While travelling last week, the power lift gate on my 2009 Honda Odyssey failed. Really failed. As in it smashed into the back of my head as I was loading the van and knocked me to the ground. I reported the incident at safercars.gov, the NHTSA website, and noted that 7 other 2009 Odyssey owners had similar incidents.
Anyway, I urge other Odyssey owners to be carefull with the liftgate and report any failures at safercars.gov. There was virtually no warning that it would fail (unless you consider a sucker punch to the to the back of your skull “a warning”).
Lastly, how should I handle repair? To get whacked in the back of the head, and then have to pay for it just doesn’t seem right. The bumper to bumper warranty on this van was 36k miles and I’m over 45k. Do I call Honda and raise Cain? Or do I deal with the service dept at my local dealer?
I Would Deal Only With The Dealer’s Service Manager / Service Director, First.
Should that person not be able to help then I would ask them to arrange for you to meet with the Honda Service / Parts Zone Representative.
Should this not work then I would call Honda and if that didn’t work, I’d go ahead and pay for any repairs. Keep in mind that depending on what / how it failed, there may not be a proper repair, yet. Sometimes new parts / procedures need to be developed following a growing problem.
If / when it becomes a recall you should be entitled to a refund of your repair costs. Get and keep as many receipts, ducoments, notes, etcetera, as you can.
At some point along the path toward no resolution, if that’s the case, is to ask for contact from a dealer Principal / Owner. That person should certainly be enlightened and should certainly be interested in resolving your poblem peacefully. They may have more “pull” than other individuals.
I’m sure it’s not the case with Honda, but be advised that often manufacturers won’t help in a case such as this (possible defect / recall issue) because to do so is a possible admission of fault or responsibility.
The vehicle is 3 years old and parts do fail. Sometimes parts fail prematurely and warranty coverage has to stop at some point. If car makers had to warranty every car bumper to bumper for every problem that every car owner feels should be covered then those cars, including your Honda, would retail for a 100 grand when new.
A Recall will only happen on something like this if it turns out to be a real problem and after a lot of politics.
Parts (in this case lift struts apparently) are weakened and these are also affected by extremes of heat and cold. Since cooler weather has set in maybe that is the cause of the failure.
You can contact the regional office and ask if they would do a Good Will warranty. If not, then this is all on your dime.
Just a follow-up on this. I called Honda USA customer relations first. They were really good about it. I was assigned a “case specialist” who coordinated a visit to the local dealer (whom I did not purchase the car from, but have used for service and maintenance in the past). I took the car in for a diagnostic today and they replaced the gas struts for almost free while I was waiting. The parts and labor on the job would have been about $275. I did have a $50 diagnostic charge that will be waived if and when the recall is official. So worst case, I’m out 50 bucks and have a bump on the head.
A couple things: I let Honda Corporate know that I had been a loyal Honda customer. My wife and I have owned or leased a total of 4 Honda/Acura vehicles, and this is our second Odyssey. Further, I have used the dealer’s service dept. for regular maintenance other than oil changes.
As an aside, the total incident count for the hatch failure is up to about 11 including my report so if you have a similar problem, be sure to report it at http://safercars.gov.