2002 Honda Struts - What should I do now?

Driver side front strut failed ~6 months ago. I was ~2000 miles over
warranty. Wrote a letter to Honda USA, and they said they would cover
the failed strut, and only the failed strut.

Went to the dealership for the service and offered to pay for the other
strut because I had heard you should have them replaced in pairs.
Dealership recommended I only replace the one strut because car only
had 38000 miles on it and "Driver weight stresses the driver side
strut, more than passenger side. Therefore driver side wears much
faster." They replaced only the one side. Slight pull to right in the
car, but I was told that will go away as the new strut wears.

Now, 4 months after the service, 5000 miles later, car still pulls and
just noticed car leans to the driver side about an inch. I figure this
is the cause of the pull.

What need to be done here? Have I been screwed beyond belief? Is there
a height adjustment that would level the car?

Any thoughts would be appreciated.

Thanks,

Nate

 

if the other strut is damaged, but you have one good one you should
still be fine. You can go to autozone, or advancedautoparts are get a
new one. They actually are cheap.

Cost is $60 each, plus when you bring back the old one you get a refund
of $40.00 so in other words it only will cost you $20.00 + labor. I
wouldn't spend more than $50.00 to have someone install it. It's a
fairly easy job, and takes less than 15 minutes to install (if the
person knows what they are doing)

Good luck!

 

i'd call the main honda usa customer service #, explain the problem &
that you're getting no dice from the dealer, say that the issue is
clearly a defective suspension problem you consider to be very
dangerous, and have them arrange for the dealer to fix the problem. any
new honda part is guaranteed for 12 months. you should not need to pay.

 

Did you buy the car new? When I had my 02 Civic, I received a voluntary
recall (from Honda Canada) for the front struts. The dealership checked
them and since they were not the new re-engineered struts, they were
replaced at no charge and I received $100.00 Honda voucher for my troubles.
Maybe get the dealership to check your VIN number for that recall?


Rick

 

Yea, I bought the car new. No recall in the USA though.

Sucks.

-n

 

as jim said, call the dealership and tell them where you bought the car
they refuse to do anything about it. It's new, so it should not have
ANY problems.

I thought that is why people buy new cars, so they don't have to deal
with problems such as this.

 

Re-read the first post, I bought the car new in 2002. Warranty has
expired! Car now has 43000 miles on it. Still close to new by my
standards, but not new enough for the dealership to care. Dealerships
think everyone should buy a new car every 5 years. I'll call Honda USA
Monday and see what they say.

Thanks for all the replys, you guys are great.

-N

 

the warranty on the car has expired, but not the new part.

http://www.hondaautomotiveparts.com/warrant.htm

 

And what about parts on the recall list, aren't you eligible for that
even past warranty?

J.

 

I asked the dealer and HONDA USA. They said there was no recall. Maybe
there was one in Canada, but not the USA.

-n