[lukefitz]

Looking for advice on next moves/options.....long story short but bought my 2012 brand new at dealership. Serviced routinely with oil changes, brakes, etc. with no other major issues at all. December of 2024 128K miles I bring my car to the dealership to replace the timing belt/water pump as recommended by the dealer as well as an issue that arose with leaking transmission fluid. All in paid $2600. Jump ahead to June of 2025 (10K miles later) and I am driving on the highway on cruise control at 75mph and dash lights start flashing. I cancel the cruise control and step on the gas and nothing happens as if the car is in neutral, then seconds later car shuts down and I coast off to the side of the highway. I had it towed to the dealership that I bought it from and did the timing belt/water pump replacement. They originally told me it looked like a timing issue and wanted to charge me $3800 to see what the issue was. After haggling that I was convinced it had something to do with the timing belt replacement they agreed to look at it at no charge. After about a week they told me a "pulley" let go due to the car being old and the motor is now blown but that it had nothing to do with the work they had done and they were not responsible for the damage. I reached out to Honda corporate and to no surprise they sided with the dealership. Looking for any help/guidance/suggestions here on what if anything I can do. Thank you all for any help. In advance, I know very little about car engines/repairs.

 

[lukefitz]

😲Do you still have the receipt? What did they replace during the timing belt job?
It has something to do with the quality of parts they replaced or old parts not replaced.

Unfortunately I cannot find the receipt, however when the dealership service department told me it was a "timing issue" I told them it MUST be related to them replacing the timing belt/water pump. They said this was "not possible" since I drove it roughly 10K miles after that, and that if it was a timing belt issue I would not have made it 2 miles out of the parking lot without something failing. When they told me the issue was a "pulley letting go" (which I'm still not sure I believe that is/was the issue) I asked them if they routinely inspect any pulley(s) for wear and tear while performing the timing belt/water pump replacement since they have that all apart and he said "no, not at all", to which I replied "that would seem like a given, if pulley(s) replacement was not done as a normal part of the job". Without a receipt, without any backing from Honda Corporate I am not sure how to prove that they used inferior replacement part or didn't replace things they should have. I thought about getting legal representation but not sure it that will be a dead end as well. I have owned 4 Accords and love the vehicles and NEVER had any issues up until this. I can't help but be convinced they were negligent somewhere along the way, whether it was inferior parts or not replacing things they should have or reassembling things improperly aligned or something like that. It just sucks, was looking to get another 138K out of this vehicle but now it looks like they are forcing me to buy something new or used from them. Thank you for the replay. If you have any further advice/suggestions please reply.

 

[lukefitz]

Dealers suck man, sorry that happened to you.

Thanks GoGators! They do SUCK!

 

[lukefitz]

Can't the dealer reissue another receipt or at least give you a printout of the work performed ? It's up to the dealer weather they use oem parts or aftermarket. They probably didn't replace the timing belt tensioner pulley, depending on how much info. you can get from the dealer of what parts get replaced with a timing belt job. You can ask a friend to go in for a list of what gets replaced, have them pretend they are looking for the same repair. My mechanic recommends a tensioner pulley replacement every 100K just from his experience. I am getting ready to have my chain tensioner pulley replaced (some people never replace it & go 200K miles). In small claims court you will be trying to prove negligence by the mechanic who did the job, you need to find out if the pulley replacement is part of their timing belt repair.

Thank you! I will see if I can get a copy of the receipt for the work performed from the dealer and see what is performed if someone walked in on off the street for the same type of work. Appreciate the advice!

 

[lukefitz]

How much of this conversation between you and the dealership was recorded? The fact that they admit that they overlook the pulley during the timing belt job, is 100% on them. When you did the timing belt job, did you ask them what they will replace in the job? I would gather all receipts, bring it to Honda North America and have them to make the dealership take accountability on this.

None of the conversation with the dealership is recorded as far as I know as least not on my end. And to your point the fact that they overlooked the pulley during the timing belt job just blows my mind! I would expect a dealership to replace it even if it wasn't worn out just to tack on more $$$, No, I did not ask them what they would replace in the job as I brought it in originally because it was leaking transmission fluid and figured I would just get the timing belt/water pump done at the same time. I did contact Honda North America and they claimed they called the dealership and in the end agreed they were not responsible. As I told the woman from Honda North America...."I am NOTSHOCKED that you agree they are not responsible". Thank you for your advice. If you think of anything else please let me know.