Honda Civic 2018

[misnad]

6 hours ago, matroska said:

I assume you do a lot of city driving? if my memory serves me correct yours is the sonic-grey one that's there in the office parking lot at Dematagoda? Break pads do wear out relatively soon. I've gone with Brembo for my 2nd set. Also the braking on this model is next level. Maybe a trade-off  

yes, that's the exact car. Quite a lot of city driving so I guess that's what's straining the brakes. I guess the stability assist feature also causes the pads to wear out faster than usual. How are the Brembo pads btw? Was thinking of getting those for the front when they need changing (quite soon, I guess!).

Ok so here's an update. I'm going to fix the car issues one at a time starting with the brakes and suspension. I took it to the agent (yes, I don't know what got into me!), but armed with the Hybrid Hub service report. Expected a pushback from them as usual, however met one Mr. Guruge there who was actually quite embarrassed that they had failed to detect any of these issues despite my repeated indications of the same. I told them I wouldn't be servicing the car with them again due to this, however if there are very specific things like this, I wanted to give them a chance. He was apologetic and took a copy of the report to show the rest of the service advisors how to check and explain vehicle issues in detail. Basically, he said that Hybrid Hub seems to be doing a much better job .

After that, he took the car for a 15min test drive and said that the brake discs are indeed too polished (they're almost like mirrors now), and they can get it faced. So, it's good they noticed the problem as well without disregarding it. If the brakes need changing, they'll let me know as well and I can choose to do it with them or outside if I opt for a 3rd party set of pads (I will certainly not be going with the Honda pads priced at 80k+ and last just under 20k km!).

Mentioned the suspension issue and possibility of link failure, to which he admitted that they need to check that properly. I'm guessing the previous times I took it to them, they just visually inspected for grease marks and damages only, which there aren't.

Decision time: I'll take it to the agent on Monday morning to get the rotors resurfaced and suspension checked. Any brake pad changes required will be done outside with Brembo or other brand brakes (any recommendations for this model?). That said, I don't want to compromise on brakes since that's the only thing saving me from entering the pearly gates of heaven (or dungeons of hell) when on the road! As for the suspension system, if links are an issue, I'd rather the agent fix it themselves with genuine, new parts rather than reconditioned / 2nd hand. 

All in all, the car is a gold-digger indeed... but she's MY gold-digger

[RWD]

1 hour ago, misnad said:

yes, that's the exact car. Quite a lot of city driving so I guess that's what's straining the brakes. I guess the stability assist feature also causes the pads to wear out faster than usual. How are the Brembo pads btw? Was thinking of getting those for the front when they need changing (quite soon, I guess!).

 

I've been using brembos since my originals wore out at 20k when new. I've now done around 25k with them with mostly city driving and they are still good. Only issue is they are a bit noisier than the Oem's. 

[matroska]

On 3/30/2024 at 6:08 PM, RWD said:

Only issue is they are a bit noisier than the Oem's. 

I have noticed this - my current combination of yokohama blue earth's and brembo's are a tad bit noisier than the original Michelins and the OEM brake pads. 

[iRage]

On 3/30/2024 at 2:36 PM, Hyaenidae said:

reliable car

Is there such a thing called a reliable car ? Every car has its niggles don't they ? It is just that some even with the niggles will keep running faithfully whilst others throw a hissy fit and take you to divorce courts for all you are worth

On 3/30/2024 at 9:38 PM, RWD said:

Only issue is they are a bit noisier than the Oem's. 

Well..when you move away from the bone stock part it is normal to experience certain different sensations. Original stock parts are not the BEST part for the car but the optimal part for the car to function at its stated minimal capability. So when it comes to things like brake pads the stock pads would have things like braking efficiency, wear and tear, drive comfort, etc...at very modest levels. With after market parts (especially those that are upgrades) will actually have different thresholds for each/any parameters. So for pads like Brembos I would imagine braking performance, heat disserpation, etc... are at a far higher level than quietness, etc... Also, sometimes these parts work better with other upgraded parts.

[Hyaenidae]

2 minutes ago, iRage said:

Is there such a thing called a reliable car ? Every car has its niggles don't they ? It is just that some even with the niggles will keep running faithfully whilst others throw a hissy fit and take you to divorce courts for all you are worth

It's a relative thing; for instance, a car that never sees an engine oil change or even a top-up would usually be less reliable than a car of the same make and model that receives regular oil changes at correct intervals

[misnad]

Got the rotors resurfaced at St**ford. Somewhat decent improvement, however they didn't bother to check about the main complaint, which was spongy brakes. They gave me some nonsensical lecture about how older cars are better than the new Civics and they don't like the new Civic at all since it has way too many gadgets and people who spend a lot of money on things like this, Benzes, BMW's, etc. just have way too many expectations; apparently the main point of a car is to get from point A to B. Ignored the idiot who told me that and asked him why the Brake Hold was struggling when downhill. He was clueless and said that it's normal and it must be the way the brakes have worn in a particular direction. He went on to say that they only tested it uphill since the function of brake-hold is to prevent the car from slipping backwards. Bugger was full of nonsense.

On the flip side, they also spent a day with the car removing the links and checking for any play, which they claimed there wasn't any. If I wanted to change the links regardless, it would be about 54k per wheel. Asked them to place it back as-is. Funny enough, after that the suspension seems to be performing significantly better and isn't wobbly anymore. The only thing is that it still tends to slightly fishtail sideways at the rear when driving at higher speeds over manhole covers, etc. on the road.

Decided to take all these into my own hands and give explicit instructions to whichever garage I take the car going forwards, which will be Hy**** H**. Next step: get the brake fluid flushed and replaced since it is dark + there's most likely air bubbles inside. Figured this out since upon opening the reservoir lid, there was a bunch of bubbles that surfaced too. That's most likely causing the spongy brakes. Second, is to get a 3D wheel alignment done (possibly at Tyreb**s.lk) since they came recommended by Hy**** H**. This is to check if anything on the rear is out of place that can cause the minor fishtailing.

Shall keep you guys updated!

Edited April 13 by matroska
To prevent involuntary marketing for businesses - names censored.

[matroska]

21 minutes ago, misnad said:

They gave me some nonsensical lecture about how older cars are better than the new Civics and they don't like the new Civic at all since it has way too many gadgets and people who spend a lot of money on things like this, Benzes, BMW's, etc. just have way too many expectations; apparently the main point of a car is to get from point A to B. Ignored the idiot who told me that and asked him why the Brake Hold was struggling when downhill. He was clueless and said that it's normal

This sadly is the Honda agent's mentality - they are still living in the EK3/EG8 age - I may have said this before but when you take it to them they are always like this is normal  

The "Hub" and Sta****d are at two ends of the spectrum. I personally have not been to the 'hub' but my friends have. And from their experience, they are somewhat paranoid .

Customer : 'I noticed the oil level has dropped slightly' 

Hub : 'Your engine is done for replace the Engine. Replace the gearbox and replace the windshield wipers' 

at the agents 

Customer: ' My engine oil level is at zero, the engine is overheating and there's smoke coming out of the engine bay' 

St****d : ' Aiyo that is normal sir, here pour some kerosene into the oil filler' and proceed to throw a bucket of water to cool down the engine. 

To replace my brake pads and the coolant tank  I went to this place in Yakkala who mostly deal with Honda's  - I'm generally happy with the little work they did  will not mention names as per forum rules. 

Edited April 13 by matroska

[Dee Jay]

4 hours ago, matroska said:

This sadly is the Honda agent's mentality - they are still living in the EK3/EG8 age - I may have said this before but when you take it to them they are always like this is normal  

True enough.. Local Honda agent would tend to normalize things saying its a common issue with the model and so on and so forth which would dissatisfy people who are in love with their cars (like our fellow Auto Lankans I'm sure ) 

However, they don't usually try to rip you off saying this should be replaced, do this every service etc. based on my 8th year of experience with them.. (eg: while other places would recommend changing DCT clutch oil every service (5,000 km), Stafford recommends it every 10,000 or 20,000 km)..

They usually do the job right and they are the only people I let my Honda to be worked on while the only other place being the place in Yakkala which @matroska mentioned above.

@misnad I've had similar experience with Stafford, where I've gone to them multiple times to rectify a small sound coming from the front suspension which they never figured out upon inspecting on the lift and going for a test drive..

However, when attending to a steering rack replacement with them, they discovered a couple of issues:

1) Faulty ball joint

2) Worn out wheel bearing

I got those fixed at the same time, which eliminated the sound I was complaining about along with a wheel spinning issue I encountered while parking my car in the garage while trying to climb the incline leading to it.. 

So I'd say get a second opinion maybe from elsewhere, which is trustworthy to you and who knows how to work on Hondas, cause other places would just screw your car..

[iRage]

IMO I feel it is with the newer cars that more or less all the agents are mentally screwed with and give BS stories and cover ups for everything. Here out my logic....

For older models, like E100 Corollas, EK Civics, and B12-B14 Sunnies, the agents know what to do with them and are equipped to deal with the cars. Partly because they themselves handled the cars (selling them) and therefore got trained and tooled (there would at least be one old grease monkey who was with them from those days). However, with these new models....they simply did not get trained or tooled properly as, on the one hand, they did not deal with the mass models we got down as grey imports. Secondly, the equipment, etc..requires capital that they simply did not have.

[RWD]

The problem with Stafford and indeed many agents are they don't follow preventing maintenance when servicing. This is all in the manual. They are content to do an oil change, undercarriage clean up, wash and vacuum and that's pretty much it. Then for example when the transmission gives an issue when fluid hasn't been changed as per the user manual, they condemn the car. 

The next big issues for these Civics will be the drive belt snapping. I dread to think of the repair cost for those and how the agent will manage it. Ideally these should be changed when approaching the six year mark pro-actively. 

[misnad]

Forgot to tell you the story of the glovebox damper that I asked the agent to check too. I think the Hub had broken it during their service as the damper was super loose and rattling around. But can’t really pin it on them cos I can’t really be sure as to whether I mucked something up before that. The agent said they’ll check and fix. I got another service advisor to check since the issue persisted upon collecting the car and he quickly removed the hook to find it dislodged from the bracket. When checking again with the fellow who took up my vehicle, he lied saying that they had checked and the damper wasn’t loose nor was there any rattling. Asked him twice, but he swore that it was all perfectly normal when I handed it in. He then found the hook removed so he was like “oh but we fixed it”. He went in and checked with a mechanic who removed the whole damper only to find out the damn thing had snapped from the bracket (thankfully the bracket is a small replaceable part). As usual, this guy told me this damper is a useless contraption and to drive without it since it’ll keep failing. Went on to complain that the damper is mounted with a tiny joint and tried showing that it was completely messed up. Can’t believe he even decided to teach me how to open the glove box carefully without the damper. 
So, damper in hand I now have to get the thing fixed elsewhere cos these agents really ought to be servicing tractors, not modern cars (if a 6yr old car can be called modern, that is).

By the way, anyone know a place to buy the genuine velvet carpets that are for some reason optional with the civic? The agent doesn’t stock accessories.

[iRage]

53 minutes ago, misnad said:

genuine velvet carpets that are for some reason optional with the civic?

Carpets are optional on all cars except for a very few (mostly Chinese). It is mainly so that people can choose from multiple types of carpets from the manufacturer/dealership or go for aftermarket ones.

Having said that, it is also market-dependent. In some markets (like in SL) when you go to the agent to buy a brand new car there would be carpets already included in the price of the car as there won't be any choices. In some markets, they are included with things like window visors, mud flaps, etc..just so that they can be made attractive against the competition.

[GWX777]

2 hours ago, misnad said:

Forgot to tell you the story of the glovebox damper that I asked the agent to check too. I think the Hub had broken it during their service as the damper was super loose and rattling around. But can’t really pin it on them cos I can’t really be sure as to whether I mucked something up before that. The agent said they’ll check and fix. I got another service advisor to check since the issue persisted upon collecting the car and he quickly removed the hook to find it dislodged from the bracket. When checking again with the fellow who took up my vehicle, he lied saying that they had checked and the damper wasn’t loose nor was there any rattling. Asked him twice, but he swore that it was all perfectly normal when I handed it in. He then found the hook removed so he was like “oh but we fixed it”. He went in and checked with a mechanic who removed the whole damper only to find out the damn thing had snapped from the bracket (thankfully the bracket is a small replaceable part). As usual, this guy told me this damper is a useless contraption and to drive without it since it’ll keep failing. Went on to complain that the damper is mounted with a tiny joint and tried showing that it was completely messed up. Can’t believe he even decided to teach me how to open the glove box carefully without the damper. 
So, damper in hand I now have to get the thing fixed elsewhere cos these agents really ought to be servicing tractors, not modern cars (if a 6yr old car can be called modern, that is).

By the way, anyone know a place to buy the genuine velvet carpets that are for some reason optional with the civic? The agent doesn’t stock accessories.

this one is very easy to unhook when cleaning up the AC filter, but a real PIA when putting it back. The correct way is in a diagram in the manual and it's relatively easy if followed up correctly.
Key step is to hook the damper before putting the glove box back together and keep your movements minimal to avoid any unwanted self-unhook of the damper again.

[misnad]

1 hour ago, iRage said:

Carpets are optional on all cars except for a very few (mostly Chinese). It is mainly so that people can choose from multiple types of carpets from the manufacturer/dealership or go for aftermarket ones.

Having said that, it is also market-dependent. In some markets (like in SL) when you go to the agent to buy a brand new car there would be carpets already included in the price of the car as there won't be any choices. In some markets, they are included with things like window visors, mud flaps, etc..just so that they can be made attractive against the competition.

Using the 3M fiber mats however the darned thing keeps slipping under the pedals now that the grips have broken off. It’s a bit of a pain to clean off too. Need to also get a steering wheel cover knitted on thanks to a part of it wearing off due to the 2020-2021 hand sanitizer use.

 

46 minutes ago, GWX777 said:

this one is very easy to unhook when cleaning up the AC filter, but a real PIA when putting it back. The correct way is in a diagram in the manual and it's relatively easy if followed up correctly.
Key step is to hook the damper before putting the glove box back together and keep your movements minimal to avoid any unwanted self-unhook of the damper again.

Agreed. I think the hook was tugged a little too much. Unfortunate situ. Btw, on cabin filters, is yours a pure white paper one or is it one of those charcoal coated filters? The original one with the car was the latter, but the agent replaced it (thanks to rodents taking a leak on it!) with this white paper one that doesn’t really filter out smoke smells as effectively.

[GWX777]

8 hours ago, misnad said:

Using the 3M fiber mats however the darned thing keeps slipping under the pedals now that the grips have broken off. It’s a bit of a pain to clean off too. Need to also get a steering wheel cover knitted on thanks to a part of it wearing off due to the 2020-2021 hand sanitizer use.

 

Agreed. I think the hook was tugged a little too much. Unfortunate situ. Btw, on cabin filters, is yours a pure white paper one or is it one of those charcoal coated filters? The original one with the car was the latter, but the agent replaced it (thanks to rodents taking a leak on it!) with this white paper one that doesn’t really filter out smoke smells as effectively.

No longer owns the beauty though; I used only the charcoal one from V*C. Purchased from the agent in Panchikawatte.

[misnad]

So I got a courtesy call from the agent’s customer relations manager today after my online feedback to their survey from the last job. She was all “oh sir I hope your car is working well now after the job”. I mean if there’s a way to make a situ worse, she checked the boxes. So I had to politely say no after which she gaslit me by asking why I didn’t bring the vehicle back to them immediately. Yup, told her I didn’t want to hear more of the, “it’s normal with these new cars. Long live the old!” that I experienced even after taking it on a test ride. She was like, “oh ok sir we look forward to welcoming you again for your next service!”.

I’m lost for words.