More Love from (to) Honda

[travelover]

.......... (tires in 13K miles - are you kidding?). ...........

I really doubt that tires are needed at that interval. The service writers get you in there and try to sell you tires and brakes almost from the day it is new. My Highlander came with free service for the first 20,000 miles and every 5,000 miles I'd get a "report" on how my tires and brakes were hurdling to oblivion not to mention wipers and filters. I laughed.

 

[RunningBum]

How much did “free” tires for life cost?

Here's Click & Clack's take on it:

https://www.cartalk.com/content/fre...nda-dealer-all-its-really-cracked-be-find-out

Summary is that you are probably paying for those "free" tires through being locked into that dealer for service and being required to do rebalancing and realignment way too often, in addition to whatever you pay for the "free tires" option.

 

[Go-NoGo]

Wow. A friend of mine was just posting on Facebook about her new Honda Civic. I hope she has better luck than what I’m seeing here. She is not mechanically inclined and the purchase was a stretch for her and she won’t be able to pay for a ton of repairs (tires in 13K miles - are you kidding?). Unfortunately, she’s grinding out a living and probably should have bought this car, but she really needed to replace her car and she’s so proud right now that I’ll stay out of the conversation.

Another Honda Civic owner here, 50k miles in 4 years and nothing (bad) to report. I have only taken it to the dealer for the free oil changes / tire rotations, apart from that it has not required any dealer attention.

The Michelins that came with it still show good tread, expect to get another 15-20k miles out of them.

 

[Teacher Terry]

We do let Honda do the oil change but don’t get the maintenance work done. They also haven’t required a alignment yearly. They gave us 4 tires in May, 2018. Got a nail in one that can’t be fixed. Cost of 20 for one tire because it’s been more than a year.

 

[Chuckanut]

On another thread I mentioned that DW's 2017 Honda CR-V is among the vehicles that are getting gasoline into the oil.
Some of Honda's original tap dancing:
That's because you don't drive the car long enough distances to properly warm it up. Uh...no...we live 15 miles from the nearest town, and 90% of our driving is to and from a town 50 miles away.

It's only a problem in cold-weather environment.
Uh...like Texas and Louisiana ??

You shouldn't use the remote car starter to let the car warm up before you drive.

Uh...OK, but you did include it as a feature for which we paid money, right? Remember that??

OK...well...we have a fix, which is some sort of computer pack that causes the motor to run less efficiently than what was originally advertised....Uh...well...OK I guess since it's better than completely trashing the engine...

So we did it, and 3,000 miles later....guess what? Oil is black, smells like gasoline, and the level is, once again, above the dipstick.

So DW took it in today.. Not sure how she made out on that point, but I did get a call from her to tell me that the service guy said there was a lot of wear on the tire and well, we should replace them...Really? at 17K miles? We need new tires? That doesn't seem right.

Service manager's explanation: Well, the original tires are really designed just for comfort, not for durability. Oh...I see, so when I test drive it I'll say "Oh..this rides nice",,,but when I but real tires on it I'll say "uhhh....where did my nice riding SUV go?"

Guess who is never buying another Honda.

Your Honda reps sound like the GM reps when I had my '85 Pontiac. Perhaps they teach each other?

I can't blame you for not wanting another Honda. I certainly would not buy another GM car.

 

[ProspectiveBum]

I don’t blame you for being upset about these issues on a new car. Honda’s putting that motor into lots of vehicles, so I imagine they’ll sort out the design problem quickly, though that might not help you.

We have a 2005 Odyssey, and it’s been the best vehicle we’ve ever owned. It’s at 180K miles now, and still runs like a top. We took it on a 4K mile road trip last summer, and it did great loaded down with all our gear, even at altitude. I was a little nervous when we bought it, because it was one of the first units of what was a total redesign. I guess we got lucky. At this point, I’d still buy another Honda.

 

[travelover]

Your Honda reps sound like the GM reps when I had my '85 Pontiac. ..........

Now, now, the statute of limitations for being mad at a company is 30 years. Beyond that, anyone involved is retired or dead.

 

[friar1610]

The CRV oil dilution problem has been long- discussed on Bogleheads. I test drove one a bit over a year ago when I was car-shopping and thought it was very nice. But in doing research I learned about the problem and decided I wanted nothing to do with Honda. (I had owned both an Accord and a Civic in the distant past and was happy with them).

 

[aja8888]

Anything a car dealer gives you for free is generally paid for upfront, even if you thought otherwise.

 

[jimbee]

Anything a car dealer gives you for free is generally paid for upfront, even if you thought otherwise.

I think that is true in general, including Amazon's "free" shipping.

 

[Another Reader]

Now, now, the statute of limitations for being mad at a company is 30 years. Beyond that, anyone involved is retired or dead.

Leopards don't change their spots... The corporate culture is passed down from one generation to the next.

 

[Koolau]

One would think that Honda wants to maintain their (relatively) good reliability reputation. Therefore, I have to assume that the "fix" for the gas-ending-up-in-the-oil issue is either insoluble (or, at least insoluble at anything approaching a "reasonable" cost.) They appear to be willing to take the hit about something they absolutely MUST be aware of.

By the way, no one is required to take a "new" vehicle to the dealer except for warrantee work. In fact, I would never take a vehicle to a dealer unless there were no other choice. As always, YMMV.

 

[unclemick]

WOW!! What a terrible experience! IIRC, Moemg was not happy with her CRV either.

Wow!

Ours is a 2012 Honda Fit practically bullet proof with 130k miles. ? Is CRV a bad model or do we have a coincidence of 'lemons'. My Sister got 300k on her 1994 Civic. Sold it and I hear it's still going strong.

heh heh heh -

 

[Another Reader]

I visited a friend today that just bought a top of the line Hyundai Sonata hybrid. Very comfortable car with leather interior, fancy radio, and all the new safety features. Less than $30k, the price of a mid-level Prius or Camry hybrid. Eventually someone is going to do to Honda and Toyota what they did to the American manufacturers.

 

[Bongleur]

Most cars are kludged with tiny engines & turbos. Is oil blowing thru the rings really unique to Honda?

 

[W2R]

Wow!

Ours is a 2012 Honda Fit practically bullet proof with 130k miles. ? Is CRV a bad model or do we have a coincidence of 'lemons'. My Sister got 300k on her 1994 Civic. Sold it and I hear it's still going strong.

heh heh heh -

I have no idea! I have never owned a Honda but I am looking for an SUV that I might like. So, I am reading this thread and hoping to learn.

 

[DrRoy]

We have had a CRV for almost 2 years and 21K miles. We live in Michigan and had the fix done as soon as we heard about it. The "inefficient" operation ends when the engine is warm and we are still getting good mileage overall (mid 30's highway, low 30's average). We like the car and will see what our experience has been when it is time for the next one. The tires are OK; should get to 40-50K. I don't like dealers as a rule. The OP's experience is especially bad.

 

[braumeister]

I was a real evangelist for Honda's CR-V. Owned three of them in a row, putting over 150K miles on each one. Never had a single problem with any of them.

I fully expected to buy another one last year but their last redesign blew it for me. Had to cross them off my list as soon as I sat in one -- went from very comfortable to very uncomfortable, and the driver's seat comfort is a huge issue for me. Glad I seem to have dodged a bullet with the current engine as well.

 

[Teacher Terry]

So told my husband about this thread. He said we won’t be doing the tires for life anymore. Originally it was a good deal as we had to do the regular maintenance to keep our extended warranty intact and we paid 2500 for that. He said Honda fully expects us to do the 75k maintenance which is 750 which is why they gave us the one tire free trying to keep our business. Since they charge 90 for oil change my husband will do it.

 

[Chuckanut]

Leopards don't change their spots... The corporate culture is passed down from one generation to the next.

FWIW, about 10-15 years ago I drove a rented Chevy Cobalt. Ugh! I later heard about the faulty Cobalt ignition switches that GM could have fixed at a reasonable cost but did not.

 

[kimcdougc]

We currently own a 2017 Honda CRV. We live in the Pacific Northwest and heard about the problem from this forum. We took our car to the dealer and they fixed it right then and there. There was no hassle. They did not want us to purchase any tires or do any other work to the vehicle. We just turned 18,000 miles on the vehicle. Oil changes are $49 at the dealer. We have only had good luck and great work done by our local dealer. Just saying you should probably just go to another dealer. They are not all trying to rip you off. We love our Honda CRV. Would I hesitate to purchase another Honda, no. We have owned over 120 cars over the last 40 years of marriage. No, they were not all new and some were project cars to fix up and sale. Just my 2 cents.

 

[ncbill]

Most cars are kludged with tiny engines & turbos. Is oil blowing thru the rings really unique to Honda?

Sure, you'd expect problems tens of thousands of miles down the line on a high-revving, small-displacement turbo-charged engine.

But it's been a problem with the new Honda turbo engines from day 1.

Another reason I'd pay the premium for a hybrid powertrain over a turbo-charged one.

 

[Moemg]

I know three people with CRV's who's air conditioning went at about 30,000 miles . Honda knows about the problem but will not fix it .

 

[Jeff76Canada]

We have had a CRV for almost 2 years and 21K miles. We live in Michigan and had the fix done as soon as we heard about it. The "inefficient" operation ends when the engine is warm and we are still getting good mileage overall (mid 30's highway, low 30's average). We like the car and will see what our experience has been when it is time for the next one. The tires are OK; should get to 40-50K. I don't like dealers as a rule. The OP's experience is especially bad.

Mine is the same, live in Winnipeg, so let's talk about cold weather lol. Made the change / recall around October (can't remember exact) but this winter the car would run hot way faster, last winter sometimes it went never to medium temperature , never (specially when - 25 Celsius) mileage is the same, always great, but here is flat as a pancake. No oil problem too. Car is 2 years old, around 27 000 km.
Love the car so far, no problem at all

 

[boilerman]

We’re on our third Honda CR-V, our current one being a 2017. We got to 150k on each of our first two CR-Vs without any major problems. We spent a lot time looking at other similar cars each time (Toyota, Subaru, Hyundai, Mazda) but really liked the CR-V best each time.

I do agree that their original tires don’t last long. But I would never have the dealer do anything other than warranty work as there are so many better, cheaper alternatives for tires and service.

Sorry to hear about your problems, I would try a different dealer.