Did you recently take on (or consider) a loan of 84 months or longer on a car purchase?
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A reporter would like to speak with you about your experience; please reach out to PR@Edmunds.com by 7/22 for details.
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At 114K, you're running on borrowed time.
This is a job I would not let anyone else do it other than Honda dealer.
My dealer offered me a warranty that they will remove all the stains (if any) from inside and will maintain the paint/polish of the vehicle...
How much such a warranty cost?
I personally have yet to see a car that isn't affected by acid rain or sunlight etching into the clearcoat, so unless you plan on repainting your car every year, the outside protection is just a simply a glorified wax job once.
The interior however is nice to have as they will cover most all types of damage and something is likely to happen eventually. You make the call. I had a customer spill oil from his mower on the leather of his Bravada after it leaked out on the fold down seats and pooled between them while they were folded down. After two visits and no success at removing the stain, the warranty covered the replacement of his entire rear seat cover. Money well spent. Don't spend more than say $300 or so on them.
After this trip to Chicago I realized that its really hard to remove bugs off the front - even after a car wash those bugs r still there - and I do have a light colored interior
Thanks!
Also, the owner's manual says in the "Break in" section that you shouldn't change oil during the break-in period. What's the rationale behind that? Can I add oil, then? Thanks.
Have a shop use a rubber tipped blow gun with compressed air and blow them out.
Please review the old posts rather than going through this again.
It's a 2003 Accord 4 cylinder. I currently change my oil+filter about every 4000 miles. I use a good grade 100% synthetic and average filter (may switch to a better filter). Some oil changes I have done in as little as 3000 miles, once as far apart as 10000 miles. In all cases the oil seems dark brown (10,000 miles it was black, very stupid I know!).
Generally on the dip stick it is clean but when it comes time to change, it looks very dark.
I guess I was thinking new engine, clean oil but I must be off base.
If this was directed @ me then my apologies. I tend to read as many posts as possible before asking the question (I reviewed EVERY Kia Sorento post when I was considering that vehicle). But this time I did not. If it is a dead subject then so be it.
The first time it was changed around 70 or 75 K miles. Now the car has around 145 K. Should the timing belt be changed --along with the water pump. Many thanks.
It is true that oil & filters are cheap moneywise, but I'm also concerned about both the environmental aspect & giving extra dollars for foreign oil. If Honda says it is safe to go 5k miles between oil changes (for severe schedule), then I see no sense in giving extra money to the oil companies & trashing extra filters in our landfills. 5k mile changes vs. 3k mile changes equal almost half the oilchanges over 60k miles. Multiply that by the number of cars out there & it really adds up.
P.S. Sorry to sound like a tree hugger.
I had the timing belt replaced on my 89 Accord at 94K and 185K. Both times, the belts still looked good.
Thanks
Thanks for your cooperation!
Occasionally when opening the driver side door of my 2003 EX V6, I will hear a brief chime noise (like when you leave headlights on) but only for 1/2 a second. It always goes away even before i close the door and get in. The dealer could not figure out my "complaint" but there is a logical explanation for this.
Anybody care to guess?
http://www.thecomplaintstation.com/cgi-bin/datacgi/database.cgi?f- ile=Forum&report=Subtopic&SubtopicID=00048992&firstre- cord=0&finalrecord=14
I took the car in yesterday about the transmission problem. Last weekend it really started acting up and then at one point quit on me all together. The dealer told me it would cost $3,800 to get it fixed. I spent the rest of the day and half the night on the internet finding out if I was alone in this. I am not and it is a major problem. Make sure any of your friends that own Honda Accords or Acura's call in thier car to NHTSA and file a complaint @ 1 (888) 327 4236 if she even thinks she has a hint of a problem (you will need your vehicle VIN #.) Also report it to the dealer ASAP if there is a problem. There have been over 250 complaints called in already to this number and this is only for the people that know about it. Because Honda will not tell you anything other then "oh there is no problem and if you have one it is just you and you will have to pay for it." In the same time Toyota had only 9 problems in 1999 and then zero ever since. I am waiting for 9:00AM to call the Honda Customer number now that I have more information. Regardless I would recommend that anyone who owns an Accord sell it or trade it in now, before it has a problem and is too late to unload it.
A great site for a complete list go to http://www.mycarstats.com/auto_Complaints/HONDA_Complaints.asp
The Accord transmission complaints are: for 1998 are 173, for 1999 are 117, for 2000 are 54, 2001 are 36, 2002 are 15. From the numbers you can see that the problem nearly doubles every year, but get this, for 2003 there are ALREADY 18 complaints! Keep in mind that these are only the most severe complaints that have yet to make it to the Federal Highway and Safety Dept, not the ones that Honda has covered up to date. I would also recommend that no one buy a Honda in the future. I made that mistake in 1999 after trading in my Camry and switching to Honda just because the Honda in their effort to gain market share over Toyota was discounting and $2,000 cheaper at the time. 4 years and 3 transmissions later I now realize my mistake. Tell your friends to be careful if they own one because there are some real stories out there of how these things have failed at the wrong time like mine did. You don't want to find out you have no power just after you pull out onto the highway knowing you have plenty of time and then realize not so, because there is no power coming from a defective transmission. I was just lucky to get it off the road in time.
Caution: Do not to buy a Honda Accord.
Thanks
As for recalls, Toyota is currently recalling about 120,000 current gen Camrys for defective side air bags, and Lexus is facing a transmission recall on some LS430s.
I'm not trying to claim that Honda doesn't have its share of problems... we all know that's not true. But to characterize Toyota as being a markedly higher quality or problem free solution is nothing more than an opinion that can easily be challenged. You can crucify any make or model based on anecdotal evidence.
Recent recalls notwithstanding, I still think that most people would place the quality of the typical Honda and Toyota on a par.
Thanks.