Hello, I’m really here for a sanity check more than anything. Basically, my wife and I bought a brand new 2023 Honda Pilot earlier this year with every warranty they offered. ~12,000 miles and a few months later we started getting a lot of warning lights on startup, seemed electrical to me but since it’s under warranty I figured it’s the dealer’s problem to fix. First time to the dealer, they say they can’t replicate the problem so it’s probably fine (red flag #1?).
A week later I start the car and it’s running rough, all the warning lights come up, and I get it towed to the dealer (didn’t want to drive it in that state, if I even could). They state that there’s a misfire in cylinder #4, they swap coils and plugs and it stays in #4 was the last I heard, then I get a call saying the car is ready for pickup but they had to order some parts. I find this odd because I know enough to know if the coils and plugs aren’t the issue then they likely didn’t fix the misfire in a day, but it’s late and I want the car back so I go up there with my wife.
Once at the dealer, they notify me that they had to order injectors and they have no ETA on these parts. I ask the SA if we should really be driving the car if it’s still misfiring, and she tells me they have plenty of customers that drive misfiring cars without issue. Now I find this to be BS, but perhaps someone with more experience in this area can correct me if I’m wrong. My inclination is to go back or call back and tell them that I deserve a loaner car because I cannot drive our vehicle in it’s current state and they have no ETA on when it will be fixed.
TLDR; should I raise hell to get a loaner car when my 9-mont old warrantied car is misfiring or accept it and just drive it around potentially causing more damage?
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Call corporate. This is BS! If they have no loaners? They can rent a car for you!
You might want to post this on r/askcarsales as well. Just simply post the facts.
> plenty of customers that drive misfiring cars without issue
If true, what a shitbox outfit. You are in the right, but you’re gonna have to fight for it., as you can see. Someone else will have better directions but you better be documenting all of this, including taking pics of all the lights on the dash being on.
And you’re probably going to need a 3rd party, or another Honda dealer, to help get you there.
Don’t accept the car back and demand a loaner. Talk to the service manager if the writer wants to give you grief about it. If they don’t have a loaner vehicle for you they SHOULD be offering you a rental car they pay for. Happened a few times when I worked at a Honda dealership.
yeah this is exactly why they are call Stealerships. The car is under warranty, you want it in perfect running order before it leaves the lot. the fact they have the Audacity to even tell you to come pick up the car tells me they are a horrible service department. See if you can’t locate the E-mail or contact information for the owner of the stealership and notify him of the situation. I bet the issue is resolved with in a few hours. unless the owner is a complete asshat as well. but thats a future problem.
The folks here are correct… the dealership should not be telling you to drive with a misfire as it will cause further damage. Whatever you do get everything in writing as you will need it later if legal action is required. Misfires fall under both lemon law and clean air act protection. Emissions components have a much longer warranty period than just the standard manufacturer warranty.
You need a loaner. And you need to start documenting every visit. I believe the lemon law states they must fix it on the third attempt for the same issue. Check your state laws regarding lemon law. Hondas have great reliability that’s the reason I shop there. If my 23 Pilot was acting a fool I’d be pushing HARD to get it lemoned and get another one.
Document everything.
is the check engine light blinking when the misfire is happening?
A newer car like that won’t fire the fuel injector when there is a misfire. To protect the converter. I don’t think driving it would damage anything, but you still shouldn’t have to be dealing with this.
I was a bit confused on “basically a new car” please look into lemon laws. A brand new car should not have internal engine issues. Lemon laws typically have a three strike and done red line. Furthermore a flashing check engine light indicates engine damage can/ is occurring. Keep careful notes about your dealing and phone calls with the dealership. So far it seems the dealer doesn’t know what the problem is and is blowing smoke up your a**. If the check engine light returns or is on/ flashing take it back for repairs.
Study the lemon law!
Question… was the car brand new or did it have a few thousand miles when purchased?? A cylinder misfire is a serious problem that can cause other problems too, including catalyst failure, extreme poor fuel mileage, cylinder damage. Seems to me this vehicle is a candidate for a lemon law buy back. This is your goal. Keep bringing it back to the dealer for the same complaint and then request the manufacturer buy it back because it’s a lemon. Go ahead and drive the car as instructed.
Their trying to run out the clock (warranty) by BSing you and hoping you don’t get other dealerships/mechanics involved. Since it is a Honda dealership, you could likely go to a different one.
Misfiring flashes the CEL because it dumps raw gas into the exhaust and cats which ruins the cats.
I don’t have a good answer for you but I wouldn’t drive the car. They probably let it go because the know it’s going to be a good long time before the parts show up and they don’t want to store the car.
Honda seems to be building quite a big of junk these days.
You should never drive a car with misfires. It will cause more issues.
If they don’t have loaners then they need to set you up with a rental
That sucks, but… warranty length should not be an issue. All 2023 cars have at least 3 years on their power train warranty.