Can You Top This?

Put a new battery in my '99 Honda Accord.
Went to use the radio, and it was shut down hard.
Called Ed Voyles Honda in Atlanta for assistance and was
quoted $100 to reset the radio. Thought he was joking,
maybe April 1st? Nope, service manager confirmed
price.

Called local mom & pop mechanic. Instructed me over
the phone.

Cost to me $0.

 

Do you have a business relationship with Ed Voyles Honda, or was this
your first time calling them?

Did you have an existing relationship with mom & pop shop, or was this
the first time you called them?

The answers to these questions are VERY important in evaluating what
you're saying.

Remember, the Honda dealership is an independent business, just like the
local mom & pop shop. If you're a good customer, they'll take care of
you--just like the local mom & pop shop.

Of course, maybe they won't. That's their business. It in no way
reflects on any OTHER independent Honda repair facility.

Or was this your way of simply getting your story out to make the
dealership look bad?

 

Next time you have to disconnect your battery, get yourself a memory saver
like one of these http://tinyurl.com/yp8lmp or one of these
http://tinyurl.com/yo3buy. They will provide just enough current to keep
the IC chips in your radio and other devices alive. Just don't turn any
accessories on including the dome light (so either don't open the door or
turn it off). That will quickly overwhelm the small amount of current they
provide and you'll wind up losing the memory anyways.

Eric

 

Ed Voyles in Atlanta is actually a pretty considerate dealership. They have
free single-use size tubes of KY Jelly in a little basket siting on the
customer's side of service writer's desk-- and another basket on the ledge
in front of the cashier's window when you'll need it again.

 

Of course, since they're "Blue Point", you can find them for less somewhere
else, e.g., http://tinyurl.com/yppwd6

Eric

 

Thanks, looks like a helpful little device that I can use often.

 

I made one with a 9V battery, some leads, and two alligator clips.

 

It is in the owners manual. Get it out and read it.

 

The problem with the commercial products is that every power outlet I
have ever seen or know of on a Honda are switched. Turn off the
ignition, and there goes your memory. Attaching leads directly to the
battery cables makes a lot of sense.


Elliot Richmond
Itinerant astronomy teacher
Freelance science writer

 

Yes, logic would dictate that, and that is something I preach too.
When all else fails, consult the instruction book (owner's manual).
However, the 1999 Accord manual offered no helpful info.
The next owner should have it a little easier though. I typed up
detailed instructions and attached them inside my owner's manual
for the next guy.

 

Jeez louise can we clone you, Tony Vigliotti?

Thank you for being, I bet, a heckuva all around citizen.
Though maybe you want to give those good folks at the local
mom 'n pop shop a little of your business in the future, no?
Ah, you probably already wrote down to do this.

 

BWAHAHAHAHA!!! Some of the people that have recently bought up the Toyota
dealerships in my area could take this advice!