The joy was short-lived

[cowgirl8]

When my Honda 4wheeler reached 22,000 miles, and we had a good hay year, we decided to get a new 4wheeler. I went with Honda again and upgraded to one with power steering. It was great, a new design in the reverse is terrific. The power steering comes in handy with all the hog ruts. My new ride, Ghost, was perfect. He sounded a little different, but Julious had been making lots of clunking sounds, since has new rear end. But, i noticed Ghost was kind of.... noisy. I mentioned it to the guys at around 200 miles, at 1 week old. We got some cows up and our son mentioned the sound was a rock in my break. I had to go out and look for a big steer and drove around 50 miles, by that time it was at 350 miles at 2 weeks. I had my head bundled up, that didnt even muffle the scraping sounds. I kept trying to get the rock out of my break.. But then the noise just got so loud i took it down to my sons shop an told him i didnt think it was a rock. Ran in to check on father in law, saw son out testing driving. He then came in and said... "Rear end never had oil in it."
We paid 10,000 for a 'new' Honda that they did not put oil in the rear end. It was full of metal dust and chunks and not a trace of oil.
First, guy asked why we didnt check it. Husband said, We did, when it started making scraping noises. Told us it must have a leak, to bring it in. Didnt hear from them for days. Husband called yesterday and they admitted, someone dropped the ball and did not check it. But, they added oil and its fine. And dont worry, there is no charge. Welllllllllllllllllllllllllll, my husband is a quiet fella, but, they got an ear full.
Anywhoot, here i am now with a 10,000 Honda with a crap rear end. It wont 'end' here. And of course, its just a horrible time to have to deal with this.

 

[faster horses]

Did you buy that new? If so, they need to replace it. If not, I guess it's buyer beware.
But if they care about your business, they should step up.

 

[cowgirl8]

Brand spanking new. Like i said, its a horrible time to have to deal with this, we have a family situation going on. But it will be worked out. I dont know if i want them touching it mechanically if they think a rear end can run totally dry for 350 miles with no damage. Said they've done it before, and it was just fine. My problem now is there are no 4wheelers available like this one. I can change, but, I'm really digging the power steering.

 

[bird dog]

I love that power steering. It has spoiled me completely and would not buy another without it. You may need to call a Honda rep if the dealer won't stand behind it.

 

[chevytaHOE5674]

350 miles with no oil isn't going to be "fixed" by adding oil. Guaranteed bearings and gears have taken damage, also wouldn't be surprised is the axle housing took some damage.

I'd be on the phone with Honda until I had a new axle or a new wheeler.

 

[Allenw]

I think I've delt with that mechanic before.

 

[cowgirl8]

350 miles with no oil isn't going to be "fixed" by adding oil. Guaranteed bearings and gears have taken damage, also wouldn't be surprised is the axle housing took some damage.

I'd be on the phone with Honda until I had a new axle or a new wheeler.

We will. My father in law is dying.. Just a horrible time to deal with this garbage... My son just replaced the rear end on the orange one, they do all the ranch mechanic work. Son just rebuilt a bulldozer, not to mention all the other stuff my husband has kept running for 50 years. I guess they deal with a lot of weekend warriors who dont use their 4wheeler for work. But the real kick in the pants was the comment, "The oil is no charge to you." AND.............AND..... they did not fill the 4wheeler up while it was there. Like, i'd make sure it did just because... just because. No, heads are going to roll....once we know what we're dealing with with his father.

 

[Travlr]

I dont know if i want them touching it mechanically if they think a rear end can run totally dry for 350 miles with no damage. Said they've done it before, and it was just fine.

A question... does it come COMPLETELY DRY from the factory? Is the dealership supposed to fill at point of sale? "They've done it before... "???

On the flip side, if the unit was wet with oil and just empty, you might be okay. I bought a totaled truck, repaired it, and drove it 500 miles before checking the rear end fluid which was wet but empty. I have no idea how long it had been driven empty before I bought it. No signs of a leak, no unusual noises, and I've been driving the truck for a couple of years with no issues since I filled it.

The grating noise means damage. There is no way around that. The dealer does sell their rigs with a warranty, right? I'd make sure their mechanic(s) are certified.

 

[cowgirl8]

I think I've delt with that mechanic before.

My daughter took her subaru to a another local shop, a well known one that has been in business forever. She took it for a simple oil change and tire rotations. Car was about a year old. First tip off was when the guy came into the waiting room and asked her how much oil it held.... (we know this now)....lol.... Anywhoot, she paid for the service and left. Got 2 blocks and car crunched and died. What had hahappened is... Guy overfilled the engine oil. Then, decided to drain some out. He friggen drained the transmission. HOW ANYONE DOES THAT IS AMAZING???? RIGHT.. Still to this day, no one knows what was going on in this guys mind. THEN, the car sits at Subaru for 4 months waiting on parts. Oh god, it was such a debacle she ended up trading it in on another one..........that broke down a month after she got it. Its scary to get any thing new now, or have anything worked on.

 

[cowgirl8]

A question... does it come COMPLETELY DRY from the factory? Is the dealership supposed to fill at point of sale? "They've done it before... "???

On the flip side, if the unit was wet with oil and just empty, you might be okay. I bought a totaled truck, repaired it, and drove it 500 miles before checking the rear end fluid which was wet but empty. I have no idea how long it had been driven empty before I bought it. No signs of a leak, no unusual noises, and I've been driving the truck for a couple of years with no issues since I filled it.

The grating noise means damage. There is no way around that. The dealer does sell their rigs with a warranty, right? I'd make sure their mechanic(s) are certified.

It does get shipped dry. They are supposed to fill it when they assemble it or do whatever after it arrives at the dealership. There is suppose to be a check list which no one seems to be able to find. They tried to tell us it leaked out at first. But i park it in one spot and if i had EVER seen a drip of oil, i would have been alerted and told the guys. I think their problem is, they will be responsible and the warranty wont cover it, they'll have to cover it. And who wants this place to work on their 4wheelers anymore, right.... I'm pulling for a new trade in, they can have this one back, i get the 'new' one i paid for. The way i see it is, it had 5 miles on it when i got it. It was damaged before we bought it but sold to us as new.

 

[EasTex]

I hate to hear that for you. Sounds like a terrible dealer. They should at minimum replace the rear end and provide free service for a while to make up for the headache it has caused. Not that you would trust them to service your ride though after their mistake. Like others have said, try and call corporate Honda and let them know what's going on.

 

[Travlr]

It does get shipped dry. They are supposed to fill it when they assemble it or do whatever after it arrives at the dealership. There is suppose to be a check list which no one seems to be able to find. They tried to tell us it leaked out at first. But i park it in one spot and if i had EVER seen a drip of oil, i would have been alerted and told the guys. I think their problem is, they will be responsible and the warranty wont cover it, they'll have to cover it. And who wants this place to work on their 4wheelers anymore, right.... I'm pulling for a new trade in, they can have this one back, i get the 'new' one i paid for. The way i see it is, it had 5 miles on it when i got it. It was damaged before we bought it but sold to us as new.

And this goes without saying... check the fluids on the replacement.

 

[Brute 23]

If you go on the message boards for most brands you will see tons of these stories. During this last issue we went through the workforce was pretty scarce. QC went to junk.

We had some issues with bolts and things on some we bought too. The dealer took care of them though.

I would point out that they need to either find the leak and show it to you or replace the rear end. There are only 2 scenarios. 1) it did not get filled from factory 2) it leaked out and they did not fix the leak

Either way. They screwed up. Good luck

 

[Dsth]

did they explain how all the metal shavings got in the rear axle if there is no damage? I would be calling the Honda main office like others suggested. Or my lawyer.

 

[cowgirl8]

did they explain how all the metal shavings got in the rear axle if there is no damage? I would be calling the Honda main office like others suggested. Or my lawyer.

Soon as we know what we have in store with husbands father, we'll have to fight this fight later.

 

[chevytaHOE5674]

Not to be an a$$ but in time it took you to start this thread and type out all your replies you could have talked to a Honda rep and ill bet gotten the ball rolling on having it fixed.

 

[Ouachita]

ATV/UTV dealers around here suck. It seems that the idea of being a dealer was/is cool, so daddy helps out son to get started with a dealership. Son is not a mechanic, so he hires one or three as needed.
Son does not manage money well, so he doesn't realize the value in paying his employees what they are worth. Employees quit and start their own business repairing ATVs (this is great, and they do excellent).
The problem is, if you buy new and need/expect warranty, your sheet out of luck because the dealership is dumb as a coffee can of fubar fence steeples.
I've got some stories, but my blood pressure gets off kilter

 

[Ouachita]

Not to be an a$$ but in time it took you to start this thread and type out all your replies you could have talked to a Honda rep and ill bet gotten the ball rolling on having it fixed.

Don't start something you can't finish in a reasonable time period. Honda rep will need a lot of info and paperwork.

 

[chevytaHOE5674]

How much info and paper work is there at 350 miles? Purchase paperwork? Your written complaint?

The dealer would have any other paperwork.

3 years ago I bought an Arctic Cat atv that had issues. Dealer was trying to weasel out of fixing things. A 15 minute call to the Arctic Cat customer service department and an email with a picture of the purchase agreement was all it took. The customer service rep took it from there and the next morning the dealer called ready to take care of everything.

 

[Brute 23]

How much info and paper work is there at 350 miles? Purchase paperwork? Your written complaint?

The dealer would have any other paperwork.

3 years ago I bought an Arctic Cat atv that had issues. Dealer was trying to weasel out of fixing things. A 15 minute call to the Arctic Cat customer service department and an email with a picture of the purchase agreement was all it took. The customer service rep took it from there and the next morning the dealer called ready to take care of everything.

I agree. That is what confuses me about these dealers. My Kawi dealer has fixed things and didn't bat an eye. Most of the time it gets passed on to Kawasaki and he says that.

Same with the stuff on the Can Ams. They ran it right in and made the comment it would get passed on.