Honda has really screwed me over and now I’m stuck ☹️

TT89

I took my car into Honda Edinburgh last Monday after receiving a letter regarding a recall of the passenger airbag. The letter stated the work would take approximately 1 hour. I waited five hours and was then informed that they needed a part they did not anticipate needing and would have to order it (apparently they don’t stock the parts to cover such contingencies). They said they didn’t have a courtesy car to give me, I asked if I could take the car and bring it back when they have the parts, and I was refused the keys to my own car. I explained I was now stranded 40 miles from home without a car to which I was offered a lift to the train station (I don’t live anywhere near a train station). We phoned Honda customer services to try and get a hire car authorised, but they refused stating we didn’t meet the criteria. Over a week later and my car is still at the garage because they are still waiting on this part. We were initially told it would take 3-4 days for the part to arrive, then when it didn’t arrive we were told it will take a few more days or possibly weeks. We all know they could get a courtesy car to us if they really wanted to. We live rurally so owning a car is essential but Honda just don’t care. I’ve never experienced such awful customer service in my lifetime. I am now having to fund a hire car out of my own pocket due to a manufacturing recall. Do I have any rights?

cymruchris

It's probably better to keep everything together on one thread than start another one:

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6433934/honda-has-really-screwed-me-over-and-now-i-m-stuck-%EF%B8%8F#latest

cymruchris

As above - as much as someone said 'they should have every part conceivable that could fail when replacing your recall component' I don't think that's practical. In order to remove an item, they may have to remove several other items, and if something gets damaged it might not be something that's on the shelf, and so they do have to order it in. The problem comes as you've found when that something isn't available overnight.

You're in a situation whereby during a job, your car has likely become undriveable, as they'll have started to strip it down to replace the part, found that they've broken something, and it may not go back together again until the new part is sourced. 

That of course isn't your fault - but things do break. You don't have automatic rights to a courtesy car provided by the garage - even when it's a garages fault. (Not all garages even have courtesy cars - although main dealers and bodyshops do tend to).

The motor ombudsman says this:

The garage will not give me a courtesy car. Do they have to?

There is no legal or Code obligation on any accredited business to give you a courtesy car. A courtesy car may be supplied as a discretionary service and, therefore, we would recommend contacting the accredited business to request a courtesy vehicle before booking your vehicle in for service or rectification work. Bear in mind that there may be a charge for the courtesy car, to cover the costs of insurance or fuel.

https://www.themotorombudsman.org/knowledge-base/the-garage-will-not-give-me-a-courtesy-car

Have they given you any options at all in terms of alternative transport? 

Have you tried contacting Honda central customer service to see whether your issue can be escalated or whether there's any additional advice they can offer?

https://www.honda.co.uk/cars/contact-us.html

tightauldgit

Car_54 said:

The “MOT failure” is a red herring, unless you’re due for an MOT.
They have no power to refuse to return your car.

If the car is unsafe to drive then being due for an MOT or not is neither here nor there, it would be illegal to use on the roads. 

If she used the car and had an accident then I'm sure she would be blaming the garage for letting her drive it in that condition. 

SpudGunPaul

tightauldgit said:

Car_54 said:

The “MOT failure” is a red herring, unless you’re due for an MOT.
They have no power to refuse to return your car.

If the car is unsafe to drive then being due for an MOT or not is neither here nor there, it would be illegal to use on the roads. 

If she used the car and had an accident then I'm sure she would be blaming the garage for letting her drive it in that condition. 

Safe or not they have no legal power to keep the car. 

SpudGunPaul

TT89 said:

Car_54 said:

The “MOT failure” is a red herring, unless you’re due for an MOT.
They have no power to refuse to return your car.

No it’s not due it’s MOT until October. Would it be worth phoning the police? Sounds extreme, I know but it’s technically theft as I’ve asked for my keys back. 

No, it's a civil matter and the elements of theft haven been met. 

Mildly_Miffed

This is going to be the global Takata airbag recall, nearly 70 million cars worldwide, including 1.7 million in the UK.

In the event of a collision, the airbag can go off with too much force, with bits of metal flying around the cabin. Shrapnel, basically.

https://www.honda.co.uk/cars/owners/airbag-recall.html

I suspect the reason the dealer won't give you the car back is that the interior is part-dismantled to get to the airbags.

Herzlos

TT89 said:

• Phoned Honda customer services to try and get a hire car (Honda Edinburgh advised this), but they told us no because we didn’t meet the criteria. 

What was the criteria you didn't meet?

What is the part that you're waiting on? What was the failure?

I think you're stuck in a pretty unfortunately situation that doesn't quite fit any of the pigeon holes. You took the car in for a 1 hour warranty job so didn't book a courtesy car, and then something else broke that seems to leave the vehicle unsafe/unusable, but we don't know if that would have broken anyway or if it was caused by the warranty work.
Since the car is stuck in Edinburgh awaiting a part that's not related to the warranty work, Honda don't want to provide a courtesy car and the garage don't have one available because they are usually all booked up weeks in advance (they can't maintain a fleet big enough for every customer they have).

In the mean time you're stuck.  You're in more or less the same position if this thing had failed anyway.

I think if you can afford to do so, it's probably best for you to have arranged a hire car independently and then sent the bill to Honda, arguing that their recall is why you're without a car, but they could fight it for months.

I've been caught out before with quick recall jobs that take all day (because whilst it's booked in at, say, 10am there's no mechanic waiting for it and it just goes into the queue for the day), so I don't take the car into a main dealer at all unless a courtesy car is available.