What the hell is up with the Honda Owner Link recall site? I spoke to someone from there and he said it the info should be up last Tuesday. It is now a week later and still nothing.

 

wow... this is a very promising and Honda tech friendly thread...

If this was a "hey! I'll do oil change from a dealer" thread... I bet this thread would have been filled with lots of "honda tech sucks and don't know what they're doing" replies and comment as always.


just saying...

 

Hey EO we got us a few AHs on here. Imagine those Honda Techs that cannot even do an oil change will be tampering with our engines.

CrysMeth who cares if it is up on the site or not? The actual notice is the important item.

 

Most Honda dealers don't use their mechanics for oil changes, they have lube techs whose sole job is to perform oil changes. These lube techs do not have formal training in auto repair. Auto mechanics are paid on the flat rate system and oil changes are a waste of their abilities, so the people who will be performing the recall are not the same people who do the oil changes.

 

You don't understand...I need to know if my VIN is affected or not. Get it? Lay off that meth!

 

Just to clarify..for me it's not that I really distrust Honda Techs. I'm paranoid, so I don't like the idea of anyone having to open my engine...

For me, it's that the Honda Dealership I go to, and I think they are all set up this way, uses the service advisor...drop off your car...whisk you to a waiting room approach. You never even meet or know your actual tech. You can't even see your car until you hand them cash, have them swipe your Credit Card, or write them a check...

I guess I don't really distrust Honda Techs...but the way the system is set up, precludes building a relationship of knowing the person repairing your car, which leads to distrust..

If I am involved in this recall? I think I'm going to insist on meeting the Tech actually doing the job...just for my own well being. The service "advisors" are just paper creators...middle men/women...

 

I called my Honda Dealership and they are in the process of receiving a repair bulletin from Honda to guide the techs how to execute the fix

The service advisor advised me to plan for 4 hours window fix if I bring in my FIT during the first two weeks upon receiving my letter and perhaps plan for 3 hours if I plan to fix much later.

I thought I share these info to let you all read in between the lines based on all the collective information from posts in this thread

 

Fitchet, your sentiments match mine exactly. Thanks for explaining your position so well. I don't know who started the business model, but I hope they rot in hell. As I've said earlier in the post, it is not just Honda who follows this model. Why do we need a middle man?

On another note. Why don't people understand that we have to wait 'til sometime in Mid-March to get confirmation on whether our specific cars need work done? What is so hard to understand?

 

The reason for that system is so the mechanics can focus on working on the cars while they have people who can focus on customer service (most mechanics do not have great customer-service skills, but fantastic mechanical skills). Mechanics are paid flat rate, not hourly, they are paid a set amount per job, so if they're not in the shop working on a car, they're not getting paid.

 

i don't know much about how a car is put together, i enjoy looking at them and taking exceptional care of them. i have a 2010 fit sport it's got 5,900 miles or so on it. the car runs great i haven't had any problems as of yesterday. i read about this recall the other day and didn't start thinking much of this until last night. i am not going to drive the car at all until i get a letter in the mail sounds up surd which it is but i don't mess around with the engine.

i do have one simple question though, if the car does have a problem the next time i drive it what will happen to the engine. i had a 2003 pontiac vibe which was my first car and i learned a lot from that car. i hit a few deer. i parked close to traffic and my car got dinged and dented. im trying not to have any accidents and no dings on my car plus i always let the car warm up. now i doubt that has any reasoning why my car isn't giving me trouble or it could just mean the car isn't part of the recall.

so now let me know what you guys think about all this.

 

Yea on the other hand, the tech should be working on the next car, rather then on the phone getting in touch with the owner to coordinate pickups, explaining what was done, billing, and the multitude of the "dumb" and "stupid" questions that the average person who goes to a dealer might have.

I've personally seen at a tire store, where the owner happened to ask why they needed a new tire. The tech happened to still be in the waiting area, and pretty much bluntly said, "It's because you completely ruined your tire by driving on it after it was flat. When you get a flat, you should've pulled over and then we could've fixed it". People skills are left to the service advisor.

Also, I've gone to 1-man shops. You have no idea what's the status of your car. You just end up calling eventually, and then the mechanic say, "oh yea, finished that 4hours ago why don't you come pick it up", or even worse, "what did you need to get done again?"

And additionally, what makes you think that the tech will enjoy your company? While it's human nature to think people will like you; not everyone gets along or wants to chat it up.
You've already gotten so many flames on your various posts in this thread, and these are from like-minded individuals who care enough to respond rather than just ignore. Now imagine you've made the same negative impression on the guy who is going to work on your car.

If you go through the ASE career descriptions or an ASE related textbook on automotive career paths to understand that these positions do have great value in a successful business. Similar to say running a commercial restaurant, there are well-established business practices that are tried and true, but seem completely foreign to those not involved in the business.

You can still form a relationship with the service advisor, who can see your business relationship better, and will throw some freebie work for you or reduce the bill. The same tech isn't going to work on your car every visit, or even for all the items of a particular service visit.
On the technical side, you should expect the actual tech work to be performed at a high standard regardless of who requested it.

 

my car is sitting at honda now...its going in for the repair tomorrow. i'll let ya's know how it goes...

 

I'm hoping for a boy...

 

This is the reason I made the statement pages (and pages and pages) back about wondering if it might have been better if honda didn't notify people until they could actually do something...

Paranoia runs rampant on forums, Confidence doesn't.

Honda techs for the most part HAVE to be moderately good. The good ones have to be the Norm, not the exception or else Honda's reputation would go down the drain. Honda makes great engines but as everyone in this thread knows, they don't make perfect engines. And... SHOCKER HERE... This isn't the first internal engine issue they've had to deal with. Yet they still retain the overall confidence of the consumer industry. Why? As far as I can tell, because they make great engines, and they do a great job at fixing the issues that they have. And this is all BECAUSE of the honda Techs.

Oil change techs don't do Internal work. Just like; not just anyone at the dealer installs accessories. There are different levels of techs and while an entry tech might help out, they rarely touch the important parts.

ooooohhh our Guinea pig

~SB

 

lol

 

My brain exploded.

 

You're not going to drive the car? Now, that's absurd. Honestly, that's about all I can understand from your post. Wish I could help more.

*waits for reply about posting from PSP as excuse

**infinitely facepalms anyways

 

 

Okay, Honda won't send out recall notices until they're ready to start fixing the cars- that means techs trained and a sufficient supply of parts. Odds are slim that you'll have a problem. And since most people won't even know about the recall until they get the notice, by waiting until they're ready to fix Honda is cutting way down on all the "WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU CAN'T FIX MY CAR NOW" angry phone calls.

But they put out the press release as soon as they make a decision because for the rare car that does break, the dealer knows to fix it under the recall- instead of making someone pay for a new engine (if warranty's expired) and then give them their money back a month later, the dealer can just say "Yes, we just found out about this problem, we're in the process of fixing it, and the new engine's on us." And if your car breaks and you go to an independent mechanic, if he knows and is honest he can say "Tow this to Honda, they'll fix it for free."