Enjoy the car and use it like you normally would. We're not talking about an engine issue, but a well documented soft top defect...put it DOWN bigman, put it Down

 

Alright, I finally called in to Honda Care today and submitted my claim. The representative I spoke to was friendly and understanding. He was fully aware of the problem and has dealt with calls like mine before. He also said he doesn't know why they haven't put out a recall on the top either. Go figure.

I'm taking my car in to Honda later on today, per Honda Care's direction to see the dealers assessment.

Wish me luck!

 

I got my dealership to replace the entire top free of charge, no
dealing with Honda Care or anyone else. The frame was wearing
holes through both sides.

Although I have an '05 and it is still under warranty...if it wasn't,
who knows what hoops I would have had to jump through.

 

GL

BTW I have also used this technique on getting CV joints replaced as well...in this situation you need to have your car at stock height so the dealer doesn't blame the modified suspension.

 

i am going to try this from the Canadian side of things this week.

 

The top in my '02 with 68k miles has finally failed -- the old "bar didn't retract so the latches got pushed through the top" issue. We went to our Honda dealer/service center, and they pushed it to HondaCare (yes, it's Honda-certified w/HondaCare VSC on top of that). HondaCare declined the repair -- saying the roof is part of the "body structure" which is explicitly NOT covered. We escalated the call to a manager at HondaCare, but they wouldn't budge. We now have a case open with Honda America; but haven't gotten to speak with them yet.

My question is, for those who have had Honda cooperate on this -- it sounds like Honda replaced everyone's tops, but what about the frame (and latches)? The frame is the problem -- it has a design / mechanical issue where the first bar doesn't retract when you go to put the top down. This puts pressure on the latches, which will eventually push through the top. (In our case, the latches also broke -- specifically, the small plastic retainer clips inside which hold them tight.) Our Honda service center didn't believe me or even recognize the frame as causing the issue until I showed them.

 

you should revise your post. you didnt talk to honda care and honda care isnt covering anything.... you contacted AHM corporate. Honda Care is a seperate division from honda that provides extended services contracts (exnteded warranties) which would have no authority or say in covering the soft top.

 

armeN, I assume you're referring to my post, but I'm not sure I understand your comment. I spoke with a couple people at HondaCare (800-999-5901) yesterday. When they couldn't help, I called Honda America (800-999-1009), and now I have a case open with them. My post was simply to ask if people who had their softtops replaced also had their frame and latches replaced as a part of the job. Failure of the frame is what is causing our softtops to tear (and in our case, the frame was pushed into the latches, which broke the clips inside the latches).

 

Correct but most people are referring to the 800-999-1009 as a Honda Care which it is not and they do not make a warranty decision per say. The decision to replace tops outside of the factory warranty is done on a case by case basis reviewed by either the district parts and service manager or the regional case manager.

 

I was wondering about that as well...do the replace the whole assembly or just the cloth?