Honda Customer Service.....

[tennisjon2002]

I have a 2006 Honda Civic Si. May 1st 2009 I started having problems with my Clutch Master Cylinder (squeaking and popping) and my Sun Visor (breaking) (tsb: http://www.in.honda.com/Rjanisis/pubs/SB/a08-023.PDF ). I was less than a month outside of my 3 year warranty and had less than 31,000 miles on the car.

I bought the car brand new off the truck with less than 10 miles and I have babied the car ever since, never raced it, never abused it. During my 3 years of warranty I had an outrageous number of problems including:

• 2 defective power steering racks
• Tapping noise in the morning coming from engine bay that started after 2nd power steering rack was replaced. (been in 2 times and still not fixed)
• Both Sun visors cracked and replaced via the TSB
• Shift boot started tearing
• Front bump stops were replaced due to a popping noise via the TSB
• Side mirror had to be replaced because it shook so bad I couldn’t see out of it
• Rattles from A pillar, rear headliner and Rear Deck via TSB
• Steering wheel had to be replaced because it was disintegrating
• My Electric Trunk Release snapped and locked me out of my trunk
• Battery died, would not jump and left me stranded. Had to get towed.
• ECU reflashed for rev hang and bucking in first gear.
• AirBag Sensor Recall
• Rear seat latch broke

I also have the 3rd gear problem ( http://www.8thcivic.com/forums/mechanical-...8-3rd-gear.html ) that I will be getting fixed eventually down the road.

I was hoping I would stop having problems after my car was a year or so old, but it just keeps getting worse….

Those are just the problems that I came up with off the top of my head, I am sure there are more.

I went to my dealer May 1st to notify them of the problems with my CMC. The technicians had left so I figured I would bring the car back later. The CMC seemed a little better for the next 2 weeks or so then it got bad again. May 11th Honda sent the following message to service departments through their network:

To: All Honda Service Managers
From: Technical Research & Support Group
Re: Request For Parts: 2006-2009 Civic, Accord and Element Clutch Actuation Components

Print this iN message and provide a copy to the Shop Foreman and all Service Advisors.

Background
American Honda (AHM) would like to collect the complete clutch actuation components from a 2006-2009 Civic, Accord, and Element that is exhibiting a squeak or click noise when using the clutch pedal.

Qualifiers
AHM is interested in parts from 2006-2009 Civics, Accords and Elements that meet the following requirements:

-First-time complaint
-Please verify there are no previous repairs for clutch pedal operation noise.
-The noise needs to be repeatable.
Parts of Interest

AHM is interested in collecting the following components:

• Clutch slave cylinder

• Clutch master cylinder

• The complete pedal assembly including the switches and the lines between the clutch master cylinder and slave cylinder

I took my car in May 19th and had my car diagnosed by a technician and Honda requested videos of the clutch noises. They were immediately sent to Honda and Honda confirmed they wanted the parts from my car.

The popping noise:



and the squeak:

The problem is I am just outside of warranty so Honda does not want to pay for the labor. The issue was sent to the District Parts and Service Manager and he decided (after taking 4 weeks) that Honda is not going to cover either of my issues.

I went ahead and called Honda Customer Service. I have heard bad things from everyone who has called Honda Customer Service, but I never experienced it for myself. Now I know how Honda Customer Service had gotten such a bad reputation………

I explained my issue to a Customer Service representative and she said I had a good case and said she would get the regional guy to call me and help me out.

I then got a call from Gus, the regional guy (ext 117754). Gus has been nothing more then useless. From the start he tells me everything with the clutch is a wear and tear item and my request for Honda to repair this is outrageous. He also tells me that this is not a customer service issue.

First off, CMC and the Slave master cylinder are NOT wear and tear items and are covered under the normal B2Bwarranty as well as HondaCare, I do not have a HondaCare extended warranty though. I have told by Honda that the CMC and Slave are not covered under the powertrain warranty although companies like Chevy for example cover them under their powertrain warranty:

Chevy Warranty Information | Owners | Chevrolet

My family owns 4 Hondas, has bought nothing but Hondas for the last 10 years and I was coincidently literally driving to a Honda dealer to pick up a new Honda when I was talking to Gus. If keeping a longtime Honda customer happy is not an issue of customer service, I am really not sure what Honda thinks customer service is? (by this point I have realized they clearly don’t know)

Gus also denied that the bulletin (about the clutches) by Honda is any admission of a problem of squeaky and clicking clutches and that they must “just be doing research”.

Gus told me all he can do is act as a liaison on my behalf and ask the DPSM to reconsider his decision, but he says it is very unlikely anything will happen. He also said the DPSM is the only one who can order my car to be fixed.

During my many many visits to the dealership to get my car repaired, I had a service advisor tell me I should sell my car because there are obviously big issues with it. I told Gus this and his response was “would you like to file a formal complaint against that service advisor?” I asked him why I would want to file a complaint for someone being real with me, to which he said that was just one persons opinion and it is up to me if I would like to take his advice and get rid of my car.

I find this kind of coincidental how he played this off saying it was just one person’s opinion, while it is also just one persons opinion who decides whether my car is fixed by Honda or not, the DPSM. The DPSM has never met me, does not know anything about my car, nor has he ever seen the car or problem.

I also asked Gus if he or the DPSM have seen the videos above of my clutch. He said he has not, so I asked him if I could email them to him. He told me his email can not accept outside emails (BS).

So basically people at Honda are making a decision about whether to fix my car, but they have not even seen it.

I talked to my dealership service manager about my clutch issue and he apologized and said there is not really anything he can do, Honda and the DPSM are all above his level. He said this seems to be happening more with Honda which sucks for him because he is the front line with the customer and it makes the dealership and service department look bad, when in reality it has nothing to do with them.

I just got a call from Gus at Honda Customer Service today and he told me he talked to the DPSM and he has decided his original decision stands, Honda will not replace or assist me in replacing my master cylinder, because I am a month out of warranty. I requested that they cover the master cylinder against failure for the powertrain warranty and I was told they can not do that either.

My dealership has also denied my sunvisor repair request.
Here are some pictures of the sunvisor problem. The visors are just starting to break and will be much worse in a few weeks:



And circled are the broken tabs that are the cause of the problem:



I think this is outrageous, given that this is a known common issue:

Our Sunvisors Suk A**!!! - 8th Generation Honda Civic Forum
help! problem with sun visor - 8th Generation Honda Civic Forum
sunvisor Fix - 8th Generation Honda Civic Forum
New Sun Visor??? Did Honda finally fix it? - 8th Generation Honda Civic Forum
Is there a "fix" to our proned sunvisors? - 8th Generation Honda Civic Forum

And Honda has done NOTHING to try to fix it. All they are doing is replacing them under warranty and then waiting till your warranty is up. They have not even changed the 09 sunvisors which makes 4 years they have put the same POS sunvisors on the civics. I already got both of my visors replaced a year and a half ago, so at this rate I need new visors every 1.5 years. The cost of the visors is $50 each so that comes out to about $70 (after tax) a year on SUNVISORS!! THAT IS MORE THAN I SPEND ON OIL CHANGES!!! My service advisor said he has done hundreds of them, literally.

I told Gus of Honda Customer service this and he said I would need to go to the dealer and get it in writing that they will not cover my visor and I will need to open up a new case. He said it was very unlikely that Honda would do anything.

So I have gone to the dealer and opened a new case with Honda for the sun visors. I had to fax American Honda the diagnoses of the visors from the dealer and I am now waiting to hear back from them.

Through out this entire proceeding I have remained collective and professional, yet assertive. I haven’t yelled at anyone or acted like a *******. At this point I think I am more frustrated with the way Honda is treating its customers then the actual problem. I am going to have to seriously reconsider EVER buying another Honda.

Sorry for the long rant I just wanted to vent and share my experience.

[SpoiledMan]

ALWAYS buy Honda(doesn't)care!

[Ol' Red]

I dont see what the problem is. I understand it is a fairly new car and shouldn't be having this many problems, but its not like you bought a Mercedes. I know Honda's are decent cars, but things break on vehicles. Its a fact of life. Although that does sound like a fairly long list of problems for a new car. If your warranty is expired, why do you expect Honda to repair it for free? A warranty is a warranty, and doesn't cover a month after the warranty expires. Which is why they sell extended warranties. I skimmed over the post, so i apologize if I am wrong about something. I guess this is why people say Hondamnit. Never really understood that until now.

[soccer6planet]

BUY A TOYOTA!!!!! i've been a fan for a long time.

[SpoiledMan]

Toyota is no different. Do a search for their sludge build up and see how they handled that.

[scary bill]

Sorry to hear about the car troubles. I have been there.

The real problem is that cars are complex, they have a lot that can and will go wrong. Add to that the fact that car companies are profit driven, they cheapen things up to the point of reoccurring troubles. Cars suck!

[White lexus 23]

Sorry man. What would you consider buying next time. I will probbaly go for or chevy when my 96 lexus es 300 takes a dump. I have really been impressed with the build quality of American cars since about 2004. If only thee have done a few things different in busniss and hadn't needed that bale out. But now I am just rambleing. Just saying American cars have really come along way in the past 5 years.

[OCDinPDX]

Hyundai for the win!!!

124,000 miles on my '04 Santa Fe and the only two times I ever needed to use my warranty, they never fought it or cheapened out on me. 100% each time, no argument.

First repair was a defective radio. Second was a set of light bulbs in the shift plate.

[mshu7]

Sorry to hear about all your car problems. I'm surprised Honda customer service would be that bad. A couple years ago when they were having all those automatic transmission problems, I heard a lot of stories about how they were extending their warranty coverage on the trans. units to 100K miles. In fact, my father-in-law had a Honda Odyssey with one of those bad transmissions. He was just over 100K when his went out and they still paid for it to be replaced.

Anymore, I'm not loyal to anyone brand. I just buy what I like and gets good reviews as well. That said, if I had to buy an American vehicle these days, it would no doubt be a Ford. I've detailed a few Fords recently, including an '08 Edge and was really impressed with the quality, particularly on the inside. In fact, I thought the quality was far superior to any Toyota's that I had detailed recently as well. I think Toyota's quality has really dropped here recently.

Anyway, good luck with the Civic situation. If you're having the same recurring problems, I would look into the lemon law. Years ago I was leasing a Cavalier Z24 that ended up being a lemon because they couldn't fix a sunroof problem, among other things. After contacting a lemon law attorney, Chevy took the car back and wrote me a check for $7,000+. I was even over the mileage for the lease at that point as well. It ended up only costing me like $300 to drive the car for the 14 months that I had it. So it may be worth your while to look into it.

[AuAltima3.5]

You are expecting Lexus quality from a hot rod economy car. First problem.

Rattles, dead battery, and broken plastic happen. Cars age.

Recalls: almost every car has them. Every car I have owned has had atleast one.

Your sqeaks are minor annoyances, but the pops and other major repairs signify ill-trained techs. Two powersteering racks? The chances of a car needing three them is really small. They probably didn't flush the system prior to replacement.

The broken latch, first steering rack, and steering wheel are legit problems. Those suck.

Wasn't 06 the first run for this generation of Civic?

[OCDinPDX]

Originally Posted by AuAltima3.5

You are expecting Lexus quality from a hot rod economy car. First problem.

Rattles, dead battery, and broken plastic happen. Cars age.

Recalls: almost every car has them. Every car I have owned has had atleast one.

Your sqeaks are minor annoyances, but the pops and other major repairs signify ill-trained techs. Two powersteering racks? The chances of a car needing three them is really small. They probably didn't flush the system prior to replacement.

The broken latch, first steering rack, and steering wheel are legit problems. Those suck.

Wasn't 06 the first run for this generation of Civic?

Just because somebody doesn't spend $75,000 on a Lexus LS460 doesn't mean they don't deserve a trouble-free car or should be denied warranty coverage. The Civic Si is a $22,000 car (not exactly cheap) and Honda is refusing warranty service on COMMON problems.

For a company that has built it's reputation on building solid dependable cars, this kind of reaction is unacceptable. For plastic to break and rattles to develop on a three year old car is also unacceptable. I would expect these kinds of problems from a Chinese car but not Honda. Makes me seriously wonder where their priorities really lie.

[Daniel3507]

Ive never had any major problems with my Ford and its 16 years old. my moms car is a 2001 and we havent had any problems. mshu7 said newer Fords are really nice on the inside and quality is some of the best. My dad worked for ford for 20 something years and about 10 of them as a dealer account manager. he would get new company cars quite often and every year they got nicer and nicer. IMO you cant get much better than a Ford. ESPECIALLY for a truck.