I agree with others that when you are 44k over the warranty period, what is the problem with Honda not doing it for free. When we all bought the car we knew this was newer technology and should have weighed that in our decision. I bought an extended HondaCare warranty for 120k miles or 8 years with $0 deductible for $900.00. If something happens after that I fully expect to pay for it. As well, when I bought it I asked the cost of the battery replacement now, now when (and if) I have trouble as there is no way that they can know that.

Everything comes with some type of warranty and very few manufacturers are willing to pay for problems after that time. I doubt that Toyota will pay for a new engine or transmition after the warranty expires on them.

Just my 2 cents.

 

I don't think I'm confused I had the updates, and I only asked for assistance the ima battery retails for $3000.00, I can buy it for $2200 and the service people state it doesn't take long to install, I have the instructions on how to Install and would say it can be done in a short period of time if you have the experience, the battery probably costs $1500 to $1700 to the dealer , what do you think it costs the manufacturer? Let me clarify I don't feel Honda is customer friendly, buy what you like, but I feel strongly that customer relations is about working with the customer you don't have to lose money but don't kill them. I worked for Sony Electronics in Customer Service and Customer relations for Ten years, and in my humble opinion this is not the way to do business and retain customers.

 

before you moan about honda customer's service, let's look at your story. so you drove 144k which is WAY over the warranty period and you want Honda to assist you on the pricing of the battery? thank god honda give you the boot. i wish i can bring my flat screen t.v. 5 years after i spent a million hours watching and get a huge discount making it look like new. if i was in honda's shoe, i KNOW when to say no because it's stupid mooch customers like you that don't deserve their service.

 

Obviously you agree that you should have to pay 2 to 3 times what something is worth in material and labor, I guess I can't argue with that logic.

 

deboybtd, let's say it's YOUR company... and I come to you with the same story. Now you may offer a discount which I can't believe you can't find some other DEALER in the area to help you out here.

 

It is worth whatever the customers are willing to pay.

That being said...how do you really know what it "costs" them. Are you including the cost of R&D, future warranty, labor and personnel to process the work that needs to be done and the paperwork included? There are many things that go into the cost of anything and don't forget, they gave you at a minimum an 80k mile warranty (depending on where you are located) and you had the option to buy an extended one. Do you expect Toyota to cover your new car after the warranty, or how about your computer manufacturer? I think that you are asking an awful lot and if they are kind enough to help that is super but it is wrong of you to chastise them for not paying for your repair (in full or part) after the warranty has expired. Aside from you considering it good customer service, do you have any reason that this request is warranted?

Not trying to be a pain but I just don't understand where you are coming from.

 

$5000 battery replacements will be the death of hybrids, pure and simple. No one is going to buy a $20,000 car that has a known $5000 repair to make in 10 years. It's one thing if something fails and you have to fix it - it's the risk you take with any car. But it's just that - a risk. To know it for certain is a different matter. Press like this also trashes the resale ability on our Hondas, so I'm a little surprised at many of these posts. So what happens when one of us is trying to trade or sell our 8 year old HCH and you get a bunch of, "I read some where that it costs a gazillion dollars to replace the battery - no thank you." 100 bucks someone gets that story from a Honda dealership as they try to de-vaule an HCH trade in.

Point is it's one thing to say "what did you expect - deal with it" but realize the original poster represents all of us at some future point. I'm not saying that Honda owes anyone a free lunch on a pack with 144K on it, but realize that if Honda (Toyota, and others) don't find a way to make it an acceptable deal cost-wise to replace these packs we're all going to be hurting.

 

i agree people like you don't deserve honda's service. plain and simple. yes, obviously.

 

The death of the hybrid will not be because of a replacement battery cost. The death of the hybrid is already starting because of other reasons... for one it's a gimmick in it's current state. Until hybrids produced FE numbers that are significatly higher, their days are numbered.

If deboytd can't get a better deal, then he is not trying hard enough. My guess is that he could probably get everything done for about 2k. Is 2k a hybrid killer?

 

I am still trying but when you call and write Honda of North America a couple of times, escalate the issue and they wont let you speak with a supervisor or manager (something typically unheard of from my customer service experience) it becomes difficult to negotiate a reasonable repair cost that I would be willing to pay, not to be argumentative but how hard should you have to try to get some assistance?