Bullshit! It's only scandalous in the minds of the unusually anxious owners. You know that there are documented symptoms to look for; If they don't exist then there's nothing to be done. That's it.

 

While it's true that Honda isn't going to advertise service bulletins, it's the dealer's job to tell you accurately if your car needs something when you take it in. And they shouldn't give you the run-around if your car needs work because they get paid to do the work. When I took my car to the dealer I showed them the bulletin and they said my car doesn't apply because the VIN is out of range.

 

Not BS in my book:

I was lucky to come accross the TSB in GH after having paid for a new set of tires and a dealer realignment. Dealer didnt tell me about the TSB at the time of the alignment. After seeing the TSB, got Honda of America to pay for the tires and dealer to do the TSB fix (control arms and another alignment).

Not every HCH owner knows that their tires have (or will) become cupped due in large part to the unadvertised TSB. Some may just think the alignment was screwed up or something.

 

Spinner, you are wrong about this. On this TSB in general, and certainly in my case.

If I had not found out about this problem from GreenHybrid, my rear control arms WOULD NOT HAVE BEEN REPLACED. My dealer had several opportunities to mention the issue to me, and didn't. I rarely have anyone sitting in back, so didn't really dwell on the fact that it's not quiet back there. Finally someone mentioned the noise. That's what got me to finally think "maybe I have a problem."

People that replaced their tires and got new alignments (like I was about to) BEFORE they heard of this problem are out of luck (and will start ruining a 2nd set of tires), as Honda's method for detecting the issue is NOT the simple fact that the incorrectly designed part is ON your car, but rather - are your tires wearing so badly that the evidence is overwhelming? That's ridiculous. The problem is not apparent when inspecting nearly new tires. By the time it becomes evident on a second set of tires, you're most likely out of warranty.

Unfortunately, this is not such a rare approach that the auto manufacturers take. Jaguar, Mazda (twice now) and Honda (twice now) have done it to me. Keep in mind, this is over a 30+ year driving history. This is not an isolated incident. It simply saves the manufacturer money (somewhat like avoiding a recall). The Jaguar incident cost me well over $200 as I had the problem corrected myself, and of course couldn't PROVE it was the same issue as the TSB I found out about 6 months later.

Sometimes, you get a dealer that will make a repair just because there is a TSB (and it's true - they get reimbursed for it). Sometimes, they are on the lookout for certain TSB issues, and happen to find the issue on your vehicle. But most often in my experience, if I don't first notice the issue, mention it (and lobby for correction), the needed work does not get done. I think the manufacturers may frown upon dealers just making a TSB repair without an owner complaint, as it costs the manufacturer money.
Tell me, how many times have you just taken your vehicle in for something, and they say "Oh, Spinner, we were just digging around and found these 3 TSBs that might apply to your car. Mind if we check them all out for you?" That's never happened to me. Maybe I've just been unlucky over the years.

Sometimes you don't know to complain (is it REALLY a problem?) until it's too late (oops, warranty expired). This happened with my sunvisors. They were cheap enough; I didn't care much really, but they goodwilled them anyway.

I guess the (early) squeaky wheel gets the grease. Maybe I'll learn eventually

 

I can't deny the negative experiences you guys have had, but I do take issue when a simple topic like a TSB turns into a mission to prejudice consumers about manufacturer relations. It may prove helpful to know these things, but more often then not it's just steam being passed around that would interfere with someone else's otherwise open-minded and constructive relationship with their dealership.

It's hard to be completely objective on a discussion forum. People want to accept reasons and draw their own conclusions far too quickly.

 

Fair enough.
But I've been open-minded (and screwed) in the past.

My "mission" if any, is to relay my experiences in such a way as to actually help us consumers to get a fair shake. Call it what you like, but I'm fed up with trusting manufacturers/dealerships that have not always been looking out for me. That's not a constructive relationship in my book.

It's pretty obvious in this particular TSB's case to see the intent from the manufacturer. It is to be able to deny obviously necessary work simply because your tires may not show the issue. The incorrectly manufactured part is ON THE CAR. How difficult is that to determine if the car has the issue?

Here's how the TSB should've been handled: "Consumer, you've got this part number for your control arm. It's the bad, incorrecly made part. Here's the corrected part. Let's replace it."

Your car has the issue whether or not it manifests itself in abnormal tire-wear.
The tire-wear should only have come into play in determining if/how much to reimburse the owner for the extra and irregular wear (which in my case led to buying replacement tires at least 5K before their time. Not that I cared (nor did I even ask about it), but I got no reimbursement.

 

Back to the original question on the post--did you experience an increase in road noise as the car accumulated more miles, or is your frustration point just getting higher?

I ask because I had a problem with my last car (Subaru Outback) with a noticable increase in road noise at around 18k miles. My tires were almost shot (I used to have a heavy foot), so I replaced them, but the noise persisted. It turned out to be a bad wheel bearing and Subaru replaced it on warranty. It might be worth having the dealer check out the wheel bearings.

Regarding the other complaints: I'm pretty happy with the level of road noise on my HCH. The engine spins a lot slower at highway speeds than my frenetic old Mazda Protoge which is the closest comparison I've owned. That keeps the drone down a lot. I would say that the HCH is quieter than my Outback as well, although I drive a lot slower now. If you're used to a luxury car, the HCH is going to be louder, but it's downright refined compared to other compacts on the market IMHO...

 

I, too, was bothered by the road noise since I bought my HCH last year. But I thought little of it until I read about the control arm TSB here in GreenHybrid.

The service guy at the Honda dealer -- McNatt Honda in Denton, TX -- quickly diagnosed the problem by running his hand over the rear tires. He scheduled me for the repair the next morning, and had it done in two hours -- new parts, alignment, and everything.

Now the road noise is greatly reduced. It should get even better as the oddly-worn rear tires wear back in to normal. I'll rotate the tires at the next oil change.

So thanks to McNatt Honda for the courteous service, and to GreenHybrid for identifying the problem in the first place. This is what car forums are all about!
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I agree, I find the road noise in my 2008 much too loud. I almost didn't buy it because of the noise, but it was the only Hybrid available at the time. This seems to be a problem mentioned often by Consumers Reports. Toyota seems to know how to make a quiet car, Honda should take a look at what their doing right. When the new Hybrids come out next year I may trade it to get a quieter car.

 

I have an 08 and its been loud since new. I went through the effort of gutting the interior and installing sound deadening in the doors, the floor and the trunk....I didn't notice a significant difference. I believe the noise is from the low rolling resistance tires (read hard). They repaved a stretch of my commute and when I drive over that at 55mph the car is just about dead silent.
Different tires on our BMW X5 made a huge difference in noise as well. I went from a summer/performance tire to a all season.