Honda of Ithaca

My girlfriend took her Honda there for service unrelated to the brakes. When she picked it up she was told that the front left brake caliper was seized up. She returned home quite upset. The brakes certainly were not seized before she took the car in. I test drove the car and the front left brake was smoking, but the rotor was no hotter than the right side, which it should be if it was locking up. The longer I drove the car the less it smoked. I jacked it up and removed the wheel and was able to push the caliper piston in nice and easy. The caliper was definitely NOT locking up. The pads and rotors on both sides had even wear.
There was a spot on the caliper that looked like a dob of grease was placed on it. On purpose or not I can’t say. Lets assume no mechanic, even a shady one, would put some sort of lubricant on a brake part to make it smoke and imitate a stuck caliper. Lets assume he or she didn’t test drive the car before working on it. (It was there for a ball joint) If he/​she test drove it after and it was smoking like that then the car should have gone back on the lift and the cause been investigated. The only way that grease could have gotten on the caliper was during the repair… so the mechanic SHOULD have been concerned it was an error on his/​her part.

My 67 year old father has a 2013 Accord with just over 30k miles. Their service attendant/​manager convinced him he needed new brake pads and rotors… On a car with 30k miles. That is absurd. They also recommended and additional $ 600 in service (bear in mind the car is still fully warranted).
Honda is a great brand and dealers typically are held to a higher standard, but unfortunately, this dealership took advantage of an older customer. My father was mortified when I told him there’s no way he’d burn out rotors in so few miles (with his driving style).
Please be skeptical of their recommendations and appraisals as they put service revenue above honesty and the integrity of their brand.
Despite being local, they aren’t the most trustworthy.
**Note that a few days later, I spoke with the floor manager and the service manager. They gave an explanation of why the rotors burned out. I don’t agree with their explanation but what’s done is done. They did try to make an effort to rationalize the charge and both behaved professionally.

The people and atmosphere could not have been any better! Everyone there is friendly and has your best interest in mind! My car buying experience was excellent! The sales manager took great care of me and worked quickly and efficiently to get me my new car at the best price!!! If anyone I know is looking to get a new car I will defiantly recommend Honda of Ithaca! They have my business for life!

Should chime in to report, briefly, my completely frustrating experience with their body shop. To summarize: they had my car for 3.5 weeks or so with zero communication about the delays. They lied to my insurance company twice, telling my insurer that I had insisted on Honda genuine parts when I did no such thing. They offered no explanations for the delay that forced my insurance company into a corner. And the supposed issue was one that the mechanics in the shop should have caught a few weeks earlier when they charged me $$$ for an alignment. So in sum: awful communication, apparently unethical practices, charged me twice for expensive alignment and claimed they hadn’t seen the issue the first time around, and excessively long work time. AND every time I attempted to complain, I was told that the two shops are completely separate… except that you can walk through Honda’s mechanic shop right to the body shop, so uh… As one plus: the waiting area is nice, quiet, and has free Wi-​Fi and some coffee. OTOH, so does my non-​dealer mechanic.

Bought a used car from here and was assured it was in perfect shape…
Took it on a 4 hour drive the same day and the check engine light came on. Turns out there was a 2 inch hole in the air intake filter. Took the car back and they replaced the entire line for free after I talked to a couple different people. While it’s frustrating to have that happen, they did take full responsibility for that.
I’d recommend getting someone outside of their service department to inspect the car if your getting it used

Any positive reviews of the service shop must be from the people that work there. Two experiences showed that one might consider the service people dishonest. Their job clearly is to try to jack-​up customers with unneeded repairs. Of course these repairs are always of concern from a safety standpoint. We recently went in to have a recall repair completed. After the repair was completed a light on the dash came on. The light was related to the repair that the Honda dealer had just completed. We took it back in and were told it was going to cost $ 900.00 to fix the situation. Even though the light had never been on prior to the recall repair. The explanation from the service person as to what was actually wrong was not understandable. So we asked to speak to the service manager about this mystery repair. He «looked» into it and he could not explain anything that made any sense. He said he was going to call Honda as see if they would cover the repair. A few hours later, they told us that they miraculously fixed the problem by «tightening some bolts and checking the connections». Imagine this mystery repair went away when we asked for detailed explanation of what actually was wrong. I guess we can smell a rip-​off.

I can’t say enough about this dealership! With Jeff as my sales person I was able to secure an excellent deal on a great CRV. This was the first time I ever got exactly what I was looking for on my trade and on the price of the new car. There was no haggling, and no salesman tricks. It was so easy for me! Also, the service department, Steve, he is great! He did exactly what I asked the first time I took my car into the shop, checked my concern and helped me out all at no charge. If I could purchase every single car I ever buy from this group I would do it for the rest of my life. The team is tremendous, professional, nice and above all: concerned about servicing me over the full ownership of the vehicle. I feel like I won the car lottery!

I normally do not write reviews, but I feel strongly compelled to warn future patrons in need for automobile service to avoid Honda of Ithaca.
Last year, my car was vandalized and needed parts (e.g. windshield), and a paint job. I took my car, which is a Honda, to Honda of Ithaca thinking that the dealer operated shop would be reliable. I could not have been more wrong.
The service manager is not trustworthy. Since I had insurance, he said he’ll take care of my car and deal with the insurance. That was easy. However, by allowing Honda of Ithaca to deal with the insurance company, the insurance company and Honda of Ithaca somehow agreed to use the cheapest aftermarket parts and the absolute minimum required amount of labor.
For example:
1) Paint job is of terrible quality. The paint after 6+ months but less than 1 year is already beginning to fade/​chip.
2) The incorrect rearview mirror and mount was put onto my car, which left the rearview mirror to fall after several days of normal driving. As you can imagine driving without a rearview mirror is not only dangerous, it is also illegal. After returning to the shop to get it fixed, the shop would promise to resolve the issue. However, as I learned more about the issue, I found that the mount is permanently glued onto the windshield. And since the incorrect mount was used, I need a new windshield. But the dealership would not cover this mistake. They promised to fix the issue, but only by forcibly screwing the rearview mirror into the incorrect mount (which again, leads the rearview mirror to eventually fall off because the two are not compatible). I revisited the shop about 3 times. The shop also went as far as to accuse me of tampering with the rearview mirror and forcing it to fall off (who in their right mind would want to do that?). The issue was eventually sort of resolved, after they couldn’t fix the issue and called «Choice Autoglass» to fix it for them. I don’t know how they did it (since they did not replace the windshield, but my rearview mirror has been in place (3+ months and counting). Though, I am hesitant to really adjust it…
3) The interior of my car now rattles due to misalignment of a part that covers the pillar between my front windshield and the window on my driver side door. Besides the rattle, it also looks terrible (if you stare at it).
In all, I would encourage you to look elsewhere for a car repair job (even if you have a Honda).

Despite some unfavorable reviews, I had a very positive experience with Honda of Ithaca.
While on a college tour trip with my kids, miles from home, I was in Ithaca when my Civic started making a screeching noise while driving at low speeds. Fearing it was a brake issue, I arrived at the Honda of Ithaca dealer, as soon as they opened, the following day. I explained to Service Writer, Rich Petrucco, that we were away from home, doing college visits and that my schedule was pretty tight. In fact, I had an appointment two hours later, nearby. He immediately brought the car in for the mechanics to look at, when they arrived. He offered to provide transportation to and from my appointment, should my car require any repairs. I waited about 45 minutes before Rich informed me that we were all set. The mechanics pulled the car into the shop and the noise went away. They put it up on the lift, took off the tires and inspected the breaks. All looked good. Perhaps something had gotten lodged in between the brake pads and had become dislodged. This news was quite a relief, not only because I had recently had the brakes redone, but for the peace of mind knowing everything was in working order for my continued journey.
I left with a courtesy inspection from Honda of Ithaca and with plenty of time to make my appointment!
Thanks, Rich, for helping us out and getting us on our way.
Sincerely,
Lisa W.

Since moving to Ithaca in August I have been to Honda of Ithaca several times: for a routine oil change, to outfit my car for the winter, and for a recent recall on the thin layer of roof paint that had begun to chip. I regret not writing a review before, but the service I received in the body shop, specifically from the manager Jack, compelled me to get the word out. This place is truly exceptional. Their customer service, consideration, and professional work are above and beyond anyone’s expectations. Jack and his team were able to repaint my roof and re-​attach the right side of my bumper, which was missing a screw, free of charge. I realize the paint job was written in the recall, but the shop was willing to fix my bumper and go above and beyond for me and when they were very busy. If you do have a Honda within a 100mi radius that needs any work done-​this is your place. And if you don’t have a Honda, well thats a different animal altogether…

I brought my car here to be inspected right after moving to Ithaca. After it passed the inspection, before I even got off the lot, the driver’s side window exploded, showering me with broken glass. It had been sticking. They had lowered it during the inspection and left it there, and when I went to close it, it exploded. I had recently inherited the car from a family member. I later learned that this part — the window control — had been recalled the previous year. Evidently, Honda of Ithaca didn’t check or even notice or worry when they encountered the sticky, off-​kilter window. I was lucky not to be blinded. It was also very expensive.

Nope, bought a car from Miller in Vestal.
The salesman looked at my husband at every question. My husband even told him it’s not a car for me she decides what she wants, nope it was all about him.
I was trading in a Honda with 184,000+ miles and the salesman insulted my car at every opportunity. I loved that car so I’m getting another… silly silly salesman.
Bought a car the next day from Miller from a woman.

Lately, the service department seems to specialize in somewhat high pressure sales of parts and service. I don’t want to knock the place, but if I did every service and replaced every part they wanted me to, I’d be broke. Since my car is out of warranty, I’ve been using a local shop that seems more pragmatic when it comes to parts and service.

So I hadn’t a chance to get around to write the second part on google review– but I have not forgotten, and I noticed that Unilocal allows for an update, so I decided to write here instead. I think the public deserves to know the truth about Honda of Ithaca. This is a separate incident from the first review on mechanical service department. A month or so later after I did those unpleasant mechanical checkups with Honda of Ithaca, I returned there this time due to a car accident — somebody slammed into the rear of my Civic at a stop sign and I needed to replace the bumper etc.
To put it simply, dealing with the body shop of Honda of Ithaca was not only it was a lot of hassle in terms of getting insurance situation straight between the rental company and Honda body shop where people who could care less, and won’t do absolutely anything outside of their job description, not even when one quick phone call or two would resolve the problem (see my other review on Enterprise) — but also when I finally came to pick up the car, I noticed a clanging/​knocking/​pinging noise in the rear and also that steering wheel has become noticeably heavy. When I pointed those out, the guy in charge started to yell at me saying to the effect that it’s not his job to work on these problems. I had his worker drive my car to show him the steering wheel is now much heavier than it was before, but he could care less — I wonder if he was feeling some sort of macho superiority complex to a woman’s complaint — These two guys both attributed the problems to the fact that my car is «old» — ’98 («time to get a new car, eh?» — I wonder if that was on their mind?) — and the fact that I was driving a new rental car while during the car was in shop which were of course a little more quieter. They were so bastardly confident in their mistaken assessment that when I tried to persist, the guy in charge, especially, started hollering and yelling at me, speaking down to me as if I am crazy. The other guy told me that I should go talk to the owner. Apparently, these guys have a pretty comfortable relationship with the owner of this place and they seem assured that their job is not on the line by me going up to talk to them. So I said, NO. I will instead write an online review of this incident for the public to see and I will NEVER return to Honda of Ithaca after this kind of horrendous treatment I and my car have received.
What kind of professional does Honda of Ithaca employ — the kind who yell at its customers complaints at will? Not only did this tall guy in charge bark/​holler/​yell at me, who is a small-​framed woman — while constantly interrupting me as I state my case — he would complain that it was me cutting him off. What a baloney! — but incidentally when I took my car back to my regular repair shop (Midas) for regular oil change, and mentioned the weighted steering wheel to them, they fixed the problems for me right away — at no extra cost. So nice! Nothing like stupid Honda of Ithaca! Now I have a smooth steering wheel — not ridiculous iron steering. The noise from the rear seemed to have had a suspension problem and I PAID for it this month, but weren’t really good body shop — of HONDA — be able to tell and contact the insurance company so that they can have it fixed? My car did NOT have these problems prior to the accident.
All in all, I give THUMBS DOWN ALL THE WAY to Honda of Ithaca — this place is grossly overrated for no good reason. Both for mechanical service and body works, there are other better places in town to take your car to. And now if the owner wishes to contact me to remove these statements of truths — they can, but I doubt I would do so even if they begged me, because I think people should know the truths! If they can treat one woman wrongly, then how do you think they will treat you right? I’m not sure if the guy was misogynistic, but I can tell you no matter who the customer is, male or female, you just can’t keep on going the way he did for too long before somebody points it out for him!
It just makes me mad thinking about it — even though it happened months ago. But there, I’ve kept my promise to write Part 2 of this review.
People, be aware. Don’t believe in the hype!
PS: In a county that banned hydraulic fracking, I’m not even sure what Honda of Ithaca is (was?) doing toying with «natural gas» vehicles in their show room — another ominous sign of Honda of Ithca — they can’t read the pulse at all!
PS2: I am also considering of writing a letter to the corporate headquarter in Japan as well as to the regional office, with full translation, for the maximum effect — you can never expect this kind of service in Japan. Horrendous!

I have not had the pleasure of buying a car here. If their sales team is anything like their service group, I do not expect any less. I relocated into the area a few years ago, and I have my two Hondas serviced here. The service team has always been prompt and professional. Each time my cars come in the staff makes sure the service is performed quickly and correctly. If things look like they will take a while, there is always a loaner available.