Questionable ethics at local Acura service dept

This is just a heads up for Acura folks that rely on auto care professionals for honest recommendations involving vehicles. An experience I had late last year will give you a reason to look closely at a certain South Louisiana Acura dealership and all auto care professionals alike.

The story goes like this...In November of 2014, my wife and I were in the market for a new vehicle and we decided to go test drive the Acura MDX. We own a 2006 Acura TL and there was a promotion going on for a 21 point inspection and a free car wash. Why not get a free car wash while going on a test drive!? So that’s what we did...I told the service advisor we would be test driving an MDX while the car is washed (and tested). We strolled through the lot a while and ended up talking with a nice sales lady. She told us about the vehicle and we decided to go for a test drive. While passing through the lobby, the service advisor stopped me with two filthy filters and suggested I replace both of them. One was an A/C filter of some sort and the other the regular air filter. I was sort of caught off-guard and told him to take care of it without much hesitation...as both filters were in deplorable condition. As we walked to our test drive vehicle, it struck me that my air filter was replaced that summer....I did it myself (changing an air filter is not easy on an Acura TL). So as we are test driving the vehicle I’m thinking about purchasing, all that’s going through my head is this guy is running a scam on me. It is impossible for an air filter changed in the May/June timeframe to turn black, with hair and leaves stuck to it...at least not the driving we do with the car! Upon return, I confronted the service person with my thoughts on the matter. He gave me the blank stare and said that’s the filters he was handed by the mechanics in the back. I asked to speak to the service manager and I was told he was not at the dealership on that day. I asked to speak to someone about it and the guy got on his cell phone to call someone. I demanded to speak to someone in person, but no one was available. The service person instead gave me the new air filter/labor for free. Since we were pressed for time, we left the dealership without speaking to a manager.

The entire incident really ate at me. I couldn’t let it go. If this were my wife or any other lady, they never would have questioned it. Hell, if I hadn’t changed the filter myself 6 months earlier, I probably would have been duped! An “upper class” dealership like this is resorting to scams to turn a profit?!!! I called that evening when I got home to speak to the general manager. No dice, but left a message. Next day, no return call. I called again on the Monday and finally got to speak to someone after leaving another message. I told the general manager the whole story (supposedly, he was new to the dealership). He thanked me for the info and said he would look into it. I was so incensed, I called and reported the incident to Acura headquarters. Everyone was very nice and apologized about the incident.

Well, two months later, I haven’t heard peep. Nothing. Like it didn’t happen. Which is one reason I decided to post this...at least I can make people aware that this type of shady behavior can happen anywhere, not just the local mechanic shop.

I know service techs make (some) money on commissions just like regular sales folks, so I’m not all that surprised it’s going on. I just wonder just how often this takes place. How much bogus crap they force on you? You would think these scam artists would target women and old folks though...why risk it on someone that might be knowledgeable? It’s just too risky...especially if your “target” is considering forking over tens of thousands of dollars on a new vehicle at your dealership.

The real question is this...is this a rogue service advisor or is this regular bidness????