Timbstone

08 Civic DX 4-doors ~8 months old and 12,000 miles

Rear tires completely worn 0/32, front tires down to 4/32. Dealer “Colonial Honda” never heard of this issue. “Tires are a consumable; you need to buy new ones” Once I called back and explained I found this link, they acknowledge there were other reports of this.

Honda Canada <George> “why are you calling us, we can’t diagnose the problem from here” After several days, with no word from either dealer or Honda Canada, I tried Honda Canada again <Jennifer> we’re waiting for info and won’t be able to do anything until we get it. Called dealer back and they agreed to check the alignment, if I left the car for the day.

I have purchased many new cars; this is the worst service I’ve ever seen. The ironic thing, we were about to purchasing the CVR for my wife when this all happened. I feel bad for the sales guy.

cdcarter

I have an 08 civic lx coupe and the rear tires are shot. I just had the 15,000 mile service and was supposed to have the tires rotated but they are to bad to rotate. The service included a 4 wheel alignment and they found out that the rear toe was 3mm out on the left and 2.7mm out on the right for a total of 5.8mm. I told the service manager they should replace my tires because potholes will not cause both wheels to be out that much. She said no that it was my responsibility. I found this site and checked my rear arms and they are stamped with the letter "C". I have called Honda USA and have not recieved a response yet.
I don't think that just replaceing the arms was the problem, does anyone else have the correct arms and have the same problem?

90blackcrx

Same here, I know a few good friends who work at some Honda dealerships, and some of the stuff that goes on there is absurd, if you feel like your local Honda dealership is taking advantage of you, or not treating you right, take it up with Honda.

Harvard07

Yes! Our 07 Civic EX had the control arms replaced at 11,800 miles. I went back to the dealer at 21,500 miles with the same symptoms. We are now at 32,000 and have wasted a third pair of tires on the rear. Seems the passenger side does more damage then the drivers side. We are at a loss as to where to go next except to a Toyoto dealer!!!!

jayhawk1024

So here is my sad story. I bought the Honda civic new off the floor in April 2007. In my line of work I put a huge amount of hwy miles on my car by the time it was a year old I had 50,000 miles on it and a new set of tires. I have since taken a different job and my husband started using it to commute in now has 88,000 miles on it.

About a week ago, my husband was pulling into the drive way and the rear control arm snapped in half. Now our tire faces inward. Thank God it didn't happen on the hwy... or I would be in the hospital right now or worse! Honda needs to address this problem as a recall! I don't know if they realize how severe this problem is because most 2007 models don't have the kind of mileage that we have.

Does the TSB cover you if your warrenty is out? Or is it up to the dealership? If Honda doesn't do right by me I will take my business else where.

Harvard07

I have taken on the job of trying to explain why we are having rear tire wear problems and not every body else. It appears it is related to loading down the rear suspension. We are Snowbirds, as such, twice a year we pack the car on the heavy side and drive 1800 miles each way. This causes our rear wheels to TOE IN excessively due to the dynamics of the rear (Camber) suspension on the 06-08 Civics. Do not know about the 09 design yet!

nave

We'll it really should be a safety issue!!!! My Honda Civic did loose control on a slippery road going 30 miles an hour! I drive a very windy road to work everyday. It was the weirdest thing ever. Just cruising along and all of a sudden during one of my corner that I've taken a thousand time the rear end just breaks free! There was not corrective steering to be done either. I ended up flipping the car into a power pole. The damage came to 10k. The car only has 11k miles on it. After the repairs were completed ( whole other story) I was driving back from the auto body shop. It felt like the car was about to do it again.....and I was going straight! Needless to say I returned the car to the auto body shop, and yelled at them for giving me back my car unfinished. They said that they put it on the rack, and everything checked out fine. I told them to take if for a drive, and tell me you would put your new born baby in this car! I received a call later telling me that Honda had this service bulletin, and that they would take care of the defective Control Arms. Great Thanks Honda, now about my wrecked car that is now worth crap!! I contacted Honda costumer service department, and explained my concerns. They told me to contact my insurance company! That I did....they asked me what I wanted to do....What I wanted to do!!!! I want you to do your job and get me a new car! It is not my fault this car lost control!! It was caused by faulty parts that Honda Knows about! If control arm were not that important then why do they call the "CONTROL ARM!!!!", and not arm that don't really matter for controlling you vehicle! So now I'm waiting on a call I know I'm not going to like...there is now way Honda is going to take responsibility for this accident! So in closing be very carefully with this problem!! Get you Honda fixed ASAP! Thanks for listening.....if anybody has a suggestion on my rights let me know!!!

Utzz

Not that I have a 'horror' story to share, but I do own an '08 Civic DX (2-dr) with about 31k miles on it now. It needs new tires despite rotating them every oil change (5k miles) and keeping them inflated to the door sticker recommendation, but I certainly haven't experienced any roar/noise/rear end stepping out type of stuff. Before this car, I owned a '99 Civic DX hatch and the stock tires on that car lasted an easy 60k miles...with the same driving I'm doing on this '08.

On one hand, it's a little disappointing to see the decrease in tread life. On the other hand, this '08 Civic handles so much nicer/tighter than my '99 hatch ever did (even in wet conditions), that I sort of expected the tires to wear a bit quicker. Kind of seemed par for the course, imo.

Harvard07

Apparently the 09 Civic has the same suspension as the 06-08 models. Looks like it has some handling characteristics that the agressive driver would like to have, a big disadvantage for gMa and gPa.....

jayhawk1024

UPDATE: So my dealership has had my car for over two weeks. The service manager sent in pictures of the car to Honda Corporate (because he had never seen anything like that had happened to my car). Honda then said that they wouldn't do anything because it was a wear on the tires that caused the problems. Those tires are only eight months old and have been rotatied, every other oil change!

Also, the lower control arm snapped in half not the upper. The service manager said that Honda Corp. said it was due to the wear on the tires caused by the upper control arm..... this doesn't make sense if their faulty control arm caused my problems then.... why do I get stuck with the $1,400.00 bill???

I bought a Honda because I wanted reliability.... believe me it was not for style. I really haven't liked this car since I drove it off the lot. However, it got great gas mileage and I thought it was one of the better built cars out there. I will never buy another Honda again.....

dmmeye

We have a 2007 Civic we bought in Aug 2007. We recently took it in for really bad road noise and vibration at 29000 miles. They said our tires were unevenly worn and needed to be replaced AND we needed new breaks. They "generously" replaced the control arms under warranty, but would not pay for the tires. We recently learned about the service bulletin which suggests Honda and the dealers knew about this problem in Jan 2008. If they would have let us know then about the control arm problem, we wouldn't have had to buy new tires (assuming the new control arms fix the problem). This was our first and LAST Honda. We've never had to dish out $700 for tires and brakes on any other car less than 2 years old with only 29K miles. Shame on Honda!

FijiBlueFG2

How do you guys go 5k miles without an oil change? My oil lasts about 2k miles before hitting 15% oil life.

ironworker

I beat on my whip and i get around 5k.

06_ciVic_Si

I bought my Si about 2 months ago and the guy that had it before me put a lowering kit on it and dropped it 1 inch. I took the car to a Honda dealership to get my radiator fixed and he told me about the control arms but said they couldn't fix it because of the lowering kit. Now i have horrible tire wear and need either adjustable control arms for the back or can i buy and put the ones they have replaced the 06-07...ect. with?

jimmyf

I say we should take Honda Motor company to court. File a Class Action Lawsuit!
My Brother and I each bought new HCH's in 2007. My brother noticed a problem with the handling on his vehicle at highway speeds about a year after the purchase. He thought it was a steering problem and was afraid to drive the car anymore, so he called Honda and informed them. Honda sent a tow truck to take the car to a Honda dealership. The knuckle-head tow truck driver did not check whether the emergency hand brake was engaged and towed the car with it on. That fried the cars rear brake shoes, drums, bearings etc. Honda refused to take responsibility, first saying the tow truck was operated by a sub-contractor. Then they changed their story and insisted that the damage must have happened earlier - insinuating that my brother must have been driving with the emerg brake engaged!
My brother filed a case with small claims court and Honda finally was forced to pay. But they just covered half the expense incurred. My brother was fed up by then and did not pursue it. Later he had his tires replaced due to uneven wear. Nothing was ever mentioned about this TSB. No more Honda's for either of us. We have had it with them. I have had good experiences with Toyota before so it'll be Toyota from now on. Everyone I know, will also be given this info and advised to avoid Honda.
Some of you might wonder why my vehicle did not have the same prob's. I happen to be a sailor so I drive it very little. Just took it in for an oil change to Honda dealership and the Tech recommended alignment due to uneven tire wear! No mention of the TSB. Lucky for me I googled the problem and stumbled onto this forum. Thanks for this great thread. I will keep you guys posted about my car as I have called in today and made appointment for tomorrow.

jimmyf

Well, I must say I was pleasantly surprised with Honda this time! I took my vehicle in to Mississauga Honda along with the TSB. After telling me that the TSB was American and not Canadian, the service advisor accepted my car as a Canadian TSB exists for the same problem. He called me later to inform me that the parts were on order and would be in within a few days. As for the Tires, I would pay half as Honda would be prorating them. They called me when the control arms came in and I took my car in again. I found out I would have to pay $270 plus tax for my share of the tire price. I wasn’t happy that the new tires would be Dunlop’s. He told me Honda would only pay for Dunlop’s as they had low rolling resistance and were a must for the Hybrid. I had no choice but didn’t like that as I have not read good things about the Dunlop original tires. Besides, that seemed to be a high price to pay for shitty tires. Anyway, I told him to go ahead and do it and I would claim a refund from Honda. I had already filed a complaint with BBB.
After leaving the car at the dealership I called Honda Canada later in the day and they listened to me and I was given a file number and told they would let me know of their decision within 48 hrs. Note that my car has 27000 kms and I have 3 months left to complte 3 years since I purchased it.
When I went to pick up my car, BOY was I surprised! No charge for anything and I had 4 new tires! Well, THANK YOU Honda. I have no more complaint. Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to all.

eml54

My tires on my 2006 Civic have lasted 60,000 miles, and I need to get new ones, but- Is it worth paying $219 for the new rear control arms plus $100 in labor considering how long my tires have lasted? My dealer says so. Thoughts?

Nexx

2007 Civic SI @ 22,000 miles. Rear tires are literally gone. Appointment scheduled.

MarcAHardy

The point here is that Honda should have sent a notice to its customers, not just its dealers. I had the same problem and took my car in three times and was told that the vibrations and noises were either my tires or just natural noises that the Civic transmission makes. I take my car into the same Honda dealer religiously and they never ciaght it when my tires were rotated. It wasn't until I moved, AFTER the car was out of warranty, that I took it to another Honda dealer who told me what the problem was and that I just ruined a $700 pair of tires and they want me to spend another $500 to fix their design defect. Not a smart customer service move given what Toyota is going through right now. And, yes, you do sound like an ***. Honda screwed up through lack of customer notification. They only notified the service departments - THE CUSTOMER WAS IN THE DARK. Perhaps the techies at the dealerships need to bone up a little? Or maybe Honda needs to invest more in training?

dlsdude54

Thanks for posting the TSB. I had to pay for the labor to replace the rear control arms on my 06 and still have to eat the $700 almost worn out tires, but hopefully will now have better luck with tires.

tinfly

I GONE THRU SAME.NEW TIRES $600,REPLCED ARMS WITH LINEMENT $427.NEW TIRES 5000 MILES COPPY.NEW TIRES HAVE BEEN TURN IN TO JUNK.DEALER TOLD GO TO HELL.TOLD ME TAKE IT UP WITH AMERICAN HONDA.I SEE ALL YOU PEOPLE GETTING RIP OFF WITH NO REPLACEMENT OF TIRES.THINK ITS TIME FOR CLASS ACTION LAW SUIT. 06 CIVIC EX.HONDA NEEDS TO REPLACE MY TIRES CAUSE OF THERE DAM NO GOOD ENGNEERING

alice933

I had the same issue with my honda civic 2007 coupe. I been having this vibration and lound noise when it was 13000, which got progressivly worse. I did mention to the honda advisor, the first time(13000miles) they did not say anything, sounded like it was a norm. 2nd time they told me i need change all my tires and do balance and
alignment it was 21000 miles. They were giving me high price for the tires, so i took it to other dealer not honda. One of the mechanic i saw was really nice and he told me about the rear arm control. i googled it and found this. i took
the service bulletin to them, after lot of arguing they agreed to change the
rear arm control for free and do the alignment for free. But tire was on me.
I took to a different place to get my tires fixed as it was cheaper. I still
have my warranty, it expires in sept 2010. If they did tell me about the rear
arm control issue when i just had 13000 miles, i would have been eligible. They are also blaming that i did not blance my tires. I did call honda to let them know of the complaint, they did not do anything. I also files a complaint under BBB. WE all know they would not give me a free rear arm control or alignment if it was not there fault. However they wont take responsibility.
No more Honda's for me as well.

AnnDodge

RE: Factory Service Bulletin for Rear Control Arms.
we leased a 2008 Honda Civic in May of 2008. October of 2008 . .when I went to have the wintertread tires put on the rear tires were shot at less than 8,000 miles.
Into the dealership, a lengthy delay in resolution, vehicle had the "C" arms that SB 08-001 recommended. They did replace the tires.
Now I have wintertreads that go in in Nov and come off in March/April, depending on weather. So I have 2 tires with approx. 12,000 miles on them and 2 tires with approx. 7,000 miles on them. Car at inspection on June 1, 2010 had 23,310. Trip back to dealership Gerrish Honda - Lebanon, NH on 6/12/2010. Now the rear tires are so badly worn they will not pass State of NH safety inspection if I were to have it done that day.

Service Manager on 6/14/2010 says it's my problem - Improper tire rotation. HELLO, no matter what tires are on the rear of this vehicle it eats them up.

I have contacted Honda America, I have a case number. .now just waiting for a call from them.

I have less than a year on my lease. I want resolution, or out of the lease. No one can solve this problem. No one wants to admit there is a problem.

Boinked

You were fortunate to find out about this service bulletin before the car was out of warranty. After wearing out two sets of tires I found the bulletin and when I brought it to honda's attention, with 46,000 miles on the car, they want me to pay half of the cost, $159.00 to replace parts that they put on in error. Keep checking for service bulletins! They won't do these repairs just because it's the right thing to do.

orbitalhysteria

[2006 Civic LX, 120000 km, bought a new one in March 2006]

I've been using dealers pretty often, once or twice a year to check my car up,
expecially before the winter season.

I've done the service D, which changes the spark plugs in the engine about a half year ago, and a few days ago, I went to the dealer to get my car checked up due to an oil change and the severe rattling noise coming from the tires.

They told me I had to change the rear upper control arms, along with the tires (newly bought 1 and half years ago). I found this web site and I am pretty surprised that there was a compaign going on for 3 years regarding the upper control arms and I haven't heard about it until now.

I ended up changing the arms and all 4 tires + alignment + oil change service.
And it cost me $2000.

This is pretty upsetting experience after spending $1000 for the service D about a half year ago. I wouldn't have to change my tires if I knew about this control arm related compaign.

I am currently talking to Honda Canada, and we will see how it goes.

UPDATE: Honda Canada credited $500 to my account at the dealer repaired my car, covering the parts and labor for the rear control arms. Only drawback is I have to use this credit at the dealer.