Consumer Complaint Detail

HONDA / CIVIC / 2006

Recalls
0 Injured
Investigations
0 Death
Complaints
No Fire
Components - Details
NHTSA Complaint Number: 007104781 Incident Date: Feb, 28 2007
Consumer's City: KENT Consumer's State: WA
Vehicle Transmission Type: AUTO Manufacturers Name: Honda (American Honda Motor Co.)
Model Name: CIVIC Model Year: 2006
Vehicle Involved in a Crash: No Component's Description: Unknown or other
Vehicle Involved in a Fire: No Persons Injured: 0
Vehicle's VIN#: 1HGFA16576L Date added to File: May, 23 2021
Date Complaint Received: May, 05 2007 Complaint Type: IVOQ
Incident Reported To Police: No Purchase Date: Jan, 27 2006
Was Original Owner: Yes Anti-lock Brakes: Yes
Number of Cylinders: 0 Date of Manufacturer: -
Was Vehicle Towed: - Description of the Complaints: I purchased a brand new 2006 honda civic in january of 2006 from a dealership in auburn, wa.. two weeks ago i noticed the a/c had stopped working, so i brought the car into the dealer to have it checked and repaired. the car has only 11,000 miles on it. i was told that it was not covered under warranty because the problem occurred in the condenser which is between the open grill of the bumper and the radiator. the condenser, made of approximately the same material as aluminum foil and actually aluminum, is completely unprotected. the problem, according to the mechanic is widespread and across new honda models. if a small pebble or any other tiny hard element happens to strike the completely unprotected condenser it knocks a nearly invisible (we can't see it) hole in it, which in turn knocks out all a/c. i explained that this is a poor design to have absolutely no protection for this part. the person said, yes, they understand but can do nothing to help and that they see this every week. i was told to call hondas consumer complaint line, which i did, and was told the same story and that they are looking into fixing it for future models. they all told me to claim it on insurance, that it is a road hazard problem. obviously it's a design problem, and had i known about it i would have purchased a toyota. deductible on my insurance is $500.00 and the cost to fix is $600.00, it would make no sense to claim it and take the hit on insurance costs. honda not only will not discuss any assistance for the present problem, but offers no fix to keep it from happening again. if i have this repaired tomorrow it could be knocked out again next week. *jb