Pretty depressed this morning (Christmas Eve) as my 2008 Honda Accord was towed into the Honda Service shop on Tuesday. It has 98,300 miles on it. I received a diagnosis yesterday and the technician states that a new engine is needed. Estimated cost $6,000. The car has been festidiously maintained at the dealer over the life of the car and prior to the vehicle's engine just stopping there were no warning lights or symptoms which led me to believe that anything was wrong with the car...
The trade in value of this vehicle (to a dealer) is $6,500 and it doesn't make any sense to me to have this fixed. Thus, I feel as if I just totaled my car (and I didn't do anything which would cause this.)
Any advice or is there any steps I should take at this point?
I am sorry to hear about that. You should be able to get it fixed for a lot less -- you don't need a brand new engine in your 100,000 mile car.
Not to say your situation is a common one by any means, but it does show that a HondaCare warranty could save a substantial sum of money. I say that since some people here believe that a Honda could never ever have an expensive repair down the road. You win some, you lose some, but you hedge your exposure.
At any rate, cheer up and enjoy your holidays. You car will be fine. Even if you are in fact out of pocket for the entire $6,000 (not likely), you would be able to drive your car for many more years after this repair, which means that your monthly investment could be way less than $100, as compared to buying a new (or newer) car that would cost you let's say $400~500 per month in payments.
Sorry to hear that your engine just stopped. Did the dealer diagnose why it stopped? Can you crank the engine with the starter or is the engine seized? Did it overheat or lose all it's oil?
I would find a reputable independant repair shop and have the car towed there and get their opinion.
I would be interested in what failed as well, an engine with 98,000 that was maintained should not have any catastrophic failures. it seems to me you have 4 options depending on what is really wrong with the engine.
1. Have the dealer rebuild/replace the current engine, $$$$
2. Buy a remanufactured engine and have an independent shop install it $$$
3. Find a used engine with low miles and have an independent shop install it $$
4. Sell the car as is.
All of this depends on what is really wrong with the engine you have, but the repair should be no where near $6k.
I want to take the opportunity to "Thank Everyone" for their feedback. In following up on the first response I made a few calls to independant Honda Repair shops. I was told that there were many, many service issues out on the Accord 2008 LX engines and that the warranty's have been extended. The issue seems to be with an oil leak in the pistons. Anyway, the call from Honda service really bummed me out last night. The advisor said there was a 50/50 chance that Honda would cover 50 %. Still a lot.
Anyway, after speaking to some other folks who specialize in Hondas, they believe that Honda will cover the entire cost as 98,000 miles with all Honda Serviced receipts - would not bode well for their PR.
I am a bit untrusting of the dealership that has my car - so I may have to be prepared to contact Honda directly.
My Nissan Altima 1998 ,used engine installed was about $1900, with the engine used with about 54k on it. Look around and you can be on the road with about $2300.
Sometimes stuff happens and Honda's curse in these situations is their reputation for extreme reliability. Honda has no obligation to repair your car, nor should you expect them to. If they cover half the cost out of good will you should be ecstatic. Absent that, my first choice for fixing it would be a good independent Honda shop, no way a dealer.
I would get in touch with Honda Corporate. Even if your car isn't part of that oil leak extended coverage situation on the 08-12 models, you still did your part and faithfully maintained the car. Seems really odd that a properly maintained engine would have a catastrophic failure like that (especially a Honda). And get in touch with the dealership owner. If you've taken the car to them for all these years they've made some money off of you and maybe they will help you out. The Service Dept makes more for the dealership than the Sales Dept does by the way. Do that and also get a second or third opinion from an independent shop.
The $6K quote sounds like it's for a brand new engine with zero miles. A re-manufactured engine or a used one with miles on it will be half that (or less) installed by an independent shop. I wouldn't put $6K into a car that's worth $6K. What if your transmission blows up next? Then you're putting $8K-$9K into a $6K car (for both of them anyway).
Good luck and please post back here once this all gets resolved (hopefully, in your favor)! :thmsup:
Seriously, what he said^. If the dealer maintained it at the scheduled intervalls then I would want them to explain what the issue was that blew the motor and how it was your fault? This is definately not normal for these motors.
It would cost $6k if we're talking about a brand new long block ($4500) and 2 days of labor to install it. You need to figure out what is actually blown with the engine. Personally I would just replace the parts that are broken. If the cylinder head is still good then why bother replacing it?
Basically we need more info about how they came to the conclusion that the engine is "blown". I doubt catastrophic failure happened to the point where the whole thing needs to be thrown out.
What part of time/mileage warranty limits do some folk find so hard to understand? This I demand an explanation, someone else needs to pay for this, etc kind of I'm entitled to more nonsense just drives me freakin' nuts!
Not an entitlement issue. If I wanted a car that would last 90k miles, I would have bought a Chevrolet or a Yugo or AMC Pacer. This just wasn't what I expected from an Accord. The computerized elements are useless if they don't alert a driver to a problem.
Like I said, I'm resolved to donating the piece of crap - I just think Honda should be able to justify whyI need a new engine.
My first question is what's wrong with the engine? Did it seize up? If so was it out of oil? Did the oil pump fail? Did the engine overheat? Did the crank shaft bearings seize? Did the piston rings seize? A piston engine is not that complicated.
Honda has no legal responsibility but they might want to give the OP a goodwill discount on a new engine. I wonder how many Honda engins fail with less than 100,000 miles. I don't think there are a lot of them.
I think the advisor said one of the piston rings failed... I agree that they have no responsibility whatsoever to fix it - but as another poster mentioned, they price their vehicles at a premium based upon their reputation for reliability. I also agree that there are probobly very few vehicles with less than 100k in mileage where the engine arbitrarily goes.
Thanks to all of the other folks posting about replacing with a "used" engine but I'm really not a car guy and wouldn't want to take risks with shelling out additional $$$ for something that wouldn't be reliable. Also, if I had knowledge of servicing my vehicle, I would have bypassed regular service maintenance at the Honda dealer long ago.
the engine on my 08 lx went at 89.000 miles and i got used at local junk yard with 35,000 miles on it for $650 and I replaced it myself so you get the k24 used at good price.
No timing belt on LX only timing chain. Actually, this was the service advisors initial thought until he let me know that the Tech was going to perform more tests.
Did I miss it or have you ever said if it's a 4 cyl or V6? As mentioned previously, the V6 is subject to the class action extended warranty. Very curious to know which engine you have.
If just one ring failed why the hell are they calling the engine a loss? Unless it failed in a way that it took out other components or was letting tons of raw fuel into the crankcase that diluted the oil and make it seize, I don't see why a simple hone and piston replacement wouldn't work.
I actually posted my dilemma on the 9th generation board - but would like some feedback to a new question.
Problem: My 2008 Honda Accord LX stopped running last week and is at the Honda Dealer. It has been dealer maintained and has 98,300 miles. There was no indication that anything was wrong with the car - when I stopped accelerating when depressing the accelerator.
Diagnosis: Honda dealer spent 1 1/2 hours testing vehicle and claims their is no compression in cylinder 2. The service rep informed me that I would probably need a new engine and it would cost up to 6K. Now the car is worth about $6,500 if I traded it in to a dealer for a new car. Hence - that would have been the most likely thing I would have done, but I wouldn't pay 6K to fix a car that would be worth $6,500.
Right now, I am awaiting Honda's decision regarding providing some goodwill for servicing this vehicle. I don't expect anything but the service rep. believes that I have a good case due to the fact that the car has been maintained via the dealer AND the car has relatively low mileage and only 6 years old.
My question is this: If I do not receive goodwill from the Honda dealer to cover 75% ($1,500) of the repairs, I'm considering other options as I do not want to put $ into a used engine which would not be compatible with other parts under the hood.
What would you do?
Would you consider going to an Independent shop and getting a new engine ($3,500?)
Would you sell to a used parts dealer for a few thousand?
Would you donate it to a charity (have them pay to fix it, then take the blue book private party amount to write off?)
I know it faster for Honda to put in a long block, but no compression in cyl 2 can also be a broken valve spring of valve retainer. Only needing a used cylinder head.
Unless broken retainer caused valve to drop and damage block.
A used motor from a totaled vehicle is also a great option as long as vehicle was t-boned or rear ended.
A used parts dealer will not give you a few thousand for it, better of with the donation idea.
For me, it would depend on how bad you don't want a car payment, assuming that if you get rid of it you'd buy a new car. If the car is only 6 years old and its still in great shape, I personally would consider getting it repaired, but not before pursuing all options with the dealer first. If the car has been maintained by said dealer, then they know the entire history of the vehicle and they also know how you drive the car. As long as there's no evidence of you being a street racer, then I don't see why they wouldn't pitch in and help you out.
I'm very interested in hearing how this turns out.
The Regional folks are on vacation until January 5th and I cannot get a decision from them until then. I would be very surprised if they didn't provide some goodwill but I'm not holding my breadth.
Just anxious for their response due to the fact that I have had to get a rental (this week) and waiting for them is like a meter running in a taxi.
My 2008 LX has been in the shop (Honda Dealer) for two weeks. Honda would not okay new engine without technicians looking deeper into the engine. I ok'd $440.00 for the dealership to do this.
Once the tech pulled the engine apart, the service rep explained that there was a valve problem, bad cylinder, damaged block, etc. Basically, the sum of the parts was more than the engine.
I inquired as to how this could happen. The service rep said that I was very low on oil. This seems very strange as my last oil change was done 2600 miles earlier and there was no indication that I had any engine problems. What is the purpose of the check engine light if it doesn't come on?
Anyway, I'm still waiting for Honda to make a decision based on the fact that I have had all my servicing done at the dealer. I feel more adamant that Honda needs to pick up the cost of the engine - as there is an oil consumption problem that I never knew about.
Michael
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