Honda Of Chantilly

In May 2018, I left my 2014 Honda Odyssey with Pohanka's Honda of Chantilly (where I purchased and had only serviced it) for a major engine repair. Five days later I picked it up and drove it home not knowing that my windows and sunroof had been left open in a massive, torrential downpour. It wasn't until several days later that I discovered a lot of water running down the windshield, inside windows, and dashboard, wet carpet trapped beneath my protective mats, and standing water in an interior cup holder and my leather seats. I immediately returned to Honda of Chantilly to ask why they never notified me and why a dealership with all the necessary tools and resources to properly address its mistake right away would give me back a car they knew had water damage. The service manager said no one knew and it must have been one person’s cover-up because this is definitely not the way that his company does business. He said they would need to keep it for several days to remove all the water and check the electronics. During that time, I contacted several other local dealerships and car repair shops to learn what type of potential future damages could occur as a result of Honda of Chantilly’s mistake. They said it was very possible that electronics that came into contact with water were compromised and would start corroding in the future but there was no way to tell the extent of possible future damage – and that they could work for a while and then suddenly fail. Two days later, I spoke with Honda of Chantilly’s General Manager, and I repeatedly stated that I was concerned that the incident had been covered up and that other people's cars might have also had water damage but they weren’t aware of it. He said that was not the case – that it was only mine (the storm was the night of May 14, 2018). I also explained that I was worried about future electronic issues and concerned about safety issues. The General Manager told me that I could purchase an extended 4-year, 48,000 mile warranty which would protect against any issues that may come up in that period. I asked that he cover the extended warranty and he finally agreed to cover $750 of the $1500 extended warranty, which he said was "extremely generous" on his part. I argued that for a company whose owner asserts that it does service better than any company in the world, I would expect that he would hold his service department to the highest standard. He finally told me that Honda of Chantilly initially did the same that any other dealership would do by wiping my car down, putting it under a heater, and giving it back to me. He went on to insist that there was no cover-up because the incident was noted on my original service report. I asked if he was referring to a line that said "Performed Interior Detail" (at no charge) and he said yes – because why else would I think I would have gotten an interior detail for free? I repeatedly told him that I was not satisfied with his offer to pay half of the warranty and thought that at the very minimum he should at least cover the $1500 cost. He refused. I then asked to further elevate my concerns to the Owner and the General Manger said no - that the Owner had given him the authority to act on his behalf, he would make the same decision he had, and his decision was FINAL. The General Manager again told me that he had already “gone above and beyond” by removing the water and drying my car and I was not going to get a warranty for “free.” At the end of our conversation, the General Manager said that my options were to do nothing, purchase the extended warranty, or trade in my car and pay about $15,000 for a new one. Ultimately, the General Manager did provide me with one name and number – their lawyer – and told me to do what I felt I needed to do. As such, I spent several months documenting this experience in a video and posted it on YouTube (it’s the first video that comes up in a Google search of “Honda of Chantilly Review”). In the end, I paid $795 ($750+tax) for the extended warranty and have since then learned from Honda Corporate that any repairs that are found to be linked to the water damage are not covered by the extended warranty…so there’s that.