A compromise has been reached with Honda. My position is that I can understand the compressor going on a car with 95,000 miles on it. But this Black Death thing, where the A/C is completely destroyed to the tune of $4000, indicates a product defect. I have agreed to pay $1300 for a compressor replacement job, and they will replace the entire system. The car goes into the shop on Thursday.
Category: Politics, Religion & Money
2002 Honda CR-V A/C: $4000 est.
Take a look at this estimate from Bernardi Honda of Natick, MA, for a completely new air conditioning system for a 2002 Honda CRV: $4000
“Compressor Damaged Internally” doesn’t sound like normal wear to me. I’m looking for some honesty and flexibility from Honda of America, and I’d better get it. For starters, I’m already out $108 for the estimate.
I also had the dealer check the driver’s seat. It locks into position, but it feels like a rocking chair when stopping and starting. A couple of loose bolts? Nah. Try a whole new base for over $500. I wonder if the seat as is would be safe in a crash?
What happened, Honda?? These sorts of problems didn’t used to happen.
2002 Honda CRV A/C Black Death
Honda of America — 800-999-1009 — had no record of the dealer calling about the diagnosis of the 2002 CRV air conditioner failure, which has been termed “Black Death.” Honda of America now says they want only the customer contacting them. Very strange. Bernardi Honda of Natick, Massachusetts is a Honda dealer, and you’d think they would have a better communication path than me calling the 800 number. Obviously, this is all done to discourage consumers from trying to get satisfaction. Anyway, the case supposedly has been forwarded to a regional manager, who will contact me in the next day or two, to discuss the situation.
I sure hope Honda comes up with a reasonable response, because A/C Black Death is a common complaint with second generation CRV’s. As the good guys say in Star Wars when dealing with the Empire, “I’ve got a bad feeling about this.” But I should point out that there are FOUR of these CRV’s on our street alone, and I would hope Honda of America is savvy enough to have a database, and check it, before they leave me high and dry.
2002 Honda CR-V A/C Death
I mentioned recently that the air conditioner died in Carol’s 2002 Honda CR-V. The local Honda dealer says it’s not just dead, it’s really dead. The compressor has been “disintegrating over time” and putting metal shavings into the coolant lines. The entire system has to be replaced. Obviously, this not the result of normal wear and tear. The compressor was junk.
We have a case number open with Honda of America, and we’re waiting to hear from the dealer what they’re willing to do about this. My plan is to give Eric my ’98 Accord next year (after he gets his license, of course!), then I would take the CR-V, and Carol would get a new car. Depending on the resolution of the A/C problem, we may, or may not, continue to be a “Honda Loyal” family. I’ll let you know.
A Dismal Scientist
Harvard economist Martin Feldstein (no relation I assume to MAD Magazine editor Al Feldstein) rode to influence in the Reagan administration on the coattails of the loony Milton Friedman’s unreal views about people becoming fashionable. Friedman’s the guy who, in a bit of silly mental jerking off, said a dollar is worth as much — has as much “marginal utility” — to a rich man as to a poor man.
You can blame Martin Feldstein for George Bush’s nonsensical insistence that Social Security needed a major overhaul. The idea was nonsensical because the arithmetic didn’t support the claim the system will inevitably collapse, and because the alternative was to go private.
People have 401K plans, so they’re already invested in the market for their retirement! It doesn’t make sense for people to put ALL of their retirement money into the stock market. Social Security is supposed to be a safety net. It works. Yes, it undoubtedly will need adjustments, but changing its very charter, and the way it operates, is simply wrong, wrong, wrong.
Most people can’t be professional money managers, and why should they be? It’s like saying everybody should do their own car repairs. Duh! NO! And even if somebody is very good at managing investments, or they hire somebody who is actually honest, there are times — like right now — when the market moves down and they lose money. And people much further down the economic ladder, who don’t have retirement plans, need a sure thing. Something to keep the wolf away from the door. That’s what Social Security is all about, Charlie Brown.
Privatizing Social Security was a very stupid idea from Martin Feldstein, a man who is supposed to be intelligent, but he sure doesn’t seem to think very clearly. Tuesday he proved that on the NPR program “On Point” with Tom Ashbrook, that originates at WBUR in Boston.
Did Feldstein say the tax cuts for the ultra-rich in Bush’s first term were a bad idea? No. Did he say the occupation in Iraq is draining America dry? No. Did he say the ideas of Milton Friedman needed to be retired? No. He said we’re in a recession and blamed the problems on Alan Greenspan’s final years as Federal Reserve chairman, and he said the recent incentive checks didn’t work because everybody salted them away in the bank. Talk about being out of touch. Fortunately, a caller named Judy was incensed by Feldstein’s informed yet idiotic academic blather and she got on the air to tell him a thing or two.
[audio:http://www.dograt.com/Audio/2008/JUL/OnPointFeldstein.mp3]Way to go, Judy.
We’re Number #2!
Forbes Magazine rates Boston the #2 city in America for young professionals. That’s good, because a couple of years ago the talk was of a Boston brain drain, with more than half of recent college grads leaving the city because of the high cost of living. San Francisco, an even more expensive place to live, ranks #1 according to Forbes.