Cracked paint on hazard light button?

[maxxdj29]

Has this happened to anyone else? I didn’t realize that this was a red button with black paint over it (makes sense now that I think about it), until the other day when I noticed the paint cracked!

I leave my car in the parking lot at work, where it obviously gets hot throughout the day with the sun beating down on it. I was thinking the paint got soft and then cooled down fast and turned brittle. Thinking there was something on it, I wiped it with my finger which caused some of the paint to come off, exposing more of the red plastic beneath. My local dealers say even though I’m under the 30k mile warranty cap, this isn’t common and they’d have to prove that I didn’t cause this for it to be covered. $127 just to have them look at it, plus more for labor and the part of it isn’t covered.

Any thoughts or advice?

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[RedGiant217]

Sounds like your dealership is trying to avoid the work. There is no way they can prove or disprove whether you did anything to cause this. It's either covered under warranty or it's not.

What do you mean by $127 for them to look at it? They charged you over an hour for labor to just look at the part? If at all possible, find another dealership. Sounds like they're taking advantage of you.

If you plan to continue with them, talk with the GM and tell them you'll escalate to Honda if the issue is not resolved.

If you're still within the warranty I can't see why it wouldn't be covered.

 

[Jeiz]

Seems just like bad luck. In Japan, the button is red/orange. For some reason they want them grey in America. You could just clean all the oversight off and you'd would have the jdm color restored.

 

[maxxdj29]

Sounds like your dealership is trying to avoid the work. There is no way they can prove or disprove whether you did anything to cause this. It's either covered under warranty or it's not.

What do you mean by $127 for them to look at it? They charged you over an hour for labor to just look at the part? If at all possible, find another dealership. Sounds like they're taking advantage of you.

If you plan to continue with them, talk with the GM and tell them you'll escalate to Honda if the issue is not resolved.

If you're still within the warranty I can't see why it wouldn't be covered.

Yeah, the dealer I bought the car at charges a $127 diagnostic fee just to bring it in and have them look at it. They said “if” they determine it’s covered under warranty, it’ll be waived. Otherwise I have to pay that and the cost of the new part. Just scheduled service at another dealer who said they’d be happy to take a look and let me know what they could do. Good idea to bring it up to Honda directly if I can’t get the dealer to do it though, I’ll do that if it comes to it

 

[maxxdj29]

Seems just like bad luck. In Japan, the button is red/orange. For some reason they want them grey in America. You could just clean all the oversight off and you'd would have the jdm color restored.

I was thinking about just wiping all the black/gray paint off. This is my first new car, so I was disappointed that in less than a year the interior is already falling apart. Was hoping for more, but it is an entry level car I guess.

 

[U.S.C]

Sounds like your dealer is lazy and not wanting to do the work honestly.

 

[maxxdj29]

Sounds like your dealer is lazy and not wanting to do the work honestly.

That’s my thought... my local dealer is widely hated for doing everything they can to rip people off. I’ve happily cancelled my appt with them after getting an offer from another dealer to take a look at it, no charge up front. I’ll post an update when that happens

 

[U.S.C]

Yeah man I wouldn’t deal with them if you have to option.

 

[latole]

Look the paint has melted as if the button has overheated or somebody put a finger with some kind of stuff like paint remover

 

[maxxdj29]

Look the paint has melted as if the button has overheated or somebody put a finger with some kind of stuff like paint remover

Exactly, my thought was that the paint “melted” or at least softened in the heat, then once the AC was on it cooled down quickly and cracked. I’d assume they’d use a paint that could resist the heat of a car sitting in the sun, but I don’t know. It’s smudged because I put my finger on it to wipe off whatever it was when I first noticed it, then realized it was the paint on the button itself rather than some residue or something

 

[maxxdj29]

Found a dealer that’s happy to replace it under warranty, and no charge to look at it like the other place insisted. They agreed this is an odd situation, but one of them had seen this happen a while ago with an Accord. Just waiting for the part to come in to have the install scheduled

 

[Jeiz]

hey just so you can picture whats going on underneath the paint. Heres a link to jdm honda hazard buttons. Remember how I said it's just a JDM hazard button with paint on it?

https://www.google.com/search?q=jdm...rfiAhULvZ4KHXfmAzgQ_AUIDygC&biw=2560&bih=1304

 

[maxxdj29]

hey just so you can picture whats going on underneath the paint. Heres a link to jdm honda hazard buttons. Remember how I said it's just a JDM hazard button with paint on it?

https://www.google.com/search?q=jdm...rfiAhULvZ4KHXfmAzgQ_AUIDygC&biw=2560&bih=1304

That’s interesting... I’m going to ask them if I can take a look at the button after they remove it. I’m assuming they’ll send it to Honda after (maybe? Hopefully? To diagnose what the heck happened so it doesn’t again)

 

[maxxdj29]

Got the button replaced today, looks a lot better. Thinking it might be from the 2019 model - it has a distinctly different feel to it.

 

[Monnk13]

Got the button replaced today, looks a lot better. Thinking it might be from the 2019 model - it has a distinctly different feel to it.

Make sure you let the first dealership know how well you were treated at your new service department. I’d even go so far as to tell the dealership (the one trying to rip you off) they permanently lost a customer because they were too cheap to cover a $25 piece of plastic. You could also send them pictures of the next Honda car you buy form a different dealership

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