Last weekend, my Fiance took her car to the Honda dealership for an oil change and routine service. She pays something like $19.99 for the oil change, and, of course, they look for other things that they can recommend fixing and charge money for. Well, they tell her that her battery is very low and they highly recommend changing it. They also tell her that she has a power steering fluid leak, which should be changed immediately.
I'm skeptical of the service centers at dealerships. Here's why. One day, with my last car, my air conditioning went out. Being in the middle of August in Southern California, this was not acceptable. I took the car to the nearest dealership and asked them to check it out. The guy tells me that the whole A/C unit is busted and I'll need to chage it for something like $1,400! Ouch! "Well, don't do anything," I told them. I picked up the car, and took it to a shop owned by a guy my dad knows. I told him my story at the dealership, and without even looking at it, he says, "Well, I can give it a shot of freon. It'll be thirty five bucks. I don't know if it will work, but it's worth a shot." I tell him to go for it. Thirty five bucks of freon later, the A/C worked just fine. It continued to work just fine four years later when I finally sold it.
So, back to my Fiancee's story. My Dad knows a guy who owns a shop and specializes in Hondas, as he used to work at a Honda service center. We take it over to him, and he tells us that the power steering fluid leak is a hose leak. He tell us that both the battery and hose should be under warranty, as the car is only a 2004. My Fiancee calls the Honda folks, and find out that the battery warranty is good for 24 months, and the hose is covered for the lesser of 36 months or 36,000 miles. Well, she bought the car in late December of 2003 (27 months ago) and has 37,000 miles.
We didn't get an estimate on the hose, but my Dad's guy said that it could be pretty high. The battery was about ninety bucks. Luckily my Dad's guy still knows the people at the local Honda service center. He tells us whom to ask for, and sends us over there. After talking to the recommended guys, they tell us that they could change the hose under warranty, but she would have to pay for the battery. Better than nothing.
The disappointing part is that she takes the car to Honda certified service centers for everything, and nothing was said until JUST after the warranty expired. We got the more expensive part taken care of, but may not next time.
So, the lesson is to always be aware of what your warranties cover and for how long. This goes for cars, electronics, appliances, and anything else with full or partial warranties. Take it to a service center just before the expiration, and ask them to specifically check that out. If they tell you that it's fine, get it in writing. If it suddenly needs changing just after the warranty expires, take that documentation to a supervisor or directly to corporate. In most you'll get that specific item repaired or replaced under warranty. If not, blog about it, so we can all slam the company to everyone we know!
In the end, Honda gets a B-. At least they covered the more expensive item.
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