This is a really long story so please bare with me. I bought my 96 Honda Accord two years ago and it has had a check engine light problem ever since. The man I bought the car from said that Honda had an emmisssions warranty that would cover the problems. So I took the car to Everhart Honda in Statesville NC.(15mi. from home.) They changed two O2 Sensors and told me that the fuel Injectors were bad and the valves needed to be re adjusted. So that day they set up an appointment to get the work done. Later that day they called me up and said that they were through trying to fix my car and would no longer service it. So I then call Honda Corp and they had told me that I needed to go to another dealership. They set up an appointment for me to go the a Honda dealership in Concord NC(30mi. from home) I got to this dealership I was provided a rental car and they had my car for about 3 days. They had changed another O2 sensor. The dealership then tells me that my warranty is up in a month. I never once argued with these people. I am a very understanding person. So then I get the car back from Concord Honda and of corse the check engine light is back on. I drove the car around for a while then my husband took it to another dealership in January of 2006. The dealership was Honda of Lake Norman in Huntersville NC. They saw the codes but just reset everything and sent us on our way. This year inspection was very difficult. The ECM took a while to reset. Honestly we got very lucky. Ok so Friday we decided to try one more time with Honda. We took the car to Honda of Lake Norman because my husband had spoken with Ed the service manager and he had promised my husband that their service department would do everything they could to fix our car. So Friday the car was taken there and we were told that the radiator cap had came undone and coolant had leeked all inside the car and made the car spit out all kinds of codes on the ECM. The dealership then told us that this is not a warranteed repair and that we would have to pay $155.00 for a new cap, coolant, and the ODM read out of the codes. Keep in mind that my car had an oil change last week and all levels of fluids were checked. Also, I may be a woman but I check the levels myself very often and I never smelled any coolant. The temp guade never moved away from normal. So we went today to pick up the car and Ed the service manager said that he was tired of putting time into fixing our car and told us to never bring it back.(Keep in mind the car has only been to the dealership 2 times) At that point I wish I could of recorded what was going on. We asked him why and he said there is alot of codes being spit out of the car and I don't know why. I then explained to him that the codes are there to tell you what is wrong with the car. One of the codes was a cylinder misfire code and I told him that I knew for sure that code was covered. He says I have worked on many cars. Ed had all the car codes written down and did not give them to us nor did he give us any paper work on what they did to our car. I AM TOTALLY PISSED OFF!!!!! This is the last time that I will ever buy a Honda. I don't want to make anyone mad here but what I have went through does not make me want to do business with any Honda dealerships anywhere. I have been to 3 dealerships and they have all played me and don't care. That says alot about Honda's dealerships and Warranties. This week I will be taking my car to another machanic to find out what's wrong and I'm going to get it fixed and Honda will pay me back!!! I am going to find out the codes before I do this. Honda tried to keep it all a secret and I hate that!!! They would not tell me the codes... They didn't charge me for the new cap and fluid(I may have needed a new cap but the fluid is at the same level it was before.) I really think that Honda are con artist and I do not trust them. I hope you all have had better luck but just be aware that dealerships don't care about warranties or you. When I have the car examined by a machanic I will be going to all new stations in my area, newspapers, and the BBB. I will not be a victim!!!!! When dealing with these dealerships I remembered the saying "Kill them with Kindness" but I soon realized that it was not working.

 

I'm sorry to hear that they are screwing around like that with your car, I would love to see what the codes it's throwing out are.... That's strange that two dealerships stopped working on your car so quickly that doesn't make sense to me.... If I was a mechanic and was having problems I'd gladly spend a bunch of time on it trying to fix it because it's worth money to me... that is REALLY bizare... Go to the local parts store and get them to read the codes for you, that will make life easier, or just drive to Arizona and have DesertHonda work on it*L*

 

Thank you sir for replying. I will be finding out the codes as soon as the ECM resets. I'll let you know for sure. I am astounded that Honda has turned my car away too. They have all said they just don't want to spend the time on it. I even asked the service manager if Honda pays them back for their time and he said yes but started to mumble and I didn't understand what he said. Really I should of gotten my cell phone out and recorded the conversation. I just wish a Honda dealership would step up and just fix it. When we go to a new dealership we are very nice because we understand that it will be free work to fix the problem. I hate even being put in this situation. But I will post the codes as soon as the check engine light comes back on. Thank you sir for always being there.. Breeze

 

I am shocked and apalled by those dealerships. Like sir_nasty said its money to them. I have only had a small issue with the dealership and that was just bad information, no harm done. I wish you luck on your quest for automotive justice.

 

WOW .. i am totally shocked at the way you were treated .. and i cannot understand why they said that they would not work on the car anymore..

also,, when you say radiator cap came undone and coolant had leaked all inside the car........do you literally mean inside the driver or passenger compartment ??or the engine compartment??

First off rad cap DOES not come undone if inatalled properly, you have to push the cap down and around the tabs on the radiator to lock the cap in place ,,the inner spring might brake but there is no WAY , SHAPE , or FORM that the cap can come undone unless the top radiator neck is broken ........

also if they are saying that coolant came inside the car ?? that is total BULLCRAP .. there is no way for coolant to come inside the car unless the HEATER CORE leaks

i would follow with what you plan on doing,, BBB, local PAPER. If you had a warranty, than they have to fix it properly no matter what or how long it takes..

and 1 last thing it is totally absurd that they did not write down on the repair order the codes .. customers have a right to know what is wrong with THEIR car and what it took to fix it

 

Deserthonda thank you for your response. The fluid supposedly spilled all over the motor and you know what there is no coolant anywhere except near where the cap is and a little on the top of the fan. I should post pictures because there is no leek spots on my cement carport nor is there leeks at the cement drive at work. I know that what they said to me was BS and so now I will not ever take my car back to Honda. I'm going to go with a machanic here that has always treated me right. Then I will send the repair bill into Honda Corp. I'm still driving it around today to get the ECM to reset. About the paper work. That is the second dealership that has done that to me. I believe that the codes my car is throwing out are pretty major repairs and these dealerships just don't want to deal with them. I have called the State Attornys office in my state and she said that dealerships have the right to tell anyone that they will not fix your car even if they are warranteed services. I'm dumb founded by this. So car companies give everyone warranties on their cars but if their dealerships don't want to fix warranteed problems they don't have to. It's very upsetting. Hopefully by the end of today I will be posting the codes after I go to Autozone. Everyone thanks for your support. Breeze

 

I would call HOA and explain the whole situation to them and tell them everything.

DH is right on this one.

HOA should be more than interested in helping you solve this issue. I have had nothing but good luck with my local dealer (burke honda)

 

I have called HOA before about this issue. After the 1st dealership turned me away. All they did was set me up with another dealership that was 30 miles away from my home. They told me basically that I have to keep taking it to all kinds of Honda dealerships untill someone fixes it. They can't make their dealerships fix it. HOA doesn't care!! My car is a 1996 Accord with a extended emissions warranty that came into effect because a customer in CA sued Honda because his car is doing the same as mine. The federal government made up this extended emissions warranty and Honda is no happy about it and they are slack with taking care of this. The check engine light in my car makes it so that when I get the emissions inspection it will not pass. So my car along with anyone else who has had this problem has to pay their state for a waiver every year because their car will not pass. I just feel like all of these cars should of been recalled and fixed because Honda dealerships have found a loop poll in this warranty. Honda dealerships know that they don't have to fix your car and can turn you away. THIS SITUATION IS VERY REAL AND I HAVE BEEN DEALING WITH IT SINCE I BOUGHT MY CAR IN MARCH OF 2004. I have tried all routes to remedy this problem. The only other thing that I can do it get the codes, get another machanic to fix it and send Honda the bill. I am also going to HOA, the BBB, and send my story to all local media. I just wanted everyone to know what I have been putting up with, with Honda. HOA couldn't say anything more than there is another dealership in Concord (30 miles away) where I can set up an appointment for you. I have not called them recently because I know they will just give me the run around and tell me to go to another dealership that is even further away. I'm still waiting on the codes. My car is at 175 miles now and the computer has yet to reset. The last time the ECU was cleared the car did this and it took almost 400 miles for the cumputer to finally reset. Oh Well, all I can do is wait. Will post codes when they come up. Thanks for all of your replies.

 

I appologize ahead of time if I missed something, but that's a problem at the local levels, and not just with Honda dealerships. Had similar, not as many places involved, problem with a Ford I once owned. Long story short, got 4 different versions of what what wrong (from the same dealer service dept.) all ranging from $200-$500, in the end all that had to be done was to properly tighten a belt. unfortunately that's how things have gotten, want something done right, gotta do it yourself, or befriend someone that can, lol. hope everything gets done up right for you.

PS what codes does this cover?

 

I would start looking around forums for repair shops that service all cars including honda, get feedback if you can from anyone on any forum about how good the shop is, check the BBB on them also and see what they think of your car. If they find the problem is simple then I don't know what you should do but me If I payed with credit cards I'd call them and see about stopping the money transfer or put a challenge on it though them or if check have it stopped by bank if this can be done. I'd get a lawyer and sue Honda and the shops. and make a big mess of it though the news services if they will listen. Sometimes private repair shops are a lot better than the dealer ones. It just takes some research to find out if they know their stuff.
I've found it's not good to be nice when doing business. They take you for a sucker. Every time I've been nice and or polite (I've had a good strict upbranging and am that way by habbit) I've been ripped off and now I am never less than mildly aggressive at first and get worse as time goes on. Sad but it works better this way. It was a laugh when I told one person to wait on taking the car because I had to get my handgun out of the glove compartment first so it wouldn't get lost. Best repair job I've ever seen there.