I guess most of you know that after driving used cars all my life I have coughed up dough for a brand new CRV. Now the car has only 850 miles on it, driven only on weekends so far. Today took it on some hilly terrain to visit family and on top of the hill, after a stop noticed some grinding noise on take off. Happened a few times. Stopped car and checked all around and noticed that ATF level is low probably around a quart though haven’t messed with the dipstick on this car yet so the one quart is just a guess. After cool down on the way back no noise. I am thinking it is gotta be the low ATF and am a bit ticked about it (well more than a bit). Will take it to the dealer but want to know how to go about documenting this without things getting too confrontational. What is a reasonable expectation from Honda as far as a written statement. How do I prevent them from not putting anything in writing. I hate the dealerships because they take the car back there and send me to the store to sit and watch TV. Also the dealer close to my house is not the one I bought the car from, I am not sure if this is better or worse.
I would allow the car to sit all night and then look at the level on the stick. If it’s low then I would recommend taking a picture of it for reference in the future if it comes down to that.
You should contact the service manager at the dealership and make them aware of this.
Show the picture if need be and ask for fluid to top it off because I would recommend that the vehicle not be driven at all if the ATF is low even by a small amount.
Ask the service manager to notate this, and the fluid, in writing. A decent SM should not object to doing this.
All new cars should go through a PDI process (pre-delivery inspection) and part of that is inspection of all fluid levels.
When I worked for Honda we regular mechanics did the PDIs as it was easy money for us but most dealers do not have their mechanics do PDIs. It’s more cost effective to have a wash and detail guy who is not a mechanic perform the PDI. That brings you to the question of just how much of a PDI is that car getting from a make ready guy.
You could ask the service manager who PDIs the cars. That might make him squirm a bit. 
Keep it firmly cordial at this point.
Don’t want to seem silly here, but you are checking the level with the engine off, right? Checking it running can give an incorrect reading.
If it is low, I wouldn’t add anything, I’d take it to dealer post haste, and have it inspected for leaks. If it leaks, it’s a warranty repair. Other than that, I’d like to hear their explanation of the low fluid level.
Thanks for the responses. Yes, this is the first automatic I have had that needs the level checked with the engine off. Per the manual 30 seconds after turning off but not more than 90 seconds-it sounds like a pit stop in an auto race.
The dealer I bought the car from is 60 miles away, the nearby dealer is just 2 miles. Any point in going to the original?
The picture is a great idea, just not sure how it will come out. I barely see the fluid myself, have to rotate and have light at it from different angles. Whatever fluid I see there is so clear that it is not easy to see.
Call the dealer you bought it from and ask them if you should bring it in as is or take it to the local dealer, their call. It needs to be checked for leaks or proper fluid level. They will write the ticket with “check for leaks and level” and you’ll get your copy and stamped NC for no charge. That’s your document.
I don’t see any reason to see your selling dealer. Any Honda dealer can handle factory warranty issues.
The warranty will be honored by any Honda dealer, but if you think there’s a problem with the preparation of the car prior to delivery you should probably go back the dealer from which you bought the car.
Well, I would rather not drive the car for another 60 miles with low transmission fluid. On the other hand I want the dealer to see that the fluid is low so that they don’t come back and question my measurement and minimize the problem. I am worried because I feel the driving with low fluid for close to 1000 miles probably has affected the expected life of the transmission but not probably to the 36K mile level that the warranty is. Also this car was probably going to be driven less than that in the 1st 3 yr warranty period. Is it reasonable to expect an extension on the transmission warranty.
If this was a regular transmission I would push for a pan drop to check for metal shavings/chunks in there.