advice wanted... honda

jackieb

My son has a Civic and puts it in to the Honda main dealer for it's services. I asked him if he'd had his done but he says he doesn't have a belt - he has a chain. But he had also assumed that the tensioners would have been at least recommended to have been changed at the same time as the belt. If you'd have said no then it would've been on your own head, but to not even suggest it to you seems wrong.

BlastRedeye

Costs are probably high here because that engine is made by Isuzu and not Honda.

As per others here get a second opinion.

rodenal

jackieb wrote: »

My son has a Civic and puts it in to the Honda main dealer for it's services. I asked him if he'd had his done but he says he doesn't have a belt - he has a chain. But he had also assumed that the tensioners would have been at least recommended to have been changed at the same time as the belt. If you'd have said no then it would've been on your own head, but to not even suggest it to you seems wrong.

That's correct the 2.2 (which I have in mine) is a chain, but the old 1.7 isuzu unit is belt driven

miss4288

thanks guys, its my dad who owns the car. just trying to get some advice for him as its a lot of money for him to pay out. feel really sorry for him

almillar

your dad should do what forgotmyname says - if it has a full Honda service history, and especially if it's all at the same garage, they are responsible for the correct maintenance schedule for the car, and shouldn't have skipped the tensioner unless your dad told them to. If it (the tensioner) wasn't due a change according to Honda's schedule, then the part (the tensioner) is faulty and you may have a claim against the manufacturer.

Road_Hog

miss4288 wrote: »

thanks guys, its my dad who owns the car. just trying to get some advice for him as its a lot of money for him to pay out. feel really sorry for him

Okay, a few things, some people are getting a bit excited here.

Right, my credentials for replying, 20 years previously working for Honda (UK) (head office, not dealer), half of which was as an area manager, but not in the car division.

What some people are forgetting is that the car is 7 years old. Sorry people, but any letter before action, threatening head office will be laughed at. This isn't some car that is a couple of days outside its warranty period. Secondly, the contract is with the dealer not Honda (UK), so only the dealer can be taken to court.

Right, now we're back to normality, what are the options. Just to confirm what has already been said, the 1.7 diesel is an Isuzu unit, as opposed to Honda's own unit, the 2.2. Not that it makes a difference they're both decent engines, although the 2.2 is a newer design unit.

My course of action would be a letter to Honda, politely (everyone likes being spoken to nicely) explaining the situation and asking for a goodwill contribution. That is the best you can hope for. At the same time I would write to the dealer, explaining the situation and asking for them to contact Honda for a goodwill contribution and also asking them for a contribution to the labour costs.

I would follow this up with a firm but polite phonecall. Make sure you have all the facts to hand and leave any emotion out of the phonecall. If you get anything, even a small percentage, then you have had a result.

Once again, for all those saying go to court, let me remind you, the car is 7 years old. No small claims court judge in the world is going to find against Honda, because A) it is so far out of warranty as to be laughable, the contract is not with Honda, it is with the dealer.

You could take the dealer to court, but all they did was tell you that the cambelt needed changing and they changed it. I can't remember the service schedule, but I believe a cambelt should be changed before 7 years, even if your mileage is low.

AlexisV

I think you're missing the point - this is all about the quality of the repair. It doesn't matter if the car is 7 or 70 years old - if you make a repair inadequately and it fails and/or damages other parts as a result, the company who carried out the work could be potentially liable. The warranty is irrelevant.

I don't know if the tensioner shouldn't have been replaced at the same time, or whether it would be a massive cockup for a mechanic not to do so. I'm not a mechanic. Nobody has answered this question adequately. Saying "all they did was tell you that the cambelt needed changing and they changed it" doesn't take into account how the process is, or should be done. By that reasoning, no repair could ever be substandard.

I don't know if they did anything wrong. You're assuming they did do nothing wrong.

Thanks for the dealer / Honda relationship - that is useful information. In which case the OP should only deal with the dealer.

All I'm saying is the the OP should get the facts straight first.

thescouselander

I'm not sure I buy the dealers excuse. Its rare for bearings to fail so suddenly and spectacularly under normal operation. They would usually go noisy or start to develop play initially and this should have been noticed when changing the belt. Its not like this is a high milage car either. Something seems odd to me.

I'm not sure how the tensioner works on the engine in question but the mode of failure sounds like the belt could have been over tightened (although this might not be the case if the tensioner is automatically adjusting).

Its probably worth getting an expert (a Mechanical Engineer, not a Mechanic) to look over it to get a better idea where you stand. There are various companies that specialise in bearing failure analysis - I suggest sending the failed tensioner to one of these companies to get an idea of what caused the failure.

Road_Hog

AlexisV wrote: »

I think you're missing the point - this is all about the quality of the repair. You're assuming they did do nothing wrong.

I'm not missing the point. I'm pointing out the likelihood of a successful court case, as opposed to getting something back from Honda/dealer.

Small claims court is cheap, by all means give it a go, but if you do, you'll lose any chance of a goodwill gesture. So my advice is try that route first.

I'm not assuming anything that the dealer did, I'm merely pointing out the practicalities.

I'm just trying to counteract the many posters that say, yeah, go for them. For whom have no experience or understanding of the business world or legalities. How many thought (in this thread) that they could go after Honda, despite the fact that the car is 7 years old and the repair was carried out by the dealer, not Honda?

BTW, just for clarity, I'm not siding with my old employer, I'm completely impartial, but just trying to give some common sense advice.

cyclonebri1

Should have bought a Renault in the 1st place



(Off to hide right now):rotfl::rotfl::rotfl:

Sorry OP, not aimed at you in particular.