Think 4-5 faults for a new car is pretty bad? try TWENTY-SEVEN

Since delivery, my 2006 Honda Civic has been a ridiculously problematic example of quality control gone wrong, topped with the worst service I have ever seen.

At the time of delivery, there were only 3 problems, however by the first 1000km service there were 9 in total. By the 1 year service, this number had increased to 20, and unbelievably, since then (barely over a month ago) it has increased to 27.

Some of the faults include a faulty engine mount, a rattling passenger's airbag, and an unstable / rattling front passenger's seat. I have also had parts fall off the car onto the road on numerous occasions.

I sought the services of two dealers, the one from which I purchased the vehicle (Hornsby Honda), and another one which is the supposed to be one of the best Honda dealers in Sydney (Scott's Honda Artarmon). After hopelessly dealing with a number of lower-ranked incompetent members of Honda service staff, I've worked my way up to one of the 3 district managers currently managing in Sydney (Tony Martin).

Advice from friends in a different forum said that the best way to initiate action is to get the state/region manager involved. In my case, this was hardly true at all. Not only was he extremely rude and disrespectful, but he also interrupted me several times, refusing to listen to what I had to say on each of the 27 problems I had in my car. He gave a large impression that he was short on time, which is funny because I was made to wait for over an hour after arriving at the dealer at the confirmed meeting time.

I also attempted to show him the results of the research I did, showing how american customers and their dealers have fixed the same problems with their civics. This would have been at least a little helpful (it was in a step by step format, published by Honda America) but he fobbed me off, stating that they were irrelevant.

Here is a list of the problems with the car:

At delivery:
• Creaking boot lid
• Grease stain on rear seat
• Driver’s door reluctant to close

By first 1000km service:
• Brake pedal noise
• Rattles from both front doors
• Rattle from sunroof when closed from tilt position
• Metallic rattling sound from NSF
• 1 exhaust finisher fell off
• Rattle from instrument cluster

By 1 year service:
• Rattle from centre console rear storage box
• Centre console rubber stopper discovered missing
• Plastic wrap material protruding from sides of doors
• Plastic packaging string found loosely attached to undersides of front seats
• 2 exhaust finishers fell off
• Boot lid trim recall item
• Discovered rust and sound protection not applied to front wheel wells as advertised at time of sale
• Loud 19th-century kettle whistling noise from front demister
• High-pitched whirring noise from engine bay
• Metal clanging sound from right hand side of engine bay
• Hard tapping sound from front passenger’s seat
• Rattle from passenger-side front airbag

Since 1 year service (6 weeks ago!):
• Air vent control coming apart
• Loud rattle from front-left of cabin
• Passenger’s front door sill trim separating at the rear
• Thumping noises from rear shock absorbers at low speeds
• Ticking noise from front passenger seat
• Centre console storage box lid rattling
• Wind noise form gap in both front weather-strips

What kind of joke is this, seriously? I know for a value-oriented car, some problems are to be expected, but this is off the chart. I dare not even touch the window controls because I know other forum members have had problems with the windows literally popping out of the car.

At the moment the car is in for service at Scott's Honda Artarmon under supervision of the service manager Jason Caswell. I will be highly interested in the outcome of this service.

Get a bmw. If you buy a top of the line $$$ car then you expect it to be right. You got a civic expecting it to be of a bmw standard. some of the above problems are just petty imo.

the civics do have a few issues but not that many! Yeah a couple things are pretty petty like the boot lid recall ? Are you complaining about getting a boot lid carpet fitted? And the plastic shit is easy fix. Good luck fixing all of those problems.

holy crap heard fd's had problems but didnt know was this bad.. bl man
complain to the dealer, tell em u want to swap a car lol??

a large % of your grievances are related to sound.

1.) considering that you took apart your car to sound proof it, is it possible that some of the problems could be related/caused by that process?

2.) is there a possibility that your sound proofing could have magnified the drone/rattle which would not be apparent or is acceptable in a normal vehicle?

3.) do u think u have a higher than average standard as compared to others?
are you being pedantic over minor issues which are not predominantly safety related?

4.) how high is the mileage n has the car been driven on normal roads? coz mileage and the way you drive/conditions you put the car through is a bigger factor than how old the car is in relation to the problems.

just my humble opinions. no beef with you nor an ardent supporter of honda.

i'll be honest, one thing that i'm tired of is people telling me that i shouldn't expect bmw/lexus/mercedes standard quality from my car. I'M NOT. the standard i'm expecting is in line with a hyundai getz, holden astra, and toyota corolla, all of which i've previously owned. all of those cars were cheaper than this one, and didn't have anywhere near as many problems.

problems being petty or not is irrelevant. the reason i bought a new car is so that i didn't have any problems, major or minor. as a buyer of a new car i have a right to expect that the car i receive is of satisfactory quality, and if there are any problems, for them to be fixed under warranty service. for me at least, honda has come through on neither of these fronts.

godamit: i appreciate ur opinions. answers to your questions...

1) No. all of the problems are coming from areas i haven't touched. the only correlation would be the door rattles and centre console rattles, both of which i was able to fix with foam/dynamat.

2) i've used 2 types of soundproofing, dynamat and foam. the foam wouldn't have magnified any rattles, but there is a small possibility the dynamat could have lowered the resonant frequencies of all the panels to the same low frequency, possibly causing some kind of rattle... however i sincerely doubt that this is the case. (interesting concept though; is there any way to test this?)

3) no. i expect the standard of a hyundai getz (my previous car.) this car doesn't even come close to that standard. re being pedantic, i have every right to be pedantic, as does every other new car owner.

4) the mileage is under 18k km's, and the daily drive is the usual slow bumper-to-bumper crawl on typical sydney metro roads. i don't drive fast, and like my car to be as quiet and as comfortable as it can be.

Damn, thats not a lemon, its a rotten lemon. The only problem I had was the drivers window wouldnt auto close occasionally. Luck of the draw or the QA management at the factory were half asleep

me my bro and sis have all had hondas between us, never ever had any problems with them (but we all have had EK, EG, EM's). guess the new ones are shithouse, i feel for ya

Weren't you the one who pulled off every panel to dynamat your Civic? If so, then all the loose trim/rattles at the areas that you removed could have been caused by that.

BTW, warranty doesn't cover rattles.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by aaronng

Weren't you the one who pulled off every panel to dynamat your Civic? If so, then all the loose trim/rattles at the areas that you removed could have been caused by that.

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i've already answered this above; the answer is no, the current rattles were not caused by me.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by aaronng

BTW, warranty doesn't cover rattles.

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both dealers i've been to treat them as warranty issues; perhaps this is their goodwill at work? mind you they rarely actually do anything about them.

u got screwed over badly mate, jus unfortunate that that particular car and they way honda dealt with it has been so poor. :(

jus get rid of it and go buy a mazda or sumthin with better build quality :)

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Originally Posted by chylld

both dealers i've been to treat them as warranty issues; perhaps this is their goodwill at work? mind you they rarely actually do anything about them.

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It's goodwill. In your servicing and warranty booklet, it's stated explicitly that the warranty does not cover rattles. So any repairs that are carried out by your dealer with regards to rattles are not reimbursed by Honda Australia.
I went through my booklets and I can't find where it said, so eventhough I remember reading it somewhere. Well, for now I retract my statement until I can find where I read that rattles were not covered.

BTW, my friend's Civic Sport doesn't have the rattles that you describe, hasn't lost any trim parts and the driver door closes fine. If you have a lemon, then it is not representative that the made in Thailand Civic is inferior in quality (build quality and quality control). You need high number of failures across a large number of owners before you the model will be considered by HA to have a legitimate problem. Even the very common engine block problems in the SS blocks in the VX gen was not acknowledged by Holden as a legitimate defect.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by chylld

I sought the services of two dealers, the one from which I purchased the vehicle (Hornsby Honda), and another one which is the supposed to be one of the best Honda dealers in Sydney (Scott's Honda Artarmon). After hopelessly dealing with a number of lower-ranked incompetent members of Honda service staff, I've worked my way up to one of the 3 district managers currently managing in Sydney (Tony Martin).

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Hornsby Honda is a terrible place and the people are terrible too.
I can never get any service including when I was considering a Type S, they completely ignored me and gave me excuses around test driving the car.

:thumbdwn:

Anyway, I would now not buy any of the new Hondas, none of them are worth the money.

I'll stick to my old pretty EG Civic, when Honda's were real Honda's ...:zip:

Quote:

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Originally Posted by aaronng

BTW, my friend's Civic Sport doesn't have the rattles that you describe, hasn't lost any trim parts and the driver door closes fine. If you have a lemon, then it is not representative that the made in Thailand Civic is inferior in quality (build quality and quality control). You need high number of failures across a large number of owners before you the model will be considered by HA to have a legitimate problem. Even the very common engine block problems in the SS blocks in the VX gen was not acknowledged by Holden as a legitimate defect.

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that is true... no amount of complaining on my part will change the fact that i am only one customer. i never have and never will try to convince people that the problem applies to all honda civics, because it doesn't. the purpose of this thread is to say that my particular car has many faults, i am unhappy about it and honda australia is sitting on its arse about it.

a precedent has been set though - one of my friends just found out about another friend who, after having the same problem 9 times with his honda, managed to get a full replacement. i'll be following up on that lead with keen interest :)

in reality the only gain i can get is that replacement. whether or not i get the replacement, i'll probably be selling the car off, or possibly even trading it in at the same service centre where they'll be unable to reduce the value of my trade-in because it rattles. (i wouldn't be surprised if they find rattles while doing a valuation on my car!)

Sell the car as you certainly haven't had an experience that lives up to your expectations. But in all honesty I think you have high expectations guaging by what you are saying is a "fault". For example - finding a plastic string under your seat is a fault?

The sounds from the engine bay - what was the actual fault identified by the dealership? When you say you had a metal clanging sound or a high pitched noise in the engine bay - what was the problem identified? Sometimes very normal vehicle operation can cause strange noises for people who are not familiar with them - such as ABS being triggered (you may not even notice this happening) or a stone caught in your brakes. And were these noises something that only happened once and then never happened again?

Thumps from the shock absorbers - how often does that happen? I have never driven a car that hasn't had some noise from the suspension on occassion when going over a rough road or when the car hits a pot hole.

I would like to suggest you get a Euro which is a very well put together car - but I don't think you would be happy with that either guaging by what you say is a "fault".

Quote:

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Originally Posted by yfin

The sounds from the engine bay - what was the actual fault identified by the dealership? When you say you had a metal clanging sound or a high pitched noise in the engine bay - what was the problem identified? ... And were these noises something that only happened once and then never happened again?

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the dealership hasn't identified the noises yet. american dealerships however have identified the metal clanging noise as a faulty right engine mount, and the high pitched noise as a faulty timing belt. the technical service bulletin numbers for these problems are 06-060 and 06-059 respectively. both noises occur on a consistent basis.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by yfin

Thumps from the shock absorbers - how often does that happen? I have never driven a car that hasn't had some noise from the suspension on occassion when going over a rough road or when the car hits a pot hole.

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this happens once in every two or three times i reverse into my garage. to cause the problem, i reverse into my garage very slowly, the rear wheels go in, the front wheels go in, and while my car is on level ground, before the car stops, i hear a "THUMP" from the rear.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by yfin

I would like to suggest you get a Euro which is a very well put together car - but I don't think you would be happy with that either guaging by what you say is a "fault".

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i drove a euro for 3 weeks straight before i took delivery of the civic. it was flawless. my standards are not as high as you may think.

i really cant understand all these issues ppl are going on about.. mine has only been the window issue - a known recall item. other than that its been perfect. one centre console squeak that was probably my fault from audio install.....then again, a mates beemer was in heaps in its first year and our monaro had a couple of issues... maybe i was due for the non-lemony car....

There are some people that just wont be happy with there car untill the dealer refunds there money or gives them a new car. These are the sorts of people the dealer or DSM will just wipe there hands of because 9 times out of 10 they will never be happy and they are just a time/money waster. BTW il be interested in the price they offer you for your car at the dealer, I dont think you will be to impressed lol

Quote:

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Originally Posted by creativepunka

There are some people that just wont be happy with there car untill the dealer refunds there money or gives them a new car. These are the sorts of people the dealer or DSM will just wipe there hands of because 9 times out of 10 they will never be happy and they are just a time/money waster. BTW il be interested in the price they offer you for your car at the dealer, I dont think you will be to impressed lol

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i have little doubt that the dealer sees me that way. they're free to wipe their hands clean of me everytime, but the fact remains that it will cost them time and money until they fix all the problems. and until they do, i'll keep spreading the word around to as many forums or media groups as i please; if Honda loses revenue from customers lost as a result of reading my complaints, then that's their fault.

Actually, your Civic Sport doesn't have a timing belt. It uses a timing chain which would make racketty noises rather than a high pitched whine.

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Originally Posted by aaronng

Actually, your Civic Sport doesn't have a timing belt. It uses a timing chain which would make racketty noises rather than a high pitched whine.

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my bad... just checked, the TSB refers to the drive belt, not the timing belt.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by chylld

my bad... just checked, the TSB refers to the drive belt, not the timing belt.

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Mabey thats why he didnt listen to your quick fixs. lol good pick up

my 06 VTi-L has some problems with the driver door not closing but I assumed it was due to the extra use of the Driver's door compared to the rest.

(I Have to push harder to shut the door... but this is wear and tear and I didn't bother to tell Honda)... anyone actually got Honda to fix this?

i tried to get honda to fix this at my first service but they didn't do anything about it.

what you have to do is locate the adjustable rubber stoppers on the door, there should be 1 in the middle and 1 down the bottom. turn these clockwise a quarter of a turn and try your door again... if not then another quarter, etc. worked for me :)

I think its just bad luck for you.

Ive had my car nearly a year and drove 16k. So far no problems except the drivers window one. I know 3 friends who have the same car, no issues either.

yeah sorry about your car,
but im pretty sure it ur bad luck casue i had no problems witht the car wat so ever.
but yeah, couple of the problems are probably due to u ripping everything out when u first got it and maybe didn't put it back together right.
i have a couple mates with civic sports and they love the thing. no probs.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by chylld

i tried to get honda to fix this at my first service but they didn't do anything about it.

what you have to do is locate the adjustable rubber stoppers on the door, there should be 1 in the middle and 1 down the bottom. turn these clockwise a quarter of a turn and try your door again... if not then another quarter, etc. worked for me :)

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thanks... will give that a try :D

I know where your coming from as I too am disappointed with my car, service and customer relations.

And I own a euro lxry AT 2006.

Going through what you are going through from 1000klm mark till now 36,000klm's.

I have to say that I expected alot more from Honda.

I own 2 mercedes sprinter vans, both 2001 models (no problems with vehicles or dealer), The mrs drove a nissan pulsar q 1993 model till 2006, done 600,000 klm (bullet proof, no problems with dealer too) and of course 2 toyota corolla's one 2003 model the other 2004 (also bullet proof, excellent service) All bought from new.

problems with my car.....

riddled with vibrations/rattles - right hand drivers air vent, steering coloumn, glove compartment, rear cabin (somewhere?), passenger power window switch (fixed thanks too Aronng DIY), drivers side door (somewhere?), centre of my dash board toward windscreen(somewhere?). Passenger airbag area somewhere, dashboard above speedo making a creaking noise and I've only done 36,000klm :eek:

huge cracking noise left hand pillar (fixed, warranty)

I have a problem with my car pulling to the right (major problem).......Denial, Denial, Denial claimed fixed never fixed, claiming nothing wrong, other euro owners have same problems.

steering wheel not straight..........caused after k-frame adjustment by dealer
after supposed drifting to the right problem, several alignments done still not staright.

squeeky driver side seat.....claimed fixed, never fixed

sunroof constantly rattles........fixed 3 times waiting for the 4th soon.

foul odour when I turn on heater or a/c...Honda put a deodirizor through the heater a/c this only worked for 5,000klm now deodirizor gone foul gas smell back again Hondas band aid solution only masked the smell (fools)

glove compartment not aligned can see light through the gap- never fixed

I can't get over the denial and the arrogance of these ppl at Honda. They are manipulative, they colaborate together to get their stories straight, between Honda Aust. representatives and dealerships.

Never experienced anything like it in the whole time I have owned new cars.

I am a first Honda owner and the last the way it's going.

To think euro lxry recently won an award for best car under $50,000 the ppl who do these reviews should do a follow up review after 10,000klm's. It's easy to make the call like that when you get given a brand new car too drive for the reviews.

believe me you are not alone.

My advice to you is exhaust all avenues with your dealer first, then go to Honda Aust. if that fails most important consumer affairs or fair trading as a last resort. Everything gets stored in there data base (consumer affairs or fair trading) once s few complaints get recieved they can act. Which won't take long the way Honda going.

Hope this helps ;)

shouldn't have accepted it if it was wrong to begine with.

Once you've got the car they don't really car about you anymore.

you chould just park the car infront of the dealer on weekends with a big sign saying "My car has 27 problems and this dealer will not fix any of them!" see what they do then.

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Originally Posted by LXRY

My advice to you is exhaust all avenues with your dealer first, then go to Honda Aust. if that fails most important consumer affairs or fair trading as a last resort. Everything gets stored in there data base (consumer affairs or fair trading) once s few complaints get recieved they can act. Which won't take long the way Honda going.

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thanks for your post, LXRY... glad to know i'm not alone with this many Honda problems. i've already exhausted 2 dealers and am already up to honda australia (the district manager Tony Martin stated that he was from Honda Australia.) i've looked into the dept of fair trading etc. but i've been told they won't actually do anything.

the only way to change the perception of the fact that i am only one customer is to walk into the dealership with either a lawyer or an ACA/TT film crew. it would be very interesting if it comes to that.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by JasonGilholme

shouldn't have accepted it if it was wrong to begine with.

Once you've got the car they don't really car about you anymore.

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indeed i would be kicking myself if this was my mistake, unfortunately there were only 3 problems at delivery; the other 24 reared their heads afterwards.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by JasonGilholme

you chould just park the car infront of the dealer on weekends with a big sign saying "My car has 27 problems and this dealer will not fix any of them!" see what they do then.

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i've thought of doing something like this, i'm not sure if it's legal though. if they don't get their act together, i'll ask my legal advisor if it's permissible :)

Quote:

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Originally Posted by LXRY

I have a problem with my car pulling to the right (major problem).......Denial, Denial, Denial claimed fixed never fixed, claiming nothing wrong, other euro owners have same problems.

steering wheel not straight..........caused after k-frame adjustment by dealer
after supposed drifting to the right problem, several alignments done still not staright.

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are u sure this is a "real problem" and not the car simply tram lining ie following the rd, i notice mine does the same as well, depends which lane i drive in it pull a little that way

I think it would be particularly interesting to see the media response that you would get considering the recent review of the introduction of lemon laws.

That being said, I do agree with you that Honda's post sale service is very poor. Have a look at my paint thread in the lounge to see my issue. I would be very interested to see what happens if you were to get the media involved in some of this. That being said, I would speak with a lawyer first just to make sure there are no issues/conflicts.

This is why Lexus is able to charge almost twice the price for a car with the same specs as a Honda. :)

Quote:

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Originally Posted by aaronng

This is why Lexus is able to charge almost twice the price for a car with the same specs as a Honda. :)

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The sad thing is that there should be at least a basic standard to meet. When you get fobbed off without any particular acknowledgement that is when you have to question the company you purchase products from.

Actually...

a friend of mine who owns a 06 Sports got most of your problems as well (anything related to interior crackling sounds) after he install dynamat on it...

hm... kinda strange eh?

PS: well I'm dissapointed with my '06 sports as well but not because of its faulty, just becoz of its Price vs Quality comparisson...

Quote:

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Originally Posted by denot

a friend of mine who owns a 06 Sports got most of your problems as well (anything related to interior crackling sounds) after he install dynamat on it...

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it is clear that if a part becomes a noise source after being removed and reinstalled during some owner modification, then that is the owner's fault. e.g. my driver's door trim crackles when i pull it, but i didn't list that as a complaint because i acknowledge that it is my fault.

the thing is, i didn't dismantle any part of the dash... so i can't see how i possibly could have caused that.

as a side note, the jazz rental car that i have has the same problem - crackling dash. note that honda america has published a fix for this which simply involves isolating the dash pieces with honda foam tape... i dug out this article, gave it my honda dealer, but then they fobbed me off.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by chylld

i dug out this article, gave it my honda dealer, but then they fobbed me off.

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Is it possible for you to share this info with us?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by denot

Is it possible for you to share this info with us?

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sure thing. here's the dashboard creaking tsb, it's actually for the honda element, but common sense would dictate that the same problem on another car deserves at least a similar fix:

TSB 05_056

here's another example of how an america honda dealer attempted and succeeded at fixing a similar problem:

Honda Fit (nb honda fit = honda jazz)

Thanks heaps! I fwd these to my friend then...

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Originally Posted by chylld

(nb honda fit = honda jazz)

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ghlld you from Indonesia? btw no matter how they named it (fit/jazz), me still hate them!!! A Class copycat!!! :p

27 issues…. I reckon you deserve a replacement car…

Issues with mine:
1. Creaking steering wheel when turning - re-fitted under warranty
2. Front passenger seat belt trim popped out - fixed under warranty
3. Rattle/tac-tac noise from the steering wheel when go over bumps or rough road, especially along Parramatta road in Syd. Noise gone when I put pressure on the steering wheel - dealer could not replicate the noise, so they only fixed issue no 1.
4. Rattle from front passenger door (sounds like something vibrating), somewhere between the seat belt area and power window switch. I have emptied my glove box, It's not the power window switch, and it's not the seat belt part hitting the seat - havn't got time to bring the car to dealer.
5. Left back quarter panel paint is lighter than the rest of the car. Orange peel is consistent, no dust under the coat. Looks like it's factory defect - can’t be bothered to raise this issue to dealer.

My dealer has been helpful so far, but I'm really disappointed of the crap build quality. Got the car brand new, not even a demo stock, 6mths old, only done 5600kms, and it's stock standard. It should have been hassle free.

My 4 yrs old Toyota corolla conquest has not had one rattle/quality issue ever. Same with my brother's corolla and hyundai accent. Don’t think we have to spend $50-60k to get a good build quality.

Anyway, appreciate it if anyone has any solution to issue no 3 and 4. Thanks..

for #4, i had a similar problem with the door rattles... took the door trim off, isolated everything that can move with foam, and put the door trim back... rattle gone.

although your rattle might be coming from the front passenger seat (i have 4 rattles coming from mine) or the front airbag (1 rattle for me)... it's very hard to pinpoint the source of the noise.

good luck getting it fixed though.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by chylld

for #4, i had a similar problem with the door rattles... took the door trim off, isolated everything that can move with foam, and put the door trim back... rattle gone.

although your rattle might be coming from the front passenger seat (i have 4 rattles coming from mine) or the front airbag (1 rattle for me)... it's very hard to pinpoint the source of the noise.

good luck getting it fixed though.

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Thanks Chylld, just realised it is most probably coming from the passenger seat.... No rattle if there is passenger sitting on the seat..any idea which part of the seat causing it and how to fix?

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Originally Posted by gr1d

Thanks Chylld, just realised it is most probably coming from the passenger seat.... No rattle if there is passenger sitting on the seat..any idea which part of the seat causing it and how to fix?

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that's what i would like Honda to tell me :)

most of my seat rattles only happened when no one was sitting on it as well. as soon as honda get back to me (they were supposed to call me today, but they didn't...) I'll let you know.

mind you, at the last service i complained of 2 noises from the front seat... they claimed to have taken the seat out, disassembled, reassembled it and put the seat back in, and after that it had 4 rattles... so at this rate the car is actually getting worse...

I dont know if anyone has written this, but i really cbf to look through. But newais...i got some minor problems too.
I have u tried Scott's Honda? Their servicing is kinda expensive but last time they were pretty nice and plus they have a NSX in their display room =]
They fixed up some stuff in my car and yeh i'll probli go back next time to get the rest of my stuff fixed too.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Jo_e

I dont know if anyone has written this, but i really cbf to look through. But newais...i got some minor problems too.
I have u tried Scott's Honda? Their servicing is kinda expensive but last time they were pretty nice and plus they have a NSX in their display room =]
They fixed up some stuff in my car and yeh i'll probli go back next time to get the rest of my stuff fixed too.

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my car is currently at scott's honda artarmon.

mind you, honda said they would call me on monday, they still haven't called me...

im not surprised with the way honda is acting.
dealer servicing is shit, end of story.
im never taking it back there unless i have to.
even for a door rattle thats called by the left door armrest coming apart, they tried to find excuses not to cover it, blah blah..
dont think ill buy another honda

Rick Damelian > other sydney dealers, except maybe Larke Hoskins Roseberry.

well rick is one of the better ones ive been to for servicing..
n dont mention larke hoskins.. they are absolutely ^&%$^%$*&^%(
never goin there again!! even if they point a gun at me

Quote:

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Originally Posted by creativepunka

Get a bmw. If you buy a top of the line $$$ car then you expect it to be right. You got a civic expecting it to be of a bmw standard. some of the above problems are just petty imo.

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bmw and the prestige brands have just as much quality issues as jap/local manufacturers.... in some cases more

Quote:

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Originally Posted by chylld

Here is a list of the problems with the car:

At delivery:
• Creaking boot lid
ok, maybe they should lube it, or check it out
• Grease stain on rear seat
anything could have happened there
• Driver’s door reluctant to close
reluctant? meaning, it didn't want to?

By first 1000km service:
• Brake pedal noise
it's supposed to make a noise when you push it down, its a hydraulic system
• Rattles from both front doors
• Rattle from sunroof when closed from tilt position
• Metallic rattling sound from NSF
• 1 exhaust finisher fell off
easily fixed, tighten it up
• Rattle from instrument cluster
how can you tell its the cluster, its behind plastic.

By 1 year service:
• Rattle from centre console rear storage box
• Centre console rubber stopper discovered missing
• Plastic wrap material protruding from sides of doors
delivery issue maybe,
• Plastic packaging string found loosely attached to undersides of front seats
wondering what packaging string would be doing underneath a seat
• 2 exhaust finishers fell off
• Boot lid trim recall item
not really an "issue" with the car, they just decided to add it, holden commodore owners dont even get one
• Discovered rust and sound protection not applied to front wheel wells as advertised at time of sale
if you paid for rust protection you are pretty stupid, considering that the probability of your car rusting in the streets of sunny salt-free road sydney is pretty minimal (i.e. its only really necessary if you're living in say, Snowville NSW)
• Loud 19th-century kettle whistling noise from front demister
• High-pitched whirring noise from engine bay
might be your motor
• Metal clanging sound from right hand side of engine bay
• Hard tapping sound from front passenger’s seat
• Rattle from passenger-side front airbag

Since 1 year service (6 weeks ago!):
• Air vent control coming apart
• Loud rattle from front-left of cabin
• Passenger’s front door sill trim separating at the rear
• Thumping noises from rear shock absorbers at low speeds
• Ticking noise from front passenger seat
• Centre console storage box lid rattling
• Wind noise form gap in both front weather-strips

What kind of joke is this, seriously? I know for a value-oriented car, some problems are to be expected, but this is off the chart. I dare not even touch the window controls because I know other forum members have had problems with the windows literally popping out of the car.

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look man, no denying that there are issues, but a few of the things, it just makes you sound like you're some fussy guy with serious issues.

like,wind noise from gap in both front weather strips.... arent you pushing it to the extreme.

did you get paint protection too?

sure they are f*cken you around, and its not right...

but a piece of string underneath a seat isn't an "issue" its a piece of string. or maybe you just like splitting hairs

nice post, yourfather. for the sake of clarity, i'll go through all of the issues you pointed out in detail. i only gave brief descriptions in my initial post so i don't blame you for misunderstanding.

- Creaking boot lid - REALLY LOUD creaking from the boot lid on the way up
- Grease stain on the rear seat - i tried to get it off myself but couldn't. it was a visible mark that shouldn't have been there, especially since i had ordered leather protection
- Driver's door reluctant to close - you had to literally SLAM it to get it to close, otherwise it would pop back out to the typical ~1cm ajar position.
- Brake pedal noise - the hydraulic system noise does not sound lke a piece of plastic snapping - that's the kind of sound it made. moreover, if it was supposed to make that noise, why did it disappear after Hornsby Honda played around with it?
- 1 exhaust finisher fell off - Hornsby Honda did "just tighten it up"... and then it fell off again later. brilliant fix, that.
- rattle from instrument cluster - this one has evolved to more of a "crackling" sound when the car goes around corners or over undulating surfaces. i'm not sure what your complaint with this one is.
- plastic wrap material protruding from sides of doors - picture an inch of clear plastic wrap protruding from each door between the plastic trim and the metal. trying to pull it off resulted in a small but visible amount of plastic wrapping still stuck in the gap. i paid for a car, not a plastic bag dispenser.
- plastic packaging string under front seats - i'll agree i'm being a bit picky on this one. but should it have been there at time of delivery? no.
- boot lid trim recall item - while i've learnt it is a luxury item overseas, the insult lies in the fact that the hinge covers aren't included. the boot lid trim kit comes with both the trim piece and 2 hinge covers; Honda are just trying to cut costs here by only offering the trim piece, and not offering it at all to VTi customers. moreover, hornsby honda attempted to charge me for this item ($180 or thereabouts)
- rust and sound protection - you are right in that i shouldn't care about the rust protection, i did it for the sound protection. put simply, i bought the accessory on the premise that it would be applied to the wheel wells (as advertised at time of sale by Hornsby Honda) however it was not applied there. this is more of a legal matter than a complaint.
- high-pitched whirring noise from engine bay - this sound is best described as the sound one would hear if there was a yodelling woman in the engine bay. also sounds a bit like when a choir is warming up, as if to act as some kind of warning that i've reached 72kph. (it only happens at around this speed)
- wind noise from the front doors - the wind noise sounds like static and is loud enough to drown out the radio on volume 5. i wouldn't call that "pushing it to the extreme." moreover, honda america has found and published a fix to this (in a may/06 tsb, i don't have the exact tsb# though) but honda australia fobbed me off saying it's irrelevant.

i got paint protection too, yes. while the value isn't that great, it's not bad, and i'm happy with it.

please let me know if you would like me to clarify any of the other points.

haha chylld, i think we should arrange a "meeting" to show the guys how bad these faults are? ^_^

i tried to get honda to fix my faults in my car BUT time after TIME I AM BACK! Just like 2day I am back at my dealership. This is my 8th time!!!!

My CRV has a better build quality! No problems when I first got it.

fair enough...

I understand you pay your $$$$ that you expect a certain level of understanding etc...

I mean, my DC2 rattles a bit, and the HRV rattles a bit, but I overlook that stuff because the VX berlina we used to have was even worse. Except I made the stain on the back seat w/ the ex gf.. .erm.... just plz dont be one of those angry guys that goes nuts at a car company because of the speedo or whatever.

There's a guy that is making this huge fuss about how an Echo speedo or Yaris, I forget, is inaccurate... Well, my dc2 one is inaccurate too, and it was when I had oem wheels on it. But I have sat nav and that helps me out.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by chylld

that's what i would like Honda to tell me :)

most of my seat rattles only happened when no one was sitting on it as well. as soon as honda get back to me (they were supposed to call me today, but they didn't...) I'll let you know.

mind you, at the last service i complained of 2 noises from the front seat... they claimed to have taken the seat out, disassembled, reassembled it and put the seat back in, and after that it had 4 rattles... so at this rate the car is actually getting worse...

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Thanks...Might look around under the seat before bring it back to dealer...

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Datuk

i tried to get honda to fix my faults in my car BUT time after TIME I AM BACK! Just like 2day I am back at my dealership. This is my 8th time!!!!

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Whats the issue with your one?

Window tints, OSF noise etc...

chylld - I don't particularly think that overseas Honda TSB's are relevant for cars sold here, especially if they haven't been reproduced by Honda Australia. Perhaps that's why you are being 'fobbed off' when you refer to them?

FWIW I have an 06 Civic, had a couple of minor issues upon delivery, some took a couple of visits to the dealer to fix, but 9 months on it's perfect. Hopefully you can achieve the same level of satisfaction eventually.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by kid_dynamite

chylld - I don't particularly think that overseas Honda TSB's are relevant for cars sold here, especially if they haven't been reproduced by Honda Australia. Perhaps that's why you are being 'fobbed off' when you refer to them?

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That is the sort of attitude I just dont get. I have seen the same thing happen on other vehicle makes with the same sort of response. The construction method of the vehicle (whether it was made for the Australian market or elsewhere) is exactly the same and in my opinion 99% of the time the fix prescribed in an overseas TSB will work here.

different markets can get different spec levels, suspension tunes, trim details so its not always a universal fix..

I've had 5 new cars over the past 15 years, and all of them have had some small little niggly problem with them at some stage.

It's par for the course IMO, though this does sound a little excessive!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by kid_dynamite

chylld - I don't particularly think that overseas Honda TSB's are relevant for cars sold here, especially if they haven't been reproduced by Honda Australia. Perhaps that's why you are being 'fobbed off' when you refer to them?

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Quote:

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Originally Posted by Zdster

That is the sort of attitude I just dont get. I have seen the same thing happen on other vehicle makes with the same sort of response. The construction method of the vehicle (whether it was made for the Australian market or elsewhere) is exactly the same and in my opinion 99% of the time the fix prescribed in an overseas TSB will work here.

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Quote:

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Originally Posted by xenfacta

different markets can get different spec levels, suspension tunes, trim details so its not always a universal fix..

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i browse the 8thcivic.com forums quite a lot, so i've seen my fair share of pics of US civics - their sedan is very similar to ours, except of course for the rhd/lhd thing. the trim pieces and locations of the clips etc. are pretty much identical.

i recognise the fact that they might not apply exactly to our cars, but hey, if the symptom is the same, the fix is simple and quick and the diagrams match up exactly to our car, then i thought it was relevant.


my exchange with the district manager on this topic however went like this:

Me: Ok, I've done all this research on some american forums and have found these TSB's published by Honda america, in this one here you'll see...

Tony Martin, District Manager (interrupting): Look, look... I don't care what kind of research you've done on your internet or forums or whatever, they're published by Honda America, and we're in Australia, so that material, all the work you've done, is irrelevant.

Me: ... but given that the symptoms are the same and the diagrams match up to my car, will you not at least consider these fixes?

DM: (stupified look) ... errmmm....


and that was all he said on the matter. i didn't get a complete verbal response from him.

i feel for u bro.
I had the same problem with my astra with my abs light kept coming on and my car always having a fluctuating idle. I went to the dealer 8 times to try get the problems fixed and nothing, they kept saying they found nothing wrong. I even contact holden consumer relations to try help resolve my issues but clearly they were on the dealerships side.
In the end i gave up and sold my car and have never looked back

Quote:

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Originally Posted by tinkz1

i feel for u bro.
I had the same problem with my astra with my abs light kept coming on and my car always having a fluctuating idle. I went to the dealer 8 times to try get the problems fixed and nothing, they kept saying they found nothing wrong. I even contact holden consumer relations to try help resolve my issues but clearly they were on the dealerships side.
In the end i gave up and sold my car and have never looked back

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cheers.

i've had my astra troubles as well... 2 main things i don't like about my family's astra:

1) any problem at all, be it a rattle or whatever, holden always says "yeh we fixed the computer in it, the problem's gone now, good as new"

2) the abs in my mum's astra failed, causing her to skid and have an accident.

apart from that though they're not too bad.

the american civics are built in america but i see ur point... doesnt sound like good customer service...

As I've said before, let's all pray hard that the next Euro will still be from Japan.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by hondarox

As I've said before, let's all pray hard that the next Euro will still be from Japan.

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Seriously just STFU, you are now becoming a troll more than anything else.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by NeoNode

Seriously just STFU, you are now becoming a troll more than anything else.

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Seriously, with almost 80% of Honda vehicles currently sold here from Thailand (correct me if I'm wrong), is the next Euro going to be from Japan?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by hondarox

Seriously, with almost 80% of Honda vehicles currently sold here from Thailand (correct me if I'm wrong), is the next Euro going to be from Japan?

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The next Accord will still be from Thailand. The next Euro will be from Japan since there are NO Thai-made sedans in between the size of the Civic and the Accord.

just a small update. it's friday evening now, which means it's been over a week since scott's honda artarmon took my car. they promised to call me last monday, but didn't contact me then and haven't contacted me since.

this could mean either of 2 things:
1) the SM is genuinely pushing his staff to find the rattles, even when they come back to him saying they can't hear any, or:
2) my car has been parked in the back corner of the garage (or on the street) and been forgotten about.

^just curious... did you get a replacement car?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by andyhui01

^just curious... did you get a replacement car?

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yep, i got a jazz loaner free of charge.

a couple of things probably deserve mention about the loaners as well. both were jazzes, and both have at least 2 rattles. the first one (for my previous visit to Scott's) was missing its front passenger door lock (just a big hole where it should've been) and this second one is missing its aerial and spare tyre, and the dash pieces under the steering wheel are obviously coming apart (>1cm gaps, wires visible).

however these are loan cars which are probably thrashed by other frustrated honda owners, but still... not exactly confidence-instilling stuff.

lmao, imagine ripping a burnout in the jazz!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by steve88

lmao, imagine ripping a burnout in the jazz!

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You can't unless it is a manual (which are not common as a courtesy car).

Quote:

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Originally Posted by aaronng

You can't unless it is a manual (which are not common as a courtesy car).

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yep... the SM at scott's told me that all loan/courtesy cars are autos.

and no i haven't tried to do a burnout in it :)

I also got a jazz loaner free of charge only for 3 times than they decided to charge me which I am Not happy about!

i got a loan of a CRV and i stepped on it hard. The CRV is a P.O.S.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by chylld

just a small update. it's friday evening now, which means it's been over a week since scott's honda artarmon took my car. they promised to call me last monday, but didn't contact me then and haven't contacted me since.

this could mean either of 2 things:
1) the SM is genuinely pushing his staff to find the rattles, even when they come back to him saying they can't hear any, or:
2) my car has been parked in the back corner of the garage (or on the street) and been forgotten about.

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I think it well be answer 2. They probably had a technician have a look at ur car for about 15 minutes and couldnt find anything wrong with ur car

i found these sites/blogs (watever)...where you can also post your complaints there:

http://www.caradvice.com.au (see Warranty Complaints)

http://www.motorsm.com/default.asp (see Complaints Corner)