Honda Recall - No Car For 2 Months

Taylor1385

Can anyone advise please, My Honda Civic (67 plate) randomly died on November 2nd 2024 and we took it to Halford as we thought this might have been a minor issue, Halfords rang back and said they won't touch it without a reason and it needed to be a Honda specialist, long story short it has been booked in to Honda for a recall issue 9we were informed by Honda) since November 22nd (3 weeks after break down), I have been chasing up 3/4 time a week for an update up until Christmas to be told it hasn't gone on the ramps yet and until it does I can not have a courtesy car, get a call new years eve to be told it is has been on ramps it is the recalls fault and the parts have ordered and to contact customer service for a courtesy car, spoke to customer service who responded with an email stating we do not meet the criteria for a courtesy car! spoke to Honda Warrington again and the Honda insurance company have come back to them requesting more photos which even they thought was strange, I now can not get to work at all due to pathways being Icy and if I had a car I could get to work with the roads being gritted closely costing me my job now, how long can I be with out a vehicle with out any answers or information? Motor ombudsman not interested, Personal Insurance company not interested, Citizens advice not interested, no idea where to turn and am so frustrated with the situation as I think I should be, anyone's advice is welcomed. Thanks in advance

Mildly_Miffed

Basic rule for life: Why would you take a car to a very mediocre bicycle shop?

What's the recall for? Is it the 2020 fuel pump recall? Or is it something that's not a government-mandated safety recall?

So one particular Honda dealer had a month of workshop lead time in the run up to Xmas. A different dealer may have been able to attend to the car quicker.

They investigated the fault, determined it was recall-related, and the parts were ordered on NYE. Today is 10th Jan, seven working days later.

I'm not quite sure how it could be safe to drive but not to walk... Or, indeed, why you couldn't hire a car or get public transport rather than risk losing your job is Honda's fault.

Honda's responsibility is to replace the faulty parts on the seven year old car for free. They're doing that. They do not have any onus to provide a loan car, although one may be customer goodwill. However, if you'd been taking the car to them for servicing, they would have undoubtedly picked the recall up before it failed.

Taylor1385

Halfords also deal with cars!

The recall was the timing belt teeth are missing, so timing belt and head gasket were supposed to be ordered but haven't as the insurance company want more photos which Warrington thought was strange. 

It is safer to drive as the roads are gritted, pathways are solid ice and I have slipped and slided my way in today for the first time this week, attempted all week to get off estate and I am not walking/biking on the roads. My works isn't accessible via public transport neither!

Mildly_Miffed

OK, so it's not officially a safety recall, hence not showing on the government recall list.

I'm presuming this is the wet belt 1.0...? The recall seems to have gone out around mid-late December - after your issues started - which would explain a parts backlog.

Looks like there's been a recommended five year belt change interval for a couple of years now. What does your car's documentation give for an interval?

As ever with wet belts, the key to life is being scrupulous about oil change intervals and using the absolute correct oil. Do you have that documented in the car's history, even if it is outside the dealer chain?

Once a wet belt goes, the issue is that even if there's no damage from interference (pistons meeting valves), you have issues with debris blocking oil pickup, so the dealer fix is likely to be a new engine.

If you have that proof of history, you may get a goodwill gesture from Honda.

facade

Mildly_Miffed said:

<snip>

I'm not quite sure how it could be safe to drive but not to walk... Or, indeed, why you couldn't hire a car or get public transport rather than risk losing your job is Honda's fault.
<snip>

Those of us who don't live in The Only Part Of The Country That Matters To Our Masters have to put up with the pavements being a sheet of ice while the roads are gritted.

Not helped by the cut price pavement surfaces and wicked slopes in some places either!

(I get that simply gritting the pavement isn't a magic bullet, but it would help a little when the Sun comes out)

 

Mildly_Miffed

facade said:

Mildly_Miffed said:

<snip>

I'm not quite sure how it could be safe to drive but not to walk... Or, indeed, why you couldn't hire a car or get public transport rather than risk losing your job is Honda's fault.
<snip>

Those of us who don't live in The Only Part Of The Country That Matters To Our Masters have to put up with the pavements being a sheet of ice while the roads are gritted.

Round here, quite a long way from the place you imply, the question is more one of what's a pavement?

The right footwear goes a long way to walking on frosty surfaces.

But this is all a bit academic, since it's still not Honda's responsibility to arrange alternatives.

born_again

Taylor1385 said:

Halfords also deal with cars!

The recall was the timing belt teeth are missing, so timing belt and head gasket were supposed to be ordered but haven't as the insurance company want more photos which Warrington thought was strange. 

It is safer to drive as the roads are gritted, pathways are solid ice and I have slipped and slided my way in today for the first time this week, attempted all week to get off estate and I am not walking/biking on the roads. My works isn't accessible via public transport neither!

Strange, as what would a ins co have to do with a recall?

8 year old car. 

So when was the recall done that has failed?

UniDebtStudent

Unfortunately they don't have to supply a loan car afaik, however, the Honda should be part of a franchise dealer group? In which case, complain with Honda HQ (the Manufacturer) that the recall is taking too long - they will send a complaint into the franchise dealer that own that Honda site and that should send a rocket. I know you said you spoke to customer service but call back and ask for someone senior, escalate as far as you can.

At the same time escalate the complaint beyond the Service/Aftersales Manager at that Honda site, so ask for Dealer Principal>Regional After Sales Manager>Franchise Director. They might send the car to a different site to get worked on faster, or overnight the Parts in, or if they think it will be a lot longer then they might now offer a loan car out of goodwill but they're not obliged to, so I would focus your complaint on the getting the car fixed quicker.

Northern_Wanderer

Very unlucky to have the only Civic model with a timing belt. Honda rarley use timing belts, mostly uses chains. But I hope you get the resolved quickly.

Mildly_Miffed

UniDebtStudent said:

Unfortunately they don't have to supply a loan car afaik, however, the Honda should be part of a franchise dealer group?

The OP says "Honda Warrington", which is a Holdcroft dealer.

https://www.holdcroft.com/contact-us/honda-warrington

If this particular dealer isn't doing what the OP wants, then there's four other Honda dealers within 20 miles of Warrington, and another five within another 15 miles.
https://www.honda.co.uk/cars/find-a-dealer.html#search?query=warrington

born_again

But OP would now have the expense of getting car transported to the new location & a possible bill from current location for the work already done.