Update: Transmissions come from Ohio and the new one will likely get here Friday afternoon, so the car should be ready sometime the following Monday.
The old one will be shipped back...they really want to look it over. And I'd really like to know what they find.

 

I think lots of us would!

 

I wouldn't expect to hear a thing from them. Honda prefers to treat customers like mushrooms.

 

Kia / Keeah from Honda corporate called again today to follow up and I mentioned I wanted to talk to them after they've figured out what went wrong with it and she said she'll have them do that. They'll be calling again after I've had the car back for awhile to see how it's working.


My plan is to put a thousand miles on it or so and take it back to Spreen Honda (the original dealer) and have it inspected since they put a lifetime powertrain warranty on cars they sell. It's in everyone's interest to check it out.

 

Do you really think she would say anything else? Whether it happens or not isn't up to her and the technicians who look at the transmissions aren't going to call an owner just to satisfy the owner's curiosity.

Not a bad plan.

Read the fine print on the "limited lifetime powertrain warranty" because they often put additional restrictions on you to make sure that it is hard to get the warranty honored. For example, the one offered by a local dealer reads as follows:

So, a typical owner using the Maintenance Minder as it is designed or one who does his own own oil changes will be disqualified from the warranty. There will also be a long list of "covered parts" that often excludes the parts most expensive to replace, such as clutch disks. You also have to keep detailed records of maintenance including proof that you had all work done by at a "licensed repair facility." Chances are just about every owner will manage to violate the terms of the contract before they need powertrain service.

Spreen Honda apparantly uses Century Warranty Services' lowest-coverage "Power Care" plan but I cannot find the terms of this plan on-line. I doubt that they are very liberal!

 

Not sure which Century plan I have in addition but it does include regular maintenance. There are vouchers for 'free' oil change and tire rotation but I'm sure I'll have to pay for synthetic.


Before the tranny issues I was thinking of getting rid of the service contract, but not now.

 

As I am ex-service business I can tell you until the car is diagnosed the manufacturer won't put you into a rental car because it is very possible you damaged the car doing something you were not supposed to do, or you were not operating the car correctly, or you expect the car to do something that is just isn't capable of doing. You have to see if from their viewpoint. If they gave out a rental car to every Tom, Dick, and Harry, on demand, they'd be broke.

As for a lemon. No. Mechanical things break from time to time. Your manufacturers warranty will repair the vehicle and you'll be on your way.

I always buy a manual car because my experience in the business tells me way to many automatic transmissions fail, including CVT's.

 

Also speaking from my ex-service department experience and working for the largest provider of aftermarket service contracts. ... get a refund on that POS contract. Those shady contracts the dealers hawk, which they sell because there is a HUGE profit in them, have all sorts of exclusions. get rid of the contract by getting a refund. If you feel you need a service contract, buy the Honda contract. Never, ever, buy a dealer service contract. I worked in legal for the contract servicer who serviced numerous contract brands and it was easy to defend claim denials because there were so many exclusions to coverage. Also, people need to be aware the contacts are not warranties in the eyes of the law..

 

Trust me, get a refund. Buy a Honda contract if you feel you need one. I worked legal for the largest servicer of aftermarket service contracts. It was my job to defend claim denials to attorneys and small claim suits for denied claims. My job was easy. Get rid of it.

 

Be firm but not a jerk. I worked the business. Trust me, you want to be the customer that speaks to the service manager or director in a manner in which they want to help you. They have incentive to satisfy you because of the survey you will receive from Honda but there is always one customer they will accept a bad survey on because the customer acted like an a**. You can express your unhappiness and concern in a manner in which the other person understands. The manager or director will work harder for you if you are a reasonable person. They understand your frustration. The squeaky wheel gets the grease if the grease is applied nicely.

 

I only had one service contract prior to this one, on an Acura Integra. At 87,000 miles the timing belt broke and bent every valve. Yes, they certainly were twits about the whole thing but ended up paying in full. I should mention that the label I record for is run by an arbitrator and a contract attorney and that they'll be taking a look.


After today's news of a major shakeup of Honda's top brass that was in no small part due to quality issues with their cars, especially the Fit and Fit Hybrid, I'm thinking a service contract is looking pretty good once their wiggle room is assessed.

 

Here's a link to an article about Honda's new CEO.

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I see nothing in the news articles about any issues with the new Fit. It was all recall issues with the Fit Hybrid (five recalls last year) and the airbag issue which caused the shakeup at Honda. I don't believe there have been any recalls with the standard Fit unless that bumper issue counts as one and that was a non-essential upgrade to improve side crash protection. As far as general quality issues I don't recall seeing anything which suggests the Fit has had any more problems than any other car on the road from any manufacturer.

 

Exactly. Article talks about Fit Hybrid and airbag issue. Airbag issue suppose to affect even Accords. I am yet to receive any recall message for my Accord. That being said, Honda concerned about quality issue. Problem could be much deeper than what we are seeing. We have enough Fit quality issues reported by members here. It might be good idea to get extended warranty from Honda.

 

The main point of the article was the ousting of the CEO and other top execs, largely due to profits not meeting expectations.


Let's face it, most every new car will get recalled at least once, my wife's Camry has been recalled several times and another just came in regarding oil burning/leaking due to faulty valve guide seals. I would expect a few with the Fit.

 

REPLACEMENT'S DONE!!
Runs great...we'll see how it goes. With the warranty A/T kit, shipping, fluid, coolant, and labor this would have been a $6000 repair..not counting $350 for the Jetta rental according to the service mgr.

 

Which is why I'd never let a dealer work on a car except for TSBs or warranty issues. They double or triple every price.

Glad it is fixed, hope that everything works fine from here on out.

 

I'm sure your attitude won't vary one iota if and when it's your turn to experience a major component failure in a nearly new car, and if it's not, I'll be right there to send you the same smartass newsflash you sent the OP.

 

Congrats FitFolkSinger, I hope your experiences with your "reborn" Fit are only good ones, you deserve it.

 

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