Shadyside Honda

I bought a new Honda from Derek Ebbitt over at Shadyside Honda in Pittsburgh. Overall experience was great and I really appreciated how friendly, nice, informed, and not invasive he was throughout the process. I would recommend this dealership and this sales person to anyone in the market. Very pleased with my new ride and how it all came together.

A great deal for our honda civic during the new year. Thanks for the patience to update the price again and again.
The place is kid-​friendly. It has a ping-​pong table and some lego!

Had to come in for a recall on my car. I know people skills aren’t top priority as a serviceman, but these guys were pretty rude at first. Walking into their shop felt like entering a war zone. I found out they were annoyed because of the amount of repairs they needed to do. Sure, that stinks. But it’s not fair to take it out on customers
EDIT: The weird thing is, they were pretty nice when I left. I can’t decide if it’s because they saw my Unilocal review (which I recklessly posted while waiting for my car) or they did something sketchy to my car…

**Note: This review is for mandatory recall service paid by Honda. I cannot comment on pricing/​value.**
I’m someone who NEVER takes cars to dealer service centers. The conflict of interest is too salient. Plus, I love my local mechanic.
However, I was seriously impressed by Shadyside Honda, and I might give them some new business on the future.
What do I hate most about car service? Waiting for my car! Auto service waiting rooms are the worst!!! (Most waiting rooms suck.) The super loud TVs tuned to stupid daytime shows, the uncomfortable seats, the lack of tables, etc. Plus they’re often grimy and smell like oil and tires.
Shadyside Honda’s waiting area is the opposite! Well, actually, they do have a «traditional» waiting room complete with annoying TV and tire smell, BUT, they also gave an office room! With desks and office chairs and free wifi and no annoying TV! It was more comfortable than Starbucks! I got so much work done! I’m going to look into oil changes, wheel balances, and inspections here. It’s just so easy to wait.
And there’s more!
The service was friendly and fast! They estimated 60 – 90 minutes, but I was out of there in under 30!
My only criticism was the drive-​away. There’s a seriously scary drop-​off to the pavement as you leave the garage. Even if you drive 1
mph (I did!), your car bottoms out. It’s almost as if they want you to harm your car so you’ll need more repairs. I feel like they should fix that.

The service department is completely incompetent. I had made an appointment for my car weeks in advance. I then called them to confirm one business day before because I hadn’t received a confirmation call. The female employee I spoke with was rude and accusatory. Not only did she claim to have no record of my appointment, but she also indicated that she couldn’t help me further without knowing who I’d spoken with to make it – as if it was my fault I didn’t recall all the details of a conversation nearly 3 weeks prior. I just wrote down the day and time, lady! The rest is your job.
The employee then called back to tell me they’d managed to find the appointment. She offered no apology, just the same snarky and unprofessional tone. Luckily, I had already made plans to go elsewhere. Shadyside Honda, you suck. I’d rather drive well out of my way to get my car serviced than put up with your bullshit. I certainly won’t be back and suggest others who value their time go elsewhere too.

This Honda dealer is really bad. I drop off my car for airbag replacement at 9 o’clock. By 5 30 nobody called me about my car. I have to call few times, and still nobody knows wether my car is ready or not. The car has been sitting in that garage for the whole day. I am disappointed that the job that should have taken 10 minutes took whole day of my time.

Trust is a terrible thing to lose.
The situation in which I currently am stuck has left me looking for a new place to take my Hondas for service. I guess I won’t be buying my next car there, either.
Once this has been resolved and my car is intact, in good operating condition and back in my possession, I will post more. Hopefully, I will be able to change the star rating as well. Right now, things are not looking so good for my car or for my once beloved Shadyside Honda Service Department.

I recommend service manager Mike. He was upfront and honest about what I needed and pricing. He saved me some money. Thank you, Mike. I will definitely go back.

In a nutshell, Shadyside Honda Service will try to pressure you into «replacing» a $ 1000 part for your car that your car does not even have or need.
The first few times I went here for minor maintenance on my 2006 Honda Civic, I had no issues. Everyone was polite and Mike, one of the service advisors, even went out of his way to help me (without charging me) to put the wiper blades on my wipers after I had bought them from the parts department. However, I recently went in for an oil change and I will now never go back.
When I checked my car in for the oil change I mentioned that my maintenance minder showed the number «4» — which according to the manual requires the spark plugs to be replaced and the valve clearances to be inspected. Mike, whom again helped me that day, informed me that the «4» also meant that I had to replace my timing belt. I told him that I don’t remember that being listed in the manual and he insisted that I was wrong and I most definitely needed it replaced. I agreed for him to give me a quote. When I got my car a little bit later, he gave me a $ 1000 quote to replace my timing belt. He then laid into me about how important it is to get it changed since my car has just over 100,000 miles on it and the belt could snap at any moment and ruin the engine. A mechanic whom had worked on my car that day also came over and joined the conversation, echoing Mike’s concerns that I need to get it replaced as soon as possible.
Earlier today I decided to check the manual again and nowhere does it say anything about needing to replace the timing belt at 100,000 miles. I start to do some research online and find out that my car does not even have a timing belt, it has a timing chain (which only needs to be replaced around 150,000 miles, if at all). I contact my Dad, whom has driven Hondas for the past 40 years, to make sure that I am not missing something here, and after doing some of his own research, he comes to the same conclusion.
I will never return to this dishonest business.

I had a great car buying experience here. My sales person was professional, easy going, and honest. He and this dealership did exactly what they said they would do.
Beyond our sales person, the staff treated my kids very well, while they waited.
The only think holding them back from 5-​stars is the physical setting. They are land-​locked, so their parking/​new vehicle lot is cramped. It’s tough to navigate. And there is sometimes no customer parking, which is really tough.

They tried to screw us out of $ 1500 to address a steering wheel vibration. They flat out LIED and told us that 2 out of 3 engine mounts were completely broken and the car would pass inspection at this point. I took the car to my usual place and the mechanic out the car up and showed me personally all 4(!) engine mounts and the fact that they are in perfectly good condition. Same for the other 2 things they tried to convince us we needed to have them fix. They are scammers, don’t go there!

Complete rip off! They wanted to charge me $ 1,700 in repairs for my car to pass state inspection. They told me certain things like my engine mount needed to be replaced even when it didn’t. I took my car to a different shop and they did EVERYTHING it needed to pass inspection for $ 400. Don’t waste your money at Honda Shadyside!

The management here is terrible. The staff is competent enough, but scheduling is a hassle (I brought my car in to get checked out and the kept not giving me definitive times I could pick it up). One time when I went they were understaffed and I saw the manager (who has a temper) shouting at an employee on the floor. No thanks.

Three repairs, two really bad experiences.
First experience: they tried to refuse my Honda service plan that’s honored at all Honda dealerships. Also I was in for an oil change and a new set of tires. Despite knowing the make, model, and year of my car when I made the appointment, they didn’t have tires for me. They called my up in the middle of the day to let me know (after I dropped off my car at 8 am). Luckily they were able to get them eventually but it took all day.
Second experience: my fiancé got an oil change (she doesn’t have a service plan). Nothing good, nothing bad. Just an oil change.
Third experience: again we took my fiancé’s car in, but this time for a window that had come off the track (she has a very old Civic, that’s on it’s last legs). Took it in. They needed to order a part. We go home. We wait days. Nothing. We call, they got the part days back, but didn’t call. We take it in at 8 am. They don’t call. My fiancé calls at three thirty. Spends thirty minutes on the phone getting transferred. It’s been done for hours. They just didn’t bother to call.
I consider myself a patient man. I’ll go back to any place that messes up once. But two HUGE strikes and you’re out. I’ll drive to the suburbs from now on to get my Hondas worked on.

I used this dealership to buy my Honda Civic Hybrid that I had been leasing (attained the lease from another dealership). The sale was fairly smooth and straightforward because I was buying according to the end terms of the lease. But they still got me! I was talked into buying a service contract. It made sense, at the time, given the uncertainty of the life of the Hybrid battery. The documentation that they gave me did not include the list they showed me in the office which went over all of the features that were supposed to be covered, so I ended up quite confused later when I thought oil changes were covered but the service department didn’t seem to know anything about it… So I never used it, at all. I did receive a contract that guaranteed a refund for the cost of the service plan if none of the benefits were used (with lots of fine print). Down the road, I decided that I wanted to pay the car off early and pulled out the contract to see if this action would affect my refund. It was not clear to me, so I called the number for the company responsible for the contract — Signet Financial Group — and the number was disconnected. I tried calling the Shadyside Honda salesman who sold it to me, but he was no longer working with the company, so I asked for the financial manager. He was not in, so I left a message with the receptionist. He also wasn’t there or wasn’t available the next few times I called and none of my calls were returned. I was so angry about the Signet fraud and the lack of response from the dealer, I was afraid to go there in person to find this elusive manager (I would have been all tears). I ended up just going ahead and paying off the car early which I am pretty sure voided my eligibility for the $ 1540 that was to be owed to me by a company that no longer exists.
If you bought a service contract from this or any dealer before March 2011 that has Signet on the contract, you may wish to seek legal help. Here are a couple of resources I found:
and
*Self review: dumb for buying into this shit, too passive and easily defeated.

Geez – what’s with all the bad reviews? I’ve been going here since moving to Pittsburgh four years ago. Service has always been good, I’ve been able to get my car in for an appointment when I needed one, and everyone has been extremely friendly. I’ve never had any unreasonable charges here (I have had that experience at other locales) so I have a lot of confidence in them. Franco was my service rep today – he was great.

I bought my Civic SI back in October. I worked with Stan and had a great experience. I didn’t find him to be pushy and I was able to take my time. He was very helpful with financing and found me additional money off. I have not been back to have my car serviced so I can’t speak to that. It is a small lot so I did have to wait for them to find my car in the color I wanted but that wasn’t a problem. I definitely recommend working with Stan and Honda. It was great!

Another crappy Rohrich dealership.
I don’t know what it is about Honda dealers in Pittsburgh. Is it that you think some people don’t have the money or good/​excellent credit to make a purchase? Both of which I have by the way. I just don’t know. The last Honda dealership I went to (Valley Honda) in Monroeville completely ignored us while we were on the lot on a nice day with hardly any other customers.
This time I went to Shadyside Honda in the evening hours before they closed to look at a preowned Lexus SUV that they have had on their lot for months. Mind you I pulled up in a SUV that cost double the price of the one that they were selling so they should have known that I wasn’t there to play any games.
The salesmen inside watched me as I parked and got out. A couple even came out to move some vehicles to their storage lot down the street. Not one person asked if I needed any help. I walked the lot until I found the SUV I had came to see. It was in the last row in the back of the lot. It was very nice and look spotless.
So I walked inside the dealership and right by the hostess who couldn’t be bothered. I made eye contact with at least three salesman who said absolutely nothing to me. I looked at about six cars waiting for someone to finally acknowledge my presence but, that never happened. About ten minutes later I finally just ask a salesmen about the vehicle I was interested in and he says, «Oh, that’s sold. The buyer is picking it up on Saturday.» I can’t believe the buyer actually got enough service to buy the SUV.
So as I go to leave a salesmen finally asked me if I had been helped and if I needed something. I told him no and no thanks and walked out. It’s funny that all of the sudden salesmen want to help me when I go to leave.
This is the second Honda dealership I will never set foot on any. Scratch that I will never set foot on any Honda dealership again! I don’t care what vehicle they are selling!

This is one of those ‘I wish there was a 0 star rating’ reviews. Yup.
I was having car trouble with my ’07 Honda Fit back in July and I called to see if I could have it towed there by AAA so they could have a look at it and hopefully fix it. I called and the rude woman so many other people have mentioned answered the phone. She quickly transferred me to the service department, where the phone rang, and rang, and rang, and rang, and rang. And then I was hung up on after 10 minutes or so. So I called back and explained that I was just trying to reach the service department and I was hung up on, and this woman exploded at me that IT WASN’T HER FAULT AND SHE CAN’T CONTROL THE PHONE. Seriously?
I don’t know how anyone ever gets an appointment here for service. We did once and I have no idea how we managed it. The customer service is horrendous, the grump that answers the phone needs to calm down, and I’m never coming back here again. Not that they would ever answer the phone to allow me to do so, but I can certainly find better. The car wash with oil change is so not worth the frustration.
And to the reviewer who lamented that maybe people are holding this Honda dealer to BMW standards, to that I say, shut up! Being rude, hanging up on customers and making it virtually impossible to get service for your car are definitely not high standards. I’m really glad I didn’t buy my car from this crappy place!

I gave this place three chances over the years and each time I was disappointed so I am officially DONE! The latest event: had a slow leak in a tire, called and was told to come on in. I explained that there was no visible reason for the leak so it needed to be removed from the rim and further examined. I arrived and was treated rudely by a man who acted as if I was putting him out by being there and asked «who told you you could just come in»? A mere 15 minutes later he came into the GROSS lobby and told me nothing was wrong with the tire, it was fine. I knew that was false but wanted to get my five year old and myself out of there! So I went to TOWER TIRE in Aspinwall and they rock and did the right thing, finding the pin hole and fixing it for $ 10.70!
Three chances is enough for me! For decent service for a Honda try Valley Honda in Monreoville.