Honda Customer Service

Has anyone had any dealings with American Honda Customer Service lately? I
have been battling with them for almost a year now about a paint defect on
my 03 Accord EX V6 sedan. According to the factory rep and the regional
factory rep a paint defect does not qualify for a replacement vehicle. They
say the defect has to be mechanical and paint clearly is not a mechanical
problem. They, American Honda, have taken a perfectly good 03 Accord that
has never been wrecked and painted 90% of the car to fix a blemish on the
hood and a rear bumper that didn't match the rest of the car. They have
told me that this is as good as it is going to get and if I want to take it
further I should go to the BBB and to arbitration.

I have learned from this that American Honda does not care about their
customers and will not stand by their word of keeping the customer happy.
In this case the customer is not always right. Be ware of the smoke and
mirrors of Honda customer service. I found them to be rude and unwilling to
listen to my side of the story and unwilling to cooperate with me as a long
time customer. This is my last Honda. I have owned 6 and I now currently
own 4, but as they need replacement I will replace them with another brand.
Too bad, Jerry.....

 

I can't imagine any manufacturer replacing a vehicle because of a
problem with the paint. Jumping ship won't change anything.

 

Insisting on a replacement vehicle over a paint blemish seems like a highly
unreasonable request. Put yourself in Honda's position. They can't go
around giving new cars to everyone who has a complaint. If you follow the
"Customer is always right" to the very end, then someone with a 15-year old
rusted and worn out Civic could demand a new car. That certainly isn't
going to happen.

Too bad you've decided to never buy another Honda. If you want to boycott
the highly reliable Honda cars just to stand up for some silly principle
that only you care about, then it's your loss; not Honda's.

-CB

 

Did you look at the car before you bought it????

 

I posted my paint problem few weeks ago around here.



There was some running paint between the gas door and the rear light on my
02 Accord. But it was hard to see it, unless you were in a dark setting, and
even then you would have to look close. But my dealer corrected the problem.
The service was a nightmare but they did it. Now if Honda or the dealer
would refuse to correct the problem, or if they willingly intended to
deceive you as a buyer, you might have an issue. But to say I want new car
because the paint looks weird, come on now.



Back in '97 I bought a brand new Chrysler Cirrus. It was very strange. If I
would drive in the rain no problem, but if it would rain overnight, and the
car would be parked outside, the next morning, one inch of water on the
driver side floor. They tested the car in Michigan I think, two times, and
they couldn't locate the problem. After all that testing was done, Chrysler
asked me if a replacement would satisfy me. All this took about three
months. They were very professional about the whole thing.

 

There is more to the story than just a paint problem. If you want to hear
it all I can do it away from the new group, Jerry.....

 

Yes I looked at the car before I bought it. The defect didn't show itself
until the next day in bright sun light. I reported it as soon as I saw the
problem, but I had already taken the car home. Too late, too bad.

 

You're projecting your experience to *all* Honda customers and *all*
Honda regions. That's a pretty big brush you're swinging.

Why did you accept delivery with a paint blemish on the hood, anyway?

 

you can only see it in bright sunlight.

 

I didn't find out until it had already been done!!!

 

There is a paint defect in my 03 Accord V6 as well. I'm reluctant to have
it fixed because of the problems inherent in any repainting with regard to
color matching and long term differences in paint fade. My car is metallic
red, and reds traditionally fade more rapidly than many other colors.

I think that the Ohio Accord factory has some real quality control problems
in the paint department as well as interior fit/finish/rattles departments.
I don't know if the 4 cyl models built in Japan have these problems or not,
but my V6 certainly does.

John

 

Oh boy, here we go. Manufacturer makes a defective vehicle. Dealer botches
the repair. Now let's all jump on the customer for not "taking control".

Yikes,
John