Rep Power: 0

Hi:
Newbie here. I have been a long-time Honda owner since I had a 1993 Civic (which I loved).
I am in Canada.
I just purchased a 2009 LX-S, used, from an Acura dealer in my town (August 2011). Appx 38K, nice looking, clean and drove okay up until last week.
Last Thursday (now have about 48k on the car) I started hearing a clunking sound in the rear. It sounded like, perhaps, the shocks were bad or something, but I did notice that the noise only happened when I was turning and went away when I applied the brakes.
I drove home, mostly on expressways and, when I was about 2km from home, I heard a big clunking noise in the rear and... I was without brakes... completely. As there was very little traffic, I inched myself home, got out of the car and noticed a pool of brake fluid around the right rear tire.
I had the car towed to where I bought it and they inspected it and told me that the 2 bolts on the Caliper Assy were nowhere to be seen (came off, not broken or sheared off), the caliper assembly, pads and rotor were damaged and that would be $500 to repair.
Since buying the car I had the car in a shop only once, for 30 minutes (I waited) to have my all-season tires removed and my winter tires (already on rims and balanced) installed.
Now the Acura Dealer is accusing the Tire Shop of leaving the bolts on the caliper assembly un-torqued. (They never had time to look at the brakes... I waited only 30 minutes... and they are a reputable establishment with many locations around Ontario).
Acura Dealer asked me why I went back to them. He is of the opinion that if the bolts were not torqued properly the issue would have appeared much sooner. (He blames the Tire Shop). After speaking to a number of mechanics and engineers over the weekend, I have to disagree... I believe bolts could take some time to come loose.
Car had a "B" servicing in Jun/2011 (at 34454Km). They would have removed the pads, front and back, to clean and service them. My opinion... they did not torque them properly at that time.
Acura dealer maintains that they did not see anything unusual in Aug/2011 when they did a safety check on the car for my purchase.
Honda Canada is siding with the Acura dealer.
I also know that there was a "Brake Repair" on this car at 9763km and the front pads were changed at 12478km. Is this another Honda lemon with regards to brakes? I have not had any grinding or squealing issues to this point.

Anyone have any comments, suggestions, advice going forward?
Thanks very much.
regards,
Kevin.

 
Rep Power: 234

Ouch, $500! At dealer prices that's about right for replacing the caliper, rotor, pads, and fluid. The parts alone at the dealer are about $300 plus $150-200 labor.

The dealer is practicing CYA (cover your ***) and making a nice profit in the meantime. You probably won't win this one unless you take it to court. You need to remind them, AND be able to prove, they were the last ones to touch the brakes (why would the tire shop touch the brakes?).

See if you can find an independent Honda/Acura mechanic in the area to do the work (it'll still be expensive). In my experience they are much better and trustworthy.

 
Rep Power: 188

Go to Honda Owner link site, sign up for free and see if the dealer updated the last brake job on the car. If they are then print out the Maintanance sheet and take it to them to prove they are the last ones to touch the brakes. Not going to say it will work but might help.