Mendel Leisk,
the dealer wants $130 just for brake and other inspections+rotating tires...So I just opt to oil change only. I believe the OEM is bridgestone Turanza.
Now I'm in the market for new tires.. Any suggestions?

 

Our OEM's (still on the car at 81,000km, apart from maybe 8000 km's when they were sub'd. by winter snow tires) were Bridgestone Insignia SE200_02. We've currently got 5/32" all around.

Following the Maintenance Minder for the brake inspection is worthwhile, IMO. That price sounds quite reasonable, and with typical mileage brake inspection will come up on the MM around once a year. Keep in mind tire rotation is (or should be) a freebie with brake inspections: it's just a matter of putting the wheels back in a different position.

For replacement tires: Bridgestone Ecopia EP20 are high on my list, as well as the Michelin Energy Saver Saver A/S, likely not till next spring, after the snows come off.

The Ecopia EP20 are interesting: they come stock on some new Prius', which seems to me to be a vote of confidence from Toyota, regarding Rolling Resistance. The tread pattern looks identical to the Insignia SE200. I suspect they're using the same mould (just rebadging sidewall), but different rubber formulation. They only come in the Civic Hybrid size: 195/65R15.

The Energy Saver A/S will likely have the edge on RR and handling/feel/etc, but I don't think by a large margin, and they are about 40~45% more expensive. Note, that difference is reduced right now though: Michelin is offering a rebate (mail in?) on purchases of sets of 4. In our area it's $70CAN.

Both the EP20 and A/S are available at Costco, for one.

I'll likely wring one more year out of your OEM's though, putting off replacement to next spring when our snows come off.

 

Here is my story. I own 07 HCH II. I have a little over 50K miles on car and still have the original Dunlop's on the car which are due to be replaced.

I found this site when googling about the 10-034 reflash recall software update. My car was also due for B123 service. I took car to Stevens Creek Honda for the service, where I had taken it for all prior services. When I brought the vehicle in I talked to them about the upper control arm TSB and to take a look at my tires for uneven wear and that I have noticed a vibration on the freeway.

I received call and the service guy says there are signs of uneven wear and that the bulletin applies and I should have the control arms replaced as they could tell that they had not been replaced to date. He said he would have to talk to parts to get a price, etc. as vehicile is out of warranty. Its my opinion that this was a manufacturer defect and I am not paying for the parts or labor. He said his hands are tied, etc and I told him I would contact American Honda.

I go in to pick up the car and I ask to talk to the service guy. He starts to get an attitude about this and I am more than willing to have an argument as I am annoyed at this point. I tell them that the TSB was issued in early 08 and I have my tires rotated there twice since then and no one said a word. He said that is not their job to point these problems out and that is such a ridiculous answer. He also goes on to say it could be alignment, other issues that are causing tire wear and vibration. I tell him it also could be the control arm. To me doing any alignments, etc is a waste of time on a part that is not manufactured correctly. The guy is making no sense and its cya central. I can tell he has had this conversation before. I asked him if he is not certain it is the control arms causing the problem then why did he tell me they needed to be replaced. Anyway, this got nowhere fast.

I am going to contact American Honda on tuesday and know they will deny this due to warranty. I have serious issues with Honda and my dealer on this. I feel that this should be a recall issue first of all and secondly the way this is being handled proves horrible customer service.

Per the dealer my tire wear shows 2/32 and 0/32 on the inner portion of tire.

The vibration only has become more pronounced recently so I am not sure if it is totally the control arms or a combo of that and the old tires.

I dont see cupping or other wear issues and I got 50K out of these tires, which is great.

If American Honda denies me the replacement I am wondering if I should just let this go and get new tires and rotate them every 5k. I got a good quote for Ecopia 422's at Costco and they have a 65K warranty.

I would appreciate any advice on this. Thanks!!

 

Good for you Mike, and I hope you win! only because you should!!! Pretty chicken sh*t on Hondas part. H

 

Just a follow up. Good news, I did win on this. I am having the arms replaced tomorrow at the dealer and Honda of America is paying for this. I was able to get 50K out of my tires, which I just had replaced with Bridgestone Ecopia 422's, so I didn't feel the need to include the tires in my claim. I must say that I didn't notice the uneven wear until I got about 40K on my tires and that is when the vibration started to become pronounced.

The dealer did find the TSB applied and said I needed to replace the rear conrol arms. My vehicle is out of warranty and I told Honda to me that is a non issue due to this being a manufacturer defect. They apparently agreed and are fixing this. I feel lucky as others have not had the same result, which I find very troubling. Honda knows they have a manufacturer defect and as far as I am concerned this should be an absolute recall due to potential for blowout.

When looking at my tire wear I look at outside edge and middle, never the inside of my tire. The inside of my old Dunlops were totally bare and outside were not even down to the wear bars yet.

I don't think my dealer helped at all on this since they were rude to me in my dealings with them on this. I thank Honda of America and after they replace my arms I will never take my car back to Stevens Creek Honda.

 

That is good news. Make sure they use the new alignment spec. on the TSB. (camber 0 to -1.5 degress). My HCH camber was at -1.6 and the inside of the tires wore like crazy.

 

I have just purchased the 3rd set of replacement tires for my 2006 HCH II (115,000 miles). Despite maintaining an intensive rotation and balance schedule combined with a "lifetime" alignment package, I was not able to utilize a set of tires for their full potential as they were always wearing along the inside edge at an accelerated rate. Additionally, my fuel efficiency would drop from 47-48 MPG to less than 42 MPG as the new tires that were installed on the rear of the car began to wear on the inside, accompanied with an increasingly loud roaring noise.

When I dropped my car off at my local dealer (Leith Honda, Raleigh NC) for service the advisers would often inform me that the tires were "cupping" and that I would need an alignment and new tires. I would respond that it had been an ongoing problem (and that I had mentioned it to them at previous appointments) and the car had been aligned 1-2 times since my last service appointment. When I did replace the tires, I would purchase the OEM Dunlops (SP31 A/S) but had come to the opinion that the tires must be poorly-engineered or built. Because of this, the set that I have just purchased are not OEM tires.

Recently, I was made aware of the TSB via this thread. Having discovered this information, I requested that the car be inspected for the problem during a service appointment at Leith Honda last month. Although they verified the problem during the inspection I was told that I would have to purchase the correct control arms because my car was now out of warranty, despite my protests and reminding them that I have mentioned the rapid wear, noise and expense previously.

I guess I will follow Mike's (koctail) example and contact American Honda on Monday. I'll post my results.

Update--- American Honda didn't help in the least.

However, I was able to order a set of control arms from Bernardi Honda for $53.00 each. They were really simple to install and I had an alignment done the following morning.

 

I went to Hardin Honda in Anaheim today and the jury is still out but leaning towards a negative experience. My car has 100k miles but this shouldn't matter since this problem is a Manufacturer's defect. My rear tires have only lasted about 20k miles ever since this car was new. I have flat spots in a diagonal pattern on the inside of my tires. I was always knew these tires were wearing funny but there was no tsb at the time. The size of the control arm doesn't change from 20k miles to 100k miles. My warranty was up due to mileage issues before this TSB even came out.

Anyways, the service tech said since my car is out of warranty, I would have to pay for any repairs. I then spoke to the service Manager who basically said the same thing. After going over it a few times with him, he agreed to call Honda for me to see if they would cover my repair. I'll know in a couple days if they cover it or not. I might have to try another dealership.

This is total BS as there is a tsb for this problem. If the control arm is bad coming out of the factory, of course it will be bad at 100k. Not my fault Honda doesn't mail out tsb's to customers.

This has been the worst new car I have ever bought. Problems I had during the first 3 years........

Had 3 sun visors split apart, recall on the drive belt, right rear window stopped rolling up and down, defective rear upper control arm killing my tires, left rear door molding improperly fitting, rear bumper cover needed to be realigned off of the show room floor, lights for the ac controls stopped working, intermittent brake pedal, sometimes while coming to a stop, I hear a buzzing type sound and get a squishy pedal.

Dealer says that they only do good will replacements of sun visors up to 75k miles. Don't care about TSB for upper control arm because my car has 100k miles, can't help me on the brake issue because the car is out of warranty.

This is the last honda I'll ever buy. After owning 4 honda's, this will be my last. It's unbelievable that dealers will not fix stuff that was defective from the factory. This car was a total disappointment.....

Oh yeah, now I get a letter in the mail that they are having these civic engines spontaneously loose the coolant out the side and the engine overheat. They extended the warranty to 8 years, big deal, I had of plans of driving this car alot longer than that but the way my luck has been with this car I highly doubt it will happen.



p.s. If anyone in SoCal has success getting the control arm replaced at no cost for a car that is out of warranty, please post the name of the dealership and who you talked to. Thanks

 

Coolant loss? I googled this and can't find anything, does the letter have recall info or I.D.?

 

Check this IM conversation with Honda of El cerrito, Ca

Honda of El Cerrito: Thanks for contacting Honda of El Cerrito, how may I help you?

Shana Ellis: My name is Shana. And your name is?

You: Chris

Shana Ellis: how can I help you

You: Does your sevice department cover this service?

You: Serive Bulliten 08-001 was upated February 5, 2009. The models affected by the inner rear tire wear are:

2006-2007 Civic 2-Door - ALL Except Si and Honda Accessory HFP Package
2006-2007 Civic 4-Door - ALL Except Si
2006-2007 Civic Hybrid - ALL
2008 Civic Hybrid - From VIN JHMFA3...8S000001 thru JHMFA3...8S010456

The Problem:
Whether you have symptoms or not, if you have a 2006-2007 civic, your rear upper control arms were manufactured to incorrect specifications. You may notice uneven and/or rapid wear to your tires, a roaring noise from the rear, and/or a vibration at highway speeds.

What Needs to be Done:
Take your car to your local Honda dealer, preferably bringing a copy of the service bulletin. Tell your dealer about the symptoms that you are experiencing, if any, and tell them that you have not had your upper control arms updated.
Your dealer should replace your rear upper control arm kit (part #04523-SNA-A00), four 12X51 flange bolts (part # 90397-SNA-A00), and two 12X95 flange bolts (part #90396-SNA-000). If your tire wear is substantial, American Honda will pay part, if not all of the cost of a replacement set. (see service bulletin page one for more info) The dealer should also do a full alignment. This should all be done at no cost to you.


You: Hello?

Donna Bilorusky: Hi, this is Donna. I'll be assisting you from here on. Just give me moment while I check your previous conversation with Sh'ana.

Donna Bilorusky: Chris, have you been here before?

You: yes

Donna Bilorusky: Can I verify your phone number that's on our system so I can look up your file?

You:

Donna Bilorusky: Are you still on Bancroft Lane, Chris?

Donna Bilorusky: Bear with me I'm checking that bulletin okay?

You: yes

You: hello

You: ??

Donna Bilorusky: Thank you for the wait.

Donna Bilorusky: What is your current mileage on the vehicle?

You: 80k

Donna Bilorusky: Okay, the reason I ask is this service bulletin looks like it depends on your mileage.

Donna Bilorusky: I'm still double checking information; I apologize for the wait.

Donna Bilorusky: Did you receive a letter form Honda about this?

You: Im looking at the service bulletin and it doesn't mention mileage only on tire wear

Donna Bilorusky: Where are you looking exactly? Is it somewhere online?

You: No, but i am experiencing the problem at highway speeds just changed my tires and balance still the same problem bought the car with 50k on it

Donna Bilorusky: Okay, I can set up an appointment for us to check that issue.

Donna Bilorusky: If you don't mind we can just verify all information once you get here.

You: ok

You: when can i come in?

Donna Bilorusky: Okay, Chris, you can come in as soon as tomorrow. However, I was able to finally pull the information I needed for you. And that per Honda's Bulletin 08-001 on their official site, if the vehicle is over 80,000 miles, Honda does not cover anything regarding this issue.

You: Where does it state that on the bulletin im looking at it right now

You: ??

Donna Bilorusky: I can email you that information if you'd like.

Donna Bilorusky: Unfortunately, I could not see that link that you sent to me due to my unlimited INTERNET access.

Donna Bilorusky: What is your email address so I can send you the
OFFICIAL HONDA BULLETIN 08-001

You: c

Donna Bilorusky: Thank you, Chris. I'm sending it to you right now.

You: ok

You: Thats the same one im looking at were does it mention the service is not covered?

Donna Bilorusky: Page 2, look at the table/chart

Donna Bilorusky: You said your mileage is 80,000 miles

Donna Bilorusky: It says 0% coverage by Honda

You: only the tires are not covered over 25k

Donna Bilorusky: Okay, I apologize. Why don't we set up an appt. and diagnose your issue first and we'll go from there?

You: When?

Donna Bilorusky: Do you prefer early or late morning tomorrow?

You: Can we set an appointment this coming monday?

Donna Bilorusky: Yes we can

Donna Bilorusky: What time can you be here on the 29th?

You: early morning

You: 10am

Donna Bilorusky: Okay, great. I will send you an email confirmation for your appt.

Donna Bilorusky: Thank you for your patience, Chris.

Donna Bilorusky: You're all set. Is there something else I can help you with?

You: thatll be all thank you

Hopefully they dont try to play me when i get there