Weigh in: Lemon/Repair Item
04-02-2009, 02:52 PM
#1
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Weigh in: Lemon/Repair Item
Situation:
Family member purchased an 08 Accord EX-L (fully loaded)
It always seemed to handle (turning radius wise) kinda crappy, but otherwise drove great and I/family member figured, its a larger car then the civics I was used to.
So, a month ago it goes in for dealer maintenance, and I am like, ya know what, have them check the steering. Sure enough, the PS is totally f-d from the factory, the turning radius is a fraction of what it should be, and they write up an invoice saying all of this, and that it needs to be replaced totally free of charge.
A month goes by, hear nothing from Honda. Family member calls and gets a major runaround from a manager at the dealer, who essentially said, sorry its not broken, we ain't doing sh*t. Despite the fact I am looking at the signed Honda invoice stating its broken and will be repaired free (entire PS system).
At this point, after the disgusting way family member was spoken to, I want to look into lemon laws. Anyone have any knowledge of this? My personal feeling is Honda should give a new car with comparable features, instead of just replacing this and going forward. Especially with documented reduced turning ability, I am sure the case could be made that this was a potential danger, and definitely a lemon from the factory.
Thoughts? After the talking to from this sales manager, it made me realize that Honda should be doing alot more then fixing this free of charge, especially given how ####ed it is, which they confirmed.
Weigh in.
Family member purchased an 08 Accord EX-L (fully loaded)
It always seemed to handle (turning radius wise) kinda crappy, but otherwise drove great and I/family member figured, its a larger car then the civics I was used to.
So, a month ago it goes in for dealer maintenance, and I am like, ya know what, have them check the steering. Sure enough, the PS is totally f-d from the factory, the turning radius is a fraction of what it should be, and they write up an invoice saying all of this, and that it needs to be replaced totally free of charge.
A month goes by, hear nothing from Honda. Family member calls and gets a major runaround from a manager at the dealer, who essentially said, sorry its not broken, we ain't doing sh*t. Despite the fact I am looking at the signed Honda invoice stating its broken and will be repaired free (entire PS system).
At this point, after the disgusting way family member was spoken to, I want to look into lemon laws. Anyone have any knowledge of this? My personal feeling is Honda should give a new car with comparable features, instead of just replacing this and going forward. Especially with documented reduced turning ability, I am sure the case could be made that this was a potential danger, and definitely a lemon from the factory.
Thoughts? After the talking to from this sales manager, it made me realize that Honda should be doing alot more then fixing this free of charge, especially given how ####ed it is, which they confirmed.
Weigh in.
04-02-2009, 05:10 PM
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I am interested in Phil's opinion as well. I am not trying "scam" the dealer, but the reality is that it could have caused an accident, and even if they fix it now, they should make the situation right given the car was presented as being new and "like that" from the factory. Any person, not just my family member, should receive retribution from the dealer, especially when its a major and safety related repair that has been lived with for a year now...
04-02-2009, 08:15 PM
#5
Lemon laws are to protect the consumer from REPEATED failures/breaks of the same component within a period of time.
That's not your case here. You have a dealer who has something signed and doesn't want to deal with it. If it was fixed, broken again, fixed again, broken again, then you might have a lemon law case.
Good Luck with the dealer. Have you tried a different dealership, or called American Honda to escalate the issue you are having at the dealership?
That's not your case here. You have a dealer who has something signed and doesn't want to deal with it. If it was fixed, broken again, fixed again, broken again, then you might have a lemon law case.
Good Luck with the dealer. Have you tried a different dealership, or called American Honda to escalate the issue you are having at the dealership?
04-03-2009, 05:40 AM
#7
I'm lost 
The turning radius was a fraction of what it should be? so if it should have a 40' turning radius was it like 100'?
If they took the car to a dealer and they verified the problem why not get it fixed or scheduled right there and then?
The guy really called back and said "we ain't fixing shit"?
crazy...
The turning radius was a fraction of what it should be? so if it should have a 40' turning radius was it like 100'?
If they took the car to a dealer and they verified the problem why not get it fixed or scheduled right there and then?
The guy really called back and said "we ain't fixing shit"?
crazy...
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04-03-2009, 06:09 AM
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Went to the dealer a month ago for routine service, asked to check steering, the tech agreed the turning radius was really bad, and wrote up that it needed the whole system replaced, covered by Honda, and they were ordering the part and would call when it was in. They never called. A month later, the service manager argues for a half an hour about how nothing has been ordered, nor will be, cause nothing is wrong. And that he has serious doubts about the integrity of the mechanic who wrote up the invoice. It was nuts, almost unheard of, especially at a manager level.
The call ended with him saying "bring it in if you really think this is real"
It was almost surreal. Anyway, its one thing for them to cover it, maybe through in a free brake job/service as retribution for the time owned. But now, I think the matter should be taken to American Honda.
The call ended with him saying "bring it in if you really think this is real"
It was almost surreal. Anyway, its one thing for them to cover it, maybe through in a free brake job/service as retribution for the time owned. But now, I think the matter should be taken to American Honda.
04-03-2009, 06:51 AM
#9
Crazy...
No offence to phil or anyone else who works for Honda but owning the S2000 has put me in contact with honda service before i found people here to do my work for me... it's a nightmare dealing with them. Hondas are great cars but the service makes you think you purchased some kind of "no frills" product. Needless to say i'll never be back.
g/l
No offence to phil or anyone else who works for Honda but owning the S2000 has put me in contact with honda service before i found people here to do my work for me... it's a nightmare dealing with them. Hondas are great cars but the service makes you think you purchased some kind of "no frills" product. Needless to say i'll never be back.
g/l
04-04-2009, 05:33 AM
#10
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I don't get what needs to be replaced. Lost of steering radius is from:
-poor alignment
-rack-to-front end relation (in other words, you'd loose turn radius in one direction only)
-wrong gear ratio in rack
I dont see radius loss coming from defective parts.
-poor alignment
-rack-to-front end relation (in other words, you'd loose turn radius in one direction only)
-wrong gear ratio in rack
I dont see radius loss coming from defective parts.
