2003 Accord Radio Display Problem

Success!! The dealer spoke with Honda and Honda agreed to cover the
repalcement cost. I should have the car back tomorrow (they were also
doing the 37k service....plus replacing the wiper motor that went out
this morning...not covered - I'm not having a good month!).

I'm surprised but very happy that Honda decided to cover the radio
display problem. I think this was the right thing for them to do given
the history of this sort of failure. The dealer said the customer cost
of the radio was $750, plus labor to install it (probalby cost about
$900 total to repair). Said the solution required a complete audio
unit replacement, not just the display. Honda's back on my good side.

Mike

 

Mike said

Great!

I'm calling my dealer again tomorrow. Still haven't received a call
from the case worker.



Casey

 

Sorry you're having a crap month - I hada similar one back in Feb.

Very good news indeed about Honda's covering your radio problem. I think
they should have, but it's always nice to see a company step up & do the
right thing.

 

Does anyone know if this is localized to just 2003 models?

Thanks,
Nick

 

The display on our '04 Accord EX radio failed after about 14 months and 25K
miles, and was promptly replaced by the dealer without charge, and they even
called XM and had our account transferred to our new radio. We didn't have
to do (or pay for) a thing.

 

Casey, any luck from your dealer or Honda yet?

 

It's really good to hear that I have the same problem; Mike how long
after you went to te deler and had them look at it did they put a new
radio in??

 

Mike said

Still no caseworker call from Honda. I'm going to call them again - at
least I had the sense to get a reference number from the first time I
called.

As far as the dealer goes, I haven't contacted them again yet because
I've been snowed under with work for the last few days.



Casey

 

Congratulations! One of the big reasons I bought my '04 Accord EX V6
and my wife's '04 MDX is that they stepped up to the plate several
times on our two '90 Integras and a '99 Passport. Too bad they made
you sweat it, and aren't willing to take a more unified, consistent
approach to all these display problems.

Dittos to the poster to mentioned this as a good reason to keep the
radio separate from the a/c controls. A real nice "gotcha now" when
either goes out. You can bet they slap a new part into your unit,
which will become a refurb for the next guy, at $900.

Since this problem is being reported on '04's now as well as '03's, I
may eventually just leave my radio on in the garage for months on end,
and cook it to death. This problem has nothing to do with miles, it
has to be hours of operation. Maybe around 1200 hours of operation. I
can do that in 3 months in my garage, and maybe I will when there is
enough lead time remaining on the warranty, but not too much. The damn
clock gains a minute a week anyway.

If Honda doesn't announce a better policy, we should all run our radios
'till they die.

 

Mike said

Wow. Out of the blue, an American Honda rep finally called me back
today after 3 weeks. I explained the situation (my 2003 is two years
old and has almost 40,000 miles now) and also explained that I didn't
want to make a 50 mile round trip so someone could say, "yeah, the
radio display really is dark" and then order a new one and tell me to
come back later.

This rep called my dealer. In ten minutes I got a call from the dealer
- radio is ordered, we will call you next week when it is in, and Honda
will pay to have it replaced.

I'm close to a happy ending on this and beginning to have a good
feeling about it.



Casey

 

Congrats, Casey, good news for all us 2003 Accord owners!

 

I got mine fixed Finally it took about two weeks but the part is on
it's way

 

The ordeal with Honda only took a few days, and they told me to take it
into the dealer to confirm the problem. The dealer had it back to me
the next day (the repalcement system was in stock). Pretty quick and
painless.

 

Mike said

My radio is in and I'm supposed to have it swapped out on Thursday.

The dealer didn't call when it came in. Believe it or not, the
American Honda caseworker called me today to see if everything was
resolved - she then called the dealer and called me back to say the
radio was indeed sitting there waiting for me. I've been impressed
with this caseworker.




Casey

 

Casey said

I now have a new radio and a display that works. Had an appointment at
the dealer at 10:30 am and drove off with the installed new radio at
11:45. Not bad at all. The display burned out at about 39,500 miles,
but thanks to the caseworker at American Honda, it was a free
replacement.

My new display might not be as bright as the old one that burned out.
It might just be my imagination - it's also a very bright and sunny day
which doesn't help any. I can at least see it now.



Casey

 

I di dfind out that the reason for the TSB was that the supplier who
initally sent out the units with the vehicles was putting in parts that
didn't meet spec.

My display seems the same way, maybe they set the led light to a lower
level. On the old uni i noticed it used to heat up pretty good this
one seems to stay pretty cool in comparison.

Big thanks to mike for sharing his solutions so we all have an avenue
to pursue.

 

Beerman182 said

Also, thanks to some others in the previous related threads. Al gave me
some good info that helped a lot.

This is a classic example of how useful and powerful a newsgroup like
this can be.


Casey

 

I recently had the same problem, and am out of warray as well (69K
miles!!). I called the Honda and they told me to take it into the
dealership to get it diagnosed. My question is, my dealership charges
$90 to do diagnostics, which I have to pay whether I make the repair or
not. Should I expect Honda to cover this, or am I gonna be paying it?
Anyone else get this charge?

Will

 

if i KNEW they were gonna replace the radio, id just pay it. if they
take the $90 and say "tough shit", then yeah, id be pissed.

 

Will said

I'm not sure there is a diagnostic to run except turn on the radio and
say, "Yeah, it's dark".

I called American Honda first and worked out the details before I went
to the dealer to have the radio swapped out. It took some patience.


Casey