I also have the slight whirring sound from steering wheel. Feels slightly like a spring being wound.

 

I am also getting a rattle sound from the left side dash. It mainly comes when the road is bumpy

 

the transmission gets some getting used to. It works basically like a derailer on a bike,instead of you shifting gears manaully from high to low if you were on a bike, the trans does it automatically.I have the 2013 EXL and it jerked a litle at first but as it has started to "break in" it's gettting better.Be patient,it's a great car and I have been told by people in the automotive industry(which i am one) the break in could take as long as 20,000 miles.

 

Same here. The rocking back & forth has diminished as the CVT transmission is breaking in, but it's still there. Just not as pronounced. We have 6k mi. on our EX now.
The rattle in the dash comes & goes and you mostly hear it when going over bumps. I must say that we can feel the bumps more now than a month ago. I don't think these struts and/or bushings will last long, since we feel every imperfection of the road more now and going over cracks and bumps is not as smooth or isolated than a few weeks ago. It will just keep getting gradually worse which is normal. I just did not expect it to get to this level that fast (4 months/6k mi.). Usually it takes 1 year or 30k mi. or more to feel that the shocks are not damping as well as when the car was new.

Anyway not much else to report except that we had a "screeching" noise coming from the left wheel, and that was the break pad retainer clip touching the break disc and the Dealer fixed it. There is also a Technical/Service Bulletin out from Honda on that.
The car still takes better left turns than right turns, as I had reported in April, and the dealer found nothing wrong when we asked him to look into it (no big surprise). I am going to get an extended warranty, because the Dealer does what they do best. They wait until your 3yr/36k mi. warranty is up, and then all of a sudden they have answers and solutions to all these issues and they want you to pay for them. I have gone through this with all my Civics and I don't tell them I have a Honda warranty until after they fix the car. You should see the look on their face when I take out the Honda Care card. If you tell them before hand you have the extended warranty, they will not fix anything and tell you it's your imagination. So be aware... I have owned 7 Hondas (and Acuras) since 1993. I know all the dealer tricks and my brother-in-law used to be a manager for a Honda dealer in PA and I learned from him too.

So that's my plan. Get the Honda ext. warranty and wait until 36k mi. and see if they will resolve any or all issues that we have with the car. At the rate my wife is piling the miles on the car, she will have 36k on it in a year and a half.
Harry

 

Hi everyone, 4cyl Sport owner here. Purchased in January, has about 7500 miles on it.

I've got a couple of issues to throw into the mix:

1) When starting the car and putting it in gear for the first time (mainly reverse to back out of the garage), it doesn't seem to 'catch' correctly. Not sure if that description really applies since I don't know if there's anything for a CVT to catch, but the point is the car moves at a snail's pace even when pressing down on the accelerator. It usually starts to work fine after shifting to D, but sometimes will have to put it in park and back for it to 'wake up'. I haven't been able to get this to happen with any consistency, it's been an on and off thing.

2) Some kind of rattling/buzzing noise coming from behind the dash. Mainly happens when driving over cracks/bumps in the road. Could be one of those defective brackets or clips mentioned earlier in the thread? Just started happening recently and I haven't taken it in yet. Will post once I do.

 

Can't relate to your concern yet but does your vechicle burn oil? My 2013 accord 4 cylinder burns about .5 - .75 quarts per 5000 miles. The dealer says Honda is OK with losing 1 quart per 1000 miles. That sounds absurd! Should I be concerned? I only have 19,000 miles on the car.

 

Are you asking of you should be concerned if your engine is consuming a half to three-quarters of a quart of oil after 5,000 miles? If so, then the long answer is an unqualified "No"; then there's the short answer, that one is a "No" as well.

For my part, I'm more worried about engines which don't consume any oil than those like yours.

 

This is one of the most weird advises I have heard in my life, to let the my car run with problems until after 36k miles/3 years and ask the dealer service to "fix the problems" without showing my "care card" so I will "surprise them" right after with my extended warranty... and so forth...

What I have understood in the message from above is that Honda dealer services are fraudulent people and that we can't trust them... but we can "trick them" by hidding our "care card" until they really have fixed the car's problems.

Why not say it straight, like, "don't use Honda dealer services unless you have an extended warranty to be presented after the repairs are made... otherwise take your car to another mechanic?"

Still, is the best advice to let the car running with problems untill the warranty 36k miles/3years has expired?

Is that a wise advice?

I don't think so. If I have a problem with my car I want the problem to be fixed BEFORE it gets worse. We are talking about MY car, the car I PAID for, and Honda must fulfill their side of a contract because such is the LAW.

I don't have to "trick" anyone in order to have my car fixed, and if Honda dealer service is full of crooks, then thanks vtecharry, thanks for letting me know about it.

And yes, the Honda dealer service is NOT a honest car service. The old man in my house took our new 2013 Honda Accord for a leak between the motor and the transmission, the dealer sprayed grease remover and suggested to bring the car baclk for the next oil change to monitor for leaks. The dishonest part is found in the records, because the receipt showed no charge, but also says that "no leak was found" instead of saying that oil degreaser was sprayed to monitor any leaks between transmission and motor.

And more, the old man says that "a visitor" from Honda showed up and took information about the leak, the visitor left the dealer. The mechanics sprayed oil degreaser before the old man was called to show the leak location.

And this is funny, the mechanics sprayed the oil degreaser on the bottom part only. When the old guy showed up, the mechanics started to repeat the words "no leaks, there are no leaks"... and the supervisor asked him to show the leak on the bottom of the car.

The old man was smart as well, he asked the mechanic to low down the car. The mechanic did it, and then the old man showed them the leak between the transmission and the motor, a leak that started from the top, right under the cylinder head. It was a line (the junction line) showing the wet surface dried up by heat and dust. Only then, the mechanics shut up their mouths with their "no leaks, there are no leaks" and another mechanic was called. This last mechanic is the one who suggested "to spray oil degreaser and wait to the next oil change" to monitor if any leaks happen...

And more funnier, the service supervisor first said that a "pressure test" must be performed to verify any leaks, but no pressure test was made...

Yeap, vtecharry, the Honda dealer service is not honest, you got it right... but don't wait until the 36k miles/3 years, if you have a problem with your new car, DEMAND to be fixed right away, because Honda and you have a CONTRACT, where both of you HAVE AGREED to certain conditions, and Honda must fulfill the warranty, because such is the LAW.

If Honda tries to evade their compromise with the contract, then sue Honda, make public their wrongdoings, use all tools available to inform others about what Honda is doing. Remember that you have paid thousands of dollars for a vehicle that is supposed to be fault free at least for 36k miles/3 years...

 

Unfortunately most Dealerships and car manufacturers operate this way, except for Mercedes which I know first hand because my father owned a couple of them. They will go out of their way to properly fix your car.

Honda is no different than Ford, GM, Chrysler, etc. which I have made a promise to myself never to step into one of those dealerships again.

In any case, I am not advising anyone to do what I do. What I do is go to the Dealer a couple of times (for the same issue), have them document everything correctly, so it is on record. If the problem is minor and the Dealer has looked at it and has come up with excuses not to fix it, I then wait until the 36k mi. warranty is over, and go back with my extended warranty to get it fixed. Unfortunately the trick here is not to make them aware you have an ext.warranty if you want anything fixed. I have owned 7 Hondas now since '93 (my siblings another 3 or 4) and know exactly how the 2 Honda Dealers in my area operate. If you do not show them the Honda Care or other ext.warranty you have purchased, they are more than willing to fix the problem for a hefty charge, when you car has 37k miles on the odo. The problem is they get paid LESS than HALF from Honda when they fix something under warranty. The Honda Care warranty labor rate dealers get is pretty low around $40/hr (a few years ago I remember it used to be $34/hr like what insurance companies pay body shops), and many times they have a fixed $ amount for repairing defects and things described in a Technical/Service Bulletin (aka TB or TSB), which again are just a few bucks. This is the main reason. The Dealer would rather work on non-warranty stuff and get almost 2.5x as much $ from the regular customers, instead of working for half the $ they get from Honda. That is the reason they do not want to do it. Maximing profits, while screwing the customers.

I am also very informed with the technical bulletins they get from Honda and bring that information with me as well. Sometimes I will print others' posts with the same problem I am having and bring it with me to show them that many others are having the same issue, and we are not imagining it. I put a lot of pressure on them and speak directly to the Service Manager and also ask to see the General Manager (GM). Usually when I ask for the GM they seem more willing to fix the problem, not so much when I mention calling Honda Customer Service. The GM is their big boss, or "signs their check", not Honda. They do not always correct the issue to my satisfaction, when I mention the GM, but it works sometimes. There is 1 Dealer that is better than others and wins the Honda President's Award every year, but I am not driving 33 miles to that Dealer unless I am out of options. That Dealership hates to get bad reviews when you receive a survey from Honda, so they try to satisfy their customers, especially if you complain and put some pressure on them. That's NOT to say they are not full of BS sometimes, but they are far better than the 2 other Honda Dealers closer to home, that are quick to discount any problems and imply you are imagining things, especially when the car is still under the 36k mi. bumper to bumper warranty.

Finally, all Hondas burn some oil. 1/2 a quart or 3/4 after 5k mi. is pretty normal. My Integra GSR used to burn 3/4 Qt. after 3k mi. and my Civics 1/2 Qt. I never let my Hondas or any of my cars go 5k mi. without an oil change, especially if 1/3d or more are miles driving around town. I change the oil at 4k mi. or 3,500 if 1/2 the miles are city/town. If your miles are 90% or more highway, then 5k should be fine, but I would not stretch it to 5500 or 6k like some people do, or 7k because the manual says so. As the car gets older and the miles pile on, it will need an oil change more frequently.

It is important to use Honda fluids and more importantly Honda motor oil. They are formulated specifically for our cars. It will give you better gas mileage and your engine will run smoother. If you get an oil change elsewhere even with good Castrol GTX oil (Valvoline is pretty average) change your oil & filter every 3k mi. If you are in the habit of going to those Quick Oil Change places, bring your own Honda filter. They will usually deduct $1.50 if you do that (even though the Honda filter will cost you anywhere from $5.x to $7.50). The cheap filters they use at these places are not good to say the least. They do not properly clean the oil or trap all the junk. I always have a few Honda filters on hand that I order on line for around $5 each, along with windshield wipers and air filters that I replace myself periodically every 15k miles (the air filter). Break pads are also good to order along with all those other items, since you save on average 25-30% purchasing parts on line. Beats getting charged the full price by your local dealer. You can bring your own break pads or other parts and have the dealer install them. They will only charge you for labor. Dealers have a pretty wild imagination about what retail or "list" price is on Honda parts. They are free to sell them at whatever markup they come up with. I have called 3 different Honda dealers on several occasions and was given 3 different "list" prices for the same part. So order the regular maintenance parts on line and save.

Harry

 

I have to take issue with your comment regarding older cars needing more frequent oil changes. To say I've never seen any evidence to suggest older engines need more frequent oil changes is an understatement to be sure. The fact is, older well maintained engines shouldn't require any change in the factory oil change schedule, even if there are over a quarter of a million miles on the engine.

Ummm, no, not true. The fact is there are many non-Honda branded oils on the market which are far-far superior to Honda branded oil in every way.