Brown's Arlington Honda

Reason for Visit: Service

I recommend this dealer: No

My Review of Brown's Arlington Honda:
NEVER GO HERE! I had the worst service experience of my life here and don't recommend Brown's to anyone.

I went at 6:30 a.m. for a VA inspection and emissions test. I was the second person there, but had to wait for an hour and a half while they looked at my car.

They informed me that I had failed the emissions test because the catalytic converter needed to be replaced. Apparently this also made it impossible for them to conduct the VA inspection. They still charged me $16.

The quote for the new catalytic converter was $1,690!!! (Catalytic converters for my car cost $150 at most online.) This did not include the $44 they were going to charge me for re-testing the car.

When I took my car for a second opinion, I found there was nothing wrong with the catalytic converter at all (there was a hole in my exhaust pipe). The other place fixed my car and tested it for a fraction of the price Brown's quoted.

I called Brown's service department, where I spoke to Ken Najiy and Oscar Mencia. Ken was somewhat helpful and referred my complaints to the Service Manager, Oscar. Oscar denied that they did anything wrong and claimed to be confused. He wasn't outright rude, but was condescending.

I strongly advise you go elsewhere for service and do not trust this dealership at all.

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Reason for Visit: Sales

I recommend this dealer: No

My Review of Brown's Arlington Honda:
The car that I brought from the dealership was in no way acceptable to be sold to anyone. After being assured that the car was not wrecked in the past, in addition to two sales individuals reassuring me that the car was not wrecked, I discovered after two months that they lied to me. I pulled a new carfax and the wreck was reported and I contacted the previous owner and both confirmed the 2005 wreck. I brought the car for $24,000 and the car was previous repair totalling $16,000. I asked the dealership if they were aware of the issues with the car and they replied no, but the previous owner did report the accident to them when she traded it in and that was the reason why she received a lower amount of money for the trade-in. Luckily, they brought the car back from me for the same price as I brought it, but the hassle of the whole situation should not have occurred. They should have disclosed the issues before I brought the car, but did not because of the shady dealing at the dealership. I recommend to future purchasers to stay away and you better get a second opinion on any used car. The car is a 2004 Acura TL, Grey, with only 18,014 miles. The car is only worth $16,500 based on appraisals from CarMax and Radley's. Any questions, contact me via email. Beware.

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Reason for Visit: Sales

I recommend this dealer: No

My Review of Brown's Arlington Honda:
This person needs to learn how to sell but not quick the customer away. i had really bad experience over there just with him, all the other employee were helpful and willing there work, but that he did not want help at all. the rood thing he has done, he open the door to me to leave the place. that was really bad.

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Reason for Visit: Sales

I recommend this dealer: No

My Review of Brown's Arlington Honda:
STAY AWAY FROM THIS HONDA DEALER!
We had a terrible experience on December 30th 2006:

(a) We were assured by the dealer's sales person that the Honda Civic LX we were interested about had been already submitted to a complete inspection.

(b) We wanted to buy the car and completed the paper work (including a phone call to Geico to get our car insurance)

(c) After that, they wanted our money, however, they would not
give us the car, arguing that the car still needed to pass the Virginia State inspection, in evident contradiction with part (a). Additionally, they mentioned the car would not be available until the first days of January 2007.

(d) We asked to borrow a car from them, while the car was fully inspected. Their answer was no.

(e) We asked to leave a deposit instead of the full amount, given that they wanted the money but we would not receive a car in exchange. Their answer was no. At that point, the store manager was absolutely rude, with a "let's get rid of these people" attitude.

We cancelled the deal and left the place very frustrated.

As mentioned at the beginning, you will do better by staying away from this Honda dealer. They have a total lack of professionalism and poor manners to deal with their customers.

Honda should do something about this dealer. They are, by far, the worst.

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Reason for Visit: Service

I recommend this dealer: No

My Review of Brown's Arlington Honda:
Overall, their service dept is ok, average. They have not yet updated their facilities like other dealerships in the area, so it looks old and dirty. The service waiting area is small, cramped, and dingy.

The prices are ok, but since they are smaller, be prepared to wait longer than you would expect. Their "express" oil change took 1 hr 45 minutes; other dealers will have you out the door in 30 minutes or less.

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