My first Honda to leave me stranded
05-04-2007 | 12:01 PM
#31
Joined: Sep 2001
Posts: 2,687
Likes: 16
From: No VA
Originally Posted by JonBoy,May 4 2007, 03:00 PM
Nissans suck! Hondas suck! Since no batteries have ever failed on Toyotas, we must make a switch!
Nah, Toyota batteries have too much hard cheap-looking plastic on them......
05-04-2007 | 12:13 PM
#32
Joined: Jun 2006
Posts: 5,149
Likes: 16
From: Raleigh, NC
Originally Posted by cbehney,May 4 2007, 03:01 PM
Nah, Toyota batteries have too much hard cheap-looking plastic on them......
Speaking of GM. Its pretty much a fact that if I work on a suburban or tahoe or whatever GM SUV.. and leave the doors or cd player while i am working on it...THE battery will be dead. It can be 10 mins or an hour. Doesnt matter. GM POS lol
05-04-2007 | 08:18 PM
#33
Former Moderator
Joined: Aug 2004
Posts: 14,730
Likes: 8
True story:
When I had a battery start acting a little shady and had to jump it in my garage ONCE... immediately went to Sears and bought one of those portable battery jumper packs.
Since I did not want to get stranded anywhere, I prepared myself.
I did wind up needing to use it. I did not get stranded.
Seriously, people are willing to blame anyone but themselves.
Maybe the car "masked" the symptoms... but it was probably the wife's misinterpretation of the symptoms that threw the OP.
If you described what the symptoms were for the first 3 failures, I have a feeling most people on S2k would have recognized that as impending battery failure.
My time and frustration is worth more than $50, so I spent the money to prevent the hassle. I cannot imagine how much wasted time and money is associated with 4 jump start strandings.
You should have seen the crap I brought to the Dragon, "just-in-case." I couldn't take any more time off work, so getting stranded was not a pleasant option: duct tape, electrical tape, wire, fuses, full set of tools, spark plugs, Helm's manual, etc... didn't use them, but "my dang Honda left me stranded" wasn't an option.
But I did see some resourceful people at the Dragon with a U-Haul + tow trailer for their broken Honda. I thought that was pretty clever. Pricey, but probably no alternative at that point.
When I had a battery start acting a little shady and had to jump it in my garage ONCE... immediately went to Sears and bought one of those portable battery jumper packs.
Since I did not want to get stranded anywhere, I prepared myself.
I did wind up needing to use it. I did not get stranded.
Seriously, people are willing to blame anyone but themselves.
Maybe the car "masked" the symptoms... but it was probably the wife's misinterpretation of the symptoms that threw the OP.
If you described what the symptoms were for the first 3 failures, I have a feeling most people on S2k would have recognized that as impending battery failure.
My time and frustration is worth more than $50, so I spent the money to prevent the hassle. I cannot imagine how much wasted time and money is associated with 4 jump start strandings.
You should have seen the crap I brought to the Dragon, "just-in-case." I couldn't take any more time off work, so getting stranded was not a pleasant option: duct tape, electrical tape, wire, fuses, full set of tools, spark plugs, Helm's manual, etc... didn't use them, but "my dang Honda left me stranded" wasn't an option.
But I did see some resourceful people at the Dragon with a U-Haul + tow trailer for their broken Honda. I thought that was pretty clever. Pricey, but probably no alternative at that point.
05-04-2007 | 09:09 PM
#35
Former Moderator
Joined: Aug 2004
Posts: 14,730
Likes: 8
Originally Posted by s2kpdx01,May 4 2007, 08:31 PM
If I never hear about the 'Dragon' again it will be too soon. Out here we just call them roads. 
05-05-2007 | 10:49 AM
#37
Joined: Apr 2006
Posts: 8,111
Likes: 523
I think it seems somewhat fair because a lot of the problems associated with VWs and Audis deal with their batteries as well but people don't defend them quite as animately. Look at our cars, valves constantly bending, synchros/diffs going bad, timing chain tensioners, poor front bumper paint, but all these points are considered normal for our cars. My brother's Civic needed a new auto transmission after 110K and the AC died. When I had my Civic the window wouldnt work correctly. The Impala I use for work I constantly stress the battery with frequent start ups, leaving it idling for 30-40 minutes, no warm ups, leaving the inverter on when the car is off, and so far the only person who has killed a battery was a person who left the inverter on over the weekend... but jumped it and never had a problem since.
Give him a break, what made Hondas Honduhs in the first place was the fact that they never died. You pay a premium for a Pilot because you sacrifice things like torque and size vs. its competitors so you can have that peace of mind that all the components are top notch so somethign as simple as a battery you would think wouldn't go bad.
But, if you swap the battery and there are no problems anymore, than yeah, I agree with everyone, you just got a bad battery and it's nothing to harp on Honda about. If you do swap it and the problem happens again like it does with Audis, then you have a case.
Give him a break, what made Hondas Honduhs in the first place was the fact that they never died. You pay a premium for a Pilot because you sacrifice things like torque and size vs. its competitors so you can have that peace of mind that all the components are top notch so somethign as simple as a battery you would think wouldn't go bad.
But, if you swap the battery and there are no problems anymore, than yeah, I agree with everyone, you just got a bad battery and it's nothing to harp on Honda about. If you do swap it and the problem happens again like it does with Audis, then you have a case.
05-05-2007 | 11:18 AM
#38
Registered User
Joined: Feb 2006
Posts: 402
Likes: 0
From: South Florida
Let's see. Your battery died in your Pilot and your TL rattled. I'd never buy another crappy Honda again!
When the car dies on the highway and you're stranded it's a crappy car issue. When the car dies 4 times in 3 months and you don't have the battery checked, it's operator error.
When the car dies on the highway and you're stranded it's a crappy car issue. When the car dies 4 times in 3 months and you don't have the battery checked, it's operator error.
