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Sorry for the long post. I am new here.

I have a '01 EL. The car is not yet 3 years old and has 69 000 km. The front suspension has developed a squeaking noise and I brought the car to the dealership for an inspection. I paid $48 and the dealership found that the front struts on the car have developed a leak and require replacement. The quote from the dealership to have this done was approximately $750. This was over a month ago.

Since the car is just out of the warranty period (Acura’s comprehensive warranty is 3 years or 60 000 km), the dealer told me that they would present my case to the Honda district service manager (DSM) to see if he was willing to waive the cost of the struts. I waited 2 weeks for the DSM because he only comes to the dealer every 2 weeks.

Since then I have received good news and bad news. The good news is that the DSM is going to cover the replacement of the struts under warranty. The bad news is that the struts are on back order and will not be available until at least mid-June.

I am peeved because I am still driving around with bad struts. I have already driven around with defective parts on my car for at least one month. Due to the unavailability of the replacement struts, I still don’t know when my car will be fixed. This is simply unacceptable. How can Acura/Honda not have two struts in stock?

A call to Acura customer service was no help. The representative told me that there was nothing that can be done. I am a hostage and am basically at the mercy of Honda Canada. In Honda’s point of view, there is no urgency in getting my car fixed because I can still drive my car. This is ridiculous; does this mean that I can drive my car without air in my tires just because I can even though it’s bad for my car? It’s broken if it is broken. Is Acura going to pay to resurface my front brake rotors if they start to warp due to the bad struts?

The service representative then so kindly reminded me that my car is out of warranty and my struts will be replaced as a goodwill gesture. My car is barely out of the warranty and the struts failed. Does this mean Acura designs parts that function just past the warranty period? There is probably a design flaw that Acura is not admitting to. Acura saves a few hundred dollars per car by going to the McPherson struts and the consumers are now bearing the cost.

I asked the representative if this is the level of surface that I can expect from Acura. I was told that he had worked with other manufacturers and that this level of service is no different from anybody else. I bought an Acura because I expected more. I then asked him why I should remain loyal to Acura. He told me that I am free to buy whatever vehicle I choose. Is this how Acura fosters customer loyalty to the brand?

With this kind of customer service, I don’t think Acura deserves my business. From my experience in the last month and from what I heard from the customer service representative, I don’t think Acura wants my business anyway.

 
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another person that joins a HONDA site and complains about HONDAS........maybe this is why I am your only response so far

 
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Fishfiend: Im sorry to hear about all of the bullshit you are going through. I cant relate to you in terms of my Honda but when I had my VW Jetta I went through a similar case with a part that was defective on so many other cars as well and they would not recall it.
It was just out of warranty as well and they wouldnt take care of it. I am very dissapointed in the quality of VW and I dont think I will ever buy another one again.
Its good that Honda is gonna pay for your struts but its unfortanate that their service and willingness to make you a happy customer is failing.
I think you are making a valid point in your post and that anytime you can put things into writing you will get a better result.
I think if you were to send this as a letter to Honda Canada you might see a better result in the way they handle your case.

 
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this is nothing new. 7th gen has weak front struts and this topic been discussed many times. but i do feel your pain. hey put it this way, u are getting new struts. i wont get new one unless i take off my lowering springs and slap back the stock springs onto the car

good luck with the new replacement.

 
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im thinking of picking up my buddies corolla for 1300 bucks with only 130,000kms.

its a 91 5spd and good enough for me, and i want to sell my vic so i can save money and buy something better... maybe a EG hatch with a swap....

 
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I think the '03 struts are a re-design. So your replacements will be alright...Mine are '03 on an '01 Vic and even though I lowered it and drive it hard they hold up well!

 
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the reason they don't have the struts is that they only produce a small amount of them past the number required to build cars. It seems from your post and the countless others that the struts basically suck. So they are replacing them in record numbers, especially for a company like Honda. This is further compounded by the fact that they re-designed the struts and are so wierd, no one has a replacement that is a bolt in.

I think you should be grateful Honda is going outside its call and replacing them outside warranty. They don't have to. And all in all, Hondas do require much less as far as some cars do. But it is a car, and parts do fail. Perhaps the struts were designed, manufactured, or something else wrong. Even though Honda may not even manufacture the struts, they still bear the final damage to thier reputation. And understand they are downplaying this because they cannot replace every strut on every Civic, so they have to play it down and deal with it on a case by case basis.

If the KYB's, Tokico's or some other full replacement strut were out today, I would buy them and be done with this whole strut nonsense. And most of us would not even know how seriously the stock units suck.