get it serviced, they told me the AC evaporator, not the condenser thats under recall was leaking, and quoted me $2500 to replace. I drove from Garden Grove to this place since I originally purchased the car here.

When I was quoted the price, I told them that I was going to pick up my car and think this over, but won’t get out of work until after the service department is closed. They told me that they were going to leave the paperwork, and key at the front desk of the sales department to pick up.

I get dropped off at the dealership at around 8:00pm and go straight to the front desk. When I ask for my keys, they tell me that the paperwork is there, but no key after searching for them for 20 minutes. My ride had already left. They tell me that they cant call the service department because they're already closed, and don’t have access to the building. They now tell me that there’s “nothing they can do” and I’m stranded there unless I call myself an Uber, and pay out of my own pocket. The ride would have been $60. They tell me that they cant give me a loaner car either, and gave me advice to “pay for the Uber, and speak to the service department to reimburse you.” At this point it would make absolutely 0 sense to believe anything any of these people are saying, and risk paying out of my own pocket to get reimbursed. I call my ride to come all the way back from Garden Grove to pick me up. At this point its 9:30pm

I then took my car to a third party AC repair shop the next day to run a diagnostics. and was told that it was indeed my AC Condenser, NOT the evaporator thats under recall was leaking. He also told me that this isn’t the first time he had his customers give him the same story from this dealership.

I then take my car to Hardin Honda in Anaheim. Without giving them any backstory, I explain to him that my AC isn’t blowing cold air anymore. The service rep gets right on his walkie talkie, and confirms that they have the AC condenser in stock. He tells me it’s most likely a leak, and it’s covered under warranty, but if anything changes he’ll let me know.

The next morning, I get a call from Hardin Honda to let me know my car is ready for pick up. Went to pick up my car, was charged exactly $0 and everything went perfectly smoothly.

If I had gone straight to Hardin Honda in Anaheim, I would have saved the hassle, time, inconvenience and wouldn’t have been lied to my face from going to Gardena Honda.

I’ll never go to and trust any of these people in here again. I’m so glad I was skeptical of what the service guy said, otherwise I would have also been out $2500 for nothing. I wonder how many other people fell victim...