Please...

The title of my previous post was not mean spirited. It was to imply that until you are in that situation, you don't know what it is like. A reminder to put yourself in someone else's shoes, if you will, not a curse of something bad to happen. Sheesh! And why the fuss over a car? Well, because you spend more than $20,000 on this and a TV or other appliance is usually less than $1,000. It's not the same. Plus, what is a car? A car gets you from point A to point B safely and reliably. When it fails to do that when relatively new, most people would find a big problem with that given their substantial investement. That's fine if you feel it is just a machine and they will break down and can be sympathetic with the manufacturer, but to others this car is part of their livelihood and they need to be able to depend on it. When it fails, they expect compensation, not access to a phone to call Enterprise to pick you up and pay your own car payment plus $25 a day for a rental while they wait for parts. I wouldn't want to be in the car business, the manufacturers have an obligation to make products that are safe and reliable and that involves many variables. If they want to be the best at their business, they have to stay at the top of their game and be competitive. In this area, I see this particular company has a flaw. That is my opinion.

Lastly, regarding the "accident" comment, we are talking about two issues here. The inability to get parts in a reasonable amount of time and a loaner car. If you have a defective part OR are in an accident and the shop can't get the part fromt he supplier, this results in the need for a loaner. Expect to wait awhile for parts on a new CR-V. Honda is having a problem meeting the demand when an issue arises. Then, when they do get themselves into a bind with a new customer whose car is out of commission, they are not consistent about how they deal with the situation. My suggestion to them is to always offer a vehicle that is the same or better than the vehicle in the shop and not to leave this in the hands of the dealer.

The point of my posts are to just encourage others who have been in this unfortunate situation to also let Honda know that the buying experience could be better if they stand behind their product and offer a better warranty, loaner car, roadside assistance, etc. There is always room for improvement and forums like this are designed to share experiences and ideas.