I Heart Mel Rapton Honda

Tuesday, April 10, 2007

The best kind advertising is word-of-mouth. Therefore, I would like to submit this little rave about Mel Rapton Honda on Fulton at Marconi...

I've been taking my 1997 Acura 3.0 CL to Mel Rapton Honda (MRH) for near on eight years for many reasons, not least of which includes their exceptional customer service and complete and total lack of sexism (take note Acura dealership which will not be named, but is located on Madison at I-80). They have always treated me with respect, kindness, and intelligence. I'm a question kind of person and expect proper answers when I ask them.

My first experience with them was prior to the purchase of my aforementioned Acura CL. My husband and I went to MRH to check out used cars and get a feel for what I really wanted. The sales people were all very nice and when they asked for whom the car would be - and found it was me - it was as if Michael became invisible. One of the guysman strolled around the lot with me, never asked when I was planning to purchase, or even what my price range was. He just showed me what they had and was kind and gentlemanly. What a concept. And, although I ended up buying from a private party, I remembered this great exchange.

Fast forward eight years... I've been diligent about having my car serviced when necessary and have always taken it to MRH for maintenance history and service. Recently I dropped it off for a major service (120,000 miles) which, as you may know, requires them to empty everything, take it apart, give it a good shake, put it back together, fill it up, wash it and give it back... ok, I exaggerate, but you get the idea. Anyway, I was prepared for a large bill - I also had to have new front brakes - and paid it happily, confident that they did a great job. Which they did, however...

Driving it home, I noticed the power steering felt off. It was overly easy to turn right and extremely difficut to turn left. I called MRH and explained the problem, to which they told me to bring it back in (which I did a couple days later due to scheduling). After a day in their shop they were at a loss... why would the car drive fine on the way in to service, but not on the way out? So, they gave me a complimentary loaner (a cute, black 2005 Civic EX*) and sent me on my way until they could figure it out. Time went by and they were in constant communication, explaining each step they had taken to investigate the cause and resolution. At one point they thought it was the power steering valve that had given up the ghost, but after ordering and replacing, it did not solve the problem.

Long story short, the rack and pinion system had been busted somehow during the front brake replacement. Mike L. in the MRH Service Dept played Sherlock Holmes and even interviewed all the techs who touched my car. They had to get the part from Acura (as, of course, they don't exactly stock them) and rebuilt the whole thing. He also explained to me, in detail and diagram, what happened and how they fixed it.

One week from the day I dropped it off, I was able to pick it up. MRH charged me nothing... not even for the loaner that I put 500 miles on. Mike said both he and the manager agreed that, although the rack and pinion system is a "wear and tear" item, the ultimate cause of the failure occurred sometime during service and they were happy to foot the bill (which would have set me back over $1000), especially since I've been coming to them exclusively for almost a decade.

The moral of this story is not that dealerships make mistakes - for they, too, are human. Rather, it is that Mel Rapton Honda is the best, most reliable, responsible, customer-focused, awesome dealer in the state**. I cannot say enough good things about them and hope that the handfull of people who read this entry will tell their friends, who will tell their friends, etc. etc. etc..

Soon I will be replacing my Acura. I considered another make of car, but kept thinking about how I wouldn't be able to take it to MRH and that truly disappointed me. So, probably within the next 4-8 months, I'll be getting a 2008 CR-V. And I'll be buying it, fully loaded, from Mel Rapton Honda.

*Damn the cloth seats, though! I got a wedgy every time I'd get in! Never without leather! Never!
**actually, MRH IS the #1 dealer in the state... some dealer in LA is #2. I even heard from a reliable auto-industry source that all the other Honda dealerships in the state show Mel Rapton Honda's training video to their new hires.