We bought a 2007 Honda Civic with 81,939 miles in 2011. When we sat down to discuss the price of the car, they recommended, and I said I did want, the CNA National Z-Series warranty that they were offering. They gave me a price for the 3-year and 5-year options (36K and 60K miles respectively), and I told them I'd like to look at a 5-year warranty, but that I wasn't interested in spending that much on the car and warranty.
I wanted to know what they could do to the total price. I explained that it was my wife's first car, she wouldn't be driving much, or far, and that we wouldn't drive 36K miles over 5 years let alone 3. I proposed that I pay the their sticker price of the car ($10,990) and their proposed "discounted" ($1669) 3-year price of the CNA warranty for 5 years of coverage with a 36K mile cap. Salesperson leaves the desk and we wait several minutes. That, I was told, was doable. But it was non-standard and there was some explanation about not being able to have that written up that day.
That's fine, I explained, but my wife needed a car and they needed the check to cash before I could get it, so how do I go about expediting getting the car? I was walked through by the finance guy and my salesperson that I needed to sign here, here, there and there, and write the check, and they'd take care of getting me the car and the final paperwork ASAP.
OK, fine, I thought. I kept asking if I could notate on the documents, but they said no, that wasn't allowed. But my receipt said CNA AUTOMOTIVE PREFFERED (no term indicated), and I was assured that everything would be taken care of.
Fast forward to when I get the car. Yes, the salesperson drove the car out as they said they would, but when they delivered it with an envelope full of paperwork and the keys, one of the remote keys is completely broken, held together by tape to keep the metal blade in the plastic key end.
After three days and several e-mails and phone calls with multiple people, being told that I should have checked both remote keys before buying the car, and having a heated conversation with the sales manager, Northeast agreed to take care of replacing the broken key.
Fast forward 3.5 years and less than 20,000 miles (less than 100K total) and the starter motor stopped working. I called Northeast Acura and was told that my CNA warranty was three years and had expired. I called CNA and was told that if it was non-standard, there may be a 5-year that should have replaced by the 3-year in their system, but they confirmed they only had the three year.
I went home to get my envelope of paperwork. Paperwork I never went through because I was busy dealing with the broken key when I first got the car. My paperwork says I have a 3-year, 36K mile warranty.
I have multiple conversations with multiple people at Northeast Acura. The salesperson says they can't remember the transaction at all and the sales manager says they want to make it right. They want me to have the car towed there to confirm it is the starter motor before deciding anything, but I tell them I don't want to pay to have it towed there without knowing what their resolution will be, so they tow it to their dealership at no cost to me.
They confirm it is the starter motor, and service calls me to tell me it will be $650 plus labor as if I'm just confirming the price as a formality before they begin work. When I flip out and tell them I'm supposed to have a warranty, I'm told I should speak with the sales manager again.
The sales manager explains that I should have been told the total price is $650 with labor. We talk about how he said he was going to make things right and I explain I'm not expecting the warranty to be honored going forward, but that for this repair I contacted Northeast Acura with the understanding that the contract was 5 years and that I felt lied to when I discovered my warranty was only 3 years. I said I wasn't opposed to buying another warranty to cover myself going forward, but I was primarily concerned with getting the car fixed now.
The sales manager continues to say he wants to "make things right", and suggests I've proposed a quid pro quo (that I didn't) of buying a warranty if he fixes the car. I reiterate that if the price is reasonable, I'm willing to buy a warranty, but my main concern is getting my wife's car fixed. He states he'll get back to me.
I call CNA National to ask how much a 1/3/5 year warranty will be on my car and will told that I can't buy directly from them, nor can I buy one for my Civic from a dealer, because dealerships sell CNA warranties when they sell a car.
Northeast Acura does not get back to me, so I call back to speak with the sales manager. The sales manager said that the one year warranty will be approx. $1100, or fixing the car is $650. I'd had enough and let them know I'd have a local garage tow my car from their dealership where it was fixed for $320, $220 more than my deductible I expected to pay NE Acura. read more
