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Quality issues

175K views 490 replies 151 participants last post by  dtownz_thrillah 
#1 ·
So have had my 18 Ody Elite for a few days and have noticed some probs with build qualities/flaws. My rear bumper on the left and right side where it joins the quarter panel by the wheel well do not line up. The left side sticks in while the right side sticks out. Also a plastic trim in interior rear roof partially fell off that took some time and force to get it back in, and it's still not fully flush. A car won't be perfect, especially this is a Honda, not a luxury car so those I can live with. Though the bumper is quite annoying since you can tell it's not flush. What's got me a bit mad was they made a mistake when building it. The elite has gloss black trims. In the dashboard on the right and left ac vents there are supposed to be gloss black trims around it. My right vent has it, but the left vent has a normal black matte trim. Somebody fell asleep when building my car...I'll have to call the dealer after the long holiday weekend to see how we are going about to get this fixed. If you have an elite make sure your trims are right!
 
#38 ·
I may have heard this noise at the end of my test drive on the Elite I just bought. I haven't a clue what it was yet. I am not worried yet as it is under warranty and I have to take it to the dealer anyway to get some things installed.

It was almost dark at pick up so I'll look around the van when I have time in the morning.
 
#3 · (Edited)
I am so sorry to hear that! That is also what I am afraid of. I have purchases three Honda vehicles in the past, two built by the Marysville plant and one built by the 狭山 (Sayama) plant, all had great finish. Yet the Acura MDX (built along Odyssey at the Lincoln plant back then) I saw at an auto show (!) had stitching problems on the leather seats that should have prevented the car from leaving the factory in that state.
 
#5 ·
If your dealer can fix those QC items to your complete satisfaction - great. If not Honda USA needs to step up quickly and replace it with a vehicle worthy of its $50k with sales tax cost.
Or else? Or else the new Ody will start getting the same negative rep that the Pacifica gathered its first months on the market.
 
#7 ·
Good to know, thanks for the info. I'll need to check out a few elites to see if I notice any similar fit/finish issues.

The dealer should absolutely fix these and if not I expect corporate to make it right. From experience Honda is usually good at working with owners but sometimes it does take a little effort to get them to see it your way.

Let us know what happens!
 
#10 ·
I'll take some pics tomorrow and share with you guys so you can watch out for these when looking at the car. I believe there will be these kind of imperfections across all vehicles. When I was looking at pics/videos to verify the gloss black trims, a dealers video showed the trim around the left side of the dashboard controls where the rear door controls are were not exactly flush, you could tell there was a gap. So I looked at mine and it was flush with no gap.
 
#16 ·
Honestly until we get a larger sample size I don't think we will know how much to be concerned. But realistically I think you will almost always find a few issues here and there regardless of manufacturer. Let's just hope it's not a widespread issue. I should be taking delivery of my elite this week and as more deliveries occur we should start to get a better idea of how widespread certain issues might be. Fingers crossed this is not a widespread issue and pennidragon can get his issue fixed quickly and painlessly.
 
#17 ·
Any mechanical problems will probably take many miles of driving to surface.

Cosmetic problems are normal, even though annoying, in the first months of a new design. They don't mean the sky is falling.

Dave
 
#18 ·
Here are the pics. Sorry I tried to take a couple and it's the best I could do it's kind of hard to see but the bumper and trim pieces are the ones that are not flush. It's not as obvious in the pics. For the dashboard you can see the left and right trim around the ac vent is clearly diff. Both should be gloss black but only the right one is
 

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#19 · (Edited)
The difference between the two trim pieces are glaring. Looking at pictures of the rear bumper cover, it looks as if the right side just needs to be pushed in for the clips to engage - I have bumped into things at low speed a couple of times in the past and my bumper cover got dislocated at that same location and I was able to push it back it. I do have two questions though: 1) the rear splash guard appears to be installed on the right, why didn't the dealer address the obvious bumper cover issue then? 2) The second picture shows the back side of the rear left wheel well, right? I see no splash guard there, in addition I don't see either of the two screws running along the edge of the bumper cover - I'm sure the lower one would have been outside this picture, but the upper one should be visible; the screws are in place even on vehicles without splash guards, so that installing a splash guard would not involve drilling.
 
#20 ·
My question is why wasn't a pre purchase inspection done? I know it's exciting to get a NEW new car, but for the money spent I always go over a cars panel lines looking for uneven gaps, and I take a good 30 minutes away from the sales people and anyone else who are a constant distraction and really give the vehicle a good look inside and out.
 
#21 ·
I've been worried about this somewhat. Seems like Honda quality control has been lacking the last few years. I saw this when I was following the release of the latest generation Fit. Hopefully this are somewhat isolated incidents but not looking good with as few units that are in circulation so far.
 
#25 ·
We just took possession of our black touring. I don't know how I missed this at the dealer, but the plastic trim next to the drivers side door is warped. See attached for picture. Maybe it popped out on the drive home, I'm not sure. Regardless, they'll be taking care of it. Also, I noticed the plastic step on the driver side is a bit wonky as well. Moves and pops when you step on it. Passenger side is fine.

We just got it, but are very happy with everything else so far. These wouldn't change our decision, but annoying and hopefully not indicative of anything else.
 

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#27 ·
omg sorry but that a/c vent trim mishap is hilarious. haha. that would bother me soo much.. i'd be driving thinking the whole right side is heavier.

as for the rear bumper.. do you think its just not bolted/glued/whatever tight enough or maybe it is warped?
 
#31 ·
I picked up an Elite yesterday. Today I noticed the trim piece just beneath the glass on the rear door does not align to the corresponding piece on the adjacent LEFT panel with the rear door closed.... about 1/4" gap. The right looks fine. Sigh... will be seeing what the dealer can do. Really disappointed. Will post a picture if anyone is interested.
 
#32 ·
I'm interested, so please post a photo or two.

It's interesting that most of these problems are with the Elite - The same model/trim that Honda used at their press release in Hawaii. Makes me wonder if the "Elite" units being delivered to dealers are part of the very first production run that included the press vehicles. If so, I hope Honda corrected some of these problems before the next production run which was likely for the EX-L's and EX-L NAV/RES .
 
#33 ·
Maybe a dumb question....is there any number on the VIN to designate either when it was produced or the number off the production line? I know the VIN ends in several numbers and I didn't know if that was the production number of the vehicle, i.e. if It ends in 0000100 it was the 100th vehicle produced?
 
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