Author Topic: Mk3 - ruining the reputation one step at a time.  (Read 13173 times)

andruec

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Mk3 - ruining the reputation one step at a time.
« on: May 31, 2018, 11:53:40 AM »
So my door mirrors are getting worse. This morning they've developed a new trick. For the last six months they've occasionally not opened. Last month they closed when I operated the driver's side window. This morning they spent five minutes opening and closing incessantly as I drove along.

I mentioned them to my dealer (Kidlington) in February and they couldn't be bothered to even look at them as far as I can tell. When pushed they claimed they didn't find anything wrong but it's curious how the work item wasn't listed on the sheet. I might give the Northampton dealer a call to see if they'll do anything but I'm unimpressed.

Anyway this is the fourth thing to go a bit wrong on my Mk3 Jazz. My Mk1 and Mk2 were flawless. So much for Japanese workmanship. So much for Honda.
« Last Edit: June 01, 2018, 10:06:50 PM by andruec »

peteo48

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Re: Mk3 - ruining the reputation one step at a time.
« Reply #1 on: May 31, 2018, 12:48:18 PM »
Sorry to hear this andruec. On the face of it you'd think it would be a simple matter of replacing the motor and the switch gear. The dealer's attitude so far stinks.


It doesn't take much to make people lose faith with a brand. I would rather have root canal surgery without anaesthetic than buy anything made by VW/Audi group after my last Golf.

ColinS

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Re: Mk3 - ruining the reputation one step at a time.
« Reply #2 on: May 31, 2018, 02:15:47 PM »
On the face of it you'd think it would be a simple matter of replacing the motor and the switch gear.
Yeah I think it is a bit more than that.

I've been lucky in so much that mine has only failed around a dozen times since the car was new.  Unfortunately the mode of failure is that they fold in when the ignition is switched on.  This is downright dangerous if you don't notice it.  And I would think that it would be an MOT failure.

Congratulations on your 1000 posts peteo48 :)

FredS

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Re: Mk3 - ruining the reputation one step at a time.
« Reply #3 on: May 31, 2018, 03:35:30 PM »
I had the same/similar fault with the intermittent working or not working of folding electric mirrors.

Contacted main dealer service department they diagnosed the problem as a faulty switch as they had replaced 2 or 3 of them. Car booked in, switch replaced. no more problems with mirrors. Great service.

Fred

andruec

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Re: Mk3 - ruining the reputation one step at a time.
« Reply #4 on: May 31, 2018, 04:59:32 PM »
Well I've just spoken with Northampton Honda and they've said the same thing. That to claim under warranty they have to see it for themselves. So not only is the quality falling but the warranty is pretty naff as well. What do they think - that I'm making it up because I love the inconvenience of getting my car to the nearest service centre (both of which are over half an hour away)? They don't care enough about me as a customer to be concerned that my door mirrors might stop working? Clearly it's about the money. They hope to put off the work and avoid paying for the parts for as long as possible. Well..until three years after manufacture anyway.

So..tell me again - what sets Honda apart from other manufacturers on the quality/warranty front? Seems to me like they are as bad as everyone else.
« Last Edit: June 01, 2018, 10:05:56 PM by andruec »

guest7675

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Re: Mk3 - ruining the reputation one step at a time.
« Reply #5 on: June 01, 2018, 06:52:09 PM »
Have you contacted honda uk head office complaints team or get in touch with autoexpress they take up the case for you and if the goods are not as they should be you have a case of rejection of car or a replacement with a reliable model as you say this is a safety issue.

123Drive!

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Re: Mk3 - ruining the reputation one step at a time.
« Reply #6 on: June 01, 2018, 07:50:29 PM »
Go on Twitter and complaint to Honda UK and link it with Which?, HonestJohn , Etc.

To be fair, the other dealer will want to see it before they can make a claim. But I am surprised that the first dealer wouldn't change it for you as they get money from Honda UK anyway for claiming warranty work! Can you speak to the dealer principal and ask him or her to act upon it?

Unfortunately, the days when Japanese manufacturers being good at customer service have long gone. I think Lexus is good but others are all the same, depending who you get.

Peteo48, likewise, no thanks VW! My parents and I had 4 of them and their products were terrible as well as their impotent customer service!
« Last Edit: June 01, 2018, 08:02:42 PM by 123Drive! »

John Ratsey

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Re: Mk3 - ruining the reputation one step at a time.
« Reply #7 on: June 01, 2018, 09:00:45 PM »
My understanding is that a dealer needs to get the OK from Honda for warranty work. Otherwise there's the risk of unscrupulous dealers doing uneccessary work in order to claim the payment for time. Intermittent problems can be hard to verify and even harder to identify the cause. However, if the mirror switch problem is known about then someone should have to courage to agree to change the part and see if the problem goes away. Honda should be aware of the problem (bad batch?) but, like all the other vehicle manufacturers, is reluctant to issue a service bulletin to notify dealers of the problem and cause.
2022 HR-V Elegance, previously 2020 Jazz Crosstar

andruec

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Re: Mk3 - ruining the reputation one step at a time.
« Reply #8 on: June 01, 2018, 10:02:51 PM »
Yeah. I see what you're saying about dealers getting Honda to pay for unnecessary work and I suppose they have to return the failed part to Honda so want to be sure that it is provably and obviously faulty. But at the same time they surely ought to realise that a customer isn't going to report a fault just for the hell of it.

So that just leaves me. Having to put up with unreliable door mirrors until they finally fail completely. Hardly satisfactory customer service :(

peteo48

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Re: Mk3 - ruining the reputation one step at a time.
« Reply #9 on: June 01, 2018, 10:19:27 PM »
I think, to some extent, you have to separate the dealer from the brand. The reason I say this is because during my travails with my VW Golf, I couldn't actually fault the dealer. They dealt with the various that arose promptly and efficiently.

I guess what I'm saying is you can have good cars and crap dealers and bad cars with good dealers.

ColinB

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Re: Mk3 - ruining the reputation one step at a time.
« Reply #10 on: June 02, 2018, 08:15:10 AM »
... to claim under warranty they have to see it for themselves.
That’s reasonable. Whilst you might be as honest as the day is long, sadly others aren’t and no dealer is going to agree to any work without inspecting and diagnosing it first. The Honda mothership will pay for warranty work, so the dealer has to report back and get approval for the repair before proceeding. If they simply don’t believe you that the problem exists, you need more evidence: could you stop the car and video it when it happens next ? You have at least one other person on here claiming it happened to them, so use that as evidence (maybe PM them to get full chapter & verse).

So that just leaves me. Having to put up with unreliable door mirrors until they finally fail completely. Hardly satisfactory customer service :(

If you’re sure it is a defect that ought to be fixed under warranty, you do have the option of getting it fixed yourself and then claiming the costs back via the Small Claims Court procedure (https://www.which.co.uk/consumer-rights/advice/how-to-use-the-small-claims-court). Simply threatening the dealer with that to demonstrate you’re serious might persuade them to change their mind, because that will be more expensive for them than simply getting on with the repair.

Of course, all that is unwanted hassle and the need to resort to such measures simply reinforces your point that - in some dealers, at least - the concept of “customer service” is not understood.

Rory

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Re: Mk3 - ruining the reputation one step at a time.
« Reply #11 on: June 02, 2018, 07:10:54 PM »
I think, to some extent, you have to separate the dealer from the brand. The reason I say this is because during my travails with my VW Golf, I couldn't actually fault the dealer. They dealt with the various that arose promptly and efficiently.

I guess what I'm saying is you can have good cars and crap dealers and bad cars with good dealers.

You were lucky with VW - having never been a VW family even amongst parents and relatives we've ended up with two.  Dealers (tried two) and VW UK been equally unhelpful / useless.  Found a good indie thankfully.

I think I'm going to go the same way with the Jazz's - there's only one dealer within reasonable reach now.  A glass palace place who took over after Honda canned the two excellent little dealers we had.  They're absolutely useless and in my latest complaint Honda UK have been very quick to distance themselves from them.

peteo48

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Re: Mk3 - ruining the reputation one step at a time.
« Reply #12 on: June 03, 2018, 09:17:29 AM »
On the reliability stakes, big test today for my Deflation Warning System (see other threads lol). Some motorway cruising in hot weather. It's always a spell on the motorway that triggers the false alarms. The dealer has asked that I bring it in for investigation when the next false alarm occurs and not to recalibrate.

I make allowances for Honda on this one though. These systems are troublesome across most brands.

culzean

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Re: Mk3 - ruining the reputation one step at a time.
« Reply #13 on: June 03, 2018, 09:52:28 AM »
I make allowances for Honda on this one though. These systems are troublesome across most brands.

Maybe the newer systems are, I have had nothing but positive alarms (slow punctures, one over-inflation and changing to winter tyres or back to summers (but that only happens on Civic)).  Maybe they have made the system too clever by adding tweaks to detect 4 low pressures at the same time (spectrum analysis of signals coming back from ABS where the timing of pulses has slight variations).

My one brother bought a 12 month old Skoda Octavia and had problems with battery going flat (stop start) and other stuff,  non of the problems got fixed by the dealer,  and now the Skoda is back with dealer and he has bought  a Suzuki Vitara.   My other bro has an older Octavia and he has had problems with cruise control, random engine check light, windows randomly fully opening themselves after he has parked the car so he will be going Japanese as well soon - I did warn them though, and they are older than me and should know better.

I don't go for a car looking swish or having bells and whistles,  I go for basic sound engineering which the Japs do very well.  The French and Italans are good for 'style' and 'bells and whistles' but French and Italian cars keep my mechanic mate in business, if everyone had Jap cars he would have to find other employment.  The Germans go way too complicated which is showing up in their less than average reliability stats (despite the 'premium' price of their cars).

Some people will only consider you an expert if they agree with your point of view or advice,  when you give them advice they don't like they consider you an idiot

Jocko

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Re: Mk3 - ruining the reputation one step at a time.
« Reply #14 on: June 03, 2018, 11:01:02 AM »
My brother has had a couple of BMW 3 series. The first,  an M3, was a nightmare. Every three or four months he would have a £1000 bill for repairs. He moved on to a 320D and that has been much more reliable, but the couple of problems he has experienced have had the dealer scratching his head, and not really been resolved.

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