1997 Honda Civic

SRS LIGHT STAYED ON. DEALER STATED "BAD UNIT", COST UNIT:$495.00 LABOR:$119.25 MILEAGE:43,203 THIS IS MY THIRD HONDA, BUT THE FIRST TO GIVE ANY PROBLEMS. ALTHOUGH I COULD FIND NO RECALL ISSUED ABOUT SRS UNITS IN HONDA'S, I DID FIND 47 COMPLAINTS FILED WITH NHTSA(NOT COUNTING MINE). I DIDN'T INCLUDE NUMEROUS REPORTS OF FAILURE TO DEPLOY AIRBAGS, AIRBAGS DEPLOYING W/O CAUSE AND AIRBAGS DEPLOYING W/O INFLATING. I FIND IT VERY DISHEARTENING THAT A COMPANY SUCH AS HONDA WOULD HIDE A OBVIOUSLY DANGEROUS SAFETY DEFECT FROM IT'S CONSUMERS.

I PURCHASED AN AUTOMATIC 1997 HONDA CIVIC EX FROM COSTA MESA HONDA IN COSTA MESA, CA ON MARCH 11, 2000. I PURCHASED THE VEHICLE WITH 27,000 MILES ON IT. TODAY (2/6/03) THE CAR HAS A TOTAL OF 50,734 MILES ON IT. I HAVE PERSONALLY ONLY DRIVEN 24,000 MILES IN A TOTAL OF 3 YEARS. THE TRANSMISSION IS TOAST AND NEEDS TO BE REPLACED. THERE HAVE BEEN TRANSMISSION RECALLS/ WARRANTY EXTENSIONS ON OTHER HONDA MAKES AND MODELS. THE '97 CIVIC UNFORTUNATELY IS NOT ONE OF THEM. I HAVE TAKEN MY CAR TO A MECHANIC NOT AFFILIATED WITH HONDA FOR A "SECOND" OPINION AND THE MECHANIC HAS STATED THAT THIS SHOULD NOT BE HAPPENING TO SUCH A "YOUNG" CAR WITH ONLY 50,000 MILES. HE SAID THAT MOST VEHICLES DON'T EXPERIENCE TRANSMISSION PROBLEMS UNTIL THEY HAVE REACHED AN EXCESS OF 90- 100,000 MILES. BASED ON THE INFORMATION HE HAS GATHERED FROM MY SERVICE RECORDS AS WELL AS THE INFORMATION PROVIDED FROM OTHER SOURCES, HE BELIEVES THAT THIS IS NOT A PROBLEM WHICH I HAVE CAUSED. I FEEL THAT HONDA SHOULD REPLACE/FIX THE TRANSMISSION FREE OF CHARGE OR FOR MINIMAL COST TO ME. THEY ARE STATING THAT BECAUSE I DID NOT PURCHASE AN EXTENDED WARRANTY (WHEN I PURCHASED MY VEHICLE IT STILL HAD THE NORMAL FACTORY 3 YEAR... 36,000 MILE WARRANTY IN PLACE). I FEEL THAT HONDA IS RIPPING ME OFF BY NOT WORKING WITH ME ON THIS ISSUE. PLEASE NOTE THAT I WILL NEVER PURCHASE ANOTHER HONDA AND I WILL BE SURE THAT NO ONE IN MY FAMILY OR ANY OF MY CLOSE FRIENDS EVER PURCHASE A HONDA. I WOULD HATE FOR OTHER PEOPLE TO GO THROUGH THE SAME THING I AM.

THE ACCELERATOR PEDAL FEELS ROUGH OR NOTCHY WHEN YOU PRESS IT. THE CAR DOES NOT RESPOND PROPERLY WHEN TRAVELING AT LOW SPEEDS AND ARE REQUIRED TO MOVE THE ACCELERATOR PEDAL TO MAKE SLIGHT SPEED ADJUSTMENTS. THIS IS THE SAME PROBLEM DESCRIBED FOR 1996 HONDA CIVIC. I HAVE IT ON MY 1997 CIVIC. HONDA WILL NOT CORRECT THE PROBLEM ON MY 1997 CIVIC. I AM CONCERNED THAT THIS IS A SERIOUS SAFTEY HAZARD. IF THE THROTTLE CABLE STICKING PROBLEM BECOMES WORSE, IT COULD CAUSE THE THROTTLE TO STICK WIDE OPEN.

SRS LIGHT CAME ON 1/24/03 AND STAYED ON. TOOK TO DEALER, MANCHESTER HONDA, ON 1/28/03 FOR SERVICE AND WAS TOLD SRS UNIT FAILURE CODE 7-2. I HAVE A 1997 HONDA CIVI WITH 71,464 MILES ON IT. THE PART THAT NEEDS REPLACEMENT IS #77960-S04-N81. THE PART COSTS $368.70 AND THE INSTALLATION CHARGE QUOTED FOR ME WAS $72.00. IT COST ME 85.86 TO HAVE THE PROBLEM DIAGOSED. THE SERVICE REPAIR MAN INSISTED THIS WAS NOT A DEFECTIVE PART, I WOULD HAVE TO PAY FOR REPAIRS. I'VE RESEARCHED YOUR WEB SITE AND FOUND NUMBEROUS BULLETINS DETAILING FAILURE OF THE SRS SYSTEM WITH THE 1997 HONDA CIVIC. I ALSO FOUND RECENT SIMILAR COMPLAINTS REGARDING THE SRS SYSTEM FOR 2003 HONDA CIVICS AND 2002 HONDA ACCORDS. CLEARLY THIS IS A SAFETY DEFECT THAT HONDA AND NHTSA HAS KNOWN ABOUT FOR SOME TIME AND THERE HAS YET TO BE A RECALL. THIS POSES A THREAT TO MY PERSONAL SAFETY. I WAS EXPLICITY TOLD THAT UNTIL I HAVE THIS REPAIR DONE, THE CONTROL SYSTEM FOR THE SRS WOULD NOT DEPLOY THE AIRBAGS IN MY CAR SHOULD I GET INTO AN ACCIDENT. I AM FORCED TO MAKE AN EXPENSIVE REPAIR TO A DEFECTIVE HONDA COMPONENT THAT THE DEALER SHOULD BE PAYING FOR AND CORRECTING. AND YET THEY ARE OBVIOUSLY IGNORING THE PROBLEM AND SELLING 2003 MODELS THAT OBVIOUSLY HAVE THE SAME DEFECTIVE COMPONENTS. HONDA NEEDS TO BE ORDERED TO BEGIN A RECALL IMMEDIATELY, SINCE THEY OBVIOUSLY ARE NOT INTERESTED IN FIXING THE PROBLEM VOLUNTARILY.

I HAD THE CHECKED AT KOLBE HONDA WHEN THE CHECK ENGINE LIGHT CAME ON. I THOUGHT THE PORBLEMS RELATED WITH THE CHECK ENGINE WOULD BE COVERED BY MFG WARRANTY IT WAS NOT. AFTER I HAVE LEARNED THAT THREE SENSORS DEFECTED AS FOUND IN DIAGNOSTIC PROCESS. I WENT ON TO REPLACE ALL THREE SENSORS AND THE CHECK ENGINE LIGHT STILL COMES ON. SOMETHING IS NOT RIGHT, I DO PLAN ON MAKING A APPOINTMENT WITH KOLBE TO FURTHER MORE ON DIAGNOSTIC AND DETERMINE IF THIS IS COVERED BY MANUFACTORY RECALL OR WARRANTY COVERAGE. I ALSO HAVE A TRANSMISSION PROBLEM, AFTER 45 MINUTES OF DRIVING ON CITY STREETS. THE TRANSMISSION STARTS TO SLIP OR HESITATE AT TAKE OFF, FROM SECOND GEAR TO FOURTH SHIFT SPEED ALSO CHANGES. LIKE IN THE BEGINNING THE SHIFT PATTERNS APPEARS NORMAL, 1ST GEAR (0MPH TO 25MPH) 2 GEAR (25MPH TO 35MPH) 3 GEAR (35MPH TO 45-50 MPH) 4 GEAR (DIRECT DRIVE), AFTER 45 MINUTES OF DRIVING IT IS REDUCED BY 10MPH AT GEARS. I CAN'T AFFORD RENTAL CAR IF THE DEALERSHIP REQUIRES TO HOLD THE VEHICLE FOR MORE THAN ONE DAY. MY WIFE AND I AND MY KIDS CARPOOL IN THIS CAR DAILY, IT IS OUR ONLY TRANSPORTATION. DT