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

[chylld]

Time for an update!

i picked my car up yesterday, after waiting at the dealer for more than an hour again. the last 3 times i've been to scott's honda i've had to wait more than an hour, watching other customers come and go... next time i'll go during lunchtime and eat my lunch there while i'm waiting.

next time? yes there will be a next time; i need to go back again (by admission of the service manager). here's a rundown of the problems and how they went:

Hard tapping sound from front passenger's seat
unfixed... still there, will point it out at the next service. this one is very easy to recreate; sit in the back seat, and hit the backrest of the passenger seat. the passenger seat makes a loud rattling noise, which can't be heard if you hit the driver's seat.

Rattle from passenger front airbag area
unfixed... still there. again, this one is easy to recreate, just hit any part of the dash and you can hear the airbag rattling. if you reach up above the glovebox and press lightly on some metal tab things up there, the rattle stops.

Tapping / creaking / rubbing noises from driver's side dash area and stereo area
unattended to; service manager forgot.

Metal clanging sound from right hand side of engine bay
FIXED!! the dealer ordered a new right engine mount from japan, and the noise is fully gone!!! this was a known problem with american cars, i'm glad the fix worked for my car as well. the TSB# for this one is 06-060.

Metallic rattling sound from front-left of cabin (recurring problem)
seems to be fixed... dealer insulated some things under the passenger seat, and i can't hear the noise anymore.

Rear shocks
this one arose from my car exhibiting similar symptoms to civics in america that experienced early rear shock failure. the dealer checked it out though and said all was ok, so i'm not too fussed about this one.

Air vent control
the air vent control was coming apart (splitting between the plastic pieces). dealer replaced it with a new one.

FL rattle
seems to be fixed... probably related to the metallic rattle above.

FL garnish ill-fitting
dealer forgot this one... will be attending to it at the next service.

Clicking noise from front passenger's seat
seems to be fixed... probably related to the metallic rattle above.

Wind noise from both front doors, suspected both front outer weather-strips
dealer forgot this one too... but i showed him where (in american civics) the wind noise comes from (may 2006 TSB) which is the gap between the outer weatherstrip on the front doors and the front window guides/post things... a civic in the showroom had no gap, but my car had >2mm gap so he's ordering in new ones for me.



so all in all, progress is being made. the car is much more enjoyable to drive now without the engine rattle and metallic rattle... if it weren't for the airbag rattle, i probably wouldn't even bother putting it in for service again as the other problems are relatively minor.

moving forward

[chylld]

You have to realise that Honda Service did not sell you the car - they do their best to fix them. However, the Sales department did.

i am quite well aware that the sales department sold me my car, and the service department is servicing my car. there was never any confusion about this, unless you're talking about when i say "dealer" - by that i obviously mean the service dept / honda in general.

And even still, those faults you stated were beyond their reach. They did not hand assemble your car.

my standards may be higher than yours, but by admission of the service manager, i am still well within reason in requesting the problems to be fixed; so no, they are not beyond their reach.

I'm assuming the Honda representitive was the DSM of your region (District Service Manager).

correct; the honda australia representative was tony martin, the district service manager for scott's honda, larke hoskins, and a number of other ones.

What outcome are you expecting from this? A new car? The next X amount of scheduled services free?

the expected outcome is for the problems to be fixed, nothing more, nothing less. a new car would be nice, but i have never demanded it; it is possible though, through my postings i have been contacted by someone whose friend managed to get a full replacement car from honda (albeit after repeated, fruitless visits to the service centre)

[gr1d]

Wind noise from both front doors, suspected both front outer weather-strips
dealer forgot this one too... but i showed him where (in american civics) the wind noise comes from (may 2006 TSB) which is the gap between the outer weatherstrip on the front doors and the front window guides/post things... a civic in the showroom had no gap, but my car had >2mm gap so he's ordering in new ones for me.

Chylld, do you mind posting the picture of the gap? I have same issue when doing more than 90km/h. Thanks.

[andyhui01]

^I thought the wind noise was perfectly normal considering its only a 30k car... or was the wind noise really bad?

[chylld]

Chylld, do you mind posting the picture of the gap? I have same issue when doing more than 90km/h. Thanks.

sure... here's the gap at the front of the driver's door:



the gap is a bit over 2mm long; i checked out a civic in the showroom with the service manager and there was absolutely zero gap there.

the easy fix to this is here (may 06 tsb)

^I thought the wind noise was perfectly normal considering its only a 30k car... or was the wind noise really bad?

the wind noise sounded like static, and was loud enough to compete with the radio at volume 5.

[burma]

damm... usually a lemon car "only" has a few problems but what were they smoking at the factory when they assembled your car. really feel for you man, should definetly get a replacement car.

[gr1d]

sure... here's the gap at the front of the driver's door:



the gap is a bit over 2mm long; i checked out a civic in the showroom with the service manager and there was absolutely zero gap there.

the easy fix to this is here (may 06 tsb)





the wind noise sounded like static, and was loud enough to compete with the radio at volume 5.

Thanks for the pic Chylld, mine has the same gap as yours.. will mention on next service and see what they'll say...

[R123]

hey, Chylld, i can understand all the stress and crap u been going through. Simplely i think u fully deserve a replacement,even if not, they should have all those problems fixed way before time.

Now the second thing i really like to point out is that, can some other kind members dont trying to minimise the problems of Chylld had with his car? I think hes quite unforunate already to pick up an faulty FD and why are we questioning him as if hes a paranoid freak?

In addition, See how he still answered all your questions, sentence to sentence, what kind of help~ is that guys? Now i am not saying u cant have other point of views but according to the facts, which if not 27 of them, how about 20? is that enough to suggest that Chylld is the victim of this purchase?

i had read up to page 5 and i notice hes been accused of been too fussy etc etc... now me too i agree found some plastic string under the seat wont b an issue, but interms of the reputation of a main car maker like Honda. This can surely be prevented, Chylld i totally agree when u purchase a new car, you have the right to expect everything to b perfect. Theres no doubts about that.

mate, i just wana tell ya, u sound very logic,ur reasons are reasonable and u should get some effective respones from honda australia for such serious matter.

cheers.

[gr1d]

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...

Ok, I got this issue fixed.... Checked my tyre pressures, they were at: 26psi both front, 24psi both rear.. They are all now 30psi as per user manual, rattle miraculously gone. Didn't do anything to the passenger seat. It's been a week now, and hope it's gone for good...Not sure if this method will work for anyone else, but I reckon it worth a try...

[steve88]

i turned up my subwoofer gain and now some part of my door or glove box rattles :| lmao

[Datuk]

Looks like my car is back to my dealership for Tapping, creaking, rubbing noises from driver's side door area and my steering wheel noise. "Not Happy Jane!!"

[steve88]

i think its not happy jan

and i have sympathy for you dude, my car has been hit on the side and back and roof (hail damage). its basically been gang banged, and i have no rattles unless i turn my sub up all the way (i fixed that glovebox problem).
i don't understand how can my EK civic not have any problems but these brand new cars have some?? :S

id seriously be cracking the shits if i had a smudge of dirt on a newly purchased car, hell you loose 10-15% when you drive it out of the dealership, you'd expect faultless