Greetings all. Just wondering what folks think of this?

In January this year my 2006 Jazz (1.3L) started shuddering when starting off. The shuddering got progressively worse as time wore on so we took the problem to the local Honda service centre. The response was that they flushed the gear box oil and replaced it with a new better type of oil under warranty. The problem went away.

In Oct/Nov (some 10 or 11 months later) the problem reappeared exactly as before, only this time the car had now done 64,000Km & was declared out of warranty by Honda & thus not covered.

When I quizzed Honda further & after examining our service history Honda declared that since we had not had the car serviced by an authorised Honda service centre (we used a reputable mechanic who charged significantly less but did all services according to the book) and because some services were not done on time, and because the warranty period was now expired we were not covered but... that as a gesture of good will they would pay for half the parts cost leaving us only $1419 to pay for the repair. We are still considering our next move but are rather disappointed to say the least. During the period no gearbox services were suggested in the service guide that came with the car.

Recent research has turned up the following:
1. This is a well known problem for this model Jazz with the CVT transmission.
2. This is relatively common, as can be discovered by searching the Internet. There are even after-market fixes suggested by many, for those people not covered by warranty.
3. Many people have said that Honda have extended the warranty on Jazz's to cover this all over the world, even in Australia.
4. There is a Honda bulletin (HUK000000001117) "this quite clearly clarifies the situation, ALL cvt jazz`s with chassis build code GD1 from 02,03,04,05,06 are included in this extended warranty, it covers as a first measure flushing the gearbox & if that doesnt cure things the a box strip & repair to sort the judder out !!". This appears to be a Honda UK bulletin but it beggars belief that there wouldn't be an equivalent Honda AUS bulletin.

Since our problem began well within the warranty period and was only temporarily resolved by the gear oil flush in January that held off symptoms just long enough for the re-occurrance to fall outside the warranty, I can't help but feel as if we are being done over by Honda.

Thoughts anybody?