Off topic, but.. accompanied my Daughter to local Honda dealer re intermittent turn signals & SRS (airbag) light staying on. Previously phoned two dealers re the Turn Signal Module. Apparently modern cars don't have the standard "clicker" that was common on cars of the past, they have "modules." Neither dealer had stock of them & I was informed that Civics of that year could have 3 different ones! At dealer, they are very familiar with the SRS light problem as it relates to a sensor on the seat belts. ( a neighbor had the same problem on his Civic) For $$300 + labor it can be fixed. They claim if not fixed it may disable the Air bags! But, even though it is a common problem..they don't have stock of that part either! So my Daughter took time off work with little results & will have to wait 1-1/2 days for the parts to arrive & drive in the meantime with defective signals.. This is modern car service?!

Paul

Common problem with ALL the car companies. Customers have had to wait weeks for certain parts. Even the ones that are known to fail consistently get backordered. Sometimes the vendors are made to update them (so they work), other times who knows. Back when all the banks were failing, so were all the vendors. I had 2 new Ford trucks that needed catalytic convertors and Fords vendors that made them went bankrupt. Ford couldn't tells us when we would get parts. I know we had to buy back at least one of the vehicles. The other sat outside so long I forgot what I had to do to it. Sure makes the customer happy.

Dan      Kingman Az.      86409

My wife and I have Mercedes Benz autos and hers needed rear brakes. Hers is 2001 model . Went to dealership to get them and they no longer stock them. I could order them and take delivery in a week. Now I get my parts at Advance auto. Now thats customer service I dont need.

55Birdman  Hickory NC

Heh, I keep changing the electronic parts in my 91 Volvo to mechanical, whenever possible (using an 86 donor). Sometimes, it's better to go a little rusty, but a lot of reliablilty.

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People should not be afraid of their government, a government should be afraid of the people.

--Alan Moore

Paul,



I don't know where you are but I would hot foot it back down to the Honda dealer. All seat belt safety systems are lifetime warrantied in the US. My elderly Dad bought a miserable old Mitsubishi when I wasn't looking that was falling apart, 91 or 92 I think. The seat belt system was failing. It had the belts that attached to a cable system on the upper door and moved back and forth for entry and exit with a motorized system. The dealer tried to sell him the parts without telling him they were obliged to repair the system at no cost to the customer no matter how old or how many miles were on the odometer.



Mark Hebard

57 Black Tbird 312/auto

Mark, I was wondering where you got your information that safety restraint systems are covered for repair literally forever. The driver side seatbelt tension retractor on my Ranger needs some assistance. I have found a copy of just about every Ford and some GM warranties on cars and light trucks since 1998 on the internet and no restraint systems have a warranty longer that about 5 yrs or 50,000 miles or 6yrs or 60,000 depending. I have done what research I can on DOT and NTSA regulations and find no information concerning your comment.

Wichita,KS

I did a little research this morning on seatbelts and restraint systems. Honda does warranty the systems for the life of the vehicle although they have some legal challenges that show up on the web. You might have to play a little hard ball with the Honda service department manager. As for other companies, including Ford, the systems have to be part of a NHTSA recall to be part of a lifetime warranty or otherwise specified by them. Otherwise the standard warranty that came with the car when new applies. The motorized cable operated seatbelt systems that are connected to the top of the door frame are part of a recall. These were used in Fords in 91 and 92 mostly in Escorts, Tracers, Tbirds, Cougars, Probes, Mazdas and possibly some others I don't recall. These systems were used on a lot of other manufacturers vehicles, principally Japanese. These systems are part of a wide recall. There isn't a blanket lifetime warranty on all seat belts, tensioners, pre-tenisoners, airbags, etc. I was wrong about that. The best information for US built cars is to go to the NHTSA website and look to see if your vehicle has a recall regarding seat belts. There is a huge number of recalls on seat belt systems and parts. When the problem gets into airbag/seatbelt system warning lights and the computer systems that activate and monitor them, the warranty situation becomes murky after the standard warranty that comes with your new vehicle, generally 5 years and 60K miles. Extended warranties cover more and longer depending on what flavor of extended warranty is purchased and who you purchase it from. For instance, Ford warranty and extended warranty programs are transferable to a new owner so the remaining life of that warranty can be used by the person who buys your car. Independent warranty companines who sell warranty programs are not reliable in my experience.

57 Black Tbird 312/auto

The more I read about latemodels the more I like my old cars,my newest is a 89 crown vic and I have two of my girlfriends late models sitting at my house dead so I wont be buying anything newer then 90 and then it will be used as a winter beater as I drive my 65 custom 500 during the warmer months.  She has a 98 Dodge truck with a bad trans and a 96 saturn with a blown head gasket.

Butchering up everything I can get my hands on in Dayton Ohio

I guess I have been lucky. I use pickups for daily drivers. I have been trading every 3 years for many years, but I use a basic model. Crank windows, no power locks, rubber floor model, standard cab. I have an 09 now and haven't spent a cent. My 06 cost a few fuses because I had a trailer with bad wiring. I bought tires for my 03 because the OEM were slick on wet pavement. Other than that it costs about 10 to 12 thousand to trade. My wife gave up driving a Mercedes after many years in favor of an 08 Colorado 4 door with the Z71 suspension because its to much easier to get in and out of. I kept her last Mercedes because I thought she would change her mind. This was a mistake. Its been parked outside for 2 years now and shows it. Its a wagon. I think I will take it out to the shop and let the guys use it for a parts runner. I have the attitude that if I want to fix something, I want it to be at least 50 years old or an18 wheeler that produces income.

Kenneth

Fredricksburg, Texas

Ken, makes good sense to me keeping the earlier still fixable model everyday driver,  at least its still simple to fix. I allways had twincab utes (pickups) but brought toyota landcruiser 4wd? are we allowed to say that? to pull big boat, i used it to pickup long steel tube by laying seats down, could cart 5 passengers, put y block engine on pallet in back to deliver etc, it was comfortable and did everything but was hard on the rear compartment, i made mistake of trading it on 08 nissan navara twincab 4wd and about all its good for is pulling boat and carting kids, the factory speedo is 10 kms an hour out and regarded as acceptable by manufacturer and has those side mirors that show cars further back than they are!and no warning advice on them, a few near misses!! and the list goes on, i learnt one thing, they are stuffed! So looks like i will restart work on the 57 ranchero workshop vehicle to do the job with some credibility.

  AussieBill            YYYY    Forever Y Block     YYYY

 Down Under, Australia