Dealer Deleted/Formatted Dashcam Footage

[Bad Penny]

Last week I took my vehicle to a different dealership for a service. Today I removed the my dashcam memory card to look at an incident that happened yesterday and have discovered the dashcam footage only starts after all the work was carried out at the dealership. All the footage from the beginning of the month, including the journey to the dealership for the service has been wiped. I format this memory card at the beginning of each month to try and prevent 'glitches' and errors from happening, and for the last 15 years or so of having a dashcam installed on my vehicles I have never experienced an issue where the dashcam automatically formatted the memory card.

Over the same 15 year period I have occasionally been asked to either remove or switch off the dash cam, which I have complied with, but never had someone actually format it.

Anyone one else experienced this?

[Colin Lambert]

That is disgraceful action by the dealer. They have no right to interfere with your dashcam. You may have needed a clip for insurance purposes.
I wonder what they were hiding while the car was with them.
i would complain to the dealer principal in the strongest possible terms.
I always leave my dashcam 'live' when having the service done and have never had mine wiped.

[Bad Penny]

I have been asked in the past to disconnect my dash cam when I took a previous vehicle into a particular dealer. This was after they damaged my vehicle whilst washing it, despite putting signs up telling them not to. They initially denied washing the vehicle until I showed them the dash cam footage of them......washing it.

Never went back to them after that.

En route to the dealer I was possibly involved in an attempted Crash for Cash scenario; overtaken by a vehicle travelling at high speed, before it cut in front of me and slammed the brakes on hard, forcing me to do the same, before I put the foot down to get away from them.

i wanted to have a look at that footage to see if it actually was a C4C scenario, a poorly judged manoeuvre, or possible road rage, and if I had done anything to contribute to it.

At least the tracking device I have installed indicates i had to apply the brakes with some force before accelerating at speed to get away from the other vehicle.

Letter of Complaints being compiled later today.

[Colin Lambert]

As I intimated in my first comment, I smell a dead rodent with your dealer! You have proved the possibility with your previous comment.
Have a good look round the car for any damage and check contents of glove box and door bins!
If no joy with dealer I would...
A. change dealer and name and shame here to protect others and
B. complain to Honda U.K.
Please let us know the outcome.
Good luck.

[Bad Penny]

Decided not to pursue it.

At best I'll get an apology, or more likely they'll just deny it. Honda UK will say their usual, 'take it up with the dealer', and the Motoring Ombudsman is next to useless.


End result is Honda has now joined Skoda on my list of manufacturers I won't buy from.

[Colin Lambert]

You & me both, but include for me ANY VAG product!

[Ron1452]

Hi Bad Penny,

I've been running Hondas for 20+ years and in all that time never had my dash cams tampered with (front and back).

Initially Hyndland Honda Glasgow (HHG), then Phoenix Honda Glasgow (when they bought over HHG). Finally Park's Honda Hamilton, followed dealer principal and sales executive when Phoenix went bust.

Recently my present Honda ZRV went in to have a door larch replaced, my dash cams showed the technicians walking about the workshop and the work was done quickly but they did not call to tell me the car was ready for collection until a couple of hours after the work had been completed. All shown by the dash cams.

Personally instead of black balling Honda I would move to another dealership and only if this issue happened again black ball Honda, after all there are excellent, good and bad dealerships e.g. I'm not fond of Arnold Clark.

[Bad Penny]

The dealership that deleted my dashcam footage was my third attempt at finding a decent, honest and customer service focused Honda dealer and, unfortunately, they were just as incompetent and bad as the other two - one of which you have mentioned, which in my opinion is the worst offender of them all.

Why in this day and age do dealerships insist you have to drop a vehicle off at 0800, when they know they are not going to get to your vehicle until the middle of the afternoon, then give you the bare minimum amount of time to collect your vehicle before they close? I have a tracker installed in my vehicle, so I know exactly when my vehicle is moved. The latest dealership insisted I could not arrive later than 1000, otherwise they would not be able to service my vehicle. My tracker indicated my vehicle did not move from its parking bay until around 1415.

None of the three dealerships offered a courtesy vehicle, or to drop me off near a train station, or to drive me to my home, which they all advertise as doing as standard. When I actually insisted that they drive me home, they informed me the only vehicle they had available was my own and this would delay them being able to service my vehicle, and it may not get done to the next day. I ended up walking to the train station.

I also used Phoenix Honda, and they were a joy. You were given an actual time slot for your service, and your vehicle was normally returned to you within the allotted time. They were one of the main reasons that I purchased a Honda. If I had known they were defunct, I would have looked elsewhere, which is what I will be doing when it comes to replace my current vehicle, whenever that is.

Which is a pity as my wife and I really like our little HR-V, which is probably the best car I have ever owned.

[Ron1452]

Sorry to hear about the problems you've had with the dealerships. Would I be wrong in assuming you live in the Glasgow area? I live in Rutherglen.

The reason I used Hyndland/Phoenix Honda (Dumbarton Road, Glasgow) is I worked for University of Glasgow. When I dropped my car off for service/repair they would they would drop me off at the university and either pick me or drop off my car at the university. I was retired by the time I moved to Park's I would either wait for the car (because I had the time) or I would mainly be given a demonstrator or a courtesy car. I put this service down to Stephen DS who was the sales manager/dealer principal at H/PH and now general manager at PHH. I have known sds for over 20+ years and I have told him to his face he's the best of a bad bunch.

Is your tracker MyHonda+? That's what I use.

Phoenix went bust about 4 years ago, they operated on credit. e.g. the Honda branch in Glasgow had a £1,000,000 overdraft for their used car stock, Park's on the other hand own all their used car stock.

Sorry to hear you're going to leave Honda, on a couple of occasions bought other brands (Skoda, Kia) but gone back to Honda.

[Colin Lambert]

KIa Best out of 79 cars I've owned.
I had 8 Hondas in the past and had no problems with any of the cars or Horizon Honda Poole. I changed to Kia as I wanted full EV and at the time Honda was without. I would not have bought the ZRV as the price was too high as was the insurance. I don't think the battery mileage is as good as my eNiro (quoted 282miles by Kia....315 last summer in the heat!!) and they did not review as well as the Niro. (I'm not Knocking Ron's choice. We all have free reign and I applaud his loyalty to Honda.)
I also read the JAZZ forum and the problems they are having with many models on BRAKE FAILURE!! are unbelievable.
I have also had 8 Skodas and their reliability score is going down the pan like all VAG, hence my comment above.
Frankly I will not buy ANY car with a three year warranty. If that is the best level of confidence they have in their products, they can do without my custom.
Toyota 10 (if serviced at Toyota dealer)
Kia 7 years.
Hyundai 5 years.
Mg 7 years (but crap reliability and cheap & nasty interiors)
There are others.