Civic Transmission shot at 44K: Good Ending!!!

Thank you all for your advice. I have some VERY GOOD NEWS to share
Honda has agreed to replace my transmission free of charge!

I called "Honda of America" like Duckbill suggested (thank you
Duckbill!), I got through to a real person on the first ring (very
impressive). This gentelman was great, very empathetic. He said that
I had a shot at this. He asked me what did I want Honda to do about
this, and I said "I want Honda to live up to its tradition of
reliability and service and extend my guarantee to 60,000 miles".

I was not confrontational or aggresive, just told him that I was very
dissapointed and heartbroken that see that a Honda's transmission can
blow at 44K miles, that this was my 3rd Honda in years (1 totalled, 1
stolen - probably for beeing a Honda-). After my last Civic was stolen
I thought about buying a Ford Focus, but I stayed w Honda because I
knew that it would not let me down. I expected much more from a
Honda..."

The guy told me that I had done the right thing, calling them first
instead of going directly to the dealership. He gave me a case number
(because he thought I had a case) and told me to take the car to the
dealership for a diagnosis, no promises.

I towed my car from the tranny shop into Honda of Kirkland yesterday,
and today they called me to tell that the transmission was in fact
shot, that they could not extend my guarantee as I asked them, but they
will fix the transmission free of charge, (even when it was 8K out of
guarantee). I was elated! Maybe it helped that I asked for more,
maybe if I had asked them to fix it they would just pay 50%...

In any case, I think they were fenomenal, they even gave me a free
loaner while they fix my car. I belive in Honda again!

I also totally agree with the postings about beeing nice and assume
that people will help you out, expect the best and it might happen.
Honda actually mentioned "good will" througout all this, and as it
turns out these were not empty words in this case.

Thank you all again for all your encouragement!

 

I have been following this and am happy you had a happy ending....I started
buying Hondas in 1982 [Prelude] and am on my 4th a Fit and I love it. I
will never buy anything but a Honda. This will be a good story to pass
around<G>

Donna

 

I have been following this and am happy you had a happy ending....I started
buying Hondas in 1982 [Prelude] and am on my 4th a Fit and I love it. I
will never buy anything but a Honda. This will be a good story to pass
around<G>

Donna

 

Wonder if they are rebuilding the tranny or replacing it with a factory
rebuilt tranny. Hope it is the latter - let us know what the dealer
did - replace or rebuild.

 

Wonder if they are rebuilding the tranny or replacing it with a factory
rebuilt tranny. Hope it is the latter - let us know what the dealer
did - replace or rebuild.

 

They are replacing it with a factory one, it comes from Japan and they
have to wait for it for a few days.

 

They are replacing it with a factory one, it comes from Japan and they
have to wait for it for a few days.

 

Sound like a very good ending. This Forum has a lot of good people
giving good advice that keeps us mostly out of trouble. I hope you're
aware you are still covered by Honda for a five year (maybe longer) 50,000
mile Emissions Warranty. Sometime dealers/ shops charge for things that
are covered by it.

 

Great, I am glad it worked out. Being pleasant and *reasonably*
demanding has worked for me many times over the years. Explaining a
legitimate problem and asking for help often works much better than just
getting angry.

Well done!

John

 

Great, I am glad it worked out. Being pleasant and *reasonably*
demanding has worked for me many times over the years. Explaining a
legitimate problem and asking for help often works much better than just
getting angry.

Well done!

John

 

I don't think Honda dealers ever crack these open themselves. SOP is to
remove and replace with a factory new/rebuilt unit.

John

 

I don't think Honda dealers ever crack these open themselves. SOP is to
remove and replace with a factory new/rebuilt unit.

John

 

Contrast that with my experience with a 71 Corvette some 35 years ago when a
rear wheel bearing distintegrated at 12,300 miles. The dealer refused to
fix it under the warranty as did GM after I wrote to them. Their
explanation was that the car was 300 miles out of warranty, so they were not
responsible. Wonder if they are still the same today. I went Japanese in
1975 with a 280Z and customer service difference was something to behold for
someone used to Chevy dealers. Started with Honda in 1967 with their
motorcycles and went to their cars in the late 80s. Never regretted it.

 

Contrast that with my experience with a 71 Corvette some 35 years ago when a
rear wheel bearing distintegrated at 12,300 miles. The dealer refused to
fix it under the warranty as did GM after I wrote to them. Their
explanation was that the car was 300 miles out of warranty, so they were not
responsible. Wonder if they are still the same today. I went Japanese in
1975 with a 280Z and customer service difference was something to behold for
someone used to Chevy dealers. Started with Honda in 1967 with their
motorcycles and went to their cars in the late 80s. Never regretted it.

 

Replace "71 Corvette" with "77 LeBaron" and "wheel bearing" with
"transmission" and "GM" with "Chrysler", and "280Z" with "79 Civic" and
you have my father's story combined with my story.

Never again. Never again.

 

Replace "71 Corvette" with "77 LeBaron" and "wheel bearing" with
"transmission" and "GM" with "Chrysler", and "280Z" with "79 Civic" and
you have my father's story combined with my story.

Never again. Never again.

 

Are you condemning them for this?

Do you not see that when lines are not drawn clearly, it's
easy to argue that they can keep being redrawn at whim? You
argue an extension to 12,300 miles. The next guy asks for an
extension to 12,400 miles, because you got an extension,
etc.

ISTM warranties are surely based on engineering and
economics. How long can a part reasonably last? How often
will a defective part come up that lasts no where near this
long? What warranty incentive do I need to give customers so
they buy the car?

12,000 miles is 12,000 miles. I would never criticize a
manufacturer for refusing to honor a 12,000 mile warranty
when the car had 12,001 miles on it. It's illogical to do
so.

 

Are you condemning them for this?

Do you not see that when lines are not drawn clearly, it's
easy to argue that they can keep being redrawn at whim? You
argue an extension to 12,300 miles. The next guy asks for an
extension to 12,400 miles, because you got an extension,
etc.

ISTM warranties are surely based on engineering and
economics. How long can a part reasonably last? How often
will a defective part come up that lasts no where near this
long? What warranty incentive do I need to give customers so
they buy the car?

12,000 miles is 12,000 miles. I would never criticize a
manufacturer for refusing to honor a 12,000 mile warranty
when the car had 12,001 miles on it. It's illogical to do
so.

 

Elle, Elle, Elle... There's an old saying that one "Aw Shit" wipes out
a thousand "attaboys."

Any dealer worth it's salt or manufacturer will dip into the
"customer-sat" bucket to promote goodwill. I did it when I did tech
support for Apple and for internal/external customers in my latter years
in process engineering.

GM made its own bed and is now paying a lofty price for its
indiscretions. Negative word-of-mouth spreads much more readily than
those of kudos and any business that does not realize that will often
end up in the dumper.

OTOH, there is always a doofus who is never satisfied and often a
decision must be made to cut the SOB loose...

JT

 

Elle, Elle, Elle... There's an old saying that one "Aw Shit" wipes out
a thousand "attaboys."

Any dealer worth it's salt or manufacturer will dip into the
"customer-sat" bucket to promote goodwill. I did it when I did tech
support for Apple and for internal/external customers in my latter years
in process engineering.

GM made its own bed and is now paying a lofty price for its
indiscretions. Negative word-of-mouth spreads much more readily than
those of kudos and any business that does not realize that will often
end up in the dumper.

OTOH, there is always a doofus who is never satisfied and often a
decision must be made to cut the SOB loose...

JT