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Comments
I guess we all have different experiences.
Without Honda Corporate Care I would not have been able to get my motor mount and belt fix for my 06 civic.
This in addition to the original dealership did nothing to help after 4 visits.
After I called the care line, they sent me to a dealership no more than 5 or so miles away where they did the repairs in a very quick time without much fuss. I did however hand them the TSB's to prove my car fell within vin range.
It's a start though for the other person and opening a case is important should further action be needed.
Also with regards to you trying to trade up, the place you went was stupid not to work with you. It would have been a win win for both you and them. I would have tried another dealership after that and told them they can earn you future business if they work with you to get out of a car you are not happy with.
I soon face this when I try to trade my 06 civic for an 07 element.
All in all though it still a royal pain in the butt.
If I take the car into the local Honda dealer, will they be able to tell by the VIN # whether theses issues have been fixed (even if they didn't do the work)? I suppose I could just tell them to check for them, but I'd kind of like to play dumb and test them to see how knowledgable and helpful they are on my first trip .
You can bring your car to any dealership and have them run the VIN#. They can they advise what work has been performed on the car by a dealership including TSB work.
I had to do this with a used 86 accord LXI I purchased many many years ago. Worked like a charm.
Don't get to scared. Most of the problems are not major, just annoyances really.
If your car has not had any work done as of yet, get the TSB's for motor mount and belt problem then check to see if your car falls within the vin range. If so, bring those to a dealership of your choice and advise they fix the problems based on the fact you hear the noise(s) and your car falls withing the designated range. If the dealership is half decent they will do the repairs without much fuss.
Sounds like the mechanism that tells the tranny the brake is depressed is not working correctly so the car does not want to shift out of park.
It's a safety feature but sounds like something not working right.
Well, today I spoke to my case manager and got nowhere with the condenser. I was instructed to make an appointment with the dealer regarding the vibration/rattle(I'm waiting for a call back because no one could take my call). The point I made with HC about the consenser is that there is plenty of proof that the problem exists, however, I wanted to know why Honda repairs some but not all who experience the problem. He told me my case didn't qualify because I don't have a history with Honda. Apparently, if I had been a long time Honda customer I would have been treated as such. I guess they don't want to keep new customers.
I am so frustrated. Dang, I was even nice to the guy and still got screwed (again).
Frank
Like I said much earlier somewhere either in this thread or another, it took me 5 times to get my belt replaced and the motor mount replaced.
It's is completely bogus that being a long time customer should get you more assistance. That is a great way to loose a customer for good.
At this point, if you are not getting anywhere, I would go for broke and get nasty.
Eventhough my car is better, all problems are still not fixed (glass scratching issue, front steering/suspension clunking since the day I got the car). I plan on trading this spring/summer back to the car I had before this (got into an accident) which was a subaru impreza. The build quality was awesome and the car was so quiet, you would be shocked.
Eventhough it's a little smaller and more expensive, driving everyday to me has gotten annoying due to the other noises that Honda won't resolve.
Like I posted a few posts earlier. Honda is suffering from quantity over quality (like toyota) and they are loosing customers by leaps and bounds. If you belong to 8thgencivic.com you would be shocked as to how many problems people are having and just how many traded already.
At some point, it's worth biting the bullete to trade even if you loose a little on the trade.
Just my views (I have had a 86 CIVIC SI, 86 accord LX-i). Both of these cars got more than 200,000 miles on them and not many problems other than routine work over time.
It's a shame but the new civics should never have been car of the year!
I haven't seen any posts about this for awhile. Did everyone get this taken care with the new motor mount specified in the TSB?
That was five months ago. Today, at 18K miles, it is a right front strut that blew a seal and lost its oil, and the right rear tire tread is separating from the body of the tire. I was told that all four tires would be replaced but I am liable for the approx 1/3 of the tire life I used when it comes time to pay for the new tires.
Other than that, it has been a great car.
Also, the clunking noise that was a bad strut did not occur until the temperature got above 40-50 degrees. This is similar to a previous post about the same problem.
So far I have had nothing but a very positive experiences with the dealer I bought the car from. Everything had been covered under warranty, and I am still very happy that I bought the car particularly as the price of gas is rising.
I normally hate goodyear tires but these RS-A are pretty good and have worn very evenly for the mileage thus far.
I do rotate every 7000 miles by the way!
But, the right side motor mount broke yesterday without warning--I parked the car, went into a store, and came out only to start the car and experience the most wretched vibration (and noise, too!) I have ever experienced in a car. :sick:
Now the Honda service department is giving me a load of you-know-what about how they'll have to "evaluate" the car to see if it's a warranty issue. The clown I was talking to says he hasn't heard a thing about the second- and possibly third- generation motor mounts.
So, can someone please point me in the right direction for back-up information so that I'll be fully equipped to prove my case to these folks? I'm a retired attorney, so I like to go into a situation knowing what I'm talking about and this is new to me!
Thanks!
I had the same problem with my 2007 civic lx coupe. I toke it to the dealership. The service department ran some test on it. They checked for codes in the whole system..no code. Then they checked the crank position status. The crank position status= was not learned.
I guess Honda Company forgot to program the status on the crank. The service department warmed the vehicle to operating temperature, and performed crank learning procedure. It's been almost a week and I had no problem with the vehicle starting up.
Take your vehicle to your local honda service department and tell them to check the crank position status on your vehicle.
Just to update on where I stand with it . . . the dealership where I bought the car treated me like I was a total idiot. First, the tech told me that he had been "doing this for over seven years and had never heard of any problem with the motor mounts", so I told him that he needed to check about them being replaced because of the noise. later he told me that a broken motor mount did not affect the driveability of the car, so the warranty would not cover towing! I "politely" told him that if he sat his rear end (not the word I used, because by then I had had it with this clown) in the seat of that car and started it, he would not have even attempted to drive it because he would have known that it was not safe and that it was likely to cause further damage if it was driven in that condition. I was not a happy camper :mad: when we finished that conversation.
Mercifully, that dealership divested itself of the problem by determining that it was not the closest dealership to the car when it broke down. So the car is now at another dealership which: a) acknowledged that there was a problem with the motor mounts (the noise problem); and b) that a broken motor mount on a 2006 with 22,000 miles is, in all likelihood, a warranty issue. They hope to have the car back to me today.
Honda USA will definitely get feedback on the way I was treated by the two dealerships. Ironically, they have the same ownership!
For the sake of others on this forum, though, I hope that my post about the broken motor mount will be useful if, heaven forbid, anyone else has this problem in the future. I hope that Honda gets this problem worked out, because I'm otherwise in love with my car. I'm presently renting a Toyota SR5 as an experiment in driving an intermediate SUV & I can say unequivocally that the quality (it's an 06 with the same mileage as my Civic & it has a lot of rattles) and interior styling are well behind my less expensive Civic.
Thanks again for the help!
After reading the many posts here with all the problems, some of them the type I would consider serious, I am questioning my decision to purchase this car.
This re-designed model has been around since Sept 05, and yet, so many significant issues are reported here.
I checked out the Corolla, which is an inferiors car in style and performance, but no reported problems as seen in this forum.
I am looking for peace of mind. Owned Toyota before and they were essentially trouble free. Owned a used early 80's Honda and it fell apart after 100,000 miles. Own a used 93 Sentra XE with 170K miles and it is still a champ, running strong.
So, I wonder about the following:
-hundreds of thousands of these Civics have been sold. So, the people reporting problems here, are they a small minority or what? Are all the sunroof's making noise? Are all the motor mounts failing? Are al the cars having problems with windshield scratching easily? And so on and so on.
This concerns me immensely. Should I purchase an extended warrantee? If so, why pay more for reliability and quality that is not there to begin with?
I am looking to spend almost $22K with taxes, etc. Perhaps I should go with a Corolla, boring and loud road noises but none of the problems reported here.
All you owners out there, any advice? Especially owner that now have higher mileage, more than 20K miles on their cars.
Thanks in advance.
That is an excellent question. Keep in mind however that many of the problems reported on the current Civic are on the 2006 models. The latest 2007 cars should have fixes already applied to them. Should problems appear in the early years of ownership, you do have the 3-year bumper-to-bumper warranty to take care of them.
My advice is, if you really like the Civic more than any other car in its class, and don't mind paying $22k for one, go buy one. But if I were you, I'd look at other options first. For example, there are some mid-sized cars out there that you can get for less than $22k nicely equipped, including the Accord, Aura, Camry, Mazda6, Optima, and Sonata (base Altima too, but you said you didn't like it much). If you'd rather have a small car, be sure to check out the new Elantra and Lancer also. For example, an Elantra equipped like the Civic EX (w/o nav) can be had for around $16k with the MT. Both should be reliable. The Mazda3 is another option--about the same money as a Civic, but sportier. The Jetta is very nice also, but the reliability record is not as good. $22k is a lot of money (for me, anyway), so check out all the options before you plunk it down, so later you won't say, "I should have driven the XXXX before I bought my car!"
Until the motor mount failed, my Civic was trouble-free. I've had it slightly less than a year and driven it 22,000 miles--that's what happens when you're the soccer mom to two serious soccer players!
When we purchased this car, my husband and I broke our rule of not purchasing a car during its first year of production. We normally don't purchase during the first year to give the manufacturer time to work the bugs out. But we were taken in by the overall appeal of the Civic.
If I had it to do over again, the only thing I'd change is to find this forum first so that I would know in advance what, if anything, to look for. Since you have that, ggg5, I think you'll do fine purchasing the Civic.
It may be that 2007 Civics have had the bugs worked out by now but who knows? I'm not about to find out.
The only other issues I have is very easily scratching glass and some odd front end noise (steering or axle or sticking caliper) that no one can fix or explain. It does not affect the mechanics of the car, yet. The interior scratches easy but I can live with that and be carefull. Only when it was super cold I had some type of odd spring/suspension noise of humps and such. Has gone away since it has gotten warmer.
Despite the problems, the car has ran well and got through winter in some bad conditions pretty good.
My wife has a 05 corolla LE with 16,000 miles. The only problem thus far (which was a known problem) was the belt tensior which failed at about 10,000 miles. Dealer fixed it with no questions. Her car is smooth, quiet and pretty comfortable but BLAND AND BORING TO ME. On the highway it's silky smooth.
I did hear however that 06 and 07 corollas had computer problems, some at 1000 miles where cars completely died and had to be towed.
Pick what you like and go from their. TSB's and problems can't be the only factor as you have to like what you drive or you will always find something to pick about.
Good luck!!!!
My last new car was in 1980 (Nissan 200 SX) which I truly enjoyed. Kids, marriage, college expenses, cars for the kids and my better half: and here I am 27 years later buying my next new car. I am driving a Buick Park Ave. with 125K and it is worn out plus uses gas like a thirsty elephant!
Not complaining, mind you, just sharing.
I really like the Honda EX with all the toys, although I know there are so many options out there. Guess worse case scenario is I sell it if it turns out to be lemonade! However, I like the advice and will consider test driving other vehicles which I did not even consider (Hyundai, Accord, Camry, etc.).
My key requirements are: 30-40 mpg, reliable, high quality, fun to drive and that I like on an emotion / gut level.
Form a purely quality/reliability standpoint: Corolla is it.
For purely economical reasons: Hyundai & Kia come to the top of the list.
Not even going to tackle the emotion/gut level, cause that takes me to Corvettes & many others I can not afford.
I am also interested in mpg from people that drive as I do: never in a hurry, never rushing from or to a traffic light, staying close to speed limits in highways and fastest highway speed in last 3 years was maybe 85 to pass a truck. In other words, if this Civic is driven gently, what is the mpg range? Again, thanks to all and have a great day!
An Accord or Sonata would be a great choice if you want to move up in class. Good luck and let us know.
The Sandman
Don't touch a new lancer and or soon to be released corolla. First year gen redesigns will put you in the position alot of us are in with our first year newly released 06 civics.
Don't be a guinee pig for the manfaucturer. If a corolla is what you want, either wait for the new design to be out a full year before buying or buy a 07 which most kinks are worked out. Same goes for a lancer.
Here is a different type of question: anyone thinks a Honda dealer would agree to upgrade the tires from Bridgestone, which has been reported here to be noisy and also failing in terms of steel belts separating? In fact, one of the first repairs I did to my 1980 Nissan was to replace the Toyo tires, because the traction was extremely poor in the rain.
Never heard of the Lancer, but will look into it. Although the advice not to be the guinea pig for a new product makes a lot of sense.
My wife drives a 2000 Toyota 4 Runner, which was the next generation that year, and we did OK.
A general comment, being involved in the Automotive industry, is that as all car manufacturers spread their supplier base across the world, the quality of the parts is decreasing and so is the car reliability & quality. So, in my opinion, if I could get a Civic made in Japan, I would be better off. But that is no longer possible. But, since I can not, here I am asking questions. Perhaps I can contribute with information in the future instead.
Good day to all.
It's all done electronically with a sensor on the gas peddle.
If one is not used to it you might notice it but most likely it's normal.
If in doubt, you can always have the dealer check it. Always better safe than sorry!
GGG5
I have the goodyear RS-A's on my LX sedan. Eventhough I am not a big fan of goodyear tires, they are much better than the bridgies and after 10,000 miles I have yet to have a problem or complaint with them. I have heard many stories of bad and replaced bridgies on cars equipped with them.
Also, avoid the fit for now, they are also suffering many problems, fit and finish mostly, inside and out. I have an aquantaince with one and the paint is a problem, inside parts are causing problems as well, especially the shifting paddles.
The only time the car hesitates a bit from a stop is before the car fully warms up. Within 3 to 4 minutes, all is fine. I've been happy with the acceleration up the power band actually. I try to never go above 3k rpm's except in an emergency situation. When I want more spirited driving, I use the wife's Mazda 3s and I get the instant gratification that I'm looking for!
The Sandman
A 1986 Civic SI 3 Door Hatch with the 1500cc fuel injected engine.
Civic engines enjoy being rev'd and from time to time it's good to clear carbon build up. A good run on the highway and a healthy fast merge never hurts.
Rather, new Civics are pushing $18k! That's almost Accord territory, given typically aggressive Accord discounts.
Granted, the Civic is THE compact leader in every way. However, a Focus can be had for $13.7k, as can a Cobalt. The Elantra would be loaded to the gills for $15k. And at the Civic's typical $18k, one can even get a much larger Ford Fusion.
This is value? Honda seems to have abandoned Civic base models (and has thus abandoned a huge customer base). Can a student or young professional afford $18k for a Civic? Or will that person spend a few grand more for an Accord?
Is this why Honda is advertising the Civic so much on TV lately? To keep sales hot because consumers are cooling to its high price?
Note to Honda: Give me a Civic with crank windows and manual mirrors for $15k!!!
I then placed a call to my insurance adjuster (I was hit by an uninsured motorist, so my insurance is handling the claim) to advise him of Honda's position on the repair.
I then called Honda Customer Care and opened a claim. They put a high priority on it.
Within the hour I received another call from the dealer telling me that they would not do the repair at all because there is a tremendous amount of damage--bent CV axles included--and that all of the damage must have occurred and not been repaired when I had a front-end collision in October. The service writer said he didn't know how I was even driving the car.
That sent me over the edge. I now have a car that supposedly has all kinds of damage and I haven't a clue how or why it is that way. Did the damage occur because the motor mount broke? Or did the motor mount break because damage wasn't fixed properly in the first place?
What I do know is that I drove the car from mid-November when the repairs were completed until April 1 and it was perfectly fine--no vibration, no pull, no noise, and the alignment was perfect.
If the CV axle was bent during that time, I would have known. I'm not a ditz when it comes to cars, as my husband and I used to build and race Corvettes. I'm very sensitive to any change in the operation of my car. And, I hate to say it, but if, Heaven forbid, a Neanderthal hanging around in that dealership that doesn't believe that a woman could figure out if there was a problem with the car, my husband also drove the car regularly and came to the same conclusion that I did--there was nothing wrong with the operation of the car before it broke on Sunday.
So I am now in the worst possible position--Honda won't touch the car under warranty, and I have this sneaking suspicion that the garage that did the repairs is not going to own up to making any type of mistake that could have caused the motor mount failure.
I'm left to wonder just how long my insurance company is going to stand behind this one . . . Being a retired lawyer, all I can think of is to have the stupid parts taken out, evaluated by an engineer, and the blame assigned. Unfortunately, that's not the fastest way to get my car fixed and back in my hands.
Anyone have any better ideas?
Why are you discounting those models, but not the Civic? People here have gotten almost $2,000 off sticker of a Civic LX. Which has a lot of great features that the Focus and Cobalt don't have standard or don't even offer. Like curtain airbags, mp3 jack, telescoping steering wheel, etc. Plus, over the life of the car, the Civic will likely have far fewer probems than a Focus or a Cobalt. And if I want to sell this thing in 7 years with 100,000 miles, I can probably sell the Civic for around $7,000 where I'd only get $4,000 for a Focus or Cobalt.
So, when it comes down to numbers, I actually don't see why people *wouldn't* buy the Civic.
Small cars are pretty much equal in raw reliability nowadays. Sophistication is another matter, however. That's where the Civic excels.
Let forget about the mount for a moment.
If we assume you were in an accident, and your insured covered the damages or the other persons insurance did, you most likely got your car repaired at a shop recommended by either your insurance or theirs. In this case, most insurance companies cover the repairs for as long as you own it. I know geico and others door. Let's not forget most auto body shops also do this (at least the ones near me do). Taking into account the above and assuming for the moment, it's valid for you, your insurance company and even maybe the body shop will fix the repairs that were not done right or were not done at all. If you have your estimate, it will list all work done including parts and labor. If Honda is saying you have damaged parts and these were on your list from the insurance company you have all the power to get all that fixed by your insurance company and or the body shop.
With regards to your motor mount, I had mine replaced. I have only heard of one or two cases were the mount completed failed during driving. This did not cause any damage to the car other than a severly rocking or vibrating engine. Assuming someone did not drive with it like that for days on end.
I agree that a bent axle and or badly damaged cv joints, you would know by clicking when you made turns and also vibration into the steering wheel.
I can write all day but something smells foul here. With regards to your mount, you have to print the TSB and find if your vin falls within range of affected cars. This is your first and most important step in this process.
I hate to say this but you need to raise hell not only with your insurance company but with honda as well all know, a really pissed off customer has more power than a calm patient one.
Also, you might want to request a field rep to come down and look at your car with the dealership while it's there. You have to request this at honda care. Tell them it's vital to getting this all cleared up. If not, get them to send down the regional manager with a highly qualified tech.
I am not sure what else I can say but I once had a similar situation with an accident only and by really getting pissed and showing it, I got it all resolved, but it took 5 months of really hard work and much headaches.
I hope this helps.
The car is on its way to the body shop under a supplemental claim on the original accident. The repairs will be done there. All of my legal training says that every part that comes off the car should be kept for future reference. Period. Nothing like evidence!
Unfortunately, I have to focus on getting the car back on the road--I can't let it sit around while it's evaluated by Honda Customer Care. Having said that, I guess it can't hurt to request that they look at the car even though it's no longer at the dealership.
I've looked at the TSB, and my car is an EX coupe and doesn't fall within the VINs, because the VINs are all for sedans. The TSB doesn't list any coupe VINs, although I have seen others who have coupes and have had their mounts replaced, either for noise/vibration or for actual failure.
You're so right that something smells foul here. I don't know why the dealership was so reluctant to touch the car. They get paid to do warranty work, so it shouldn't be a big deal to repair something that broke when the car is under warranty.
Talking out loud here . . . let's assume that a part breaks while under warranty and there is collateral damage as a natural, but highly unusual result of that breakage. Wouldn't that be covered under the warranty? Wouldn't you expect the dealer to repair it? I know that I would, since the part broke through no fault of the consumer's.
I really have to decide whether to involve Honda Customer Care in this. My insurance company is taking the lead and plan to duke it out with Honda over who is responsible for the damage.
Maybe I should be happy with getting a result and not worry about who is responsible. But there's that other part of me that: 1) wants to know what really happened; and 2) wants to make sure that the responsible party (Honda or the body shop) is properly saddled with responsibility for this.
Heaven knows I've had enough grief from it!