Disappointed

[Fischer]

I’ve owned 3 Polaris Rangers and will never consider one again, 700 and two 900. One was stolen, one burnt up, and the other I sold. The belts snapped in all three regularly and would cause all kinds of damage. Now own two Honda’s pioneers, 700 and 1000-5 They are the best UTVs I own. BTW they are used every day on a large farm

I get what your saying but honda seems to be slipping.. if they keep going this way I think they will be sorry. I like hondas that's what I own, however, reading of alot of mishaps and problems on this forum. Glad guys are speaking up, honda needs to know. I don't want them selling out like 99 percent of everything else out there.
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[Admin]

 

[Farmer]

I get what your saying but honda seems to be slipping.. if they keep going this way I think they will be sorry. I like hondas that's what I own, however, reading of alot of mishaps and problems on this forum. Glad guys are speaking up, honda needs to know. I don't want them selling out like 99 percent of everything else out there.
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Everyone is slipping. What matters these days is who's slipping the least. Now you throw covid in the mix, include everyone's need for instant gratification and the world seems pretty fubar. Sad but true.

 

[DG Rider]

Maybe this will shine some light....maybe not.....

Wonder how many "massive brawls" have broken out there?

 

[Farmer]

Wonder how many "massive brawls" have broken out there?

LOL, I knew you'd see what I did there!

 

[Rayger143]

I a


I strongly agree with this.

The problem for dealers is a genuine mechanic is a very rare commodity, almost impossible to find now. Most dealerships now use "techs" who are iPhone commandos. Many of them barely understand the machine they are expected to work on. They rely on computer diagnostic programs to diagnose any problem. In fairness to the real mechanics of today, dealers don't want to pay them what they are worth.

I am admittedly older than dirt but when I was young mechanics could diagnose engine problems within seconds of hearing it run and could identify just about any problem by driving the car/truck/motorcycle/boat a block or less. Those men are retired now or dead.

The manufacturer assigns a long list of things they expect dealerships to check and few dealers actually do it. But how long would it take for a mechanic to identify an overheating issue or misadjusted shifter cables that allow gear grinding?

Bang on! So true.

 

[jhogg]

We bought our first Honda Pioneer (1000-5 Deluxe) and took it out for our first drive and it over heated, stalled, and the coolant light and oil light came on. Then all the coolant poured out on the drive way. We have had it 3 days and rode it for a total of 10 miles.

We had big plans to use it this weekend and instead we had to take it back to the dealership. We paid way too much money for this to be our first experience. Anyone have a similar experience?? What ended up being the issue?

Well, after 6 days at the dealership, we were told there was nothing wrong with the machine. They "burped" the system, but that was all. They did not drive it at all. We brought it back home and took it on a short 2 mile trip, and it worked fine. Loaded up the kids and tried a bit of a longer drive (4 miles), and it overheated again, and stranded us on the side of the road.

I took it to a different dealership hoping that they will take a bit more time with it to figure out what is wrong, but I am literally ready to return it and never look back

 

[Tramguage1]

Well, after 6 days at the dealership, we were told there was nothing wrong with the machine. They "burped" the system, but that was all. They did not drive it at all. We brought it back home and took it on a short 2 mile trip, and it worked fine. Loaded up the kids and tried a bit of a longer drive (4 miles), and it overheated again, and stranded us on the side of the road.

I took it to a different dealership hoping that they will take a bit more time with it to figure out what is wrong, but I am literally ready to return it and never look back

Next time (if it does) pay attention to the fan, make sure its running before you turn off the key. Also check the overflow bottle and see where the coolant level is.
then turn off key wait 5 seconds and turn the key straight to start and start it up. See if the fan comes on. If it does let idle a minute or so and see if the temp goes down. Also you should check the temps of the radiator hoses, see if both are similar.
Another thing to check is to make sure the fan if running is pulling air in not pushing outward. BE CAREFUL THE HOSES WILL BE HOT!!!

 

[Jacks]

Guy told me yesterday to go directly to start with key. Do not stop at the on/acc position.

 

[DG Rider]

Wasn't the key thing for the years with the glitch (no fan op)? Wasn't there a flash to fix that?

 

[Jacks]

I believe so but mine is a 2019 model and not sure if it caught the flash or not??

 

[DG Rider]

I believe so but mine is a 2019 model and not sure if it caught the flash or not??

It's really nice to go out and buy an expensive machine and have it overheat for no reason. Honda really needs to get their s*** together on this.

 

[HBarlow]

I understand your frustration. I would feel the same if I were you but perhaps a different approach is required to get your dealer's attention.

Would it be possible to take your Pioneer on a long test drive starting at your dealership and remaining near enough that if the buggy begins to overheat you can drive it immediately and directly into the service entrance and show the service manager or tech what it s doing?

In a perfect world the dealership would assign the machine to a tech and pay him for time spent on a necessary long test drive, diagnosis, and repair but that's not what actually happens.

The dealership tech's pay is based on the work he turns out so he can't afford the time to take your machine out on a long test drive to see if it will overheat. He can't load it with passengers like you do either. The situation is made worse by the prevailing attitudes toward warranty work. The manufacturer typically pays a minimum flat rate for warranty work. Dealerships, even though it's their customer, never dream of paying their tech's for the time required for a satisfactory outcome.

If you can do the test drive with passengers for him he might be able to quickly locate a sticking thermostat, f bad thermal switch that is supposed to activate the fan at a certain temp, or whatever is causing overheating.

 

[P1K5Dave]

If you think it's up to the dealer to "inspect out" defects, you're from an antiquated quality paradigm known as "burn the toast and scrape it."

Many of the issues we're seeing reported here need to be resolved in the factory, during production. There is no excuse, for example, of a machine leaving the factory with improperly adjusted shift cables. The procedure developed in the marketplace of owners is far superior to the "alignment marks" method.

 

[BigOL3]

Wonder how many "massive brawls" have broken out there?

Yep, a couple of weeks ago when I first saw the video on the Honda factory, I knew what the QC problem was and and stated it was good to see that Honda was an EOE, cause they had a least one minority white guy!

 

[HBarlow]

If you think it's up to the dealer to "inspect out" defects, you're from an antiquated quality paradigm known as "burn the toast and scrape it."

Many of the issues we're seeing reported here need to be resolved in the factory, during production. There is no excuse, for example, of a machine leaving the factory with improperly adjusted shift cables. The procedure developed in the marketplace of owners is far superior to the "alignment marks" method.

So if we all agree that the apparent lack of proper quality control at the Honda Powersports manufacturing plant in SC is the responsibility of the manufacturer how does that solve the problem?

 

[Robobrainiac]

So if we all agree that the apparent lack of proper quality control at the Honda Powersports manufacturing plant in SC is the responsibility of the manufacturer how does that solve the problem?

In my own opinion I think the true issue is that the problem is at Honda CEO directly or any brand head hancho who is in charge of direct warranty pay. They need to accept the fact that when you want a trained, educated, truly capable mechanic to work on a machine then you need to pay them fairly for their time. Their experience and capability is what will ultimately define the user experience. They will be the ones who fix the machines and keep customers on the road no matter what the assembly line problem created. I can give you a thousand situations where if the brand would listen to their techs alot of their problems would not exist. Hands on mechanic experience will always outweigh an idea from a pencil pusher in a cushy seat at a desk. It's hard to put into words and I can only express it as best as I can. You don't understand what is going on behind those garage doors until you have been there turning the wrenches.

 

[Jerryg]

Regardless of why the machine failed, it should not have. Back in the 80's and 90's selling thousands of pieces Honda Power Equipment, I can remember about 2 out of the box failures. Otherwise, every one started on the first pull and if the person buying it was handy enough to do some simple maintenance, we wouldn't see them again until they needed another piece of equipment.

Those days are long gone now, and I remember the first wave of stupidity. For years, Honda sold PE exclusively through dealers. And if no PDI was done, no warranty. Then all of a sudden out of nowhere, they started selling PE through Home Depot. What happened to PDI? They put a bottle of oil in the box, and good luck. Then, wanted the dealers to help the people who put the oil in the gas tank or turned the machine upside down. Instant, angry customer and bad situation.

Moral of the story is, if the dealers can't make enough money, they can't hire good people. And everything starts spiraling down.

Honda needs to get back to it's roots, too many people are not feeling any of the 3 joys.

 

[HBarlow]

In my own opinion I think the true issue is that the problem is at Honda CEO directly or any brand head hancho who is in charge of direct warranty pay. They need to accept the fact that when you want a trained, educated, truly capable mechanic to work on a machine then you need to pay them fairly for their time. Their experience and capability is what will ultimately define the user experience. They will be the ones who fix the machines and keep customers on the road no matter what the assembly line problem created. I can give you a thousand situations where if the brand would listen to their techs alot of their problems would not exist. Hands on mechanic experience will always outweigh an idea from a pencil pusher in a cushy seat at a desk. It's hard to put into words and I can only express it as best as you don't understand what is going on behind those garage doors until you have been there turning the wrenches.

You've expressed the standard, age-old labor point of view. Sorry, I disagree with your post. The long-standing arrangement between manufacturers and dealers for all mass-produced products is and has always been the dealership is paid and expected to find and correct minor issues during PDI's.

In a mass-production assembly line manufacturing environment there is no room or time for test drives and other pre-delivery inspections.

 

[BigOL3]

You've expressed the standard, age-old labor point of view. Sorry, I disagree with your post. The long-standing arrangement between manufacturers and dealers for all mass-produced products is and has always been the dealership is paid and expected to find and correct minor issues during PDI's.

In a mass-production assembly line manufacturing environment there is no room or time for test drives and other pre-delivery inspections.

The MASS production seems to be down to a 'drizzle' now days, which should allow plenty of EXTRA time to be given to QC.

 

[Jerryg]

In my own opinion I think the true issue is that the problem is at Honda CEO directly or any brand head hancho who is in charge of direct warranty pay. They need to accept the fact that when you want a trained, educated, truly capable mechanic to work on a machine then you need to pay them fairly for their time. Their experience and capability is what will ultimately define the user experience. They will be the ones who fix the machines and keep customers on the road no matter what the assembly line problem created. I can give you a thousand situations where if the brand would listen to their techs alot of their problems would not exist. Hands on mechanic experience will always outweigh an idea from a pencil pusher in a cushy seat at a desk. It's hard to put into words and I can only express it as best as you don't understand what is going on behind those garage doors until you have been there turning the wrenches.

Honda always paid the posted shop labor rate for warranty work. The problem is too many dealers can't find good mechanics.