jimmyf

I live in Canada and I was travelling to the US this past Christmas. I had a problem with steering and so stopped and checked into a hotel. My baby boy was sick and getting worse. I called Honda Roadside Asisstance. They sent a Tow truck and I handed the driver my key. My car was towed to a dealership. Apparently the tow truck driver left the hand brake on and towed most of the way wiping out the rear brakes, drum, bearings etc. He must have realized his mistake before getting there and cleverly released the handbrake before rolling into the dealership. The Tech at the dealership found the drums very hot and so opened and found the parts ruined. I have since repaired at a dealership in Canada but Honda refuses to take responsibility for the tow company they dispatched. They say I have to take the matter up with the Towers, who of course are denying they left the handbrake on. I am left in the lurch by Honda Canada. Never buy Honda! They do not honor their warranty and will try to blame the problem on a third party.
Quoting Dave MacDonald (Supervisor, Customer service Honda Canada) "Honda does not take resposibility for the quality of service provided by towers we dispatch as part of the HONDA Roadside Assisstance."
How do I know they will not do the same on any future in-warranty claim and wriggle out of it? I am not happy with my civic and would like to return it for a refund! Isn't there some law protecting people from this sort of crookery? Or are companies in Canada allowed to trample on peoples rights?
If anybody has any advise on my next step please help!
Thanks in advance.

gearbox

iTrader: (95)

warranties are not that great and they will find any way to get out of fixing it. handacare is the worst ever. if you have any mod on the car, they will deny you. even if its stock, they make up excuses like you abused the car.

greeen01civic4d

iTrader: (7)

Honda is not responsable here, the towing company is, i work for ford, and unless the damage happens at the dealer, it is not their responsability, no joke, honda has one of the best warranties out there, just cant take any **** from them

BustedSony

Well, first of all the damage WAS caused by a "third party."

GET IT IN WRITING!! .. NOW!!! It sucks but you will have to file a civil claim in the court that has jurisdiction over the towing company. Get a legal affadavit (it can be by a Canadian lawyer) with the mechanic that saw the overheated ruined brakes stating what he saw. Get any other witnesses to the circumstances, such as the Canadian Honda mechanic, and a quote or repair bill for the brakes and the letter from Dave MacDonald in which he IS after all saying that the damage was caused by the tower. You can represent yourself in court. The odds are good you will recover the repair and court costs.

The towing company's insurance should cover the damage, if not then they are not properly licensed. Before seeing the lawyer let the towing company know that you're going to take this action and include the American mechanic's letter about the damage. That may solve the whole thing.

One possible alternative is to use your own insurance, it IS a damage claim, but of course there's the deductible and possible rise in rates.

cjcruz

I hear you bro. My 02 LX had a piston ring meltdown in the summer time, though it was metiulously maintaned (did oil changes every 5k rather than 8k). Went to hond to get it fixed and they immidiately blamed the other companies that were putting oil in my car (walmart and costco) and said that they must have been doing it wrong. They actually even hinted that they only see these causes with mistreated engines that are in cars that are raced...(worst move the dealer did)..So I call Honda Canada and told them that my warranty is being rejected since i was being stereotyped as being a roadracer..all i had was eibach sportlines and a system..After that call, it didnt take long for them to get their act together..Got the engine rebuilt and saved myself from $5000 worth of headache that they quoted me.. Found out that the car was made in North America...sheesh..Japanese parts but stll the crap worksmanship of North American standards...Id only consider getting a honda if it was manufactured completely from Japan..

BustedSony

That is completely different from the case of the bad tow. Honda dealers do tend to give a hard time when you want them to pay money to fix something, but as you said Honda came through. The tow on the other hand was not even a third party, it was hired by the customer, with pay back from HondaCare, which itself is an insurance agency only loosely associated with Honda. Of COURSE they are not going to take responsibility for someone with whom they have no connection! Having said that, Honda Head Office MAY cover the brake job as goodwill, but the OP should not spread around his problems in a public forum until he has given a good go at getting things put right. I've driven Hondas for 21 years and have always found their warranty services to be first-class - once you get past the self-absorbed jerks who work at many dealers.

So what ABOUT the steering problem, has that repair been rejected also?

jimmyf

Well, first of all I did not hire the tow. All I did was call Honda Roadside assistance and they decided to tow and they called the tow company they deal with.
I fail to understand why they would not honor the warranty that is part of the deal when you buy a new car!
They haven't found the cause of the steering problem yet. Seems it is an intermittent problem. Next time it happens, I hope it stays till I can show them the problem.
Thanks guys for your input. I am going to take my case into small claims court.

DeX

I don't think Honda should be responsible either. It's the towing company's fault.