Cool! And if it ever goes, you may be able to find one cheaper than what I paid and drop it in yourself. I didn't know anything about mine until after I had it serviced. I wouldn't have even known where to look for it. Hopefully yours will continue to work, and it just needed a little encouragement...
Similar thing with my 02 ES, I had a bunch of rattles in the right side door panels when it was new. The dealership said they would look at it, and they ended up padding it, but they never mentioned that it was a known issue. Turns out that there was a TSB on that issue. I just wonder how many people just lived with the rattling, thinking it was normal or too much trouble to bother with.
When I was a district service manager, we were required to write a minimum of 3 product reports per month. One report was a specified report on something that the engineers wanted to know about, like the body panel gaps on 5 year old cars, and the other 2 could be on almost any subject. I usually wrote about a problem I saw on a customer's car, and what was done to fix the problem. Those kind of product reports often resulted in TSB's.
Sure they are. Uh-huh.
And yet, Honda is happy to take care of things they know about if only you ask.
Trust me when I say this: there is no way I will ever pay for a transmission repair on my 02 Odyssey. Ever. Honda will take care of it for me. All I have to do is ask.
Anyway, automakers take care of customers all the time, on things the automakers know all about yet don't advertise. Go ahead, stick your head in the sand and say "but they're prohibited from doing so". That may or may not be the case, but the reality is the automakers do have secret warranties, no matter what they may actually call the situation.
As a district service manager, I was the person who authorized goodwill repairs for customers whose warranty had expired. Customers would insist that the factory should cover a repair if:
A) The failure was a common one - "they all do it so therefore I should not have to pay" B) The failure was an uncommon one - "none of the other ones broke so therefore I should not have to pay" C) The failure was an inexpensive one - "the repair is cheap so the factory should pay" D) The failure was an expensive one - "the repair is expensive so the factory should pay"
If the factory is going to extend warranty coverage for a component or assembly, it will issue an SPA, or special policy adjustment, like Toyota did for oil gelling, and notify customers by mail. If there is no SPA, then coverage for out of warranty repairs is known as goodwill coverage, and is determined on a case-by-case basis. The factors that the district service manager (and some dealerships if authorized by the DSM to do so) considers when deciding whether to offer goodwill coverage are whether the customer has mentioned the problem while the vehicle was still in warranty; whether the vehicle has been properly maintained; the nature of the problem; and whether the customer would likely purchase another vehicle from the same automaker when it is time for replacement. If you pretty much want to guarantee that you will not receive goodwill assistance, say "this car is junk and I'm never buying another one again - no what are you going to do for me?" or "this dealer is incompetent - I'm never coming back again." One would be better off asking for assistance politely and saying that goodwill assistance would preserve your confidence in this brand and dealership.
Toyota stepped up to the plate for me on my 1988 Celica, back in 1994. I had some repairs related to the starter/flywheel at an aftermarket Toyota repair shop. When I bought my 1994 Celica, someone at the dealership told me informally about a possible recall or TSB or something, related to my flywheel. I mailed a letter and a copy of my repair invoice to Toyota USA. Bottom line, they reimbursed me for the repair, along with the entire repair bill, which also included unrelated work. I've always been mindful of that amazing customer service experience. They exceeded my expectations in every way possible.
If you are a happy camper and are going to continue to buy Toyotas because Toyota paid for an out-of-warranty repair, then the goodwill assistance did its job. ;-)
Many on the 'net (usually younguns) trash-talk about the "stealership," but I consider dealer service (at least with my Honda dealer) to be good insurance. I've got files yay thick of their service orders over the last 25 years, I've sent my parents to them with good results, and they know it.
I have saved quite a bit of money because I am a good customer and I know the service manager--not because of confrontations, but simply because I've been with them so long. Interestingly enough, so has he...
My last "deal" was two-plus years ago. Van was 6-8 months out of warranty for time, but was still within the 36K miles of warranty. Idle air control valve went bad. $300 repair. I say, this isn't right--I've never had this part go bad, and no Honda part should go bad like this at this young age.
It's 7pm (I love night service). The service writer was new, but my 20 year mechanic was there. He told the service writer to call the manager at home and ask about this. A minute later the service writer came back and said "don't worry, we'll cover it". End of story.
Yep. The manager knew who I was all right, and didn't hesitate. And I don't hesitate to send work their way, as well as sales (there's one salesman there I'd send anyone to).
I have many stories like that.
Yup, a service manager will go to bat for a good customer and ask the DSM to help cover a repair. OTOH, a service manager is not going to try very hard for someone who rarely, if ever gives him business ;-)
Now that I am on the other side, I use the dealership for all services I do not perform myself. The local Toyota service dept. is open until midnight - very convenient!
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