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 Honda Has Not Met Our Expectations
Posted Mon May 5, 2008 12:00 pm, by Volkan A. written to American Honda Motor Co., Inc.
My wife and I purchased our dream car; a 2006 Honda Civic EX two year ago. We have a large extended family with six new vehicles. 3 of these vehicles are Honda, 2 are Acura and only one Toyota.
My family and myself are very loyal Honda customers as these are the best vehicle out there in many ways; best value, environmentally friendly, cool looking, particularly reliable etc.
Unfortunately our newest purchase has not met our standard Honda experience and expectations. We have had many problems with this car.
Some of the problems can be listed as:
1. We have been keeping track of the mileage consumption of our new vehicle. Our driving is mixed with city and highway (20% city, 80% highway). There is no extra load in the car. We don't use the a/c often and windows are kept closed while driving. The tires at the right pressure I weight 180 lbs and my wife weights 100 lbs. In the last 14,000-miles, my average gas consumption is 28 mpg to 29 mpg (city/highway combination) with no traffic jams. I drove to Vermont, Pennsylvania and Maine with the same results as recently as last weekend of September. This performance is substantially below than what is advertised. Paragon Honda conducted several Drive Cycle Tests (dyno) in the last several months. Their estimated miles/gallon is 32.1. I was clearly told that this was normal and I shouldn't expect more than that from these cars. I strongly emphasize that I don't get anywhere around 32 mpg and even if I did, that is considerably lower than what I would expect from a car with such a small engine. The sticker suggests that this vehicle should get 25-35 mpg in the city and 34-46 mpg on the highway. This is absolutely inaccurate. A well informed potential Civic buyer is under the expectation that he/she will obtain 32-46 mpg on average (city/highway), not in 20's.
When I spoke with Honda Motor Corporation representative about my concerns, he stated the following about the FACTS OF HONDA CIVIC gas consumption.
It is a fact that the car would never get the mileages printed on the sticker that the car came with and it was misleading the public.
This misleading is the fault of the U.S. Government, not Honda Motors.
The actual gas consumption was 15-25% worse that what Honda presented during the sale of this vehicle.
He claimed that even a 20-lb of suitcase would make a dramatic change on the Honda Civic's gas consumption. He stated that this suitcase would be the culprit for obtaining worse than expected gas mileage consumption.
I find this and other similar and ridiculous explanations of the horrible gas consumption of my 2006 Honda Civic part of the cover up of the public misleading and perjury by Honda Motors.
2. The plastic seal around the sunroof (outside) was protruding 1-cm more on the right hand side of the car than the left hand side. Paragon Honda service center fixed this problem.
3. The a/c started leaking inside the car a few months after we purchased this car. I can't even imagine a brand new car with a faulty a/c system especially a Honda. Paragon Honda fixed this problem.
4. The driver side door and/or window is defective and allows road and wind noise. There is a big difference between the right and left side of the car when it comes to this noise. I took the car to Paragon Honda 3 times so far. The mechanics claim that they don't hear any noise. I has 3 friends test this car and each one of them
noticed the noise immediately (it sounds like as if the window was down ").
5. Recently there is a random rumbling noise. It happens occasionally. I am reluctant to take the car to the dealer
again as they may not find the reason.
We brought this brand new car to the dealer almost a dozen times in the last 24 months. This is a lot of hassle for a brand new car owner. When I think of the advantages of owning a new car, the first thing I can think is less time wasted at the dealers. However, my experience has been very negative. I spent more time with this vehicle than some others who own a 10-12 year old vehicles.
I live in NY. Each time I go to the dealer, I pay bridge tolls. Each time I drop/pick up the car, I am either late to work or had to
leave early.
This car has too many defects. It feels as if we purchased a Plymouth or GMC. I have no faith in 2006 Civic anymore, which is very unfortunate.
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It's not Honda's fault that your mileage is less than the sticker,
it's the EPA's. No car gets the mileage that's on the sticker.
Other than that, you've had a few minor issues which is common for any
car.
I have to ask, why are you paying bridge tolls into Queens? There are
many ways into Queens that don't incur tolls. I can only see the
tolls if you are coming from the Bronx and it doesn't make sense to
buy a car in Woodside, Queens if you live in the Bronx. Even if you
bought it there, you can take it to a closer dealership for service.
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It was recently disclosed that many or most new vehicles perform much
more poorly than their manufacturer-promoted mpg rates would lead you
to believe. Many are off by 50%!
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by All About the Branding Posted Mon May 5, 2008 @ 12:45 PM
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It is absolutely true that no car gets the mileage printed on the
sticker. This number comes from a very specific test, as mandated by
EPA and does not simulate the conditions under which a car is driven.
This has been a topic of controversy and there are groups that are
trying to get EPA to change how these tests are conducted. Might I
suggest that you check with Consumers Union (the people who publish
Consumers Reports), as I do believe they have taken a position (and
have taken some action) on this issue.
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by Donno Posted Mon May 5, 2008 @ 11:12 AM
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are just that. Estimates. Next question.
Noise in car. Typical. Always hard to find, regardless of brand.
A/C and other problems fixed by the dealer. OK, and?
I'm sure Honda will be glad to hear their dealer is fixing problems
that are straightforward, and has tried to fix other problems that are
harder to solve.
As far as gas mileage, I don't think Honda made a guarantee about the
mileage you would achieve, and they probably won't put much more
thought into this as there are an infinite number of road conditions
and driving styles. They did "several" dyno tests (ideal conditions)
which account for several of the "almost dozen" visits to the dealer.
OK, so if almost a dozen is actually 10, and several (maybe 3) were
for dyno test, that leaves about 7 trips in 24 months. It doesn't
sound like a lemon to me.
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