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I have completed 32K on my ANHC. Some unusual sound has been there from the beginning. One of my friend remarked that it is like a diesel engine sound (with lesser decibel level). I had attributed this to the Vtec engine. Not sure if it has anything to do with this part to be replaced.

hahaha.... that was hilarious.

Hi mystic, do update us on the replacement process. Also if possible try to take photos while getting the job done.

Who knows if Volkswagen is also making the recall of polo or vento after 1-2 years down the line, after all Volkswagen is also run by human beings.

IVB, My car is too is affected. I think you are too panicked on this thing. First of all there are no cases of any cars breaking down. I am not doing anything right away, i will wait for the dust and the rush to settle down and then go for the replacement.


About Honda, you are entitled to your views. I think its a good thing that they announced it. Its unfortunate that it happened. It could have been better if they found it early. Current reality is that it happened - we need to do the best under current circumstances.

I don't think there would be a major crash in secondary market unless its been proved that there's any impact on engine life. So my advice - relax, and dont let it stress you out.

Thanks for sharing the concern.

However, I have a few points to make.

Does every single ANHC owner other than me honestly think that Honda dint know about this engine-defect in Jan 2010? Honda is not that naïve Gentlemen!!

Theres no denying the fact that they have not been completely forthcoming and it seems to be a deliberate move taken to safeguard their own vested interests.

Honda would have never sold 50,000 ANHCs in 2010 had they publicly accepted this defect in Jan 2010. However, it is deplorable that this astonishing sales numbers was achieved at the cost of the misplaced trust in the credibility and reliability of Honda by the previous owners of ANHC. To put it milldly – HONDA SACRIFICED OUR TRUST AT THE ALTAR OF SALES NUMBERS.

Circa Feb 2011 and its now a win-win situation for HONDA. The batch of cars manufactured in the later part of 2010 may not have a defective engine; so the sales of ANHC might not drop. In addition, they are getting saluted for announcing the recall, which further boosts their brand vale. THAT’S AN EXCELLENT MARKETING STARTEGY.
Too bad that it was at the cost of unsuspected belief in Honda by a numerically equal 2008-09 owners of the ANHC.


Gentlemen, I was among the people who bought the ANHC within 2 months of its launch. Why? Because of my unflinching and blind trust in Honda and the ego-boost associated with owning a premium brand. The saddest part of the entire saga that is coming to light now (if we have a closer look at the manufacturing dates of the cars being recalled) is that the ANHC WAS LAUNCHED IN THE FIRST PLACE WITH A DEFECTIVE ENGINE !!

It is not that my ANHC has been entirely trouble free. Persistent mild rattling in the cabin, abnormal noise from the steering column, niggling suspension issues were omnipresent in my car. The experience with After Sales also (I tried sorting out the problem with five dealers in three different cities – once when the suspension gave me a teething problems when I drove to Bangalore) has been very ordinary - to put it mildly. Atleast four of them mildly advised me to live with the problems since it was the first batch of cars; I somehow felt those guys were thriving on the brand name of Honda!

In retrospect, I also feel that I was a bit shy in publicly discussing the problems in ANHC earlier, because it was hurting my HONDA EGO. After all, am owner of a premium brand; if my car has all the other niggling issues in any run-of-the-mill brand, how do I justify it !!

But this engine-defect recall has literally been the final nail in the coffin. I have already discussed in ample details and analysed in my previous posts how agitated I feel about it and beileve me am not being emotional.

Once bitten – Twice Shy.

I don’t intend to be the one among the owners who constitute HONDA’S FIRST LINE OF DEFENCE ANYMORE. Nor do I want to repeat the role of the scapegoat whom HONDA would sacrifice to jack up their sales.

HISTORY HAS EVERY POSSIBILITY OF REPEATING ITSELF if firm corrective measures arent taken. And Honda's generous recall is only one part of the corrective action.

If Honda doesn’t come up with a valid explanation for the delay in recall, I think agrieved owners are doing nothing wrong if we take them to court.


IVB

I find your argument strange. If Honda had known about this defect they would have corrected it then and there. Do you seriously think that they were hunting for a solution all this while ??? And do u really think they seriously kept on manufacturing the defective cars ...as part of marketing strategy !!!!

Please learn to accept someone's honesty. They must have found about the defect now and even without caring about the bad name this would bring resulting in the sales being hit they have taken this bold move. How many Indian car makers would do that ?? Man..it takes guts to go public and accept a mistake and rectify the same and you think it is a marketing gimmick !!!! Come to senses and be logical. I can really appreciate how bad you must be feeling but think of it as a positive move from a company who does not want to hush things under the carpet.

@idrive - I have been analysing this goof-up by Honda threadbare in this forum ever since it was first reported. Would therefore request you to kindly go through all my previous posts (if you havent already) before you make your conclusions.

I would prefer to hear from an owner of 2008-09 ANHC, whether Iam wrong in asking Honda the reasons for delay in recall.

Honda has not replied to my mail yet, in which I had sent them a few tough questions.

Infact I feel Honda should publicly come out with a press release explaining the reason for the delay in recall.

In its absence, i would still stand by my view that delaying the recall was indeed a SMART MARKETING STRATEGY so that ANHC sales dont drop in 2010.


On a lighter note...
Am happy to infer that Honda's Defence mechanism spans all across TBHP :)

^^ I guess it's not exactly Honda's defense mechanism, it is generally human nature. If something like this happens to Mitsubishi, it is nothing but natural for all Cedizens to stand up in defense.
Unless someone witnesses in person the entire replacement sequence and posts here, we wouldn't know how big or how small is the issue of this spring-thing.

Even if we take all arguments into considerations, it is a good sign that manufacturers are willing to recall cars in India too. A few years ago, they might recall elsewhere, but not in India, because standards in India are always lower!! Honda had recalled Civic in US too. This is a common thing in developed countries. Now happening in India is good.

IVB,

I can understand your outburst considering that you had paid a premium for the car. Honda coming out with the recall for replacing the suspected defective lost motion springs cannot be attributed to smart marketing tactics to sell ANHCs in 2010. May be the problems related to the part must have started surfacing recently and that too with a particular manufactured set and in order to avoid any further embarassment, it was a prudent decision to recall all those cars who had the suspected defective part and get the replacement done.

Also would there be any guarantee that post 2009 ANHC sold would have parts which would be defect free. I doubt it. So the general maintenance practice is dont mess with the working instrument, troubleshoot only those who have a problem.

+1 If Honda had known about this defect an year ago they could have avoided majority of this recall and not to mention the bad press and cost. They would really stupid to sit on this for a whole year. Mind you this is a global recall and not just India specific.

So you are saying Honda didn't know about this problem at all, right?

Then what is the guarantee that cars after the faulty batch don't have this problem?
If they don't have, why not?
Only reason we can think of is, Honda found this issue and fixed it for the remaining cars Most probably someone in Honda R&D would have found this out, may be in 2009 itself after getting feedback of strange noises etc from customers.

Please understand that this recall is not based on some faulty airbags or something like that. If it was something to do with accessories like airbags, it is easier to understand since one batch of airbags delivered might have been faulty and hence the recall.

This issue is something within the engine.

Why not mods,senior BHP-ians etc try to help out Vagabond in getting proper answer from Honda? T-BHP is big in automotive circles and no one will try to ignore since the reach and influence of this site is tremendous, especially after Skoda incident.

Your observation would have been logical IF and ONLY IF Honda was actually admitting that there is something wrong. Crouching it in terms like preventive replacement and so on (see my email above) shows that they are trying to get a spin on the matter.

Myself and my friend(both own ANHC) got a call from Honda today (from 2 different dealers) for fixing an appointment to get the replacement of the part done. We've fixed the appointment for tomorrow. We've registed on the website on the 1st day of the recall announcement and entered our details so that the workshop people can contact us for the replacement.

Hi vvrchandra, please update us on the replacement process.Also try to take photos of the old and new part respectively and to what extent engine is opened etc.

It will be very interesting to see how Honda manages this recall, but i am sure if any of the Honda's top official reads this thread, they along with other manufacturers will be thinking twice before doing any recalls in future:uncontrol

They have actually admitted something is wrong. That's why its a recall. Fit in US and Jazz elsewhere have the same recall for similar spring in the engine. And the number of vehicles recalled is more. Since it comes with 1.5 L engine that is shared by city here.

Since you are addressing the term 'preventive replacement', its an alternative to the term 'recall'. Its to avoid potential disaster from happening. You call it Recall or preventive replacement, its one and the same.

Luckily for customers, because of this problem there have been no known accidents. Otherwise it would have been major cause of worry. Especially who does higher running.

I talked to a guy in my office who has a fit and he said casually - 'its not a big deal, recalls happen, i am gonna go to workshop, get it checked and will see if mine needs replacement. Atleast it won't take my life like the Toyota's do and is not hidden from me'.

This are his words, not exact ones but similar.

While in no way applauding Honda's recall, I feel its a good step. As long as car's engine remains safe, and no damage happens over long term to user and car, what's the big deal?

They haven't explained the delay in recall worldwide. I doubt if they will reply to IVB explaining the same.

Still i appreciate your's and other members trying to get to the root cause, but some things are best left as it is. Get the springs replace and enjoy.

Just my 2 pennies.