advice wanted... honda

miss4288

I own a honda civic 1.7 cdti 54 plate. After receving a letter off lightcliffe honda liverpool recomending i get a cam belt replaced. So i did just that. i have always used honda to look after my car with services ect, so on 4/8/11 with the mileage at approx 60,000 the cam belt was replaced. Then on the 21/10/11 while driving along, with no warning the cam belt snapped, i got intouch with honda as i thought this would have been covered with them just doing this. Honda refused to honour the guarantee because they said the tensioner has ceased causing the belt to snap, they never recommended at the time i should get the tensioner replaced as well. So i had no option but to agree to pay the £1.025 for repairs. But after a very long 7weeks and 3days of waiting round they informed me that the bottom of the engine needed a re-build, total cost £2.500!! do you think they are in the right? and if not is there any action you could recomened? I contacted honda customer care just after it snapped and they got back to me after a week and they just agreed with the garage.

rodenal

Get the car away from Honda as soon as you can, you'll be able to pick up and get a replacement engine fitted for far, far less than £2.5k, I would say closer to a grand, max (admittedly without checking the cost of a good unit). They should also not be charging you the £1k quoted for a top end rebuild as they clearly haven't done that either, though they will have done some work so it won't be free.

With regards to the cambelt snapping, do you have a detailed engineers report stating that the reason for it going was / was not the tensioner? Also do you have anything in writing advising you to change the cam belt only and not tensioners / waterpump at the same time? What does your service book say about cambelt change and does it mention anything else? If you have no written evidence I feel this is where any claim may become unstuck, though it sounds like they've lead you down a merry path if changing everything else was not recommended at the same time.

I should mention that my experience of my local honda dealer has been a good one despite the astronomical labour charges- have only ever used them for recalls and parts but they have been especially helpful

jaydeeuk1

What place changes a cambelt without doing the tensioner too? Probably costs pennies! They should have recommended it get done.

So you've got full honda service history, and they won't do squat about it? get on to head office! They'll probably offer to go 50/50, but their costs are double than what a independant garage would charge any way.

'Fraid you look a bit stuffed on this one.

AlexisV

What place changes a cambelt without doing the tensioner too?

Yes, worth getting a second written opinion and presenting it to Honda head office. The tensioner may be integral to the cambelt change - they may have been negligent in their repair by doing half the job. What is the mileage recommendation on the tensioner? Presumably the same as the belt.

Consider the example of an item being changed, but new screws weren't used and the old, existing ones were reused. The repair could be seen as negligent if such a job would have obviously required new screws, but they were not replaced and failed. The Sales of Goods Act states that repairs must be "provided with reasonable skill and care."

It all boils down to whether the tensioner should be replaced to fit the requirement in the Act.

Get an expert's written opinion and if it turns out to be so, put it in writing to head office and quote the Sales of Goods Act. Dependant on what an expert says, they may be liable for the full repair cost, not even a 50:50 job. Ultimately, small claims court may be your answer. You would also be able to claim reasonable expenses occurred, such as the cost of a hire car.

Talk to your local garage and see what they say. If they agree they have been negligent, see if they'll put it on headed paper for £20.

Ultimately, *if* Honda dragged their heels *and* a mechanic agreed they were negligent *and* it went to small claims court, I'd recommend paying him £100 to sit with you in court as an expert witness.

forgotmyname

Recorded delivery letter, Formal complaint. Or letter before action.

State they contacted you regarding the timing belt being due and failed to change all the necessary parts.

jackieb

I found this post and it appears that they think that the tensioner would be replaced if you're getting the timing belt done - and this is at a mains Honda dealer.

http://www.hondacivicforum.co.uk/viewtopic.php?f=32&t=32066

fivetide

jaydeeuk1 wrote: »

What place changes a cambelt without doing the tensioner too? Probably costs pennies! They should have recommended it get done.

disagree. I was quite happy when I took my Subaru to the main dealer for the cambelt and they saved me £150 by not replacing the tensioners.

They checked them and said they'd be fine, some need them, some don't mine were fine and they guaranteed their work.

The Honda garage should have done the same.

5t.

atrixblue.-MFR-.

what does your honda service book recommend or state is changed on a main dealer belt change? if it states 60K majour service belt tensioner water pump then honda hasnt honoured the schedule not you. they contected you to remind you of the cambelt service shedule for all you knew you were paying for the majour service to wich the manufacturers specifications were expected.

i

useless_git_requires_wife

Official complaint. Definitely.

C_Mababejive

That sounds poor to me..check service schedule..>complaint>legal action>>

jase1

Seems quite a lot of main dealer networks don't bother with the tensioners/water pumps -- including, regrettably, Chevrolet/Daewoo despite some of their engines having a known problem with plastic tensioners that was inherited from Vauxhall.

My Mitsu was done belt-only at 55k. The tensioner ran to 110k but I was damned if I was going to listen to the main dealer again who said it wasn't necessary as the tensioner was designed to "last the lifetime of the engine". Yeah right, I suppose that's the case if you consider the 'lifetime' to be 100k.