Honda civic engine has gone! now what?

ZIGGYBOO

I bought brand new Honda Civic in 2018, it's been serviced every year by Honda and has less than 33,000 miles.  I've been told the engine block needs replacing at a cost of near £9000!  Now I don't mind paying for your typical repair costs when owning a car but surely, this is a joke!  Surely the company has to take some sort of responsibility for selling a car which is way under mileage has a full service by them?  As it's out of warranty, they don't care!  If I'd handed the car back ( instead of paying it off & owning it), then someone else would have had this problem!  Surely the consumer rights act & the law are in my favour right?

RogerPensionGuy

Why does it need a new engine block?

TadleyBaggie

I'm guessing you didn't actually buy the car from Honda, but rather from a dealer? Then any consumer rights you have are with whomever you bought it from, which may not have a direct connection with the manufacturer.

At 5 years old, you are going to prove that the fault is "inherent", i.e. the fault was present when it was manufactured. So have you spoken the dealer you bought it from?

ZIGGYBOO

I bought it from Honda dealership.  Apparently a faulty fuel injector has knackered the engine block & needs replacing!  I'm not mechanically minded at all but from my point of view, a car this young with such low mileage should not be in this situation.

TadleyBaggie

A Honda dealership may just be using the "Honda" brand name without actually being part of the Honda company itself. So have you spoken to the actual dealer you bought it from, your consumer rights probably lie solely with them?

Being low milage isn't necessarily a good thing for cars.

WellKnownSid

Most manufacturers will consider some kind of good will - but you'll need to speak with the dealer and Honda directly about this.  Expect to be having lots of conversations because ultimately you or your dealer will need to find someone in Honda UK willing to sign-off on a £9,000 repair...   A full unblemished service history and how much out of warranty you are + several other factors will determine how generous they may or may not want to be.

Engines do fail all the time - direct injection / turbo petrol engines that are doing short runs can be particularly prone to issues because they never properly warm up.

ZIGGYBOO

They have offered a goodwill gesture but it's still in the £1000s & I without doubt, will not be paying that!  All my other cars have been 2nd hand & owned longer than 5 years & all with much higher mileage.  It's really poor from Honda, I don't mind paying up to a reasonable amount but not into the £1000s!

WellKnownSid

1. What led to the diagnosis?  Did the car blow up at the side of the motorway and need to be recovered, did you take it to the dealer with a light on, were you just taking it in for a normal service?  Some context would be useful.
2. Have you spoken to Honda UK or just your dealer?
3. Was the dealer your original supplying dealer?
4. Was that goodwill their first offer or their final word on the matter?
5. Do you have the goodwill offer in writing?
6. Where is the car now?
7. What are you driving?
8. What exactly was the offer because you said it was going to cost you £9,000 at the start and now you're saying you're paying 'into the £1000s' which could mean £1,001?

daveyjp

Any dealer will always have a 'fit a new one rather than repair' policy because it is far easier.
.
They simply don't have the staff with time to strip down an engine, diagnose the fault properly and refit it.  They will also provide a warranty for a new engine.

I'd press hard fro a contribution and if none is forthcoming get it repaired as it will be far cheaper.

WellKnownSid

daveyjp said:

They simply don't have the staff with time to strip down an engine, diagnose the fault properly and refit it.  They will also provide a warranty for a new engine.

My son strips engines almost every week.  Doubtful a manufacturer will authorise a contribution towards a new engine without at least a partial tear down and confirmed diagnosis.  Plus all the ancillaries will need to be removed and re-used.

Alanp

I just recently got rid of my ford puma, it was just within its three year warranty period when I took it back to the dealer for a strange engine noise, they decided to replace the complete engine with a brand new one as it was cheaper, and they couldn’t give a date as to when the parts would be available, it was only warranted to the end of the initial warranty, i got rid last June for a new Toyota, it does seem strange that the engine in a Honda has gone as these are usually very reliable if looked after correctly, I think the op needs to tell us what the goodwill offer is regarding replacement,