A close friend and golfing buddy owns a 2006 Honda Pilot. Just recently at only 53000 miles six rocker arm assemblies went bad and had to be replaced at a cost of $2000.00. For the non-mechanics rocker arm assemblies are among the most rugged components of an internal combustion engine and should not be defective at this low milage. Upon investigation he learned that Honda became aware that some of its V6 engines had these defective parts in 2007 and issued service bulletin 07-007 to its dealers in October of that year. Note the this was two years before his warranty expired. When he contacted them as to why they did not issue a recall for this obvious defect they responded stating thAT "Honda only issues recalls for safety issues", i.e., they kept quiet and waited for warranties to expire to avoid payment of what was obviously a warranty item. He contacted them several times to note that this was obviously a defective vehicle at time of purchase and that he should be reimbursed for the costs. They refused every request and also refused to be put their refusals in writing stating that "Honda does not put its policies in writing". Using Google we have been astounded by the number of examples of unethical treatment of customers by Honda. He is spreading the word and fighting back however he can. "DON'T BUY A HONDA!!"

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That is Sad to hear. I owned a Honda Accord about ten years ago. It
was the best car I ever owned. I so regretted trading it in after the
fact and still do. It was as solid as a Rock. I bought a Subaru and it
is still good but nothing like that Honda was. It sucks to hear this.

I'll be buying a new Honda soon. If it came with free shipping, I'd buy it from Amazon.com.

Jim.

I am sorry to hear about this trouble. I have owned a few honda
vehicles in the past and they were fantastic.
Never broke down and just kept on running with nothing more than
simple maintenance > oil changes etc.

I own a Toyota now and its has been awesome for me.
In fact I was thinking of turning my older toyota in for a Honda
in the next few years and start fresh.
but after your post I will take a closer look at
the stats of Honda reliability and service and see how it goes.

I would really like to buy a lexus but i cant afford it

Check to see if there have been any class action suits filed against Honda on this problem, If not contact a Law firm and start one. You will get your expenses reimbursed and the law firm will make several million dollars.

Shelly

The TSB would have had a specific procedure for checking the problem. If the check was negative (if your friend had taken it in under warranty for the check) they wouldn't do anything.

Often what they'll do is extend the warranty on a specific problem area (my car has two of these.) They only know of it if the part fails, or is going to fail based on the check.

So, it pays, with a new/er car especially (they're much stricter on their warranty work these days) to find a forum for your car and keep up with it. Then you'll know if there's a TSB and can determine if it might apply to your car.

Modern car service is a political game with you, the dealer and the company. Most important thing is to have the service manager on your side. After, of course, keeping yourself informed of potential issues.

There is no class action suit for this item, Shelly but there is one due to Honda lying about the milage of its Hybrid vehicles. Honda advertised 40 mpg but the vehicles only get 30. Honda has made a generous offer of $100.00 per vehicle. That won't pay for a month's worth of gas. A lawyer lady, Mrs. Peters, sued and received $1000.00. The judge in this case severly chastised Honda for lying and for putting out software that they claimed would fix the problem. It didn't fix it, also it was proven that Honda lied again because they knew that the issued software was not a fix but rather a scam to fool their customers. If we all would buy American at least we could get screwed by our own kind. I own a GMC 4X4 pickup and a Grand Am Pontiac. GM discovered that they had a problem with the oil in the front differential of my GMC and issued a recall. If that was Honda they would have kept quiet in the hope that the warranty would expire.
My buddy doesn't want to pursue it any further. If it were mine I would fight them until hell froze over.

The real problem with getting a car serviced under warranty is the the dealership, not the company as a whole. Dealerships don't make much money doing warranty work and have even lost money doing so.
JP

Several years ago I was having some transmission problems. The car was still under warranty, and the dealer made free repairs replacing computer parts. I went to visit a friend for a few days in another part of the state about 100 miles away, and my transmission failed, there was about 2 months left on my warranty and we limped to a dealership down there on a Sunday, left the car and left the keys and a note in the dealers service drop box.

The next morning I called the dealership and they told me they were installing a new transmission and the car would be ready about 2:00 pm. I went down to pick up the repaired car. They had put in a brand new transmission, and extended my warranty on it for an additional 4000 miles. I told the sevice manager about the repairs I had had on it from the dealer I purchased it from, and he said that the service codes said it had to be replaced and that was what they had done. I owned that car another 6 years and never had any further transmission problems.

That is the difference between an honest dealer and one waiting for the warranty to expire.

Shelly

It must be different in the states as up here dealerships make most of their money doing warranty work as there isn't much room on the sale of a new vehicle.

I think you're mistaken. They make the money from non-warranty work. You don't pay them for the work that is done under warranty.

MSU