mr.intel

So i was driving home from work on Friday looking forward to a nice long weekend with the s2k when all of a sudden the car just died. I was off the 10 fwy heading east, good thing i was already in the right lane so i just pulled over onto the shoulder. Tried to start the car again no luck. Engine will not crank. I have power, lights, windows, radio everything works. I called AAA and a flat bed came. He tried to jump the batt, didn't do anything car still won't start. So it's not the battery or alternator. There were no warning lights or noises coming from the car before it died. This is the first issue i've had with her. All maintenance has been done and only mods are FIPK and test pipe. I ended up having to tow the car and since my AAA only gives me 7 miles of towing i was decided to tow it to Miller Honda in Culver city since it was closest. Reason I towed it to a Honda dealer is because i still have Honda Care warranty.

My question is do any of you have experiences with Miller Honda in Culver City? Anything i should know about this dealership? good or bad i'd like to hear it. Since i live pretty far away i can't just drop by and check in on them. I'm still waiting for them to do the diagnostic and since it's a long weekend i'm sure it'll be while before i get any news. Since i dropped it off late in the evening there were no s2k techs around. The service advisor thought that it might be the starter. Anyways hopefully whatever it is will be covered under honda care. Hope they take good care of my baby i miss her already

RMurphy

If the car just died (meaning you didn't stall it via driver error), then I'm not sure I understand how the starter would have anything at all to do with it. But I'm not a mechanic (of course neither is the service writer).

Even though it's probably the most conveniently located dealership to me, I've never taken my car to Miller Honda. I had a couple of bad experiences with Miller Toyota there some years ago and haven't been back to that group of dealerships other than to buy parts at the Honda parts department. Their parts prices are pretty competitive (and that could be a good sign). That doesn't mean the service you will get at Miller is bad, I just prefer Santa Monica myself for service (even though their parts prices are *not* particularly competitive).

Totally as an aside, you might consider bumping your AAA membership to one higher level. The basic pretty much just gets you off the freeway. It's not much more to get the higher level membership and get more towing miles out of it. I went Premier because it means I could conceivably be all the way out at Willow Springs Raceway (why would I be there, right?) and have need of towing services (why would I need that, right?) and be able to get my car back home or to the dealership of my choice at no extra charge.

Good news is you have the Honda Care warranty, so no matter where you take it, charges to you should be minimal, right?

mr.intel

Thanks for your input! Ya I totally wish I had the premier membership, I've had AAA for 4 years and this is the first time I've had to use them. Thought basic was good enough as a backup but that's gonna change now. Ya the service guy i dealt with didn't really rub me the right way. Kinda just rushed through everything felt like he wanted to get me outta there in a hurry. But then again it was like 8:00pm and seemed like it was the end of his shift. Still, I expected better service. Still no news today regarding the problem but hopefully whatever it is Honda care will cover it.

08S2000

I hope it's an easy fix... I fully understand you missing her.

I know your concern with the dealership but I guess you cannot really expect much more from other dealers. They are all pretty much same to me. Also since you have the warranty, it's your best bet to have the dealer fix it as cost-wise. As long as the problem was casued from defected parts, I think you should be ok.

Keep us informed on your fix.

mr.intel

So I heard back from Miller Honda today. They said battery was dead, so the replaced it. Still won't start (Don't understand why they thought this would work since I already told them that jumping the battery did nothing). Maybe they just wanted to charge me for a new battery. Oh well. They tried to manually turn the engine and engine will not turn. They said something must have seized up inside the engine. They have to do a $1200 engine tear down to find the problem. If the problem does end up being a mechanical failure then Honda Care will cover. Since it's a holiday today Honda Care is closed so I can't call them to confirm coverage. But SA says that even if we ask today they won't give an answer until we find out that the cause of the problem is. I hope everything's covered, since it seems like it's an internal engine issue I don't see how it could be my fault. Hopefully all will turn out ok....

RMurphy

^^ Ouch. Like you said, hopefully it will turn out ok.

Battery may have tested out bad even though it has nothing to do with the bigger problem. In the last two visits to the dealership, they have pointed out to me that my battery is testing bad, and at nearly 6 years old I should be replacing it, but I haven't yet. I probably will at the next service visit.

fm_sd

I thought Honda Care includes towing. I know mine does. You may want to check for future reference.

http://automobiles.honda.com/certifi...onda-care.aspx

Good luck, I would like to hear the warranty covers everything.

177ark

I had a similar sort of symptoms you have described. Car just died, no lights, no power, no nothing. Turned out to be my ignition coil. Good Luck, glad you got the Care package.

mr.intel

Yes you're absolutely right, Honda Care does include towing. I didn't even think to check that when I pulled over. I just called AAA straight away. I tried to look up Honda's towing details online but couldn't find much info and my warranty book is in my car -__- . I read on some sites that they will tow you to the nearest Honda dealership (which is Miller Honda in my care so wouldn't make any difference) but does anyone know if they will tow to dealership of your choice? I'm guessing there is a distance constraint here, if anyone knows how far their limit is that would be great info for future reference, thanks

p.s. Miller Honda called last night to give me an update, so far they're still tearing down the engine and haven't found the cause yet

RMurphy

Ouch. I hope it all comes out okay in the end! GL!