2016 AC Granaded dealer $3000+ to fix

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No reply from Honda as of yesterday making it the 10th business day. Lets see how many days it will actually take or if they get back to me or I have to call them first.
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My car had a gurgling/water running sound when I turn on the AC ever since I got it as well. Doesn't seem to have gotten louder or changed in general, so I didn't think too much of it. but I'm wondering about it now..
 
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Called this morning, waited on hold for 11 minutes. My case number 01363685 was not addressed, was not assigned to an agent, no reason given. The ten days has elapsed. I was told to wait till Monday the 29th (15 days) before checking back with them. Today is the 11th business day. Good luck to all you guys out there if you issues. Make friends with mechanics or learn to replace defective parts. The thing is that I want to get this resolved but they are keeping me from getting to the next step.
 
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Received an email contact info not included

Case #: 1363685

Dear Mr (name mispelled)

Thank you for contacting Honda Canada. I have been assigned your case and will be looking into your recent inquiry. I will be back in contact with you in the coming days to discuss the outcome of our investigation once I have been able to discuss further and investigate with our dealership.

Please don't hesitate to contact me in the interim should you wish to discuss your concerns further.

Thank you very much, I look forward to speaking with you soon.

Kindest Regards,

Lets see what happens...
 


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Fingers crossed for you, brother. I had issues with it taking an extremely long time to cool the car - especially on the driver's side. Took it in March of '18, with about 1k miles left on the warranty. IMO, they diagnosed it improperly, said it just needed a recharge and left it at that. Worked okay for a few months.

Tried using it again one warmer weekend, and it was just pure heat. Really embarrassing sitting in traffic in downtown DC with passengers and no A/C. So I took it back in last Monday. The dealer didn't charge the usual $117 diagnostic fee, said the compressor had failed (like I thought it had from the start last year, really).

They (without me prompting them to) emailed American Honda and asked for some form of compensation. In the end, I paid a $250 deductible for what they claimed would have been $1,214 in work otherwise. Called it "partial goodwill" from Honda, which would (IMO) only be granted when Honda knows there's a significant issue with a faulty part(s) that doesn't meet safety criteria for a recall. So they're spot fixing and sweeping it under the rug. The dealer got a full breakdown of all the work/parts/$$$ required, I got a dumbed-down version.

At least now I've got functional A/C, but Honda's well aware there's a problem. I can't really blame them for not wanting to do a full product campaign for this, they've got enough issues across their entire lineup lately. I'm just hoping they're not replacing a faulty part with another faulty part.

Honda Civic 10th gen 2016 AC Granaded dealer $3000+ to fix RNugtAk
 
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Just got a call from Honda and they are going to cover the parts but not the labor giving me a bill for $573 to fix what I am positing is straight up defective parts. So now my total cost will be $573 + $120 diagnostic charge putting me out $700 for basically repairing what should never have broken. This does not include the AC pump I bought for $150 to get started on the repair in case they poo poo my claim which I will most likely sell and lose only a portion of the money. None of this includes the hassle of getting estimates and the time wasted. $700 repair for a car that is only three years old that has very little use on the AC because of the climate I live in is not something I counted on when signing on the line.
 

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To be honest, that sounds reasonable. As much as I hate to admit, AC units are wear items. And on my last car, it bit the bullet at 103K.

The fact that Honda is willing to cover parts on all the peripherals is extremely generous. I've heard horror stories from other automakers refusing to cover similar failures as early as 75K. You are essentially getting a new compressor, plumbing, condenser, expansion valve, and evap core free of charge.
 
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I do somewhat agree with you but you have to realize that the mileage is in KMs having only 61K miles. I've wrecked cars with 20 year old AC compressors and multiples of this mileage still working. The AC hardly turns with the engine because the clutch seldom engages, so it is essentially a passenger attached to the engine. Extreme generosity would in my opinion be if they simply fixed the AC because it is a known issue and compensated me for the time and money I wasted and returned my diagnostic fee as well. They should cover my diagnostic fee because I was forced to have the diagnostics done at the dealer, which I had already had completed at another shop for free. This is basically a net positive for the dealer and total loss to me, so I would say this is an acceptable compromise granted it may be more then other manufacturers would offer, but I selected a Honda with a higher price paying thousands more then my wife's run about to avoid even the hint of such premature component failures. (my wife's 4 year old Jetta has no issues and cost almost $4k less brand new)
 
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civicdabest-foo

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I too noticed this gurgling sound later during ownership when I had my 1.5T touring. Never made much of it.

I have to agree with the people who say that was a rather benevolent and generous action from Honda Mfg Canada. $800 in total repairs for an AC failure is not that much. That kind of turnaround time is from Honda's office is something I'd personally be happy with tbh. I have reasonable expectations of a big business.

I've heard worse customer relations stories from people who bought other makes. Hearing from Hyundai owners about their engine woes and the cold shoulder treatment they got from Hyundai Canada and their local dealership, I'm glad I never went over to the other H.

I gave off my 1.5T. If I had to buy another econobox, I would go straight to the Honda dealer and get an EX again. $700 in repairs for a defective item on a Civic LX after 3 years100k kms is a small dent imo.
 


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Appreciate the response. I really think the LX trim level should make it more durable due to the simpler engine, NA etc. This is my third major fault, first being the anti lock braking VSA module had to be replaced which caused the car to unexpectedly let go of the breaks while it should have been braking to a full stop randomly using ACC, a real thrill behind cars (I covered the brake pedal thinking it was normal at first). Then I fought with the head unit not connecting to my phone properly, to it going completely dead having to have it replaced, and now the AC is gone as well. These are super gentle country driving miles, got my original tires, brakes etc. As far as I know if we may have had a few hotter days last year I could have caught it within the mileage. My car was probably made during the first week of production the serial number being 3779. There are other small quality trim issues as well which are annoying but I never bothered about even during the warranty. If this was not a known issue or I damaged or abused the AC in some way I would say agree with you. Either way you can come to what ever conclusion regarding the level of generosity. I would have very much loved to have initial quality as their generosity rather then having clearly defective parts replaced at my expense. I understand other companies would do even less. I asked if I could install the parts myself and they did not go for that idea. I love wrenching on cars, it is my hobby and I could do this job for about the same money but I paid the NEW CAR premium (which everyone tells you is not very smart financially) so I would not have to deal with bullshit for a few years, now I should be overjoyed.

Either way I love the car, I think it is excellent value for the money, the technology package is exactly what I was looking for, I specifically did not want alloys, sun roof, keyless, and turbo engine (would have loved the leather). I actually just picked up a tranny with only 6.4 miles on it from LKQ thinking I will drive this thing into dirt with the second tranny... I think the engine will outlive what ever I bolt to it. Love Honda, I understand it is a business and they can't give away the store. If there ever is a class action lawsuit I will surely join to recover costs, but as it stands it is good enough.
 
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My mother in law’s 10 year old Hyundai Accent with same milage still has a working AC.. Damn…
Its also worth about $1k......Anyhow, yeah it sucks but you opted to not have an extended warranty and now you are out the money. Begging Honda to cover something you chose not cover and being upset about it them wanting to charge you to fix it seems crybabyish to me. But hey I'm glad they covered some of it. And yes I realize there is an issue. I had a new compressor put in at 10k miles, but as soon as I noticed something was off, I took it in. I didnt drive around for 30k more miles until I decided to take it in when everything was effed
 

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I have to side with the OP on this one even though the title of this thread is a bit of an exaggeration. I've had the squeaky AC the first day I owned my car. I was told it was normal and a lot of people on these forums have have reported it as being nothing more than an annoyance. My AC was still blowing cold so I didn't push the issue with the dealer. It's been a year and now that it's warming up I've noticed the AC can't keep up. My dealer said a new AC compressor will take care of the slow leak. Unfortunately I have to take their word for it and if it turns out to be the condenser or piping (the other two common trouble areas with AC for our car) I'm hoping I'm still under warranty.
 

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I'm having same issue with the AC as it makes weird chirpping gargling sounds whenever it's on. Going to make an appointment to have service to check it out because it's getting annoying for me. If I get the cold shoulder I suppose I will just bug them again later. My plan is to blast the AC whenever the car is on. If the problem exist and not obvious i guess i'll make it obvious as soon as possible lol

Kind of glad I took lease for 42 months. if it gets resolved, i'll keep the car at the end of lease and be a happy owner. if not well bye bye Honda.
 
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Its also worth about $1k......Anyhow, yeah it sucks but you opted to not have an extended warranty and now you are out the money. Begging Honda to cover something you chose not cover and being upset about it them wanting to charge you to fix it seems crybabyish to me. But hey I'm glad they covered some of it. And yes I realize there is an issue. I had a new compressor put in at 10k miles, but as soon as I noticed something was off, I took it in. I didnt drive around for 30k more miles until I decided to take it in when everything was effed
You are welcome to pay as much as you like out of pocket for defective components. I don't live in a warm climate where I can keep my eye on the AC, basically it is something you would find out during the first warm days each year. You live in Texas my dude, you would notice your AC the second it started to fade, I suppose you are not familiar with northern climates, there are only a few months when you actually use the damn thing which makes it even more of a thing I choose to cry about considering how little use it had. I did not decide to let the warranty elapse, that would be silly. Believe me, Honda is not "giving" away these parts out of the goodness of their hearts, the dealer told me that the 2016s had issues with the ACs failing so keep a close eye on your AC, maybe you can catch it before the pump spews shrapnel into your condenser.

Not sure where you got the idea that I was begging, rather demanding in a rather pissed off sort of way. I guess you bought the extended warranty and are congratulating yourself at my expense. It is actually still cheaper this way, but more of a pain in the ass. Good luck, enjoy your AC, wish I had your weather...
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