svann

I had a miserable time trying to get Vandergriff Honda to do the right thing and repair some damage to my car that happened while it was in their care a few years ago. Unfortunately the damage occurred back in '01 during a lengthy stay in the Vandergriff service bay, nearly a five month stay while the techs bungled a TSB service to my tranny and later the differential.
A now former technician removed the exhaust while servicing the drivetrain and found it neccessary to remove the secondary O2 sensor from the cat. When the sensor was reinstalled something went wrong and the part was badly cross-threaded. After four years the sensor fell out last week and was left dangling by the cable. I tried to replace it in the cat but the threads were nearly gone from the end of the sensor. The dealer declined to help and said I'd have to take it up with American Honda or purchase a new sensor for $315. American Honda is working with me to find a solution and keep a customer. I hope the Vandergriff General Mgr and service manager consider how quickly bad news gets around. Could it be worth the $100 cost of the damaged part they saved by denying my claim? AHM seems to think customer service is worth their efforts despite the careless attitude of the privately owned dealers.

In the interim I managed to repair the threads with a 1.5mm metric thread restoration file ($10). When I went to reinstall the sensor I discovered the reason why the tech mangled the part. The catalyst material inside the cat had moved far enough aft to effectively prevent the sensor body from re-entering the threaded hole in a straight line. The tech cross threaded the sensor and kept turning the part until it made an indention in the catalyst honeycomb. I had to gently press the honeycomb forward with the handle of a small screwdriver until the hole was clear and the sensor could fully seat.

Why couldn't a Honda trained technician figure this out and avoid permanent damage to my emmisions system? Why did the catalyst move inside the converter body? Was it dropped? I find it unlikely the tech didn't know the part was incorrectly installed because it was a long way from being seated. Probably the same reason my repairs took months longer than any reasonable amount of time to perform the work elsewhere.

At least my car is running again and I have the satisfaction of completing my own repairs. In my opinion I would never purchase another car or have any service performed, no mater how minor, at Vandergriff Honda. It may be a very long time before I seriously consider another Honda. Great car but very underwhelming dealer support.

cdelena

I don't think this is unusual as the O2 sensor in my car is damaged from the core movement. In theory the cat and sensor should be replaced under the emissions warranty but I doubt many get fixed that way. I found mine when I would get a periodic CEL and for now they have gone away with the Mugen ECU which ignores the O2 sensors.

Gregg Lee

The problem is that after all this time, it's hard to assure the dealer that no one else ever worked on the car.

The price you quote is much higher than on Majestic or Honda dealer I checked a while back for the secondary sensor.

In addition I have been told on the Technical forum that the sensor is the same as the much less expensive Civic sensor, except for the wire length and connector, which is trivial to swap.

BTW the correct procedure for removing the exhaust is to disconnect the wire connector (hung on the transmission), not to remove the sensor from the cat.


If the cat has failed, it's covered under emissions warranty (no S2000 is old enough to be out of emissions warranty), unless of course there is a big dent in it from a collision.


Gregg

svann

I'm not surprised the local dealers are asking more for the part. I buy any parts I need from Ganley in Ohio at a steep discount. As for the issue with AHM, they called today to inform me there is nothing they can do as a third party when a dealer damages a vehicle. Poor service is not covered in any way. I was frustrated because I only asked for help getting another sensor. Fortunately this one could be repaired.

At least our engines are more reliable than Honda's F1 V-10 lump (worth about 2 laps).
No more Hondas for me...

Elistan

Nobody

I was interested in this topic until I saw Elistan's Vette. That has to be the baddest motherfing car I've seen. God damn. Sick. Disgustingly sick.

I hope you don't take that into the dealer to get it serviced.

Kaiser

This just keeeeeps happening... people have a bad experience somewhere and start wailing about "Don't go to XXXX dealer!!!" "I'll never buy another XXXX again!!!".

Everyone has been screwed somewhere - and if you listen to the wailers, then you'll never buy anything.

I'm sorry you got worked-over by Vandergriff... but honestly, they're probably not any better or worse than any other dealer... and as to Honda - that's just silly. They are one of the best automakers in the world for quality and reliability.

Buy a quality vehicle - and then maintain it yourself (when at all possible).