[elder prep]

All,
My apologies if this has topic already been started but I could find the thread. A few posts in my reading since I purchased my Elite PP back in late April was that Honda doesn't monitor our Forum. If this is so, to me, this is very foolish as our Forum could and does provide the best possible owner experiences with their new vehicle. Comments?

 

[herothedog]

Extremely doubtful. The problem with forums is they are anecdotal at best, highly opinionated, and are an extremely narrow sample of the consumer base. There may be people who work for Honda on the forum by coincidence because they own a PP, but by most standards, it would probably be against company policy to respond without being a designated spokesperson. Car brands look to industry-standard feedback like JD Powers, Consumer Reports, and the major media outlets such as Car and Driver and CNET. Fixes come from data out of warranty repairs and service center complaints (or calling Honda directly in rare cases).

 

[stevenD]

All,
My apologies if this has topic already been started but I could find the thread. A few posts in my reading since I purchased my Elite PP back in late April was that Honda doesn't monitor our Forum. If this is so, to me, this is very foolish as our Forum could and does provide the best possible owner experiences with their new vehicle. Comments?

Great point!, but while it makes perfect sense to do such a thing, I am relatively sure either (1) they don't do it or (2) they do not listen to or value the opinions expressed in here.

My gut feeling tells me that Honda-Japan dictates pretty much everything that is released in the US/Canada, and as evidence I will present the following;
Remember when the Passport was first released to Jounalists to drive in Moab, Utah? When EVERY single write-up and You-Tube video COMPLAINS about Honda marketing the Passport as being off-road capable, yet they equip it with 20" low profile tires & rims?

Honda's idea of off-roading is mud-flaps and cross bars!

If they listened or better yet; CARED about what people were saying, at minimum there would be some 18" Rims with some even basic off-road Tires as an Option for 2020, instead they did NOTHING, absolutely no changes, I guess the low sales means the Passport will be exactly the same for the next 5-10 years, eh Honda?

 

[storm303]

No. Honda is very out dated and has pretty awful corporate customer service. They might listen if you make them look bad on Twitter, but Twitter is for twits. In reporting the Sensing and collision mitigation braking sensor false positives and general awful performance of lane keeping and automatic cruise control directly to Honda Corporate, they respond with pathetic form letters and wont even respond to further inquiry, beyond saying the vehicle is perfect and take it to a technician. This is an obvious design or software issue for every single vehicle and is a problem for those of us driving in urban areas.

A forward thinking company would at least investigate and listen. My response is sadly going to be to file formal complaint with NHTSB and only then will Honda listen.

I like the car but it has many issues and Honda doesn't have any channels to talk to them without a bunch of work for you, and then they just ignore you. It will weigh heavy on my decision to leave the brand when I trade this car in.

 

[Gmjohnson]

Extremely doubtful. The problem with forums is they are anecdotal at best, highly opinionated, and are an extremely narrow sample of the consumer base. There may be people who work for Honda on the forum by coincidence because they own a PP, but by most standards, it would probably be against company policy to respond without being a designated spokesperson. Car brands look to industry-standard feedback like JD Powers, Consumer Reports, and the major media outlets such as Car and Driver and CNET. Fixes come from data out of warranty repairs and service center complaints (or calling Honda directly in rare cases).

I hope you’re correct about Honda monitoring Consumer Reports. The magazine just came out with its reliability ratings, and the PP landed at the bottom of the list for all Hondas...somewhere in the teens. Dismal.

 

[darksky]

I hope you’re correct about Honda monitoring Consumer Reports. The magazine just came out with its reliability ratings, and the PP landed at the bottom of the list for all Hondas...somewhere in the teens. Dismal.

Mostly because of the complaints about the infotainment system and some of the driver assist features. Unfortunate that these features lead to a low rating while at the same time actual driving performance scores well.

 

[storm303]

I hope you’re correct about Honda monitoring Consumer Reports. The magazine just came out with its reliability ratings, and the PP landed at the bottom of the list for all Hondas...somewhere in the teens. Dismal.

I've got my gripes with Honda but CR doesnt like them and reliability ratings on a first year car are statistically useless. I put almost zero stock in CR who is a for profit reviewer.

 

[Gmjohnson]

CR is a not-for-profit. There is another organization with a similar name that is for-profit, but not Consumer Reports.

 

[Wrascal]

I too place much confidence/ trust in CR findings.

Sometimes I may choose to read between the lines and will pick out the areas that are of importance to me (driving dynamics). In my case the audio / drivers assistance work as advertised, YMMV.

 

[herothedog]

Regardless of the funding status of CR a recent example (and I seem to recall others) Tesla got dinged by CR and they went and fixed a bunch of problems CR pointed out to get a better score from CR.

Although it is up to the manufacturer to pay attention or not, CR seems to be one that gets attention.

 

[Gmjohnson]

I logged into CR’s website this morning to see if I could get more details on their reliability score (18/100!). The top reported issues relate to climate controls, in-car electronics, and body integrity. All of those items have been reported here, on multiple occasions.

 

[Wrascal]

body integrity - whats the back story there?

 

[herothedog]

body integrity - whats the back story there?

Yeah, I'd like to know that one too... Hopefully, that is the 1 vehicle recall on the welds.

 

[elder prep]

There is a thread here on the Forum that one of us found what appears to be missing welds. Search for it for the details.

 

[storm303]

CR is a not-for-profit. There is another organization with a similar name that is for-profit, but not Consumer Reports.

You are correct, I did not know this, because they collect lots of money for their subscription services and magazine. I made a poor assumption they were for profit.

Still, I find their formulas nebulous and not statistically accurate in all cases, even if they probably mean well. Plenty of data is taken from consumers and not experiencing the products in all cases. Rating a complex system like a car low reliability over navigation problem reports or even the more serious sensing, which I loathe on this car, is not representative on the entire product in my opinion. I had a Kia which got excellent reliability ratings and had a transfer case fail early and later an engine failure- all on a well maintained vehicle that was just out of warranty (by only 2k miles). At least I know Honda can make an engine that lasts.

I'd rather Honda not listen to web sites or pundits or forums, but listen and make it easy to have a real discussion with them directly. They have so much red tape and form letters and trained monkeys in the way, that you have to waste hours upon hours to get a real design or manufacturing problem in front of them.

 

[Gmjohnson]

Re: body integrity (from the website):

“Squeaks, rattles, wind noises, loose or cracked seals and/or weather-stripping, air and water leaks.”

storm303, I would recommend you research Consumer Union’s testing methodology before dismissing them. They do extensive testing of products as well as member surveys to come up with their conclusions and recommendations. They rely on subscribers and donors to fund their efforts, since they do not accept advertising. They are as neutral a source of such information for consumers as you can find, and they’ve been doing this for over 75 years, so they know something about testing and data gathering.

Are they perfect? No. I don’t think their initial quality metric for the PP is as solid as it will be in a few years. The statistical sample is small, given the car has only been out less than a year, and it’s not a big seller yet, either. Having said that, I think they are directionally accurate in identifying some problem points that posters on this forum have identified.

 

[carpayments4life]

If I'm going to take a chance on a new year model, I feel safer with a Honda or a Toyota.
As far as Consumers Reports is concerned, they started bashing Honda/Acura around 2006.
I bought a new 2006 Civic, kept it for 10 years and never went in for any type of repair, but CR listed it as less than average reliability. The same with my 2008 Civic Si and my 2007 MDX.