Lemon Honda Hybrid
Created April 3, 2005, at 1:20 am by Anonymous
So my HCH is a lemon? Well let us see, I posted here when I bought the car asking if anyone knew how to get the car to auto stop (wasn't working), no one had any helpful ideas. Then the thing stopped charging itself. I brought it in, got a loaner car, they kept it for a week, said they changed something out and it was fixed. Then it died a week later, another loaner car and a week in the shop, they changed something else out and said it was fixed. Then guess what… It died again. They kept it for two weeks and Honda America had them change out the whole computer for the IMS. Drove it for another week and low and behold today the damn thing crapped out 50 miles from home on while driving down the freeway. Check engine light on, IMA light on, the fan and dash lights started going on and off all by themselves as if someone was flipping a master switch for all the power. Engine became sluggish and unresponsive and died going down the highway. Pulled it over and it wouldn’t even turn over when I tried to restart it.
The question… Is it a lemon? The dealership has been nice and given me a loaner each time, they have been apologetic. However no one can fix it. I have owned the car for 7 weeks and have had it in my possession for about 3 of those 7 weeks.
Does anyone have a similar experience with Honda Civic Hybrid?
Does anyone have experience with a brand new car and using the lemon law?
I live in OR and know we have such laws on the books but need to research them. Just wondering what the response will be on Monday when the service dept. opens and I tell them I am fed up, don’t trust the car, and want a replacement.
Please comment, I would love to hear what you all have to say about this quagmire.
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"Just wondering what the response will be on Monday when the service dept. opens and I tell them I am fed up, don’t trust the car, and want a replacement"
They will likely say no.
Keep all your repair invoices from day one.
You have them, right?
I hear what you are going through but I'd keep my head when you talk to the service manager, and I'd request a meeting with the regional service manager as well about all the problems you've had.
The regional service manager can help you where the local one can't.
There was someone who also had a different problem and had it resolved, you might want to read over this thread as well:
http://www.hybridcars.com/discussion/discussthread.php?thread_id=159&replies=19
Good luck, keep us infomed!
check your state for the "lemon laws". we have them in california. use them when needed.
see ya
Here's the link for lemon laws in OR from the Autopedia site.
http://autopedia.com/html/LemonLaw/OR_lemonlaw2.html
If your vehicle is "out of service for 30 or more business days", according to your state laws, you have a lemon, and should be offered a new car or a refund.
Good luck with your Honda hybrid. I looked into the lemon laws in CA when my Ford Escape hybrid was in the shop 2 weeks out of the first four weeks I owned it...but luckily Ford fixed my squeaky car, and it's back on the road. Your situation sounds trying, at best!
Hang in there,
Joan
The OR lemon law also states that after four repair attempts it is a lemon. My state gives three chances, but I gave them four, and that is how I got my car bought back(not a hybrid). If you are really sick of the repairs, after the fourth attempt and all the proper notifications stop letting them work on it and use the BBB autoline abritration(if Honda does this) or take them to court.
Just wanted to add one more thought. Write a letter to Honda notifying them of the nonconformity and send it certified/return receipt. You need this and need to give them one repair chance after this official notification.
I purchased my HCH in March 2004. At 1500 miles, I was stranded on the freeway and towed to the dealership. I now have 42,000 miles and just left my car at the dealership for it's tenth service. I have had the main computer and the motor replaced. But, the first issue has never been solved. Yes, yes, my fault. I have opened 3 cases with Honda customer service. I have always trusted they would properly and promptly resolve the issue. They continue to disappoint me. I strongly suggest being very assertive and demanding with Honda customer service when working with them. The case manager does not return phone calls, and has only offered me an $800 service credit. I consider this an insult after 10 service calls.
This weekend I am trading my HCH for a non-hybrid, non-Honda vehicle. I will not so much as purchase a lawnmower with the name Honda on it ever again.
you may want to know another story about HCH, the link
www.hondasucks.ca
I read that website carefully. Very interesting, but not a cause of concern for folks currently considering the purchase of a Honda Hybrid Civic in the US. The owner tried doing 85 MPH on mountian roads in Tennessee in a 2001 nearly experimental Honda Insight. In addition, the specifically mentioned Canadian Honda Dealership was a real problem. If the story told is true in its details, then they broke a harness and left a loose wire while doing a clutch replacement, and also billed Honda care for what amounts to an unperformed service later on ( they did then undid work by the story). Bottom line-- a first generation Honda Insight was driven beyond its realistic limits and adsditionaly had a Honda repair shop break a transmission harness and leave a dangerous dangling wire situation.
I cant give direct relevance at this point to current hybrid models or every Honda service garage.
I have a 2003 and love it except, eery 30,000 miles I need a new Catalytic converter. I was just told at 93,000 I have to put a new one in again. In New York State you can't pass inspection without it working. Plus it is no longer convered under warrenty. I don't know what to do, I can't afford to get a new car because I am sick this crap.
Julie,
Who told you your catalytic converter is out of warranty?
They may be trying to rip you off.
According to my 2004 HCH's manual and warranty information, the emissions control system is warrantied for life.
Try to check your manual regarding the emissions control system. Although yours is a 2003 model, it should be similiar to the 2004 model, and you should not have to pay for anything regarding the catalytic converter.
Agreed. The catalytic converter should still be under warranty. The length of time related to the emissions rating AZ-pzez etc) But its more than 3 years by a buncxh I believe.
I called Honda customer relations to get some help with my catalytic converter problems. Probably your best bet if you are having any prblems. They gave me a case manager who got everything done quickly. I am getting a new catalytic converter pluus they are going to figure out what's wrong, and I get a free rental while they have my car. The warranty on the catlytic converteris 80,000 mile and I am over 94,000.
Owen,
I had a similar experience with my Ford Ranger. After all those problems and many years later I still own the dang thing and it still has problems. Lemon laws didn't work for me and attorneys couldn't get me a new vehicle due to Ford kept repairing and repairing and repairing; showing a log of successfully working with me to solve my vehicle issues. Ford Motor Co., said in a written statement that so long as the vehicle is under warranty that they will do whatever is necessary to repair and maintain my vehicle. The result... lemon law didn't work for me.
As for my 06 HCH... I love it. Not a single issue and it is by far the best compact car I have ever owned. In fact, I have never had a bad Honda product, 4 Accords, 1 HCH, 1 Lawn Mower (17 years old and runs great), 1 Snow Blower, 1 MotorCycle. Now, Toyota's... that's a different subject completely. Tried 3 new Toyota's and they were the least reliable vehicles we have EVER owned! I guess it can happen to anyone and any company.
Best of Luck!
Hola companions of US. You are lucky with the laws, which the return of the car allows you in case several times lose virginity. Here nothing similar exists, in fact, I had to take my Seat Ibiza 1.2 (in Europa Audi, VW and Seat are united and the same pieces have for his vehicles) to the concessionaire more than 3 times until finally they repaired it. If you are lucky and everything is easy, you take it to yourself solved, if not, you will continue suffering the breakdowns without support of the law.
Hondas are super reliable.. so are Toyotas.. though that doesn't mean every once in a while there is a lemon.
Some dealerships are slimy. If your Honda is busted, under warranty, and your dealership is being a pain. Try another Honda shop.
I once had a Chevy Z28. The brakes failed on me and I ended up on the side of the road. Nearly crashed into a light pole.
They checked the car out.. said nothing was wrong. I noticed i had nice shiny new brakes when I picked the car up. I asked why. The mechanic shut his trap and walked away, saying nothing.
He knew he could get away with it because I had no proof, and the car wasn't damaged when I flew off the road. Just grass stuck in various spots.
I don't trust anyone.
Hey Gary...
I couldn't help but notice the way your GM dealer treated you. I am glad that neither you or your truck were injured/damaged as a result of brake failure. It is also great that they were smart about the situation, and supplied you w/ new brakes.
As far as MOST domestic dealers go... I don't trust them because of the simple fact that you CANNOT TRUST Mr. Rick Wagoners (GM CEO, who is currently LOSING mega market share) team of engineers. GM must tell their engineers that these dealers need to make a main percentage of their profit through various pre-mature part replacements... because I haven't known ONE person in the last 10 years that has had frequent long-term success w/ their GM or Ford product.
I am not saying that good products from Ford and GM don't exist. I am saying that the liklihood of purchasing a good product from one of these companies is LOW. Do yourself a favor and get a Honda or Toyota that is MUCH MORE LIKELY to give you long term reliability and success. :-)
Additionally to all the above, make sure yourself to have this case reaching the honda commercial department.
There are several stakeholders in that business: YOU, the service managers, and the COMMERCIAL department.
Afterall they know you won't make it easy on them, and really believe you'd make this issue reaching out to more public domains.
Sneif
MR Wagoner does not force his engineers to make sure parts fail so the dealers can make a profit on parts, Where do you get this from? Reliability for domestic autos is much better for long term reliability than you think, In JD Powers survey for long term reliability, cars on the road for four years, domestic nameplates held 3 of the top 5 spots, Buick was in 2nd place Lexus placed 1st, Cadillac and Lincoln also placed in the top 5.
I can understand where your bias may come from, Look at the home page of this web site, A cartoon has an executive from GM and Ford sitting at a bar drunk and delusional on e-85 saying who needs hybirds, Fact is Ford has a hybird and GM has various types of hybirds, Though not the electric motor type, They do have cylinder deactivation that will let a 300 hp v8 to achieve 29 mpg hwy. Thats impressive, GM and Ford also have many models that achieve mpg's in the 30's range.
And while we slam GM and Ford for not having hybirds where are all the hybirds from Subaru, Nissan, Mazda, BMW, Hyundai and many other manufactures? Currently GM, DaimlerChrysler and BMW are working on a hybird system of there own.
Personally I would'nt consider a Toyota or Honda due to the lame and boring cars they build, They have managed to take the fun out of driving. To me the car company that has built the most fun vehicles in the past 10 years is Chrysler, Look no farther than the Prowler,Viper the srt10 pickup, srt4 turbo charged Neon the Crossfire and srt6 supercharged Crossfire and the srt versions of the Chrysler 300 and Dodge Magnum wagon and Charger...How can Toyota and Honda with such a boring line up compete?
My 2003 Honda Civic Hybrid is going into the shop for a brand new transmission! I am under 45,000 miles. Has anyone out there experienced this one?
I bought my 2003 HCH in late 2002 and its still going strong. Just nearing the 30,000 mark witout needing any hardware replacements. Honda recently had me do a software upgrade (which was free) and I've noticed an improvement in one or two systems ( battery and effeciency related). I've noticed that the car does better on freeway than in-city, and is defintely the vehicle for distance driving.
CVT transmissions in general do not seem to bey very reliable. The Civic HX also has the same CVT as the Honda hybrids, and I read epinions on CVT-equipped HX coupes, and they don't seem to be very reliable. The last car to offer a CVT before hybrids came out was the Subaru Justy, and that CVT was not reliable, and it costs over $2200 to replace, which seems very expensive for a cheap small car.
Too bad Honda stopped offering manual transmissions on their hybrids. It's also worth noting that the Accord hybrid does not have a CVT; it has a regular 5-speed auto, but I heard bad things about the Accord hybrid's engine.
Linda you are lucky!!! I had a new transmission every 12,000 miles. On my 4th one I said that is it. I got out of that one. I am not happy about our lemon law in Alabama. It is a joke.
So, wait, you are having an issue with a Honda Hybrid lawnmower????
:)
"The question… Is it a lemon?"
I think states have different lemon laws...? But I know in Illinois, if you take your new car to the dealership more than 3 times to fix the same problem and it's still not fixed after the 3rd time, it's a lemon. Sounds like yours more than qualifies as a lemon. I'm sorry you're having bad luck too. That really sucks!!
IF I had bought mine brand new I would have been able to use the lemon law :( unfortunately I'm stuck.
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