****ed - Need Advice - Engine Misfire on '03 Honda Accord

I admittedly know next to nothing about cars. Honda emails me I need
the 45K service. I made an appointment & took it into my local Honda
dealer for the service. When I made the appointment I said, "My check
engine light is on also. Can you check that?" Yes, not a problem.

When I came in on the day of my appointment I said again that I need
the 45K service & my check engine light is on. I asked if it was on
because it needed this service. The tech. said no. She said it
usually comes on because of a problem with the emissions system.

An hour goes by & the tech. comes to me in the waiting area and says
that the Check Engine light is on because the engine is misfiring. She
said that they needed to flush the pistons? Perhaps I didn't hear her
correctly, but I swear that is what I heard her say. She says it will
be about $100. OH & they reccomend that I have the power steering
fluid replaced. Perhaps because of my ignorance I am remembering what
she said incorrectly. One thing that I clearly remember was that there
were two extra services they were performing and that each service was
about $100 & that one of those services was supposed to take care of
the engine misfire problem. Great. $500+ on my car. Just what I was
looking forward to. We just spent $500 for a brake job that I'm almost
positive could have been avoided. That's a vent for another thread.

So I have spent $1000 on this hunk of junk this summer while still
making monthly payments. I understand Hondas are great cars and
whatnot, but you can't prove it to me right now. It might drive nicely
and be a nice car, but I've never spent this much money on a car while
still making payments.

Anyway, the VERY next day I start the car up. My 2nd trip of the day &
the Check Engine light is on again!!! Talk about ****ed off!! I am
livid. I called the dealership and the person is at lunch that I need
to talk to. I leave a message. The person calls me back about an hour
later & I didn't hear the phone ring. 45 mins after that I call back
and make an appointment to bring my car in the next day.

So I bring it in for service and the people are telling me that the
service that was performed would most likely not take care of a engine
misfire problem, but that it might. What the **** is that all about?
My receipt says, "Air Intake Service (Throttle Plate) BG2902 BG2902 Air
Intake Service (Throttle Plate) BG2902 57 CPK 1 2902 Plenum Service
Kit Total price for this is $99.86. They said that the check engine
light could be on for any number of reasons and that a misfire code
could be any different number of things, but that service would most
likely not take care of it. WTF???

I'm so ****ed. I have just moved from MA to NC. I purchased my car in
MA and the dealership I have dealt with up there has always been very
nice & pleasant and knowledgable. I am so mad that I was told the
service that was performed would take care of my problem & it didn't.
To go back there and for them to tell me that service most likely would
not fix the problem is infuriating. I want to know why the hell the
service was done & charged to me if it wasn't going to take care of the
problem.

So after an hour at the dealership today they said they need more time
to run further tests to figure out what's wrong.

I asked if they had a shuttle car that could take us home. NO. I
asked if they had a loaner car I could take. No again.

Oh I'm so ****ed off. We took my car home and got my husband's car &
returned to the dealership to drop my car back off.

I don't know what to do. I feel like I'm dealing with incompetents and
getting ****ed in the process.

Is this normal? Is my frustration and feelings uncalled for?

Thanks for reading. I would appreciate any input you might have.

KellyCrash wrote:
> I admittedly know next to nothing about cars. Honda emails me I need
> the 45K service. I made an appointment & took it into my local Honda
> dealer for the service. When I made the appointment I said, "My check
> engine light is on also. Can you check that?" Yes, not a problem.
>
> When I came in on the day of my appointment I said again that I need
> the 45K service & my check engine light is on. I asked if it was on
> because it needed this service. The tech. said no. She said it
> usually comes on because of a problem with the emissions system.
>
> An hour goes by & the tech. comes to me in the waiting area and says
> that the Check Engine light is on because the engine is misfiring. She
> said that they needed to flush the pistons? Perhaps I didn't hear her
> correctly, but I swear that is what I heard her say. She says it will
> be about $100. OH & they reccomend that I have the power steering
> fluid replaced. Perhaps because of my ignorance I am remembering what
> she said incorrectly. One thing that I clearly remember was that there
> were two extra services they were performing and that each service was
> about $100 & that one of those services was supposed to take care of
> the engine misfire problem. Great. $500+ on my car. Just what I was
> looking forward to. We just spent $500 for a brake job that I'm almost
> positive could have been avoided. That's a vent for another thread.
>
> So I have spent $1000 on this hunk of junk this summer while still
> making monthly payments. I understand Hondas are great cars and
> whatnot, but you can't prove it to me right now. It might drive nicely
> and be a nice car, but I've never spent this much money on a car while
> still making payments.
>
> Anyway, the VERY next day I start the car up. My 2nd trip of the day &
> the Check Engine light is on again!!! Talk about ****ed off!! I am
> livid. I called the dealership and the person is at lunch that I need
> to talk to. I leave a message. The person calls me back about an hour
> later & I didn't hear the phone ring. 45 mins after that I call back
> and make an appointment to bring my car in the next day.
>
> So I bring it in for service and the people are telling me that the
> service that was performed would most likely not take care of a engine
> misfire problem, but that it might. What the **** is that all about?
> My receipt says, "Air Intake Service (Throttle Plate) BG2902 BG2902 Air
> Intake Service (Throttle Plate) BG2902 57 CPK 1 2902 Plenum Service
> Kit Total price for this is $99.86. They said that the check engine
> light could be on for any number of reasons and that a misfire code
> could be any different number of things, but that service would most
> likely not take care of it. WTF???
>
> I'm so ****ed. I have just moved from MA to NC. I purchased my car in
> MA and the dealership I have dealt with up there has always been very
> nice & pleasant and knowledgable. I am so mad that I was told the
> service that was performed would take care of my problem & it didn't.
> To go back there and for them to tell me that service most likely would
> not fix the problem is infuriating. I want to know why the hell the
> service was done & charged to me if it wasn't going to take care of the
> problem.
>
> So after an hour at the dealership today they said they need more time
> to run further tests to figure out what's wrong.
>
> I asked if they had a shuttle car that could take us home. NO. I
> asked if they had a loaner car I could take. No again.
>
> Oh I'm so ****ed off. We took my car home and got my husband's car &
> returned to the dealership to drop my car back off.
>
> I don't know what to do. I feel like I'm dealing with incompetents and
> getting ****ed in the process.
>
> Is this normal? Is my frustration and feelings uncalled for?
>
> Thanks for reading. I would appreciate any input you might have.
>
ok, you are getting hosed, but getting ****ed won't work as a remedy
strategy. call honda usa's national customer service line, and calmly
explain the problems. write them out before hand if it'll help you be
able to do it more effectively.

here's the deal on the car:

1. the check engine light will give a code the dealer can read off the
engine computer. that should give them an exact diagnostic on the
problem. they should tell you the code - it'll be something like
"p0145". look that up in the odbcII code list on tegger.com to see what
it means.

2. a "flush" service is likely injector cleaner. you can do that
yourself for $5 or less.

3. $500 for a brake job at only 45k miles is a little steep. it's
technically possible it needed the service, but statistically unlikely.
discuss that with honda usa's customer service rep. have your
invoices handy.

4. there is no power steering fluid service interval specified by honda
- it's usually good for the life of the car. don't buy that one.

5. the plenum service is throttle body cleaner. again, it's possible at
your mileage, but unlikely. you could do that yourself, depending on
how handy you are.

6. your car is almost certainly still under warranty!!!

bottom line, call honda and calmly explain what happened, why you think
it unreasonable, and /ask/ what can be done about it. honey works much
better than vinegar. if you do this right, honda will call the dealer
for you and tell them to sort you out. again, honey works better than
vinegar. don't call when you're angry!!!

good luck. get back to us with any questions. and once you've sorted
this out, find yourself a different dealer or a good independent
mechanic to deal with this stuff from now on. your wallet is ultimately
your best weapon.

"KellyCrash" > wrote in
oups.com:

> I admittedly know next to nothing about cars.


<snip>



That much is clear. Which is no embarrassment, of course.

Call the service advisor (not "tech") and ask what the error code was in
both incidents. If she refuses to tell, insist that is your right to know
since you paid for the services.

Those alphanumeric codes are critical to ANY analysis.

And please keep your descriptions much shorter. My eyes glazed over reading
your magnum opus, and I never finished it.


--
TeGGeR®

The Unofficial Honda/Acura FAQ
www.tegger.com/hondafaq/

It sounds like you are being screwed around by a dealer who is simply
padding the bill with extra services that Honda doesn't call for while
at the same time failing to properly diagnose whatever is actually
setting the check engine light.

Run, don't walk, to someone who knows what they are doing and operates
an honest shop.

John

John Horner wrote:
> It sounds like you are being screwed around by a dealer who is simply
> padding the bill with extra services that Honda doesn't call for while
> at the same time failing to properly diagnose whatever is actually
> setting the check engine light.
>
> Run, don't walk, to someone who knows what they are doing and operates
> an honest shop.
>
> John

Can you tell us what city or area of the country where this dealer is
located - this guy is a crook - people like him can truly be called
stealers. Also let us know what Honda USA has to say about this crook.

Autopark Honda in Cary, NC



butch burton wrote:
> John Horner wrote:
> > It sounds like you are being screwed around by a dealer who is simply
> > padding the bill with extra services that Honda doesn't call for while
> > at the same time failing to properly diagnose whatever is actually
> > setting the check engine light.
> >
> > Run, don't walk, to someone who knows what they are doing and operates
> > an honest shop.
> >
> > John
>
> Can you tell us what city or area of the country where this dealer is
> located - this guy is a crook - people like him can truly be called
> stealers. Also let us know what Honda USA has to say about this crook.

I want to call the 800 # as suggested, but my car is still at the
dealership. They're supposedly doing tests to figure out why the
Engine light is coming on. I'm waiting for them to call me back & let
me know something.

Should I wait or should I call now? The service manager said he would
refund us the cost of the Air Intake Service & the Power Steering Fluid
exchange. I am going to hold him to it. When they call me to tell me
what's going on with my car & how much it's going to cost I will
research it before I say yes or no.

In my original message when I said service technician I should have
said service advisor. I just looked at my invoice again and saw I had
the person's title wrong.

I forgot to mention something that I suppose was pretty important. The
service manager offered to credit the cost of the two extra services
they performed back to our credit card. We agreed on the Air Intake
Service because we were specifically told that would take care of the
Misfire, but said if the Power Steering fluid needed to be flushed & we
agreed we were fine with it. Now that I'm hearing what you are saying
that Power Steering fluid is typcially good for the life of the car
then I am going to insist that be credited back as well.

I did call the 800#. They assigned me a case # & said someone would
look into it & contact the dealer in 2 days.

I do not think anything has been credited back yet. I assume they will
apply the $$ to the new bill whenever they figure out what's wrong with
my car.

That was some interesting reading and you have already received some good
advice. I'm afraid many service advisors try to act like they are master
technicians, when in fact their main job, in my opinion, is to bring in
the $$$$. You're aware you're still under Honda's emission warranty I
hope? I would read up on the coverage, some items 5 years - 50,000 miles.
Some items are longer I suspect. Changing the power steering fluid is not
needed at your low milage, but your auto transmission and coolant should
have already been changed. You must use only genuine Honda power steering
fluid, same goes for auto transmission fluid. Many people on this Forum say
to only use Honda coolant as well. Good luck

"KellyCrash" > wrote
> I do not think anything has been credited back yet.

A credit to one's credit card account typically will take a
few days following the merchant's completion of his/her end
of the paperwork, etc.

Your posts are going to help others. Hang in there.