Car Recalls Can Drive You Crazy

I just found out that my 2007 Honda CR-V has been recalled for a transmission software repair. How did I learn about it? I certainly wasn’t contacted by Honda, as is required by law.

I happened to see it in some research I was doing on my husband’s car. In fact, the recall took place at the beginning of August. Since I haven’t had any problems with my CR-V, I am wary about this fix for a problem I haven’t experienced. I will have a talk with my mechanic, the one who does not work for Honda.

I also saw an article which stated, “Honda said it would voluntarily recall 80,111 CR-V vehicles from the 2006 model year.” Please note the salient phrase “voluntarily recall.” In fact, no such thing exists.

My husband owns a 2006 Civic, primarily for the mileage as he drives 500 miles a week to work. A couple years ago, his car suddenly overheated on the freeway, spilling out the antifreeze. His engine block had cracked. The only repair was to buy a new engine. His mileage was over the warranty limit.

I read about a program that all car companies have where, if there is a serious repair that is needed, the car companies will extend “goodwill” to their customer and offer some financial help. How much? That is up to the company.

Turns out, Honda was not feeling much goodwill and refused to pay a single penny. A bit of research turned up three technical bulletins from Honda about the engine block in 2006 Civics. Again, these bulletins are required to be sent to customers but Honda refused to do that. The bulletins clearly stated that the engine blocks were manufactured with a defect and were likely to crack. They even had a diagram pointing to exactly where our engine block had cracked.

So we went to small claims court. Please, people, only do this when absolutely necessary. It is torture. We tried mediation while waiting for our case to be called. Honda of America generously offered us a free tune-up. We needed a new $4,000 engine.

We presented in front of a pro tem commissioner. That means a lawyer substitute judge. I gave him copies of the consumer laws. He stated he wasn’t familiar with the law but refused to read them. In the end, because we did not use a Honda dealership to replace our engine, this moron split the difference. Honda paid us $2,000 and we were out $2,000.

Many months later, I was notified by a third party that I should have received a notice from Honda about a change in policy. Of course, I hadn’t received anything. The warranties were extended for all 2006 Civic owners for another eight years. We called Honda and they immediately paid us the other $2,000.

But there was no recall and I found dozens of complaints about this engine thing. The truth is there is no such thing as a voluntary recall. A 1966 law requires car manufacturers to issue a recall within five days of learning about a safety defect. Broken engine qualifies. The recall is as voluntary as paying your taxes.

So last week when my husband’s Civic, with a relatively new engine, spilled antifreeze onto the garage floor due to yet another cracked engine block, we were stunned. Honda immediately replaced the engine at no cost to us.

Still no recall has been issued.

What gives? My advice: Go online and look up your car for recalls and technical service bulletins. And if you are surprised by what you find, get involved. Don’t stop until you get satisfaction.