Honda of Clear Lake

Reason for Visit: Sales (New)

I recommend this dealer: Yes

My Review of Honda of Clear Lake:
I bought two vehicle in past two months. Excellent people. I had couple issues but got resolved nicely. I bought one Honda CRV 2009 then a honda civic 2009. Manager Johnson, Hasan, Rubin's service was excellent. Every time I been there found to have them very helpful.

Ijaz Ahmed

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Reason for Visit: Sales (New)

I recommend this dealer: No

My Review of Honda of Clear Lake:
Just relating a pretty bad experience. Tried to take advantage of cash-for-clunkers and was told "TxDOT told us to shut it down early." Not sure what TxDOT, a state highway maintenance agency, has to do with the federal cash-for-clunkers program. These guys employ all the nasty tactics we've come to dread: good salesman - bad sales manager, adding lots of fees that completely undermine the agreed upon price, wear-down tactics, etc. I thought most of these tactics had died years ago, but they are alive and well at this dealership. Plus they lie. When I called them on it, the sales manager just threw out his hands and said so long. So long indeed, my friend. We drove down to Sand Dollar Honda in Galveston and had a great experience -- no hassles and they honored the cash-for-clunkers trade-in. I would not recommend Honda of Clear Lake to anyone.

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Reason for Visit: Service

I recommend this dealer: No

My Review of Honda of Clear Lake:
This review is for the Service Department at Honda of Clear Lake.

How to make $1125 an hour (legally but not ethically)

I took my 2005 Accord to Honda of Clear Lake after the check engine light came on. I usually do not take my vehicles to the dealership for non-warranty work, but because most check engine lights are caused by a malfunction in the emission control system I thought the repair might be covered under Honda's emission control extended warranty (Honda warranties MOST emission control components for 70,000 miles). The service rep told me it would cost $96 for them to diagnose the problem and tell me what was needed. Fifteen minutes after I handed the guy my keys he came and told me that an oxygen sensor had failed, and the repair was not covered by warranty. Before I tell you how much he quoted to do the repair, let me tell you what happened after I turned him down.

I purchased the oxygen sensor from the parts counter at the Honda dealership for $68. For those of you who are unfamiliar with cars, the oxygen sensor screws into the exhaust system and looks sort of like a spark plug with a long wire coming out the top end. The wire has a male connector that plugs into a female receptacle on the car. To replace the sensor I had to disconnect the battery, jack up the car, disconnect the sensor plug, unscrew the old sensor, screw in the new sensor, reconnect the plug, lower the car, and reconnect the battery. This took exactly 12 minutes.

Honda of Clear Lake quoted me $293 to do this repair. This would not have included the $96 fee for the 15 minutes of diagnostic work I had already approved. So I ended up saving $225 for a 12 minute repair. This comes out to $1125 an hour! Not a bad wage for a Wall Street lawyer, much less a Honda mechanic. When I confronted the service rep about this he said they go by a book that tells them how many hours they should charge for a particular repair. According to the book, this was a two hour job.

Moral of the story – NEVER EVER go to this dealership for non-warranty work, unless you like paying 3-5 times what a job is worth because of their grossly over-inflated labor charges. It is a little known fact that new car dealerships make 80-90 percent of their profit from repairs, and with business practices like I’ve described above, it’s easy to see why.

I wish I could give Honda of Clear Lake ZERO stars.

There are a few honest and reliable shops out there, but they are few and far between. I can recommend two without hesitation. Stuehrk Automotive, located next to Chabuca's in Webster, and Benson's on Highway 3 in Webster.

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Reason for Visit: Sales (Used)

I recommend this dealer: No

My Review of Honda of Clear Lake:
THIS PLACE IS A SCAM. i RECIEVED A PRE-APPROVED LETTER AND DROVE FROM THE WOODLANDS TO THERE. NOT ONLY ARE THE SALES PEOPLE RUDE THEY ARE PROFESSIONAL LIARS. I AM IN SALES MYSELF AND WOULD NEVER TREAT A DOG THE WAY I WAS TREATED. THE PER-APPROVED LETTER WAS AS WORTHLESS AS THE PAPER I PRINTED IT ON. THIS DEALERSHIP NEEDS TO BE CLOSED DOWN. I WOULD NOT EVEN REFER THIS PLACE TO MY WORST ENEMY. STAY AWAY FROM THIS PLACE AT ALL COST.

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Reason for Visit: Sales (Used)

I recommend this dealer: Yes

My Review of Honda of Clear Lake:
MY WIFE AND I WENT TO PURCHASE A PRE OWNED HONDA ACCORD. HONDA OF CLEARLAKE HAD A VERY GOOD SELECTION OF PRE OWNED HONDAS. THE SALES MGRS AND THE SALES PERSON BILLY BELL VERY CORDIAL AND HELPFUL. I WOULD RECOMMEND THIS DEALERSHIP TO MY FREINDS AND FAMILY.

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Reason for Visit: Sales (Used)

I recommend this dealer: No

My Review of Honda of Clear Lake:
My first intention was to put in a request into Ellington Field
to have your company put off-limits for service members in the Houston
and surrounding areas. But, I have decided to give your employee an
opportunity to apologize for his lack of professionalism first. I should
get no less than a formal apology from your employee. This is the worst,
I have ever been disrespected in my life. I do not know what kind of
customers Mr. Frank Kelske has dealt with in the past. But, I am not any
customer that is going to tolerate such immaturity issues and such foul
language toward customers when a sale goes wrong. If, he can do it to
me. He is capable of doing this to any customer that comes into your
business. He is lucky, I am a Christian man and that I am turning the
other cheek. I have served this country proudly in the United States
Army for 21 years protecting our people and this great nation. I have to
much going for myself and will not lower my standards to such a person.


Your employee Frank Kelske on a phone conversation.
Mr. Kelske called me a faggot and told me that my brother-in-law bitched
up on his sale. He did entirely to much work in helping us. And, we do
not need to come back to his dealership. His aggrevation came from me
requesting my $100 back on the initial insurance payment. Which we did
not receive a receipt showing the deposit. Only a paper stating the car
was insured to go off your lot.

I was at your used car department on the 30th helping my
brother-in-law on purchasing a used vehicle.
Supposedly,we had a pre-approval and did not need a co-signature
prior to coming there. We picked out a car and Mr. Kelske did not
even let us drive the vehicle. Orignially, Mr. Kelske stated; he was at
a 18% interest by himself. He would get a lower interest rate if he
added his mother onto the loan. This information was incorrect. Once in
the finance office, the interest rate was showing 22%. Your finance
officer realized their was going to be a problem. Your finance officer
noticed that we were being mislead prior to coming into his office.
When, I asked them to step out for a minute. So, I can discuss the
situation and the sale with my brother in law. I needed to call his mother and
address the high interest rate and if she wanted to continue with the
loan. My mother-in-law was skeptical and did not want to sign the
papers. Mr. Kelske was persistent on pushing the sale to a close. Not
knowing what the final disposition would be with his mother.
Later that day my mother-in-law called the used car sales manager Dario.
Dario stated; "no problem bring the car back in to our business." I
talked with Dario yesterday prior to talking with Mr. Kelske on the
phone. Dario did not see a problem with me getting the $100 back from
Mr. Kelske for the insurance.

Mr. Kelske was determined on keeping my insurance money. And, I
am assuming the way it looks pocketing the money for his own benefit.
Why else would he be so aggressive on keeping the money that was
supposed to go toward his car insurance.

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Reason for Visit: Sales (New)

I recommend this dealer: No

My Review of Honda of Clear Lake:
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Reason for Visit: Sales (New)

I recommend this dealer: Yes

My Review of Honda of Clear Lake:
I went in to buy a new 2009 Honda accord at 9am last monday and i was out of there by 11am with no problems the people there are great and very helpful and knowledgeable.
they knew what i wanted and didnt give me the run around.

once again thanks to Honda of Clear Lake!

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Reason for Visit: Sales (Used)

I recommend this dealer: No

My Review of Honda of Clear Lake:
I have never had such a horrible car buying experience in my life. After being completely humiliated by the first salesman I talked to (Jerry), I asked for another one. Jerry actually said to me, beggars cannot be choosers. I know my credit issues but that was not necessary. It was rude and demeaning. I had to voluntarily surrender my house a few years ago. He had no idea why that happened or what I have been through. Anyway, I bought a used 2009 vehicle on March 12, 2009 -or so I thought. The finance guy (Ahmad) said it was mine. He lied to my face several times when I asked him if the deal was done. He said yes that he was just trying to get me a better finance rate. That was a lie! I signed all the paper work, they told me the interest rate and when my payments were due. I drove it for 9 days thinking it was mine. I even had the windows tinted. I got a phone call from the sales manager Tuan Le saying they needed to see me in person because the deal was never done. They gave me some excuse about a customer interview but that was a lie too. The deal was never done so I had to return the car. Also, the second salesman (Gerald) said the vehicle had a 100,000 mile warranty on it. That was not true either. It only had a 36,000 mile bumper to bumper warranty. It did have 100,000 miles on the power train. He neglected to accurately break it down. They strung me along until last night March 31st. All the sudden they wanted a $2000.00 down payment. When we worked out the initial deal there was never a mention of a down payment. They are liars and will scam you so be careful. I will not be in this credit situation forever and I will NEVER step foot in that dealership again. I even wrote letters to the General Manager and the Managing Partner and never heard from them, not even an apology for their rude salesman. Avoid this place!

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Reason for Visit: Sales (New)

I recommend this dealer: No

My Review of Honda of Clear Lake:
THIS PLACE WAS A SCAM!!!!PLEASE GO TO ANY CAR DEALER OTHER THAN THIS ONE!!!!THEY ARE TRYING TO SELL FLOOD CARS FROM THE HURRICANE!!THE OWNER WHO IS TOM IS A SCAMMER!!!!HE WILL GO TO JAIL ABOUT THIS SOON!!!HE IS A MAN WHO DOES NOT CARE ABOUT RIPING PEOPLE OFF EVEN THREE EMPLOYES THERE TOLD US THE SAME THING THAT HE DOES NOT CARE LONG AS WE ARE SELLING CARS!!!

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