Cambridge Honda

Reason for Visit: Sales (New)

I recommend this dealer: Yes

My Review of Cambridge Honda:
I have purchased three vehicles at this dealership and I have been a repeat customer for a reason. I have found that at other dealerships the customer service is far below par level, and the entire process has been extremely exhausting and frustrating.

I have always left Cambridge Honda with a great feeling of the purchased vehicles, and the management is not only friendly and helpful, but has always gone out of their way to explain options to me to make sure I have made the best, most educated decision. I feel when you purchase a vehicle at Cambridge Honda, you are family, and well taken care of.

I have referred about 7 or so friends and family members to purchase vehicles at this dealership, and they have all raved about their process, people, and quality. Never have I or any of them ever come across an issue or problem with this establishment. This dealership is run like a business that takes care of their customers for the long run, not like a circus where you get thrown around at all the ringleaders.

There are plenty of Honda dealerships in the area, however, if you want to enjoy the experience of purchasing a vehicle, I suggest and recommend highly you take a visit to Cambridge Honda.

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Reason for Visit: Service

I recommend this dealer: No

My Review of Cambridge Honda:
They charged me over $200 to cut a new key and program remote after I lost mine. I paid exactly $37.63 for the EXACT same service and parts 6 years ago in Western MA. Joseph Penebre, the service guy at the desk blamed it on inflation - HA! I still have all the receipts to prove the difference in price by the way.

Then I had to pay $98 for them to tell me my transmission was faulty. They replaced that but delivered the car back with terrible squeakiness as if it were the Titanic sinking every time I turn. Also the check engine and service lights were still on. When I took the car back in to ask why this was so, they wanted to charge me ANOTHER $98 diagnostic fee to figure that out!!!

To top it all off the BOSE 6 CD player under my seat was suddenly inoperable the day I picked my car up from them. I would like to ask them to fix it but I am so frustrated with their service I will probably take it to another local dealer as BOSE will not service directly.

The only person in this whole operation that seems the least bit concerned with your happiness is Dan Carvalho, the Service Asst Mgr, but not even OBAMA could save this operation. They have clearly survived on gouging the customer - and they know you're screwed without them cause they're easily located on FRESH POND.

My suggestion: Drive to Newtonville, Burlington, Boston or Everett to service your Honda. Otherwise, prepare for frustration and an empty wallet in Cambridge!

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Reason for Visit: Sales (Used)

I recommend this dealer: Yes

My Review of Cambridge Honda:
I did not have any of the problems or horror stories the majority of people described here. I bought a 2006 CR-V and was given courteous attention and I was able to negotiate the price to my satisfaction. I haven't dealt with their service department or anything else other than buying but I was treated very well and the car was very clean and has given me no problems. I actually went back 10/11/09 and bought another Honda, a 2004 Element, and had the same experience with a very nice low pressure salesman, Bobby. Again, I can't vouch for the after sales service as I've had no experience with it, but if you do your research and are willing to do some negotiating, you can get a fair deal.

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Reason for Visit: Sales (New)

I recommend this dealer: Yes

My Review of Cambridge Honda:
I bought my car here at a reasonable price. They were pretty laid back and let us do pretty much what we wanted. I enjoyed the experience here overall. In the end I got what I wanted and they made some money off of me. If I had to do it all over again I wouldn't mind going back to Cambridge Honda for another new car.

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Reason for Visit: Sales (New)

I recommend this dealer: No

My Review of Cambridge Honda:
an update to our two previous reviews

last week we received a phone call from Matthew Houlihan, finance manager at Cambridge Honda. He asked for our credit card information in preparation for a refund of our $500.00 deposit. I returned his call with the information, and true to his word, on the 18th Cambridge Honda refunded our deposit to our VISA card.

no explanation was given, but we are satisfied with the result. hopefully, either Cambridge Honda will stop the practice of holding these deposits hostage to a new car purchase, or make it more clear when the deposit is solicited, that such deposits (a) represent a commitment to purchase a new car (something that was entirely NOT clear at the time our card was charged); and (b) are not refundable in the event a patron changes her/his mind about a potential purchase.

best of luck to Cambridge Honda and its customers from here on out.

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Reason for Visit: Sales (New)

I recommend this dealer: No

My Review of Cambridge Honda:
An update to our previous review.

In early July we visited Cambridge Honda, where we have serviced our car until now, to look into buying a second car. We settled on a Honda Insight, and were told if we left a $500.00 deposit, Cambridge Honda would have a car in the color and with the options we wanted available for us to evaluate, and possibly purchase. It was understood that should we choose not to buy a car, our deposit would be refunded. We hesitated, because we weren't sure we could secure financing we could afford, and we wanted to look over our finances in any event to make sure we could afford a second car. The salesperson, Kathy Lemus, assured us she'd wait to "run the card" until we returned to see the car and authorized her to move ahead with a purchase.
We returned the next day to see the car and test drive it, but Kathy was not available and our car was not there. Fine. We decided to wait to buy a new car from Cambridge Honda until next year or the year after.
Then we discovered a $500.00 charge on our VISA card. We called and were told (1) it would be refunded; (2) only the sales manager, Paul Cotrone, had the authority to refund the deposit, and he was "in a meeting;" (3) Matthew Houlihan could offer to arrange financing so we could buy the car ("3.9%? 1.9%?, how about 0%?"); and (4) we'll call you back with a decision right away. None of which were true. Houlihan's financing "offers" were made only AFTER we asked for our deposit back: had any of these offers been genuine (they were not: we'd been told that the Insight was such a hot new product, there were ZERO incentives and no wiggle room on price, financing, or options), or been made during our first visit, we'd probably be driving a Honda Insight right now. Here is the promise Cambridge Honda makes to its customers on its website:

It is Cambridge Honda's
goal to provide superior good and
services to all our customers, but
our primary goal is to ensure
that each and every customer
be completely satisfied.

If for any reason this should not be the
case, I encourage you to ask for me
personally. We are proud of
Cambridge Honda and strive to be your
first choice for all your automotive needs.

Andrew V. Bellizia, Jr., President

We have a reason, and we did ask for Mr. Bellizia personally; and if Cambridge Honda had simply returned our deposit we'd still be servicing our car there for years to come and we'd be buying a new Honda Odyssey from them in 2010 or 2011. But after three weeks of attempting to resolve this issue with Cambridge Honda, during which no one EVER returned a call to us, we posted our first review on Dealer Rater.com, and have now begun seeking remedy with Honda USA, the Better Business Bureau, and the Massachusetts Attorney General's Office, among others. We are not giving up; though in a tersely worded response to our BBB complaint (not to us), Cambridge Honda finally came out and said they were absolutely NOT going to give us back the $500.00 they took from us; and for which we received ZERO services and ZERO products.
We will never go back. And going forward we will work tirelessly to inform everyone we know and everyone they know that Cambridge Honda was neither honest, professional, nor smart with us (they have just sacrificed four or five thousand dollars in service revenue for five hundred dollars; how can that make good business sense?). Cambridge Honda owes us, and everyone they've done this to a refund, an apology, and assurances that they will take steps to prevent such abuse to their future customers.
As it stands, their widely reported bad business practices have not only tarnished their own reputations, but threaten to tarnish the reputation of Honda Motor Corporation. Cambridge Honda, have you no shame?

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Reason for Visit: Sales (New)

I recommend this dealer: No

My Review of Cambridge Honda:
We bought a used '99 CRV in November 2006 at Fresh Pond Honda. The cheap "new" tires they put on didn't last 20, 000 miles. Had a flat a few months later and went to the trunk - NO JACK! Is that even legal to sell a car without a jack? With regards to service we had a wicked rattle less than a year after we bought it and so I came in and they wanted $100 just to look at it. A friend later checked it out, saw it was a loose heat shield and fixed it with a clip for $5! Avoid them like the plague!

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Reason for Visit: Sales (New)

I recommend this dealer: No

My Review of Cambridge Honda:
Visited sales department to look at possibly buying a 2009 Honda Insight. Worked with Cathy, who was friendly and helpful at first. No help on price or loan options. Once we chose a color and options, she promised to have our preferred car available to look at after taking a $500.00 deposit, which she wouldn't run through until we confirmed our financing with our credit union was solid. We showed up the next day to see the car, but it wasn't there and neither was she. After we left we learned she'd charged our credit card $500.00. Called the next day and she said she'd refund the deposit, but she didn't. Called again a few days later, and she directed me to Paul, her sales manager, who was the only person authorized to return deposits. He proved unavailable, but we spoke with a Matthew who, after hearing we'd changed our minds due to financing, began taunting us with lower offers "how about we match the 3.9% of your credit union?" "How about zero percent?" When I said thanks but no, he told me he'd let Paul know and they'd get back to me. Paul will not return my calls and will not return my deposit. No products or services were provided in exchange for our $500.00, so we're pretty upset.

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Reason for Visit: Sales (Used)

I recommend this dealer: No

My Review of Cambridge Honda:
Very deceptive sales tactics, claiming a warranty would continue for a maintained used car, and then saying they never told me that. Not treated with any respect, just bad customer service. They never had any intention of negotiating in good faith, their tactic was to try and sell an over priced car.

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Reason for Visit: Sales (Used)

I recommend this dealer: No

My Review of Cambridge Honda:
Never again! Never buy a car when it's cold out and you have no means of transportation, then you don't focus on your judgment.

Was ripped off ten times over, so frustrating I can't even see straight. Went in wanting a Honda, walked out with a Chevy because the salesman LIED. He stated that if I was unhappy with the car, I could come back and return it for a different one, so 3 weeks later I was unhappy with the car, but the salesman and the owner (Andrew Belizzia) didn't own up to the promises that they made.

The car's transmission was off, and the service manager even admitted it, but then re-tracted when he noticed what he admitted to. I only wish that I filed my complaint with the Better Business Bureau and the Attorney General while the car was still under warranty, unfortunately with school and motherhood, things got tied up, and two months goes by pretty fast. Nonetheless, the owner and the finance Manager, Matt, prolonged the issues I was having from the start, and they were doing it on purpose because they knew that the car was under warranty. I still filed my BBB complaint, and took it a step further, I filed a statement with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC). There's nothing I can do right now except find the car I want from another dealer, and regardless of what happened, I'm still out $5,000, which is negative equity that needs to be rolled into whatever new car I get. Cambridge Honda Chevy sold me a car for 4x the amount, and yes, this was my first time buying a car on my own, and I fault myself, but as the old saying goes, you learn from your mistakes, but I also truly believe that one also learns from the people who rip them off, too. I am now such a picky car shopper that when I went in to two different dealerships, I don't budge - I tell them what I want, and if they can't match it, I walk out, and it's all because I was ripped off by Cambridge Chevy Honda. Like I said in the beginning of this message, "Never Again."
If I can urge people who are shopping around for the very first time, DO YOUR HOMEWORK. Research the car, find out the top 3 cars that you want, and FINANCE through the bank first before you go car shopping. Matt financed me for an extra 2% when I didn't realize what was happening, and again, I signed the paperwork, so that's my own fault, but I think it's sad that businesses still do these types of sales tactics, and then lie about customers being #1. Once my car is sold off, and the bank clears the car that I got from this delearship, the nightmare will be behind me. I'm actually selling the car because I don't want to advertise them on the back of my rear, and again, Kurt liiiiiiiiiiiiied through his teeth. The moment I came back wanting another car, I got the shuffle and run-around treatment - pathetic. DO YOUR WORK, and don't budge. Whenever a salesman tells you something about the car, tell them that you need to research that and think things through. Tell them that buying a car under pressure or impulsively is not responsible because people don't do that with houses. Every time I leave a delearship, I tell them that I need to sleep on the decision before I make it because then I'll know the next day if it will work for me. And trust me, with all of the past dealerships I've visited so far, I always found something that didn't quite sit well, and it gave me time to talk with people I know and compare prices with other dealers. Good luck people, and don't get scammed by these people!

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