Will Honda Car Failure Jeopardy Your Life?

PETALING JAYA: How far will you go to get your car fixed? In these day of light-speed emails, instant messages and cellphones, an irate car-owner decided to adopt an old-school method of seeking redress — by placing stickers all over his problematic car.

And the message on the stickers read: "My Honda Tak Guna" (My Useless Honda).

To make sure he got the full attention of the car manufacturer, this sticker-adorned vehicle was parked outside the Honda Malaysia sales and service office here in Section 13 — much to the amusement of many pedestrians and motorists.

As to why he had resorted to such measures, events executive Jess Ross said his car brakes kept failing despite several repairs.



"Three months after buying the car, the rear brakes started giving way.After having these replaced by Honda, the same problem occurred three months later with the brakes giving way in the middle of the road.

"Luckily, I wasn't hit by another car when it happened."

After sending the 15-month old car to the Honda authorised service centre, Sumber Auto, Ross claimed to have been told the car had its front brake callipers fitted wrongly during the original assembly.

Even after the brake calipers were rectified, Jess' woes continued with the calamitous Honda Accord he bought for about RM140,000.

Three months later, after getting his disc brake pads replaced for the second time, his Honda Accord started juddering again.

This time Honda mentioned the brake discs needed to be skimmed.

"On June 20 , there was a screeching sound from my front wheels and the car started juddering again. This time, I decided enough was enough. The car was towed to the Honda service centre for a fourth check on this particular screeching issue."



Claiming manufacturing defects, Ross said: "My demands are simple, firstly I want Honda to fully rectify the problems on my car and include a manufacturer's guarantee that such defects will not recur.

"Secondly, Honda could replace my car with another guaranteed problem-free unit. If all else fails, I want Honda to buy back the car at the purchase price.

"Honestly, I am still open to negotiations and a win-win situation I feel, is the best for both parties," he said, stressing he has no plans to remove the eye-catching stickers from his car.

A Honda Malaysia representative said the company remained committed to inspecting, servicing and repairing the problematic vehicle.

"The company would like to assure Ross the affected vehicle will be serviced and repaired to his satisfaction." Still unhappy with this response, Ross asked: "Why is it Honda Malaysia can't guarantee their parts, which serve a basic function of braking, to function properly?

"Is it too much to ask for a guarantee for their supposedly original parts which they recommended we use?"

Story Resource: MIROS CRU

Acura aka Honda Got Top Ratings Mark from NHTSA and IIHS

1. Recently National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) and Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) has rated Acura 2009 sedan as the best car in term of safety based on their 2 crash tests result at Tochigi Japan, and the other in Raymond, Ohio.

2. Acura, which is well known as Honda at Europe and Asia market is the first brand to get the highest rating on the front, side and rear crash tests. Now all Honda fans, including me can rest assured and feel safe driving the car. The details of the story quoted as follows:

For the first time in the history of automotive safety crash testing, an automobile nameplate has simultaneously earned top government and IIHS safety ratings for every vehicle in its line-up.

On March 25, 2009, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA*), as part of its New Car Assessment Program (NCAP) testing, awarded the all-new 2009 Acura TL performance luxury sedan a 5-Star rating - its top rating - for side impact crash safety for both front and rear passenger seating positions. In earlier NHTSA testing, the 2009 TL achieved top safety ratings (a 5-Star rating for frontal crash performance for both driver and front passenger along with a 5-Star rating for Rollover resistance) meaning the 2009 TL now ranks as a top performer in all governmental safety ratings.

In November 2008 the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) awarded the 2009 Acura TL performance luxury sedan its top safety rating of "GOOD" for Frontal Offset Crash Test, Side Impact Crashworthiness Evaluation (SICE) and Rear Crash Evaluation. Furthermore, all Acura vehicles employ Vehicle Stability Assist™ (VSA®), an electronic stability control system that, when combined with GOOD ratings in Frontal, Side and Rear crash protection allow every 2009 Acura model to earn the IIHS' prestigious TOP SAFETY PICK rating.

"Acura's achievement means that no matter which Acura model buyers choose, they're getting a high level protection for the most common types of real-world crashes," said IIHS president Adrian Lund.

The 2009 TL's top safety ratings, combined with the rest of the Acura line-up's top safety ratings from NHTSA and IIHS, mark the first time in history that an automotive nameplate has achieved top honors for front, side and rear crash worthiness for all of the vehicles in its lineup.

"No other automotive brand has accomplished what Acura has, nor can make the safety claims that Acura can," said John Mendel, executive vice president of automobile sales. "When consumers think safety, they really should think Acura."

The NHTSA and IIHS safety ratings are a direct result of Acura's "Safety Through Innovation" initiative that is based on the brand's commitment to leadership in safety. The initiative's goal is for all Acura models to provide a high level of occupant protection along with injury mitigation to pedestrians, as well as increased crash compatibility with other passenger vehicles - regardless of vehicle size or price.

For 2009, all Acura models include as standard equipment the Advanced Compatibility Engineering™ (ACE™) body structure along with a host of other standard safety equipment including Vehicle Stability Assist™ (VSA®), anti-lock braking system (ABS), dual-stage/dual-threshold front airbags, front-side airbags with passenger side Occupant Position Detection System (OPDS), side airbags for all outboard seating positions, front seats with integrated active head restraints, front seatbelts with automatic tensioning system and load limiters, Tire Pressure Monitoring System (TPMS) and Daytime Running Lights (DRL).

Acura's ACE™ body structure is designed to help absorb the energy of a frontal crash, while also helping to minimize the potential for an "under-ride" or "over-ride" phenomenon that can occur during frontal impact with a significantly larger, smaller, higher or lower vehicle. ACE™ channels frontal crash energy to both upper and lower structural elements, including the floor frame rails, side sills and A-pillars. These specially engineered load pathways help distribute frontal impact forces through a greater percentage of the vehicle's total structure and away from the passenger compartment.

Acura engineers have the advantage of being able to utilize two ultra-sophisticated crash test facilities, including the world's first indoor multi-directional car-to-car crash testing facility, located in Tochigi, Japan. This facility has played a crucial role in the development of enhanced designs for occupant and pedestrian safety as well as vehicle-to-vehicle compatibility.

Acura engineers also utilize the company's Raymond, Ohio, Automotive Safety Research Facility to perform advanced testing on all U.S.-developed models. The facility features the world's first pitching test sled, which aids efficiency by enabling economical, repeatable and quick crash test simulations with certain interior safety components (such as seats and seatbelts) prior to conducting a crash test with an actual vehicle. The lab also features one of the world's highest resolution impact barriers, which enables precise measurement of the distribution of impact load forces on a vehicle allowing for even more advanced vehicle designs.

Acura has been the first to market on many safety technologies including: the first production vehicle in the U.S. to offer a 4-channel anti-lock braking system; the first car to have dual-stage driver- and passenger-side airbags; the first luxury SUV to receive a 5-Star crash safety rating from NHTSA; and the first production vehicle to offer Occupant Position Detection System (OPDS) that varies the deployment of the passenger side airbag depending on the occupant's body location.

As part of its commitment to improving safety for all road users, Acura has also led the U.S. industry in the application of features designed to reduce injuries to pedestrians in a collision (such as collapsible hood hinges and breakaway windshield wiper pivots) with a focus on reducing severe head injuries which account for 60 percent of pedestrian fatalities. In addition, the company sought to better understand the dynamics of pedestrian collisions, thus it developed the POLAR II safety test dummy which is widely recognized as the world's most advanced pedestrian safety test dummy.

Resource

New Honda Civic 2009 Sedan Auto Insurance Pictures

1. Thanks to the Honda's proactive auto insurance dealer and an expert with a scanner (",), we now have a good look at the upcoming 2009 Honda Civic sedan. The biggest change is the up front, where the new Civic will get the family smile thanks to a redesigned grille and front fascia. The newly Honda Civic 2009 design seems exhibit the newly Honda City 2009, at least from the exterior part. Maybe it is just me though.

2. Out back, the lighting has been tweaked, but not substantially. Two trim levels have been added: The DX-VP and LX-S, presumably a value and sport package, respectively, helping Civic tweak its price points for broader appeal. The whole thing has an "incremental improvement" quality about it, which — along with "incremental weight gain" — is the same formula that's worked for Civic for about 30 years now.

3. However, all of these Honda magnificient features are useless if we don't buy auto insurance for women. I'm not trying to be a gender descriminator, but it is just for "safety-net" if anything happened to this luxury performance car. Understand?

4. Anyway, some good highlights on this newly Honda Civic 2009 are the incredible interior room, good steering, breaks and handling. Also, not to forget its gorgeous front bumper and grille styling, head and tailight assemblies, USB interface, Bluetooth, GPS and stability control. Yes, you heard me, the car has a built-in GPS!

5. Before I finish the post, I just want to warn you that when this Honda Civic car is out, your teenagers or kids will love it so much. Thus, as a safety precaution, don't forget to equip yourself with teenagers auto insurance. We never know what will happening in the future. Right?

The Best Performance Car in Malaysia 2008

1. Guess what is the best performance car in Malaysia? Among those listed by New Straits Times (NST) are Honda Civic Type R, Hyundai Coupe FX, Mazda MX-5, Peugeot 207CC, Peugeot 308GT, Renault Clio RS, Renault Megane CC, Renault Megane R26, Volkswagen Eos and Volkswagen Polo GTI. Pick your desired car before I tell you about the winner. For your information, I currently drive Used 2003 Honda Civics. Thus, you might tell me that I'm bias.

2. Truly, I'm not that bias as the judges were not me. Anyway, the NST judges ran riot with the Performance Cars, nominating a total of 17 cars split over 2 categories, while Autocar ASEAN (AA) only named the BMW M3, the Honda Civic Type R and the Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution in the Performance Car category. The Honda’s double victory is well deserved.

3. To quote a line from AA, “The New Honda Civic Type R engine is a modern work of automotive art and the focus on performance is second to none. For those strengths and for having the guts to sell such an extreme product to the public, Honda deserves to be rewarded in this category.”

4. We can see from the list of nominations, that the NST team of judges had a lot of performance-oriented judges compared to AA’s panel whose opinions are more consumer oriented. No criticism to either on that count, but some of the NST panel’s nominees in segment are questionable, such as the Hyundai Coupe, 207CC, Megane CC, Eos and SLK200.

5. If you think of it, the Audi TT - the lower end versions - isn’t the last word in performance either. These cars are more show than go, though the eventual choices of the Type R and M3 were spot on.

6. After this, it is time for me to look for Used 2006 Honda Civics. Buying new Honda Civic is not an option. (I broke!) LOL

New Honda City 2009 in Malaysia: Price, Colors and Specs

1. Honda Malaysia Sdn Bhd finally brought us the 2009 Honda City. Before, we are just reading the coverage of Honda City 2009 at the other countries like India, China and Thailand, details of New Honda City and Honda postings can be found HERE. Now the Honda car that we are all waiting for is just arriving on the Malaysia market. Let's see the price, colors and specs of new Honda City 2009, according to my blog resource, Paul Tan.

2. The 2009 Honda City comes in 2 variants, the Honda City 1.5S and the Honda City 1.5E. The 1.5S is the lower end variant, priced at RM84,980 OTR with insurance while the top of the line is the Honda City 1.5E priced at RM89,980 and includes full specs such as larger wheels and paddle shifters.

3. The City 1.5E and the City 1.5S are both powered by the new 1.5 liter SOHC i-VTEC engine producing 120 PS at 6,600rpm and 145Nm of torque at 4,800rpm. No manual option is available. The sole transmission is a 5-speed automatic with two overdrive ratios. Strangely, the Japanese engineers at the Honda City launch claims only one overdrive gear with no specific gear ratio data available, but a quick check from the specs in other countries shows the following gear ratios for the City: 1st - 2.995, 2nd - 1.678, 3rd - 1.066, 4th - 0.760, 5th - 0551. Perhaps they have a different definition of overdrive, or they’ve re-geared it for the Malaysian market.

4. Anyway, if the data I obtained is correct, the City has two overdrive ratios with an additional one designed to lower engine RPM at highway for a quieter and more economical cruise. This transmission is equipped with a paddle shift feature for the 1.5 E model which allows you to swap gears using the left side paddle for downshifts and the right side paddle for upshifts.

5. The City 1.5 S base model’s interior lacks some nice features that the 1.5 E has, such as the compartment under the rear seats (which Honda constantly suggests you put your umbrella there), 60:40 split rear seats with a reclining feature, a rear armrest with cupholder, and it only has fixed rear headrest. Both models have water repellent seats.

6. The meter panel is designed with a triple-gauge design and features a multi-information display that show various “vital statistics” of the car. The two most important features would be distance to empty, which shows you how many km more you can travel on the fuel remaining in your fuel tank, and real-time fuel consumption which shows you how many km you can go per liter of fuel according to your current driving style. You can use this meter to control your driving behavior as it shows you whether your current style is fuel economical or not in real time.

7. The exterior between the two models can easily be differentiated by the front bumper and the alloy wheels. The 1.5 S has smaller 15 inch alloy wheels with 175/65R15 tyres while the 1.5 E has larger 16 inch alloy wheels with 185/55R16 tyres. The front bumper of the 1.5 E model has fog lamps while the 1.5 S does not. The 1.5 E also gains power retractable door mirrors (though both are electronically adjustable).

8. I believe that one of the City’s best advantages over its competitors is the telescopic feature of the steering wheel that is available on both the Honda City models in Malaysia. This allows the driving position to be optimum for tall people. I have always had a problem with finding a comfortable driving position in the City’s competitors. I am relatively tall but what makes it worse is that most of the height is thanks to long legs. Some B-segment sedans and even one C-segment sedan won’t even allow me to push the seat far back enough for me to reach the pedals comfortably. I had no problems in the City.

9. The telescopic steering allowed me to pull the steering towards me until my wrist could touch the top of the steering wheel, I was taught that if I could do this, the steering wheel was near enough to me for the best steering control. In another B-segment car, I was either stretching my arm out to the maximum to hold the steering wheel, or adjusting the backrest angle to a very straight and uncomfortable angle to get close enough to the steering wheel. A comfortable driving position will allow you to control the car properly, and avoiding accidents is always better than relying on airbags and your seatbelt to save you when accidents happen.

10. Coming to the safety features point, both the models are equally equipped. Both the 1.5 E and the 1.5 S has dual SRS airbags for the front passenger and driver, ABS brakes, EBD, Brake Assist, and a driver’s window that automatically stops when something is in its path while it is winding up.

11. Only five colours are available, but sadly no white or red! I asked Honda why did they omit these colours as the red seems to be the new City’s flagship colour while white seems to be quite a popular choice lately, but they said according to customer surveys and the past Honda cars sales colour mix, red wasn’t very popular so they decided to leave it out. The five colours are: Deep Lapis Blue Metallic, Crystal Black Pearl, Polished Metal Metallic, Alabaster Silver Metallic, and Bold Beige Metallic.

12. I’ve only covered the equipment and prices of the Malaysian Honda City in this story, but there’s just so much that has gone on under the skin of the City compared to the outgoing model. For more information please read my previous detailed technical brief of the 2009 Honda City. That’s pretty much all I can cover right now, stay tuned next year for a test drive report!

New Honda City Malaysia Released on Mid December 2008!

1. According to Paultan, Honda Malaysia has officially announced that the new 2009 Honda City will be launched in mid-December 2008! No more wait for 2009 to come, you can grab it this year!

2. They will be having a pre-launch competition soon where you’ll be able to win passes to the launch and the latest generation iPod Nano but the contest website (Excitement in the City) isn’t up yet at the moment, due only to be online this Friday. So get ready to participate.

3. For more Honda news, new release or jokes, crash or whatever, please visit HERE. I'll update more.

Cheap Honda Car Parts Sell USA

1. Are you looking for cheap Honda Car Parts sell? I have no choice but to disappoint you because I think you got a wrong place for that. But I can ensure that you have come to the more interesting area and will benefits your life greatly. That’s a road safety education campaign lesson. Yeah there is a Honda crash you need to see. So be careful when you drive your lovely Honda eh.

2. From the picture, we can see that all the front of Honda Parts was broken off on the post-crash condition. What do you think it collided with? Come on, please guess. Huh you guys are really shy and static. Well, the Honda car was crashing head on with another tough car, Toyota Altis. But too bad, I don’t have the picture of the remaining crashed Toyota Altis.

3. But as far as I remembered, the Toyota Auto Parts condition was about the same with the red Honda. For me, their crash was compatible each other but unluckily for some reason, the crash took 3 deaths, might be due to high velocity impact. The accident was happening when Toyota Altis tried to overtake another car at the sharp corner with double line and ending up having frontal collision with Honda.

4. So lesson of the day, don’t ever try to overtake at double line ok, it is dangerous, not solely to you but also to other road users. Remember your loved ones!

Dream versus Reality? Which One you Prefer?

1. "At last! I got my dream car! Honda Civic Type R, superb!" The car is indeed undoubtedly so beautiful and very powerful machine, which will make everyone's eyes unbearably watching you on the roads. You will feel proud and feel you are the best man in the world. Everybody just respected you. "Hey man, you are the luckiest man in the world, you car looks awesome!" Is that what you want?

2. At the same time, among those mesmerized jealousy eyes, there are also couple of bad eyes watching, planning to steal or maybe spoil the car. You locked the engine, you locked the gear, you steel locked the steering and lock everything that can be locked everytime you leave the car. It's such tedious work but who cares, you love the car!

3. During nights, you can't sleep soundly as your mind keep thinking on the safety of your car outside. You keep looking the windows and without you know it, it's already morning and you barely have a good sleep. As a result, your boss is scolding you at work. Your work performance went down.

4. Moreover, the higher price you pay, the higher cost for you to maintain the car. The maintenance cost is indeed expensive. Your cloths are 1 year old and you never have a chance to get the new one. All your salary has been eaten by your lovely car's expense. What can you do? For your lovely car, anything and everything...

5. You suddenly look at your cubical neighbor at work. He loves Honda too. But he merely has Honda Civic without Type R label and it's not even the newest one. But he looks so content and happy with his life. One day he said to you, "The best won't bring you happiness, but it is the one that make your eyes happy". Huhu I can't translate this, oh my god, what I want try to say is, carilah kereta yang asalkan biar sejuk mata memandang cukuplah, namun hati bahagia, selamat sampai ke destinasi sudah lah..

New Honda MPV 2009 - 12 Seaters!

1. As been seen on the picture, guess what, everyone can buy this super duper new honda MPV with very promising price. Plus, it is 12 seaters! or wait, could put more passengers! This is indeed will value your money, but not your live.

2. Don't get angry lah. This is just a joke. Don't take it serious, at least this multi purpose vehicle still branding Honda right? :D

New Honda City 2009 India is Officially Released

1. Honda has officially launched the 3rd generation Honda City in Delhi in the 25th of September, few days ago. The most awaited car, probably throughout the year has been redesigned completely with improved engines and features.

2. The new engine equipped in the new City is a 1.5L i-Vtec engine that produces a class leading power of 118bhp and torque of 149 nm while it assures a good fuel economy. The all new Honda City comes with a 5-speed automatic transmission with paddle shift for a more comfortable ride so that you dont have to keep changing your hands from the steering to the gear. It also come with a 5-speed manual with smoother wire type transmission.

3. The new City is styled in an arrow design theme along with wide, long and low profile stance of the car that provides great stability during high speeds.


4. The meter panel features a fuel consumption indicator presenting instant and average fuel consumption, and estimated remaining driving range, supporting the driver to drive in a fuel efficient way like most elegant Toyota vehicles such as Harrier and Fortuner. Well thats as far as I know, I heard Proton Gen2 has this feature too.

5. The new Honda City comes fully loaded with all active and passive safety features including ABS (Anti-Lock Braking System) with Brake Assist (BA), Dual SRS airbags, pre-tensioner seat belts and G-CON (G-Force Control Technology) body with a crush-proof survival zone. Honda believes that Safety of passengers and pedestrians is a first priority for Honda.

6. The price? At Thailand, the price is ranging from RM57000 to RM72000, despite of many good feature, this new car is priced reasonably. The new car will come in three variants and will be priced between Rs. 7.7 lakhs to Rs. 8.90 lakhs which if converted to Malaysia Riggit, it will be in the range of RM57k to RM66k. About the same price with Thailand! So what this is supposed to mean? Yeah, price in Malaysia will be in that range too. Hopefully :)

Honda Civic and Proton Wira Crash Highlight

1. I got these pictures, thanks to Sirloinskipper. Let me give some brief review on what actually happens. A BMW (running away after the crash) was racing together with the unlucky Honda Civic VTEC DOHC. They raced even not knowing each other, and not giving a damn that the road stretch is actually a village area that usually normal and sane people will be slowing down. Well this happens all the time here in Malaysia, best educated brain but small minded. Who are the victims of this stupidity behavior?

2. It was a Proton Wira car! which fully loaded with a family of 5 that coming from the opposite direction (Sob sob sob thats why I'm telling you, even if you are the safest driver on the earth but if others not, your possibilities of getting onto accident is just high as others). The consequence worsened when all the rear occupants of the Proton Wira were not wearing rear seatbelts.

3. During the stupid battle between BMW and Honda Civic, the Honda Civic lost control and spun towards opposite direction lane and hit directly with innocent Proton Wira. Then, the Proton Wira rolled 90 degrees towards the left guardrails. Result? 5 deaths, 3 from the Proton Wira and 2 from the Honda Civic.


4. If we watched carefully, both occupants of Honda Civic's front passenger wore the seatbelt. But why the heck the front passenger was dead, but the driver was not? It is due to the rear passenger who located perfectly behind the front passenger didnt wear the seatbelt and resulting loading the back of the front seat passenger. Both died. For details how the mechanicm of loading, check it HERE.

5. Our prophet is always praying that his ummah will not die suddenly. Why? Because when you die suddenly, you can't even have an ample time to make a taubah. And dying on road is indeed what our prophet afraid of happening to his ummah. This is fardhu kifayah, one of us has to fix or at least make it better, or everybody will be punished.

Don't you agree? Feel free to add and comments..

Honda City 2009 Wallpaper

1. As requested, here is the wallpaper of new Honda City 2009. Too bad that the wallpaper didnt show its awesome back view. But who cares right?

2. It is officially released in Thailand last few days and the price of Thai Bath is after converted to USD is in the range of $19000 - $24000 which means in Ringgit Malaysia is around RM57000 to RM72000!!!

3. But I doubt the sell of Honda in Malaysia will be that cheap. It is just inner sense, might be true and might be not. But what we can confirm is the price wont exceed RM100k which is quite affortable. Well, we will see..For more pictures, visit this page.

Don't you agree? Feel free to add and comments..

New Honda City 2009 Car Spotted!

1. This is just unofficial news but somebody has spotted the new design of Honda City 2009 car at Honda manufacturing around the world, respectively on China and India. So guys, if you want to buy the Honda City 2008 car that most people said like an "cloth iron" design, wait just a few month for the new georgeous design of Honda car. The car will be in the Malaysia showroom early next year.

2. The rear of the new Honda car design is so awesome and cool that I'm drooling and really want to have it. By once glance, I can say the rear light and design has some elegancy like new BMW or Mercedes model car. Oh by the way, about the price, rumors said the price wont exceed RM100k, so meaning it's affortable for most of young proffesional people.



3. About the front design of new honda car, some people might said "Wow that is just beautiful" but I personally not like the front design, it looks bulky and untidy. If the front design of this new Honda like Type-R, it is just too great! I do not care though, because about the front, we can modify it, so no biggie.

4. This is the review of cool new Honda City car that has been front page on Autocar India. In India, the release date will be in November 2008. As usual, for Malaysia market, will take some more month. The front look "garang" and fit well for the likes such as me :D



5. As usual, the best interior design of the car for me is Honda. Compared to Toyota Vios, either new one or old one, the interior is still losing badly even with Honda City 2008. Why? I heard that Toyota underestimates Malaysian and value lowly of our ability to consider things. I'll talk later on which aspect of the facts. Anyway, I just want to share with you the dream car which is affortable by people like me. Honda is the best!

Don't you agree? Feel free to add and comments..