Does the TL/MDX/Pilot/Odyssey All Use the Same Transmission?

And check what, though? If the problem isn't happening when the tech is
looking at the car, the componant causing the intermitant fault isn't acting
up.

So he checks it....and....?

 

If I come in and complain of hard starting in the morning, you're
suggesting that I have to leave the car overnight? Not so. The tech
doesn't have to experience hard starting to know what to check. Same
is true with most complaints.

And remember, experiencing the problem doesn't necessarily help
anyway. If I report the engine periodically stalls while stopped at a
light, does a tech driving up to a light and having the car stall
really help him figure out the problem.

Lots of people post problems in this newsgroup and lots of people have
suggestions about what could cause that problem. Hopefully the techs
are the shop have even more experience than some of the folks around
this forum.

Sure, in particularly stubborn cases, more is required. I had a Volvo
that simply would not start in the morning when it was below zero.
Everything checked out as fine. Finally the dealer kept the car
overnight on a cold night, and found that when the computer was below
zero, it quit working properly. Warm it up, and it worked just fine.
But those cases are the exception. When I worked on cars many years
ago, I found that 90% of the problems on any given car were repeats of
what I'd seen before. Most I could diagnose without even seeing the
car.

 

If I come in and complain of hard starting in the morning, you're
suggesting that I have to leave the car overnight? Not so. The tech
doesn't have to experience hard starting to know what to check. Same
is true with most complaints.

And remember, experiencing the problem doesn't necessarily help
anyway. If I report the engine periodically stalls while stopped at a
light, does a tech driving up to a light and having the car stall
really help him figure out the problem.

Lots of people post problems in this newsgroup and lots of people have
suggestions about what could cause that problem. Hopefully the techs
are the shop have even more experience than some of the folks around
this forum.

Sure, in particularly stubborn cases, more is required. I had a Volvo
that simply would not start in the morning when it was below zero.
Everything checked out as fine. Finally the dealer kept the car
overnight on a cold night, and found that when the computer was below
zero, it quit working properly. Warm it up, and it worked just fine.
But those cases are the exception. When I worked on cars many years
ago, I found that 90% of the problems on any given car were repeats of
what I'd seen before. Most I could diagnose without even seeing the
car.

 

Absolutely.

And the shop had best be polite and also give it the old college try if they
want to keep customers. I mean, being rude is stupid: The customer has a
problem with the car, there's a reasonable chance the problem *will*
manifest itself in larger ways soon, and the shop should want the customer
to bring the car back to them when this happens.

Agreed. Also, I think it's pretty much S.O.P at shops for the technician to
ask the service advisor to get the customer to leave the car overnight if
it's a "cold morning start" problem. I've seen this at one dealer shop, with
many customer's cars... If the technician can't nail the problem on the
spot, it makes sense to me.

 

Absolutely.

And the shop had best be polite and also give it the old college try if they
want to keep customers. I mean, being rude is stupid: The customer has a
problem with the car, there's a reasonable chance the problem *will*
manifest itself in larger ways soon, and the shop should want the customer
to bring the car back to them when this happens.

Agreed. Also, I think it's pretty much S.O.P at shops for the technician to
ask the service advisor to get the customer to leave the car overnight if
it's a "cold morning start" problem. I've seen this at one dealer shop, with
many customer's cars... If the technician can't nail the problem on the
spot, it makes sense to me.

 

Hi,
Some dealers attach a box to the car so it can gather info.
If problem happens while it is attached, it'll record it.
Like a incident memory box.
Tony

 

Hi,
Some dealers attach a box to the car so it can gather info.
If problem happens while it is attached, it'll record it.
Like a incident memory box.
Tony

 

Read Car and Driver;they often comment on the 'vagueness' of some model's
on-center steering.Not every type or model of car is going to have the same
handling/steering characteristics.Some models are 'drifty',some are
'tight'.That's why you test-drive different cars and make a decision as to
what things you like about each model and choose according to your tastes.

Were they 03 Accords,or some other make/model/body style? If not 03
Accords,this is meaningless.



Second, given their comments, seems like the solution is to

Well,this is primarily dependent on tire design and pavement type.Did the
noise CHANGE recently,or was it always like this?

Once again,was this always like this,or did it CHANGE after some time or
occurrence? Did you try the sunroof when test-driving the car? Was is OK
then?

Have you driven other 03 Accords that did NOT have these 'problems'? If
so,then perhaps it IS a problem(something broke) versus a 'design
characteristic',something inherent in the model.

Also,inquiring in newsgroups if other people have the same 'problems' helps
a lot in determining if there really is a problem(something that can be
repaired) or a design characteristic.

 

Read Car and Driver;they often comment on the 'vagueness' of some model's
on-center steering.Not every type or model of car is going to have the same
handling/steering characteristics.Some models are 'drifty',some are
'tight'.That's why you test-drive different cars and make a decision as to
what things you like about each model and choose according to your tastes.

Were they 03 Accords,or some other make/model/body style? If not 03
Accords,this is meaningless.



Second, given their comments, seems like the solution is to

Well,this is primarily dependent on tire design and pavement type.Did the
noise CHANGE recently,or was it always like this?

Once again,was this always like this,or did it CHANGE after some time or
occurrence? Did you try the sunroof when test-driving the car? Was is OK
then?

Have you driven other 03 Accords that did NOT have these 'problems'? If
so,then perhaps it IS a problem(something broke) versus a 'design
characteristic',something inherent in the model.

Also,inquiring in newsgroups if other people have the same 'problems' helps
a lot in determining if there really is a problem(something that can be
repaired) or a design characteristic.

 

That's teh problem. They dont even try to get this far!!!!!!!

No dialog!!

 

That's teh problem. They dont even try to get this far!!!!!!!

No dialog!!

 

Brand new at the time. Three separate dealers and district service
manager who ran out of time to talk to me, and then was promoted before he
could come back.

 

Brand new at the time. Three separate dealers and district service
manager who ran out of time to talk to me, and then was promoted before he
could come back.

 

Boy is this subject line appropriate. I've got two Toyotas with this
problem / response. One I buy the line but the second vehicle (a near
mint 11 year old Corolla) I don't buy it. It has a cold start problem
and their way of diagnosing it is to do trial and error approach at MY
cost. I've already left the car with them 3 days and they claimed the
problem wouldn't replicate itself even tho they said the internals of
the engine needed a bad cleaning so they had to know I was telling the
truth based on this. I call their way of fixing cars "shade tree
mechanics" at best. My wife said why can't they fix the cars if they
have hi tech diagnostics nowadays. I don't know but I have to agree
that it's most annoying to have a car and the shop says basically we
can't fix it at this time.

** remove .invalid from my email address to reply by email **

 

Boy is this subject line appropriate. I've got two Toyotas with this
problem / response. One I buy the line but the second vehicle (a near
mint 11 year old Corolla) I don't buy it. It has a cold start problem
and their way of diagnosing it is to do trial and error approach at MY
cost. I've already left the car with them 3 days and they claimed the
problem wouldn't replicate itself even tho they said the internals of
the engine needed a bad cleaning so they had to know I was telling the
truth based on this. I call their way of fixing cars "shade tree
mechanics" at best. My wife said why can't they fix the cars if they
have hi tech diagnostics nowadays. I don't know but I have to agree
that it's most annoying to have a car and the shop says basically we
can't fix it at this time.

** remove .invalid from my email address to reply by email **

 

The response you don't want to hear is "that's normal". My 03 Accord tracks
straight, has no excessive tire noise and the sunroof has no whistle at any
speed. I recently took my 03 Accord in for an intermittent brake problem.
On two occasions after first start up the car didn't want to stop for the
first time. It had hard peddle but wasn't stopping. I brought it to the
dealer and explained this to the service writer. He wrote this down and
took the car. They gave me a loaner to drive while they tried to duplicate
the problem. After a week I got the car back fixed. It seems that there
was a bulletin dealing with this problem on East coast cars. I am very
pleased with the service that I get from my local dealer. My suggestion is
to try another dealer.

 

The response you don't want to hear is "that's normal". My 03 Accord tracks
straight, has no excessive tire noise and the sunroof has no whistle at any
speed. I recently took my 03 Accord in for an intermittent brake problem.
On two occasions after first start up the car didn't want to stop for the
first time. It had hard peddle but wasn't stopping. I brought it to the
dealer and explained this to the service writer. He wrote this down and
took the car. They gave me a loaner to drive while they tried to duplicate
the problem. After a week I got the car back fixed. It seems that there
was a bulletin dealing with this problem on East coast cars. I am very
pleased with the service that I get from my local dealer. My suggestion is
to try another dealer.

 

Some service writers are very qualified to diagnose problems. If you can
leave your car for a period of time often the service writer will take your
car to and from work to try and duplicate the problem therefore not having
to pay a technician to do the same.

 

Some service writers are very qualified to diagnose problems. If you can
leave your car for a period of time often the service writer will take your
car to and from work to try and duplicate the problem therefore not having
to pay a technician to do the same.

 

What's acceptable to YOU,may be excessive to others.Also,you may not have
the same tires as the other guy,or be driving on different pavement.Maybe
your tires are all of equal pressures,too.