Infotainment/Head Unit Dead!

[MrFahrenheitMF]

I also posted this in the Audio/Nav/Electronics Forum, but figured I'd add it to this forum, as well:

PART ONE: 4/18
So, the infotainment system in my 2017 Civic EX-T just stopped working a week ago today, right around 5500 miles. Right away I call the dealership and made an appointment, and the soonest they could fit me in was a week and a half away. I did some Googling and forum digging and found the number for Honda tech services. Couldn't get it rebooted or ANYTHING with two different people on the phone, both of which said "forget about the service appointment, just drive straight to the dealer and they'll take care of you." So I did, and they are taking care of it, and they've had my sweet baby for 24 hours at this point. They said they should have it fixed today, but WTF? Of course, right after I filled out all the buyer satisfaction surveys and email review requests. And at least they gave me a loaner while they fix it (a 2017 Civic LX, bright blue, base features only.)

PART TWO: 4/19
So I just got my Civic back from the dealer... but they weren't able to fix it and they're not sure what the problem is. They've sent in a request for a whole new unit... but they have no idea how long that's going to take. The service manager said he'd let me know. Which, fine, I understand. I'm happy to have my car back for the time being, even if there's no radio, no back up camera, no lane change camera, no navigation, can't identify how high or low we're setting the heater/air conditioning, and a terribly inaccurate clock.

PART THREE: 4/24
So I called for an update this morning, to see if they had an ETA for the new infotainment system or any kind of update. Nothing. The service manager says he's still waiting for authorization for a replacement of the system and hasn't heard back. He says that they have to go through "engineering" to document the problem in order to prevent it happening in other vehicles going forward, really wishes he had better news for me, etc.

It's frustrating because I work for a municipality and I carpool to meetings with co-workers and superiors, and I hear jokes like "well, guess you got a lemon!" and "so much for Honda reliability," and "it's always the fancy bells and whistles that break first!" I got the vehicle at the end of February, and I reported this problem to the service department at the dealership where I got the car on April 12th when it stopped working and I'm STILL driving around with no radio or music of any kind, no way to tell what I'm setting my environment at, no clock, no navigation, no CarPlay.

I dunno, just looking for some advice or perspective on this.

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[360glitch]

I'm new to Hondas myself but if I had a similar issue with my previous DD I would have first contacted the manager of the dealership. If I was not satisfied after that, I would have contacted Subaru of America (corporate). SoA would bend over backwards for you and often send really nice gifts (Bose, Dyson, ect) to apologize for your trouble. I'm sure Honda has a similar corporate customer service team you can contact if needed. I wouldn't expect the free gifts but I'm sure they could be helpful one way or another.

 

[MrFahrenheitMF]

I'm new to Hondas myself but if I had a similar issue with my previous DD I would have first contacted the manager of the dealership. If I was not satisfied after that, I would have contacted Subaru of America (corporate). SoA would bend over backwards for you and often send really nice gifts (Bose, Dyson, ect) to apologize for your trouble. I'm sure Honda has a similar corporate customer service team you can contact if needed. I wouldn't expect the free gifts but I'm sure they could be helpful one way or another.

Yeah, I'm getting to the point where I feel I need to talk to manager, who is also the son of the owner of the dealership, and also Honda in general. Thanks.

 

[MrFahrenheitMF]

On 360glitch's advice I called Honda's customer service line. The guy I spoke with said he would forward my information upwards and have a case manager contact me ASAP. Hopefully I didn't just make an enemy of the service manager at my dealership. Will update.

 

[Flipdawg13]

Just curious if you tried to see if the voice commands work? At least this way you can set your temps via voice? Good luck!

 

[MrFahrenheitMF]

Just curious if you tried to see if the voice commands work? At least this way you can set your temps via voice? Good luck!

Nope, nothing works. Thanks, though.

 

[MrFahrenheitMF]

Got a call from Honda case manager this morning. He said they've got some kind of personnel change for their regional warranty and parts manager and the new guy is struggling to catch up. So the case manager went ahead and approved the parts and warranty service request and the service manager is ordering the parts today. Case manager said it should take "a couple of days" for the parts to arrive and then the service manager will call me to make arrangements to bring my vehicle in. Then they should be able to do the work in a couple of days. So, again, I wait, continue to drive my defective brand new vehicle. The case manager did apologize, so I guess that's good.

I guess what's frustrating about this is the fact that I feel like if I hadn't called Honda customer service on Monday I'd still be waiting for this new guy in the regional warranty and parts office to get his shit together and to get around to looking at the parts and warranty request from my dealership. Like, nothing would have happened unless I go above and beyond myself, not the other way around where the service department gets this handled at all costs. Maybe I'm expecting too much. We'll see. I suspect "a couple of days" means "next week." I'll update.

 

[MrFahrenheitMF]

So, here's the latest:

I waited until the Friday after the Monday I called and spoke with Honda customer service to see if I'd be contacted by the service manager. Despite the Honda case manager saying he had pushed the authorization for the parts and service through, and that the service manager was ordering the parts as we speak, I never heard anything. so I called Friday to speak with the service manager to get an update. First, I was spoke to very rudely by a CSR who insisted I needed to leave a voicemail for the service manager because she could find him to get him on the phone. I told her I'm not happy with this response and I'm on my way to the dealership to speak with the dealership manager. Got to the dealership and spoke with the assistant manager. He listened and said okay, let me go talk to the service manager and see what's going on. Meanwhile, I see the service manager creeping around in the background, who has clearly seen me talking to the assistant manager.

Anyway, a few minutes later, the assistant manager returns and says he spoke with the service manager and that he'd like to talk to me in the service garage. So, I go find him. He's full of apologies for "the lack of communication" and that he has ordered the parts and that they will be here on the following Monday, and to bring my Civic in on Monday morning and they'll set me up with a loaner and get this fixed for me ASAP.

Monday morning, I take my Civic in, and I'm given a loaner Civic. 2015 Civic EX. The guy who checks me out on the loaner reminds me not to smoke in the loaner, and no pets allowed in the loaner. Fine. I don't smoke, my cats are house cats. I drive away, headed to work, and I quickly realize this loaner REEKS of cigarette smoke and the interior is INFESTED with white dog hair, front and back seats, and the entire thing is disgustingly dirty. I took pics, just in case. Right away I call the service dept to say that while I'm very appreciative they've provided me a loaner, the one they've given me is FILTHY and I don't want to be responsible for the condition of the loaner when I return it. All I get from the service tech I spoke with is "Oh, sorry, sometimes we don't check the loaner when we get it back from the customer. Sorry about that." That's it, no offer to replace it or even clean it. I leave a message for the service manager to call me back about this, but of course he never does.

I don't hear anything about the progress of my repairs on Monday, even though the service manager said he'd give me daily updates. Whatever. I figure I'll give him until 6:30pm on Tuesday to call me back. He finally calls me around 5pm to give me the bad news: the parts are still not delivered. So I've driven this filthy loaner for two days for no reason. He says he'll call me on Wednesday when he finds out when the parts will actually arrive. He calls back and says Thursday for sure, bring my Civic back (this is the third time they've had my car) on Thursday, he'll give me another loaner, and they'll make the repairs ASAP. So, they've got my Civic, they actually gave me a decent late model Accord as a loaner, not smelly, pretty clean. We'll see what happens now.

Also, the Honda case manager called yesterday to ask me how things were going, so I gave him an earful. He said once the repairs are complete and to my satisfaction, we'll talk about compensation from Honda to "make this right." Not sure what he means by this, but I'm open to hearing what they'll offer.

Will update.

 

[Shankmeyster]

I don't think I would ever take your car back to that dealer after this if you can avoid it.

 

[Civics4Ever]

Have you tried disconnecting the positive battery cable to reset the system?

 

[MrFahrenheitMF]

I don't think I would ever take your car back to that dealer after this if you can avoid it.

I mostly likely won't. The Honda case manager said I can take my Civic to any Honda dealership for service.

 

[airgas1998]

if i had this experience with a Honda product, I'd never buy anything with the H logo ever....

 

[MrFahrenheitMF]

if i had this experience with a Honda product, I'd never buy anything with the H logo ever....

I can understand that. But I don't blame Honda, I blame the service department, the manager and assistant manager. I still love my Civic, and over the course of this ordeal I've driven both a 2015 Civic LX and now a mid-level Accord, plus my wife drives a 2011 CR-V. Despite the Civic loaner being filthy, they are quality vehicles. Even my 84 Civic Si was a beaut. The issue with my infotainment unit should have been a quick easy warranty replace, but this service dept couldn't find its own ass with both hands.

 

[Shankmeyster]

With most other brands they would have just pulled a head unit from another car, if there was this kind of wait time/backorder, in order to make you happy and then waited on the part for that car. I don't understand why they are making you wait.

 

[Swordfish]

Is there another dealer you can go to instead? After this experience I'd be very lerry about any work being done. If they screw up some.in the process then you'd have to go back to them again. I had a similar situation with my Toyota awhile back and afterwards I just never went to that dealer again. It eventually becomes one of those "fix a thing break a thing" when they are that incompetent. Fortunately the Honda dealership here is decent.

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