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My Letter to Honda UK

8K views 41 replies 18 participants last post by  rusky 
#1 ·
I'm about to send this to Honda UK.

Personal information, dates etc has been edited out, but thought you may enjoy reading:

Dear Sir / Madam,


Re: Honda Civic Prestige Faults


I purchased the above car in January 2019 from Honda. After driving the car for a couple of weeks I noticed some issues arise. I have visited my local Honda dealership in respect of various faults that I have on the car that I feel I must bring to your attention.

1st Visit – On inspection by Honda, various noises and rattles during normal operation as well as a wandering satellite navigation system position. I was advised that the faults listed were ‘agreed’ by Mr Service Manager and that a part would be ordered to resolve one of the issues and booked another appointment accordingly to get the issues addressed.

2nd Visit – Vehicle was left with Honda for a few days to address the issues I had raised. A rattling sunroof, creaking roof liner, buzzing from drivers A-pillar, and a whistling HVAC. The HVAC whistle was resolved, as was the rattling sun roof (it was re-greased). The sun roof rattle returned just over a week later. The roof liner continued to creak from day one. The sat nav continued to lose its position.

3rd Visit - Vehicle was left with Honda again for a few days, whilst performing it’s first service issues were investigated again. The sun roof assembly had new seals fitted, and for nearly two weeks the issue was resolved. I then reported the fault again and it was agreed I would take it in for another attempt to resolve. The roof liner creaking seemingly not detected as an issue. Other dashboard and cabin trim rattles continued. The sat nav continues to lost its position.

4th Visit - I left the vehicle with Honda for a few days, Mr Service Manager even verified whether I would be happy for him to drive it home to ensure the rattles were resolved once and for all. I reluctantly agreed to this as I felt I’m never going to get these issues resolved otherwise. I collected my car, and it seems now many months later the sun roof rattle has been rectified still. The roof liner creaking still continues, as does the sat nav position wandering.

1. Roof Rattle / Creaking Noises. The sunroof rattles whilst driving. Honda have re-greased the roof assembly on the first attempt to resolve, and a new seal has been installed on the second attempt. Both of these rectified the noise for a week or so before the issue returned. On the third attempt some different seals were replaced. Upon using the sunroof for the first time, strings of grease came down into the cabin, this happened a number of times. Now I keep the roof blind shut until the window is open, then I open the blind to prevent the grease dripping down.

2. Various Interior Noises. During normal use, there are a number of intermittent ‘noises’ coming from different areas of the car. Inside the dashboard instrument panel, inside the centre column/wireless charging pad area, in the headliner along the roof. Depending on the weather conditions these issues seem to vary. Some of these have been addressed by the dealer, some by myself. I believe a trim piece was damaged on the third visit. So saved the inconvenience of yet another visit to the dealer, and purchased myself the part from Honda Motor Parts and fitted accordingly.

3. Satellite Navigation System Wandering Position. The car position marker frequently does not follow the road on the Sat Nav. It can be up to 300 yards wrong and not even on the road along which you are travelling. Either on a nearby road or in the middle of a field. A software update and some other troubleshooting measures were tried by Honda as per advice by Honda Technical in respect of this, but as of yet nothing has rectified it.

This is my third Honda vehicle and to be honest I am utterly dismayed that what I considered both reputationally, and from my own experience, to be a reliable and quality automobile manufacturer. I have always found Honda to be the pinnacle of reliability and function, if the feature is available on a Honda – it’s robust, or so I thought. I have previously recommended and praised your company to friends, family and acquaintances. I simply cannot wholeheartedly do so any longer.

After months of deliberation I am going to struggle to consider ownership of any other vehicles made by Honda in light of such fundamental issues. After looking on forums and social media, owners both in the United States and Europe suffer with the same issues I have – each with mixed results as to which are addressed or not. I had high hopes for this car, but am left feeling saddened and disappointed by what I had considered to be a brand I would remain loyal to for a lifetime.


Yours faithfully


Me
 
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#4 ·
I added this last paragraph before printing and posting:

Had I been dealing with a different manufacturer I’d have used my UK consumer rights and rejected the vehicle within 30 days of ownership, for a full refund, but as I held Honda in such high regard I didn’t contemplate this.

Letter ends.

I've also e-mailed the UK Managing Director directly.

I will definitely update with any response that I get.
 
#6 ·
It will be interesting what reply I receive, but I think I've done it more to just air my grievances. My decision is made, Toyota/Hyundai/Kia next. I think the best thing Honda could do would be to give me a brand new Civic Prestige with all the niggles ironed out - even though they will not, I still believe certain issues would arise within a year of ownership and I would be back to square one.

Any offer of 'having a look' at my car again I don't think I can stomach. I've had trim broken by Honda technicians, and grease dripping in to my car because of their actions. The car is 'acceptable' as it is to me, and I am learning to detach my expectations from what is ultimately a car.
 
#8 ·
My dealings with HUK leave alot to be desired, in my experience they are not bothered as most people just either don't complain or accept the niggles. Next time I too will be voting with my feet and spending my hard earnt elsewhere, which is a pity as in a couple of years I'm retiring and plan to spend up to 40k on a new car from my lump sum....... it won't be a Honda that's for sure.

Sent from my Pixel 3a using Tapatalk
 
#9 ·
Reject the car and claim a refund and go elsewhere.

If you have it on finance, then you also have additional protection in terms of section 75 of the consumer credit act.

Despite Honda touting themselves as a mid market premium brand, they are unfortunately short of the mark in terms of overall build quality these days.

I have had good dealing with HUK in terms of good will gestures recently and my experiences with Honda Main Dealers have also been pleasant recently but the lack of a real improvement in the range of vehicles is leaving me cold.

Would more than likely mortgage my house for a proper ZF equipped FK8 but it'll never happen.
 
#11 ·
I have had many niggles with my Honda's and I am a pretty relaxed patient kind of guy, but fundamentally the build quality on the FK8 is not the best and it is obvious that during this Honda NPI, there have been a number of cost cutting exercises.

However, having said that - the Honda dealership for me has always backed me and fought my corner with the FK8, even demonstrating that the hold up for decisions is not the dealership, it's Honda UK or issues sent direct to the factory. My older CRZ is a much better put together car, no rattles or squeaks or trim falling away from main components and for me this is what I expect from a Honda.

It's a shame in all honestly, and Honda UK seem to want to push customers away vs Honda US who want to work the issues with the customers - just because there is more volume and therefore more Yen at risk.
 
#13 ·
Had my civic for 4 weeks now and it's been back to the garage 4 times.

Once, the day after picking it up, to have a new battery fitted and the subsequent 3 occasions because the steering wheel is not level when the wheels are straight ahead. Each time it has come back in a more bat***** crazy set-up than when it was left with them.

Absolutely at the end of my rope with Honda as the previous 2 cars i had from them were sound, their lack of attention to detail nowadays is upsetting as i have always extolled their virtues.

It's going to an independent garage to be sorted and Honda presented with the bill which they will pay. Still have the matter of compensation to discuss with them as it's been in the garage for a quarter of my ownership period.
 
#20 ·
Unless they're knackered or you need to change them, there really is no need to get rid. The only thing you're doing is lining the pockets of the dealer and manufacturers swapping them so often. The depreciation hit is crazy and just to swap to a newer model when there's nothing wrong with the reliability and usability of the old one.
 
#21 ·
Although I must rate as one of the most loyal Honda owners out there, my experience of Honda dealers and customer service are not good.

A couple of years ago my car developed what could have been a dangerous fault, local dealer washed their hands of it, so contacted customer service direct.

Was stunned at the appalling service and more importantly their total lack of understanding of the technical side of my car.
 
#22 ·
I sent the letter last Thursday, then coincidently (?) I receive a voice message from my local Honda dealer stating that there's been a software update given to them by Honda that should fix the issues I'm having.

No official response yet from Honda UK, but it is early days.

The sat nav wandering issue is just a point of principle really, I much prefer Apple CarPlay anyway. I'd far, FAR rather have the cabin/interior rattles sorted out, though without rebuilding the car from scratch with new materials, foam and glue I don't think it's ever going to be resolved.

Maybe they'll offer me a TomTom sat nav as compensation :laugh2:
 
#25 ·
They have put the GPS antenna in a stupid place. And despite having had lots of experience about it being in a stupid place, they still put it in a stupid place.:surprise:
Fit a GPS signal booster, they are as cheap as chips.
 
#26 ·
I've had a reply from Honda UK.

To summarise, they are apologetic and do everything they can to ensure cabin noises and rattles are kept to a minimum, but to a degree are likely with mass produced vehicles and that's part of the reason why a 3 year warranty is offered to address such issues if needed.

They have offered to try and address the GPS issue with a software update, and to take al look at the cabin rattles/noises again.

I've been offered dealership credit of £300.00 which I'm not bothered about, it just means a couple of free tyres further down the line.

I'm going to reply directly and respectfully push further - i.e. the point of warranty should show confidence in the quality of a product, not that you have to repeatedly visit while they keep 'trying things' on your car and mostly in my case not resolving the issue.
 
#27 ·
"mass production consequence" bollo***.
If it was designed properly and the right amount of sound deadening or packing used instead of cost cutting there would not be a problem.

£300 might get you 3 hours of further fiddling, lets hope it works for you.
 
#28 ·
The problem with the wandering sat nav position is most likely due to a faulty GPS receiver in the head unit. My Mk 9 Civic Tourer has a very similar sat nav and would often show the position on different roads, driving over green fields, and on a journey it could end up 4 miles out on position. They tried the GPS aerial, and software updates, without any improvement. It took many months before the dealer finally got agreement of Honda to change the whole head unit.

While my Civic was under various periods of investigations I borrowed a new Jazz, and a couple of new Civics, the Sat Nav in all of them was rubbish, it took 4 or 5 minutes for the Sat Nav to get enough satellites to determine the position, so for the first part of the journey the GPS was all over the place.

My conclusion is that Honda has some serious issues with the quality and performance of the GPS head units

The replacement unit is working OK, it has the odd day when it takes a minute or two to get the position, but most times it is fairly quick.

Fortunately this is the only real issue over the tourers first two years, but they had already built the tourers for a few years and should have known how to screw them together.
 
#29 ·
The problem with the wandering sat nav position is most likely due to a faulty GPS receiver in the head unit. .
Nope. Post #12 refers. I have fitted a GPS signal booster with the receive aerial on the roof pretty much alongside the sharks fin and the transmit aerial just below where the car's GPS antenna is fitted, and the GPS works just fine. Locks on quickly and has not since wandered 'off piste'. It only has me driving across the countryside where Honda's policy of only one map update a year lets it down (when compared with my stand alone Garmin) and misses out on mapping a new road.
 
#33 ·
1. Yes
2. This one. Cheaper from China.
Just have to be a bit careful else the transmitted signal from the re-transmit is received by the receiver aerial and you get 'howl round' which stops everything working.
Rx aerial outside on roof, transmit aerial under dash.
 
#34 ·
My response to my letter to Honda UK:

Dear Honda Person,

Re: Honda Civic Prestige Faults

Thank you for your letter. I appreciate the prompt response, and for the dealership credit offered.

I understand that there’s a 3 year / 90,000 mile warranty included with my vehicle, it’s just that with my previous 2 Honda vehicles, with or without a warranty during my ownership, I never had any issues whatsoever. My current Civic has been into Honda multiple times, with admittedly minor, yet fundamental issues that I would imagine the average person would not expect to find on a car under a year old. Especially a car built by Honda, who in many individuals opinions, based on their own experience, are exceptionally well made.

The Satellite Navigation position issue, I can live with – I shouldn’t have to as it’s a feature of the car, but the inconvenience of attempts being made to try and resolve it aren’t worth a trip to Honda alone.

In respect of the roof rattle, it has two elements.

1. The sun roof assembly/glass, which has had three attempts to resolve so far, as noted in my previous letter. Each time the noise ceasing for a longer period each time. It has now returned again just a few days ago and I wonder if it will ever be resolved once and for all. The last time a large amount of grease was applied – it definitely fixed the noise for what is now a few months, however this meant that in order to open my sun roof without grease dripping on to me and the interior of my vehicle, I had to have the roof blind closed (and the grease would accumulate on top of that instead). Do Honda (UK) consider that this acceptable functionality of a feature on one of their products? Am I expected to have a Honda dealership attend to this issue, in this manner so frequently? What about when the warranty period ends?

2. There is a secondary noise in relation to the roof area, which I believe is caused by the roof liner, as if I hold my hand on it, I can make it cease temporarily. This has never been addressed in my previous visits to Honda.

Much of the time my Civic is a pleasure to drive, and I find many of its features useful and trustworthy, which when what I consider are fundamental quality issues, it is incredibly frustrating that I just cannot seem to get them resolved – warranty, dealership credit or not.

Yours faithfully,

Moi
 
#35 ·
I have a 10th gen as courtesy car at the moment its a nice car but there's a lot of whistling sounds coming from left side and I do prefer my 8G and 9G. I had a really good experience with Honda UK, they just sorted a £5200 engine repair out of warranty (4 years old 30k) on my 9th Gen 1.6.

The first time I phoned them they where really unhelpful as the guy on the phone just kept saying 'i am not a mechanic' so I got the senior service advisor to speak to them from dealer instead and they where very helpful after that. Maybe you could do something similar? hope yours gets sorted.
 
#37 ·
I have had another response from Honda UK.

Basically, apologies again- they take great pride in their products and would love every opportunity to get it fixed, though not in anyway responding to the fact that dripping grease in to the car is or isn't acceptable, should their customer wish to have a car without rattling sunroof.

I'll ponder it. I think I am softening (only slightly) to that noise being present, though that's probably the weather. When there's lots of rain, it masks the rattle!

I personally don't think slapping grease around the seals is a proper fix, especially if it has to be done again after only a few months.
 
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