Honda agree to sort steering rack, should I get a refund for geo?

eidolon

eidolon

eidolon

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Joined
31 Oct 2002
Posts
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Location
Newcastle upon Tyne
As some of you know my CTR suffers from the stiff steering rack problem that plagues the Civic range. When I took the car to my local Honda dealer they said there was nothing wrong with it and I just needed the geometry setting up which would cost £80. To top it off they needed the car for 2 days and they made me pay £20 on top of that for insurance for their courtesy car!

Anyway, the geometry didn't fix the problem so I went back to the garage and got a different mechanic to test drive it. He agreed that there was a problem and the car is booked in for a new rack tomorrow (under warranty)

So, where do i stand with regards to the money I forked out for the geometry? Surely I can't be expected to pay for an incorrect diagnosis (especially as I told the dealers that it was the steering rack in the first place!!
 
Yes definitely.

Most of the guys on the civic forums I've seen have only been charged for a geo check if they requested it and the results were within spec, if they had to make changes for yours then that would suggest there were actually issues with the geo.

I don't think you should have been charged irrespective of the rack issue, so deffo kick up a fuss m8.
 
smokedog said:
I would never buy a Honda again if it's bulit in the UK. I'm on my 2nd rack and need another.
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Very true. The CTR build quality in general imo (and ive had 2 CTR's - the first one went back due to the interior falling to bits) is awfull.
 
Thankfully mines been fine, touch wood.

I think it's unfortunate however that this issue has definitely been blown out of all proportion, you see it all the the time of the civic forums, as soon as there is something even remotely wrong with the front of the car, be it a knock, judder, tracking, whatever, it instantly gets blamed on the rack and they then go off to hassle Honda.

So many times I have seen people get new racks and still have the same issue. It's a shame as it hinders people who really do have a legitimate claim for a new one as eidolon's case illustrates.

Edit: not that Honda aren't at fault..

Edit2: What dealer have you been dealing with eidolon? One up at Cribbs? Got my CTR booked in there on sat, so I hope they don't try anything on with me.
 
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I've been using the dealers at Brislington although if I have any problems I'll go to Cribs in future (a guy at work is mates with the manager there so I should be able to get preferential treatment)
 
Pleased you're making headway now. :)

Incidentally - there was a recal in Japan on the early (01/02) DC5's for incorrectly torqued bolts on the steering rack. Funnily enough though that's just co-incidental because the DC5 chasis is from the Honda stream, whereas the CTR is the Civic & the DC5 has hydraulic steering rather than electric.

So, two major **** ups regarding steering on two totally different cars from the same manufacturer!
 
I've got a beast of a hire car today, a 1.7 diesel Civic thing.

It's truely awful, throttle response is non existant, you press the accelerator and absolutely nothing happens for 3 seconds then it starts to move, albeit slowly.

I'm liking the gauge that shows I'm getting 50mpg though :)
 
Hope you get it all sorted, I'd definitely ask about getting your money back for the work they did on the geometry settings.

My Civic has been in the garage since Tuesday, it needs a new ignition control module. The part is coming from Belgium. I was told it would be here today. But it won't get here until later on, so they said they will fit it in the morning.

I have no real problem with that except they don't contact me at all, its always me ringing them. They won't give me a courtesy car. So if its not sorted tomorrow I'm pretty stuffed for work on Sunday starting at 0845.

It just seems like they couldn't give a toss unless I was 30+ and actually buying a car from them.


Sorry, I just felt the need to have another rant at Holdcroft Honda. Its not my first problem with them...there could be an ugly scene tomorrow.
 
thebrasso said:
It just seems like they couldn't give a toss unless I was 30+ and actually buying a car from them.
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Thing is, I *am* 30+ and it wasn't long ago that I bought a £14k car from them.

Steering rack is all fitted now which means I'm gonna have to give back the diesel beast, damn! :(
 
Excellent. Your street cred will be re-instated shortly. :D

I borrowed the petrol one - wasn't a bad car at all really. I'd consider it if I was waiting to die.

No temptation to get the CTR tooned up yet?
 
thebrasso said:
Sorry, I just felt the need to have another rant at Holdcroft Honda. Its not my first problem with them...there could be an ugly scene tomorrow.
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Thats where i take my CTR. dont even get me started on them else we will be here all day :mad: But while im here....

A problem developed with my alarm (nothing unsual there - usual honda **** alarms), so i took it back to the dealers. Off and on, they had it 5 or 6 times THEN they decieded to hook it up to the diagnostics!

It was also then (after replacing more or less the whole diagnostic system) that they would it was a faulty bonnet catch :rolleyes:

it cost me a fortune in petrol and days off to take the car up there and thats all it was. Even more funny, just a few days after the fix, i was browsing Honda S2000 owners club, and someone else had the very same problem, to which someone had replied straight away "bonnet catch" So why did Holdcroft take so long.

Thats only half of my gripe with them but i wont get started anymore. On the plus side, The reception manager Tony up there, did his upmost to help, just a shame about all the other muppets :(
 
merlin said:
No temptation to get the CTR tooned up yet?
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My gf is considering getting a proper ECU next year once the warranty period is up, just want to smooth things out a bit really as it's a bit "on or off" at low revs and I reckon a decent map should sort that out.
 
Yay, new steering rack is fitted and it's 100x better now :)

They even agreed to give me back the geo money, didn't even have to kick up a fuss or anything.
 
Yeah, me too.

I was really starting to hate the CTR and was seriously thinking of changing it for a Clio 182 but now that it's all sorted I'm a happy again. :)
 
Sorry to hear of your problems, I must admit mine has been spot on and the service I have recieved from my dealer has been excellent. Glad you got it sorted though.

eidolon said:
My gf is considering getting a proper ECU next year once the warranty period is up, just want to smooth things out a bit really as it's a bit "on or off" at low revs and I reckon a decent map should sort that out.
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If you're going to do it then it's well worth the money for the Hondata KPro. Here's whats possible to achieve on a standard car (magazine article scanned and zipped) http://www.itsnotarace.com/stuff/K_PRO.zip

I would rate the best mods on mine as being (in order)

Quaife LSD
Hondata KPro
Toda manifold
 
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