SHAME - Chiswick Honda and Honda UK

Help & Advice Praise or Shame
1

In January my new CB1000R stalled then fired up, ran on one cylinder then kicked me off the bike in the middle of a dual cariageway doing over 1200 quids worth of damage.

Chiswick Honda took ages to diagnose the bike (apparently they did not have the software?? erm… main dealer?), they came back with a very poor explanation as to the cause, did not explain what they had done to diagnose it and that has not restored my confidence in the bike at all. The bike is no longer stalling but is running ‘lumpy’.

Whilst it was in thier yard for 2 weeks it has furred up on key parts and the chain rusted. I have done my best to clean it, but its not looking healthy even after scrubbing with toothbrushes and WD40.

Chiswick messed up the insurance claim situation, did works that were not required and overcharged me for the works.

They failed to adequately diagnose other issues with the bike.

I was not a happy honda owner, so I wrote to Honda UK explaining my greivances in detail. I cc’ed in Chiswick.

I waited to hear from Honda UK. I made it clear in my original letter that I did not want Chiswick to touch my bike again and I will be using Dobles.

I recieved a single message on my phone from Chiswick, I have been very busy with work and have not had a chance to call them back because they close at 6pm, and frankly was not interested in taking my bike back to them. The message even suggested that I book in for my 4k service. Errr hello, I AINT TAKING IT ANYWHERE NEAR YOUR SERVICE YARD AGAIN MATE.

I recieved a letter from Chiswick asking to bring the bike back. I waited to hear from Honda UK.

Today I recieved a letter from Honda UK. No explanation as to the root cause of the crash, just as wooly as Chiswick. No acknowledgement that i was contacted by another CB owner who had the same crash issue. They told me to return the bike to Chiswick despite my protestations to the otherwise.

They have offered to refund me for the works that were not required (fork oil), and look at the rust issues with the possibility of a warranty issue “if appropriate”. Fair enough.

They told me to take the bike back to chiswick and speak to chiswick about thier handling of the insurance and overcharge and the lack of any delivery of a part I have already paid for.

*This does not address my safety concerns with the bike at all. I am riding it like a pussy coz it feels lumpy and has kicked me off already. I am gutted. * They seem to think that I am more interested in the cosmetic issues with the bike than the possibility of it crashing me into a bus or whatever!

I have the bike booked in for its 4000 mile with dobles, as well as various exploratory procedures to try and work out whats wrong with the bleeding thing, but it looks like I will be forced to give the bike back to chiswick to get them to explore a possible warrenty replacement of the rusted parts (the bike is 4 months old FGS) but I dont hold out much hope TBH.

I think I will be selling the bloody thing, you cant ride a bike you have no confidence in. I hope I hope I hope Dobles can fix it coz I have no faith whatsoever in Chiswick. Overall I think buying the CB1000R has been an incredible waste of money and wish I had my 07 Fazer back. meh. I refuse to chuck good money after bad.

2

all fair comments m8 but why did you take the bike back when work was finished etc when the bike was in a state? not a dig or owt just did you not see these issues when you picked it back up?

3

I saw the crash bung was not fixed but i did not see the extent of the furring untill i got back home and gave it a good scrub. Bit of a rant above, its been a long day and i’m tired :slight_smile: I will contact Chiswick and chill a bit see what they have to say, but look forward to dobles giving it a good going over. Still it s anew bike and i shouldnt have to put up with this i think.

4

Check the trading standards website - there you can see specific legislation regarding the sale of goods and what to do if things go wrong - it’s worth calling them too so that you can get a case ref - this is handy if you still don’t get any joy from Honda and want to pursue it.

You can apply certain bits of that Act to your bike and the current situation.

You should also keep a record of all contacts you’ve had with them (if you’ve not already done this). The dealer needs to fix the defects in what is termed a reasonable time (I think) at the same time you should not be put at a loss (financially) for the delay of getting your bike back.

It’s no wonder Honda UK sent you back to Chiswick - it’s their main dealer in the UK.

Please check the websites / seek trading Standards advice on this though - you’ve paid a lot of money for the bike and there are things in place to protect you as a consumer so it’s worth taking advantage of that.

5

Shocking story. Just shows how important it is to know how good the dealer/shop your dealing with is before investing (or in this case wasting) your time and hard-earned money with them.

Hope you get a win-win out of this!

I’m really losing confidence in Honda after reading some of the stories in our Forums. Dodgey sumps, poor customer service and then bad comms.

6

I cannot trust any member of Honda Chiswick. I found from the very first moment I went in there to find my first motorbike that they were pushy, rude and were only concerned in the colour of my money and nothing to do with what was best for me.

They tried ripping me off, and when questioned they tried to justify it by being the biggest Honda dealer etc…

I am not surprised people are constantly complaining about their lack of customer service and knowledge of bikes (surely if youre the biggest Honda dealer there should be one bright spark in there out of the 30+ employees that has a clue about bikes).

After reccomendation from two different people over the period of me looking for my motorbike, I headed 40miles down the road to Honda in Reading, and I have never been more satisfied, they really work hard to ensure that the customer is happy, and any complaints they may have they take seriously.

I definately reccommend them, they have always been helpful, and advised me a lot before buying my bike, they werent just interested in making money out of me (even offered better deals than Chiswick). And their aftersales, is just as good. None of this waiting for 2 weeks nonsense to book the bike in for a service, if you call them up on a Monday, they probably can fit you in for a service within the week.

I cant sing their praises enough… I dont mind the 40mile trip down to them either, least I know with them that I wont get messed about which is something I cannot say about Chiswick’s honda.

Good luck with sorting of the issues with the bike, really quite shocked at how a relatively new bike, has turned out so wrong, and can totally sympathsis with the lack of confidence in the bike. But am not at all shocked at the **** service from Chiswick.

7

I think in your situation I would be working out how to word the following without meaning to sound like blackmail:

Make it clear you want a FULL refund with all service costs refunded as you are not happy with the corrosion issue with the bike. This gives them an easy way to accept responsibility without accepting there is a possible safety issue with the bike. They key words are you are ‘rejecting the goods’, (check the sales of goods act for exact wording).

Imply if they don’t do this you will be perusing a case for any injury/accident compensation etc. Also imply trading standards and the health and DVLA regarding it being a safety issue.

From what you’ve posted I wouldn’t want to deal with the garage or Honda again with this bike. Send the letter to the bike shop you purchased it from (as they are legally responsible) and send copies to Honda UK and Japan.

If you make it clear you are going to cost MORE in their time with paperwork than a refund, you will get your way.

Personally I wouldn’t have entertained a repair originally.

8

Sorry to hear this. Must be gutting to go to a main dealer and buy a brand new bike only to find that it is a dog.

9

Dobles have given the bike a bloody good going over today. They also found no problems with the engine diagnostic, I asked them to change the plugs which they did I have the old ones and they are normal, they serviced it and cleaned it etc. I dont think they have done anything special, the reports are pretty clean so they wouldnt have needed to, but they have helped to dispell some paranoia I have been having since the accident so I feel a bit better on the bike now which is a good thing.

I went at the bike on sunday and have managed to clean it up considerably and rid myself of at least some of the furring (using a toothbrush and chain cleaner on all dodgy parts!). Its not 100% but much better but it took me bleedin hours :wink: Still why aint these nuts etc anodised? Engine nuts are fine, eveything else seems to be made of digestive biscuits. Wasnt this bike built in italy?

I’m not sure what I’m going to do now, I feel a bit deflated and really cant be arsed with the hastle atm. If its dodgy running has settled after the service I will keep it and move on and continue to use dobles. If its still surging and popping, I’ll flog it and start looking for another bike. Superduke anyone?

10

Get ACF50 and use a cloth to wipe over the “furry” bits… It does seal them off nicely.

11

Redster mate sorry to hear this shocking story…I’m hearing too many of them regarding Honda’s recent quality (or lack of) control.

Regarding your bike, I’d clean it up nicely and then get rid of it…Maybe part exchange it at a decent dealer for the bike of your liking.

You should get a good exchange, I mean it’s not as if your bike has been able to cover many miles.

Do that and put this sorry mess behind you.

I don’t think psychologically that you’d be able to trust the Honda again.

Good luck with it all.

PS. I hope the FTO is still running ok at least.

12

I’m having the same furring issue. Try Autosol and then ACF50 - it’s helped an awful lot. I did consider asking Dobles to do the Honda warranty report thing about this, but a) the guy that does them is only in on week days when I can’t get there and b) I’m assuming Honda would only go and replace all the furry bits with new bits that have the propensity to become furry :stuck_out_tongue: So all in all… I’m going to let it run its course and then replace the whole lot with a Probolt kit.

I’ve not had any engine burps since I had my first service. Not sure whether the two are linked, but mine seems to be running fine now.

Hope the guys at Doble can sort you out - they’re great lads! :smiley:

13

fjr1300 is the answer

14

Just as a note I had the ECU remapped on my first K5 GSX-R750. It was lumpy between 5-6k as the low and high injector cut in and out. I had it back to the dealer three times, they had it on the dyno twice and took it for a test ride but couldn’t find a fault with it. I ended up selling it as I was never really comfortable with it. I’ve riden other peoples bikes and since then bought another K5, although this one has a Power Commander. You can feel the change over point a bit, but it just seemed to be particularly bad on that bike after they had played with the ECU settings.

15

Chiswick Honda is the worse dealer I’ve used.Got 2 bikes from them, but still they always made some massive mistakes on my deals, the last one after purchasing a new bike and giving my old one as part of payment they forgot to send the check to Honda finance and I had people calling me for weeks asking for my payments.Ordered tyres, arrived wrong,ordered crash protectors arrived wrong.Ordered flyscreen arrived wrong.Did a 8.000 service once and as sooner I left the dealer noticed my wheels wobbling as they forgot to screwed. Not joking at the end sent a very pissed office email to the manager with copy to honda and the bloke replied offering me 20% discount.Believe?Not even if was for free I would go back in that place.Thankfully I became a regular at Tippets in Surbiton and they’re are awesome.

16

Yep ACF50 has helped. Stuff like the abs line clamps, the rear wheel nut and other small bits around the front braking areas are beyond hope.

Chiswick have contacted me about the possibility of a warrenty claim for the furring and rust issues. Frankly I now feel like you - whats the point if they will replace shite with more shite - plus I cant be arsed with it anymore and chiswick aint having my bike again.

Since the 4k service my bikes been fine also. Dobles didnt do anything special, except change the plugs as I requested, plus oil and filter change. I’ve had one over fuel situation, but the lumpiness has gone and it aint stalling on a whim so I’m a bit happier.

Trouble is there aint a bike out there i really wanna ride at the moment, the CB’s engine is amazing when its running well, the bike is so nimble and the seating position is perfect for me. If I ignore all the ‘italian-ness’ about it and just ride it theres no bike like it on the road at the moment, Stripples and FZ’s included. Oh well.

And yes Afro mate, the FTO is still going well :slight_smile:

17

I got a puncture this week which wasn’t repairable. Took my bike to the garage to get a new tyre and when the wheel was off I made the mistake of having a look. It didn’t look pretty down there, I’ll say that! If you can get to the inside of your swingarm at all, do… defo needs a scrub and a good dose of ACF50. Honda, I’m very disappointed!! :frowning:

Still doesn’t detract from the all round awesomeness of the CB beastie tho :smiley:

18

Ouch, I can imagine…

Now its running well and I dont give a toss about the paint/rust I’m falling in love with riding it again. What a bike!

BTW, I notice they just put the price up again. The ABS is now £8421.00 brand new. Thats over a grand more than I paid I’m sure! maybe they paid for more coats of paint and a few more laquer than the 08 and 58 models???

19

Aye, here’s hoping. I paid £7651 for mine, extras on top obviously. Wonder what justification they’re using for putting it up… prolly something to do with the currency fluctuations as the CBs are being brought in from Italy.

20

Well I take back everything I wrote in my last post, 276 miles outside its 4k service the bike has once again behaved in the same way that caused me to crash. Lost all power, then fired up to full revs. This time it did it twice in short succession. I was going around hammersmitch gyratory at the time, heavy traffic, luckily I knew what was happening and clutched fully in and rolled to a stop, but it litterally could have sent me under a bus.

Its been running fine since the 4k and I had started getting some confidence back in the machine, but its just well and truly fecked that out of the window.

Thats it, its outta here. I am livid.