Honda CR-V Fires Continue To Haunt Honda in 2006

[grbeck]

Well don't cry us a river when your Honda does the same thing. It's just a matter of time... You don't know when either!

 

I said it before... I don't feel sorry at all for these people who continue to be uninformed (I'm not singling you out sir) but the vast majority of these foreign car buyers simply don't know better or the hidden defects that they hide from them.

And I'll challenge any Honda lover to a demolition derby anytime. I have a fleet of old RWD Fords, Lincolns, and Mercurys... :happy feet: At least my repair bills will be minimal!

 

 

I agree - if I were competing in demolition derby, I would seek out an old American boat.

 

Unfortunately, 99.9 percent of American drivers do not compete in demolition derbies, so that example is irrelevant.

 

And a sturdy frame and simple mechanics are not synonomous with reliability, and their absence in a vehicle does not mean it will be unreliable. Their presence does mean that the vehicle will be easy to repair, especially for the do-it-yourself crowd.

 

But most people do not work on their own vehicles anymore, and have no desire to do so. That's just a sad fact of life.

[grbeck]

First to reply to your statement about "uninformed": The typical average American consumer out there is told by MASS MEDIA (news on TV, magazines, newspaper articles) on which vehicle(s) is best for them. But what isn't told also ties in to my argument about demolition derbys... First and foremost: My odds of surviving a crash are a lot better than your foreign trinket of yours. #2. The parts you can get for the older vehicles are still reasonable if they are in decent shape. I've seen some estimates and read them on foreign cars. Trust me when you get behind that foreign car of yours. You better think of how much it costs to insure it, as well as body work done on them! By the way, How many of them are stolen in a year? That will also drive your premiums up depending on what area you live in of course. A bent bumper on an old car is nothing, but a cracked one on your foreign car will result in hundreds of dollars don't you think?

 

How about getting parts for foreign vehicles... NON-EXISTANT and if they are; You are paying top dollar! Especially on the older foreign cars in a corrosion state like Michigan!

 

I only have a High School diploma, but I see a lot of college educated types that sure aren't in line with whatever unintended consequences are in driving these foreign cars! They may look stylish, hip, and trendy but the reality is cost... Sure they may be cheap, but like I said... It's the examples I listed that will have "The typical average American consumer" with egg on their face every time!

 

Buyers take their cues from the mass media? For the past decade the mass media has harped on the growing popularity of SUVs, and basically branded them as the Spawn of Satan.

 

Buyers have responded by purchasing an increasing number of light trucks. This trend was only halted by last year's run-up in gas prices. Doesn't sound as though the media is leading buyers by the nose.

 

Most people buy based on: prior experience, an exciting new product (original Mustang, current Chrysler 300), or the experiences of their friends and neighbors (word of mouth).

 

As for the safety of older American boats versus newer foreign cars - I owned a 1972 Oldsmobile Cutlass Supreme Holiday coupe as a "fun" car until 2000. It was a great car, but I'll take my chances in a new Honda (or Ford Focus) when it comes to accidents. Sheer mass cannot compensate for crush zones, airbags, energy-absorbing interior components and dramatically improved safety belts (which tighten at the moment of impact).

 

Sorry, but you will NOT have a better chance of surviving an accident in an old American boat than in a new Honda. (Remember, most demolition derby crashes are at relatively low speeds.) Highway fatality rates are at record LOWS, despite:

 

1. more vehicles on the road than ever;

2. a higher percentage of those vehicles being made by foreign manufacturers, especially Toyota, Honda and Nissan;

3. all of those vehicles being driven an increasing number of miles;

4. more of those miles being driven at higher average speeds on many limited access highways (no nationwide 55- or 65-mph speed limit).

 

As for the bent bumper on the foreign car - domestics use the same type of bumpers and construction, so I'm not seeing the advantage here. Unless you are comparing older American cars to newer foreign cars. But that is irrelevant for 99.9 percent of new-car buyers. They are not comparing a 2006 Honda Accord to a 1973 Ford LTD Brougham. They are comparing the Accord to the 2006 Ford Fusion.

 

Most people don't want old cars, unless they are in the old-car hobby. And even then, that is just for a weekend "fun" car.

[IMBoring25]

There's a certain amount of responsibility for a manufacturing company to produce a product that not only performs correctly when procedure is performed correctly, but also has consequences of fairly similar magnitude to competitive products if procedure is performed incorrectly.

 

After years of practice, shops are fairly comfortable with the idea that a double-gasket means an irate customer on the side of the road, possibly with a locked-up engine. And the amount of care they take to avoid it reflects that. Let's face it, it's a crummy and expensive deal, but it's no Honda flambe...

 

While you are correct that, when procedure is followed, nothing bad happens, Honda has succeeded in producing a vehicle for which the criticality of correctly doing the job is substantially higher. Which is, at best, irresponsible.

[range]

a bad oil change on your Honda at Jiffy Lube shouldn't result in this

[bec5150]

I would reply to Range in an intelligent way hoping he would be able to deal with it, but I would have better luck trying to teach my cat how to run a circular saw.

 

But I gotta tell ya, I have taken to playing the "Range" drinking game. Everytime he posts a negative thing about Honda/Acura, I have a beer. Everytime I see the burning pic of a CR-V, I do a shot.

 

Please don't post the wrecked MDX anymore. That's a shot of Tequila.

Edited April 9, 2006 by bec5150

[range]

People deal with denial in a lot of different ways.

 

There are organizations available to you to help with yours, 12 easy steps. :beerchug:

 

Good luck. Hopefully you will learn to separate your self-esteem from the news of sales declines at Acura or endless quality problems with Ridgelines or continued fires with imported CR-Vs.

 

 

:lol:

[bec5150]

There's a certain amount of responsibility for a manufacturing company to produce a product that not only performs correctly when procedure is performed correctly, but also has consequences of fairly similar magnitude to competitive products if procedure is performed incorrectly.

 

After years of practice, shops are fairly comfortable with the idea that a double-gasket means an irate customer on the side of the road, possibly with a locked-up engine. And the amount of care they take to avoid it reflects that. Let's face it, it's a crummy and expensive deal, but it's no Honda flambe...

 

While you are correct that, when procedure is followed, nothing bad happens, Honda has succeeded in producing a vehicle for which the criticality of correctly doing the job is substantially higher. Which is, at best, irresponsible.

In theory I agree and also do agree that it is a bad location for the oil filter. Yes, in a perfect world the oil filter would be, as I suggested, in the "1993 Chrysler 2.5 four cyl" location. However, independent of manufacturer, you simply cannot hold a manufacturer responsible for the incompitence of a tech. Once you start doing that, the lawyers will be busy all the time. Furthermore, Honda acknowledged the issue and did everything short of a recall, reason being there is nothing to recall except incompitent techncians.

 

Let's say that a tech doesn't put the drain plug in correctly and the oil gets on the exhaust resulting in a fire, who's fault is that? If Jiffy Lube rotates your tires and doesn't tighten the wheel lugs correctly because of a unique wheel design and the result is a wheel coming off the car, who's at fault?

 

There have been fires reported in regards to the Taurus with a Vulcan V-6, which puts the oil filter within two inches of the exhaust manifold. It's the same exact result if the oil filter install is not done properly. The Chevy S-10 of the late 80's/early 90's put the fuel filter directly below the exhaust manifold. Imagine the fire when this isn't done right. Fire is the number one complaint on the nhsta web site and, in 99% of the cases, it's improper service causing the fire. In other words, the CR-V is not a unique case, just a sensationalized one on this site.