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If the previous owner insists that the belt was replaced, have him/her sign a notarized affidavit that it was performed at what shop, and when. That way, if the engine is messed up due to timing belt filure, you will have a legal foot to stand on. If the previous owner refuses to sign a notarized affidavit, you know the belt was not replaced. I think if I was to pay $500 to have the belt replaced I would make sure I saved the recipt, seems like the owner was pretty meticulous about other minor maintenance recipts, but failed to save the one that cost the most.
Goldie got stolen, read about it on the "other" site. I got a the new Si in January 2003.
Take care
Dave
It's about a half hour labor to remove enough stuff to enable the mechanic to pry the cover back enough to get a good look at it. If it's only 20,000 miles old it'll look new.
Usually, once it's apart, the other belts are replaced simply as a matter of smart caution. Same with the water pump. It's just dumb to not replace those things since it's apart anyway.
So...it seems to me that there may be three possibilities here.
1. The shop is trying to sell you belts that aren't really in need of replacement.
2. The timing belt was never replaced
3. The previous owner was a cheapskate who refused to have the belts done when the timing belt was replaced.
I'm only sorry I don't live in the Rochester area anymore, as I'm not nearly as happy with the Honda dealers here in Indy.
On 02/21/2004 I bought a 2004 Civic sedan. It has some cosmetic problems. It has been a month & 3 days and I have already paid the dealership 6 visits .problem still NOT solved!!
The next day I bought the vehicle I found a dent on the trunk lid (actually only looked like a dent because it feels smooth turned out to be caused by impurity in paint), and at the right rear door, there is an uneven color spot. Quite large, about 2/3 of palm size. It looks like a haze area and is much whiter than the silver body color. It was in the evening when I purchased the car. But in the sunlight the blemish is very noticeable.
Then there are my 6 visits to the dealership (and all the time I wasted):
1st time, I took it back for a clean-up the next day (because the clean service is closed when I bought it). I showed the sales the problems. He said come back later to get the “dent” fixed and the blemish was already “buffed out” in cleaning.
2nd time, back to adjust car alignment (turned out to be unbalanced tire pressure). Blemish still there. Dealer said come on a Monday to fix “dent” and “blemish”.
3rd time, went on a Monday. Dealer said a Honda representative came on Thursday and asked me to come back on Thur.
4th time, a Thursday. Dearer said they will take the car to body shop for repaint and polish. BUT, it will take 3 days and they can’t cover rental car bills at weekend. Asked me to come back on Mon.
5th time, this Monday. Dropped my car and got a rental car.
6th time, today. They said the car is ready. The “dent’ on the trunk was repaired but the blemish is STILL THERE! Although the dealer said they’d fix it!
I spent half an hour arguing with the dealer (talked to service manager) on this issue .and missed my afternoon class.
They dodged the responsibility. They said it is a problem between me and Honda .nothing to do with them. They said the Honda representative would come again in 3 weeks and I need to take the car there AGAIN to have them look at it. They also said even if the door is repainted, it may not look the same as factory paint. Basically they just want me to live with it! They knew the problem from the very beginning and promised to fix it but never did. Now after I wasted all the time and energy, they are in complete denial. They said they’d do nothing about it and also wouldn’t offer any kind of compensation: “Go to Honda if you want compensation”! I paid full price for a BRAND NEW car and expected it to be flawless ..now I ended up with one with a defect, not to mention all this hassle. Is that fair?
Now seems I have no choice but to wait 3 weeks and drive 20 min to the dealer again, when the Honda people are there. They may repaint it or not. And as the dealer said, the door may look different even after repainting. Either way I ended up with a defect car. And it is not like a computer or clothes that you can just exchange when there is a defect. It is a vehicle.
I was angry and now very unhappy. It has been a very unpleasant and tiring experience dealing with the Honda dealership. Where can I complain about this? BBB? But I still have to go back to the dealer in the future and don’t want that they might give me trouble later. Should I wait 3 weeks or contact the manufacture myself now? Can I ask for compensation from Honda?
I feel frustrated. Could you guys please give me some advice? Please. Thank you very much! And thanks for reading this far.
The first thing would be the threat of bad publicity. I'm sure your state or city has a news/consumer help line. Here in the SF CA bay area we have TV news programs called "Contact 4" (KRON) and "7 on Your Side" (ABC network TV). You can write, e-mail, or call the TV news media and tell them your story. I'm sure that the dealer would rather pay to have your whole car repainted than to risk bad publicity and the loss of business.
Another thing you can do is to report the problem to the BBB.
If your state has a Department of Consumer Affairs, you might want to call them and see if they can help.
Last, you can contact the Office of the Attorney General of your state and file complaint against the dealership.
If there are other dealerships near you, maybe you can ask them if they could help you. Sometimes another dealership will try to please new customers to win their business.
Good luck to you.
By the way, there are quite a few people on this board with silver cars that have bad factory paint. The color on the body panels don't match up. Some parts are light and others are dark or patchy. I've seen several silver Civics at my local dealership with bad paint. That's why I changed my mind on buying a silver Civic and bought a navy blue one instead.
In December 2002, I purchased one of few last remaining NEW 02 Naples Gold Accord EX-L Auto. I liked the car, but I noticed many subtle things that raised some red flags.
1) The squeaks didn't sound like loose interior trim or wires, but sounded like it was a result of structural/frame problems. It squeaked not on a bumpy road, but on a surface with incline.
2) Aftermarket wheels on car. The dealer did disclose that the stock alloys were stolen from dealer lot, but car suffered no damage.
3) Louder road noise than LX, even though EX should have more sound-deadening material
4) Dusty engine bay
5) Car had 65 miles on odometer
6) Almost a year passed between manufacture date and date of sale
I should have questioned more when the dealer told me the stock wheels were stolen. But my old car broke down, and I rushed to buy a new car. But after the sale, I researched further by asking the body shop that inspected the car after the robbery, and also asked an unsuspecting cashier for pre-sale service records on the car.
What I found was a body shop estimate of $3500. But the salesmen told me there was no damage.
I researched California laws regarding car sales, and found that while the dealers don't have to disclose certain things, damages to suspension, frame, and other specified areas would have to be disclosed. The body shop estimate revealed damage to the shocks - suspension. I drafted a letter of complaint, and sent a copy to dealer management and American Honda. American Honda was mostly toothless and basically said that the dealer was an independent business and that Honda would be limited in forcing the dealer to take action.
Fortunately, the dealer management acted swiftly. I'm not sure if it was because I was able show what laws they broke, or because of my subtle suggestion of a lawsuit, the dealer offered to give me full refund (even after 31 days of use and 5000 miles on the odometer) or work out another alternative. Looking back, I wish I would've kept the car and asked for lower price. But I bought a Civic EX coupe instead.
Another possibility, take it to a very good body shop and have them repaint the door and trunk lid or what other visual defects you saw. make sure they inspect the car and give you written estimate of "Factory defects" then take American honda and the dealer to small claims court and sue for the job. You will not get compensation for the time lost and hassle, but it will cost the dealer and honda more money as they will have to have a lawyer there and pay him/her $150-$250/hour. You, as individual, don't need a lawyer to fight in small claims.
I just called American Honda's Customer Relations. The CSR lady said she could only send an email to the dealership to urge them to accelerate on this issue. But she was even not sure that they'd respond. And she basically said the only thing I could do is to wait for the Honda representative's visit.
But actually the representative was here just last week and the service manager said the problem is reported and would be resolved. What made me angry is that they promised they'd get it fixed, never did and pushed me around. I felt fooled.
Anyway, I asked the CSR to request the dealer to respond by tomorrow. And I said I am prepared to file complaint via fax to Honda, Sonic Automotive (The dealership is Crest Honda in Nashville Tenneessee, a division of Sonic), and local BBB.
Again, thank you all for your kind advice. I will update later.
i have had the front struts replaced once and i believe they are going to need replaced again soon
i have had 2 motor mounts replaced and the air conditioner hose replaced twice
the car only has 27000 miles on it and now its leaking antifreeze so back to the honda dealer again
Thanks
Seat removal should be straight forward 4 bolts holding the rails down to the floor pan. There might be a plug for the seatbelt buckle, and you have to find the coupling to un-do it.
http://www.markl.f9.co.uk/howto/electrical/igniter/igniter.htm
Anyway, Honda manuals are probably the best manual transmissions out there. They are the best manuals in the economy car category. The closest is BMW manual, but it comes with a more expensive car. With regular maintenance a Honda manual will last a very long time, over 300,000 miles. a clutch will give you about 200,000 miles before it would really need replacing. But the clutch longevity is dependant on the driver. Clutch replacement at Honda is probably $400-$600, but one can do it it home. If you can bench 100 lbs (most people who work out can easily do that) you don't need a tranny lift. The clutch itself is $50-$80 part with the appropriate replacement hardware.
As far as testing, I'm sure there is some way to do it - you'd need to look in one of those Helms/Chilton books for testing procedures.
What does it mean by "no injector drive"?
I have 2002 Honda civic and it has about 22,000 Miles. Recently i started hearing humming noice when i drive the car. Dealer checked it out and said, i need to replace all four tires and it is going to cost aroudn $350.
I just feel that, replacing 4 tires after 22,000 is two early. Just wanted to check what others have experienced with Civics. Also if i have to replace the tires, are there any recommendations?
Thanks
ANil
Dealer price $26.oo. HandA are $19.50. but shipping is $7.00. How necessary are they? Any solutions?
In my opinion Honda pollen filters are pricey.
Dealer price $26.oo. HandA are $19.50. but shipping is $7.00. How necessary are they? Any solutions?
If you feel that $25 for two micron filters is alot, take them out. I think they are worthy, I replaced mine after a year and it was black (it is white to start with). I'd imagine that without the filter all that soot would have been in my lungs.
Driving with the windows down, kind of defeats the filter though. But I almost never drive on the highway with the windows down. I have seen what a pebble kicked up by a truck can do to a person's head through an open window.
Driving with the sunroof open is fine, the negative pressure created by the roofline draws the air in through the micron filter and cleans it.
Changing the micron filter in the Si is a 5 minute job and described in detail in the manual.
The volume control to turn the stereo down seems to be messed up. If i try to quickly turn up the volume it doesn't go up at all, and I have to turn it slowly for it to go up. When I try to turn it down I have to sit and play with it carefully turn it down, and I still haven't figured out the correct way to do it, as simply turning it left quick doesn't have any effect on the volume. Is it just broken or is there something about the honda stereos that I don't know?