Honda civic engine has gone! now what?

prettyandfluffy

Dig out the paperwork for your purchase and see what warranty was in place when you bought the car.

ZIGGYBOO

WellKnownSid said:

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?

last December I told Honda that my civic had a judder feeling and when you got faster it would go, also I noticed the fuel wasn't lasting as long and if if took my foot off the accelerator, the car would slow down quicker than normal.
They said it needed a coil pack thing, so they did that and that improved the slow down part and the judder wasn't as bad although intermittingly still present.  When I took my car in for service few months ago, I did tell them there is still a problem with acceleration but its not all the time!  They didn't find anything, then it went in for MOT last month & mentioned it again, they didn't find or do anything and the guy said they would have to keep the car in for a week because I said, it was intermittent!  Car passed MOT, and few day later set off for holiday in the car, at 3 quarters of the journey (70 miles) the acceleration was so bad I had to drop down a gear and a warning light with a oil can & wavy line underneath came on dash.  I looked this up in manual & it said check oil and top up if needed.  There was oil on the stick but I topped up some.  Managed to get there and didnt drive car during holiday as didnt trust it and was just going to use it to get home, luckily it made it home with no warning lights but it was obvious the performance of the car was not right!  next day its gone into Honda, then told its fuel injector gone, then few days later when its been replaced, I'm told its still got problem and now needs new engine block because the fuel injector has leaked into a cylinder and has now knackered the engine block & what would have cost near £4000 has now turned into nearly £9000, & I complained at the previous price to Honda complaints online.  They said because I was out of warranty, they couldn't contribute anything!  My Honda service dept have however have said they will do a goodwill gesture of taking off £3000 off the £9000, so nearly £6000!  Basically I've been told by a friend who knows about motors & the industry that Honda have misdiagnosed the problem I told them and if the car had been fixed correctly then this wouldn't have happened.  From my point of view (someone who is not mechanically minded), why is my 2018 car knackered after not even 33,000 miles & serviced every year by Honda?  It just doesn't make sense to me!  My car is still at Honda, I've not authorised engine replacement as am taking advice.  I've been using my Mrs car when I can.

mgfvvc

Do you have motor legal expenses insurance? If so will they help?

If not, Google finds a number of specialist solicitors firms. I imagine they will offer a free initial consultation.

ZIGGYBOO

mgfvvc said:

Do you have motor legal expenses insurance? If so will they help?

If not, Google finds a number of specialist solicitors firms. I imagine they will offer a free initial consultation.

Yeah, I have motor legal insurance but I'm pretty sure that's only being involved in an accident etc.

Alanp

Do you have legal cover on your house insurance?, try them if you have..

WellKnownSid

ZIGGYBOO said:
...Basically I've been told by a friend who knows about motors & the industry that Honda have misdiagnosed the problem I told them and if the car had been fixed correctly then this wouldn't have happened...

It certainly seems that way - thanks, that was a useful piece of context.

First thing I would do - if you haven't already - is to get every piece of evidence together you can - records of emails, phone calls, all correspondence with the dealer, especially around the originally reported issues and everything in writing from them in response (what you reported, what they checked, what they changed).

I would second the legal cover angle - get your ducks in a row.  A quick Google suggests motor legal cover can include:

• contractual disputes: You could claim on the cover if you need to take legal action following a dispute with a car dealer or a garage over the purchase or repair of your car, for example

You will probably be offered a phone consultation initially which will talk you through the next steps e.g. letter before action.

sevenhills

ZIGGYBOO said:

Basically I've been told by a friend who knows about motors & the industry that Honda have misdiagnosed the problem I told them and if the car had been fixed correctly then this wouldn't have happened.  From my point of view (someone who is not mechanically minded), why is my 2018 car knackered after not even 33,000 miles & serviced every year by Honda?  It just doesn't make sense to me!  My car is still at Honda, I've not authorised engine replacement as am taking advice.  I've been using my Mrs car when I can.

Speak to your friend some more. He could be correct, but the car is 5 years old, if it hasn't got a 5-year guarantee then you won't get it fixed for free. Try to push them a little more, you have been unlucky.

A quick Google says the new Honda Civic has a 5-year or 90,000-mile warranty, yours is different I assume.

WellKnownSid

sevenhills said:

ZIGGYBOO said:

Basically I've been told by a friend who knows about motors & the industry that Honda have misdiagnosed the problem I told them and if the car had been fixed correctly then this wouldn't have happened.  From my point of view (someone who is not mechanically minded), why is my 2018 car knackered after not even 33,000 miles & serviced every year by Honda?  It just doesn't make sense to me!  My car is still at Honda, I've not authorised engine replacement as am taking advice.  I've been using my Mrs car when I can.

Speak to your friend some more. He could be correct, but the car is 5 years old, if it hasn't got a 5-year guarantee then you won't get it fixed for free. 

Left undiagnosed, you can write off a GDI engine in a few thousand miles in the right conditions.  If manufacturer-trained technicians cannot diagnose a critical situation in the manufacturer's own GDI engine, ultimately resulting in catastrophic failure, then either the technician or the engine was not fit for purpose.

chrisw

You need the dealer on your side, preferably the one who serviced it each year. I had a Volvo engine replaced at 5 years, 30k miles under goodwill following dealership pressure on Volvo UK. 

However, the most they would offer was 90% so I still ended up paying £1000 on a £10k bill. But could have been worse.

ZIGGYBOO

chrisw said:

However, the most they would offer was 90% so I still ended up paying £1000 on a £10k bill. But could have been worse.I

I'd probably accept that rather than going legal route if Honda gave me that choice!  How long ago was that?