Dog Biscuit

Reply from Stuart Graham Honda:

"If you stop after a journey and immediately check the oil it can read low due to the oil still circulating within the engine and not having had time to settle completely. There is a slight danger that adding oil at this point can overfill the engine although the amount you added would not cause this"

So ... me needing to add 1.8 litres of oil to get it to read to the fill level after letting it settle for a couple of minutes is normal ... yeah ... right ...

"It is feasible that a small air lock remained in the system although this is quite unusual and being 0.5 litre low on coolant would not have any detrimental effect on the cooling of your engine".

Good news everyone - save yourself some money on coolant and ignore the minimum level on the expansion tank, in fact, keep it empty just like mine was. I've had to add another 0.25 litres this week too.

Still, I must look on the bright side though ... "The most important concerns you have revolve around the quality of the work completed on your car and I would really like to re-assure you that this has been done to the highest standards".

Silly old me! Low levels of coolant, oil and one damper replaced when I gather I should go for two? How can I be so picky?

Next service and possibly new damper will be elsewhere.

MB

That is bullshit.

By the time you switch the car off, lift the bonnet, and get to the dip stick - 90% of the oil will have returned by gravity. Ok there is still a fair bit in the oil galleries etc, but were not talking more than half a litre tops.

The damper issue - im sure Honda must advise they be replaced in pairs for safety reasons?? Its certainly not best practice IMO.

Maybe its time for a big thread on this recent downward spiral of dealer service qaulity?

havoc UK

That smacks of fobbing you off.

Next step is respond in a firmer but still polite manner, and cc Honda UK, enclosing COPIES of both letters so far with the HUK letter...

Boab01

Go down to see the general manager and be polite, that's if you want them to do anything about it, otherwise talk to Honda UK.

I'm wondering if we could talk to Ian Eagle about the feedback we have for the dealers as it seems they are becoming poorer and poorer.

That's what we get for spamming the surveys with glowing responses about the dealers I suppose. If Honda don't think there's a problem then there isn't a problem.

Gaspode

Is it just me, or is anyone else sh****** a brick about the prospect of taking their S to a Honda dealer for work to be done.

The number of unsatisfactory posts in my relatively short span here is staggering. ( My local had never heard of Shin-Etsu grease... bad sign )

Maybe instead of organising Group Buys, we should organise Group Boycott's.

OK - I've only got 4K on my car.... but I don't want to play wheel of fortune with a bunch of muppets.

Boab01

I don't think boycotts are right, I suspect one thing we could do is in each area locate the best dealer of the lot and all head for that one, that'll get the dealer experienced in the car and will give S2kUK some leverage with the dealerships.

This of course requires us to be more organised than a herd of cats.

Lurking Lawyer

What we need is a few competent Honda-trained mechanics to set up on their own as independent specialists. Alas, I suspect there just isn't the market for it as most Honda drivers aren't petrolheads and just take it to their local dealer without a second thought, and there aren't enough Honda sportscar owners to make it worthwhile.

I feel so much more comfortable entrusting my current steed to Mike, the indie Porsche specialist who looks after my car, than I ever did in leaving my S2000 at either of the Honda dealers I used to use. His hourly rate is considerably less than a Honda dealer (let alone a Porsche dealer!) would charge and I feel like he actually knows what he's doing.

A competent dealer you can trust is such an integral part of the all-round ownership experience. Alas, it seems that just too many franchised Honda dealers are coming up short. There are, of course, a few honourable expections but they seem to be increasingly few and far between....

Gaspode

Right.. who's really aggrieved and wants to champion it then...

Would it make sense to get the TYPE R forum guys involved to add to our numbers...


Somehow, Somewhere... there has to be a superhero...waiting to save us all from the spanner monkeys.....

Boab01

One is tempted to drive to Carlisle for my servicing .

I'm going to stick with Phoenix Stirling for the moment as they are pretty close with Type R Scotland and were pretty responsive when I made a complaint to their GM so ultimately I can't complain, things go wrong if they admit to cocking up then it means that I have some comfort for the future.

TINTOP

Having talked to Chris at Center Gravity many times I know he would be more than welcome to be talked to by owners who would like service items doing too .
Whilst they specialise in Suspension and geometry Chris is a master mechanic by trade and I know many people on this forum feel very safe letting him work on their cars.
If you were to approach him I am sure he would welcome the business.