2010 Honda Civic: What Warranties To Get?

Discussion in 'Civic' started by steve, Mar 3, 2010.

  1. steve

    steve Guest

    Hi;

    I'm thinking about shopping for a new 2010 Honda Civic in about a
    month.

    A free online "how to buy a car" book I'm reading suggests buying a
    warranty, sometimes from someone other than the the dealer.

    I'm not eager about tacking on another $1000 to my budget for buying
    the car.

    Do new Civics come with a warranty?

    If so, do they fall short and would I be served by buying an extra
    warranty? If so, a warranty for what? What kind? What sort of
    things are worth getting covered?

    Thanks in advance for any info

    Steve
     
    steve, Mar 3, 2010
    #1
  2. steve

    jim beam Guest

    you're joking, right?
     
    jim beam, Mar 3, 2010
    #2
  3. steve

    Tegger Guest



    Then don't. You might need one of those if you had a whiz-bang BMW with all
    sorts of electrical stuff that will break once the car's past 3-years-old,
    but a Civic won't need much outside of the standard factory warranty.



    Sure do.

    See here:
    <http://automobiles.honda.com/search-results.aspx?question=warranty>

    Click on your intended car to see what it comes with.



    Stick with the factory warranty that comes with the car, it's more than
    adequate.
     
    Tegger, Mar 3, 2010
    #3
  4. steve

    Steve Guest

    Thanks Tegger!
     
    Steve, Mar 3, 2010
    #4
  5. steve

    JRE Guest

    Tegger wrote:
    While the long-term jury is still out, thus far our two BMWs have been
    every bit as reliable as any of our Hondas. The older of the two is a
    2002 325i with about 120K on it. It's had significantly less work done
    on it than my Accord did at its age (and, I might add, at less expense
    despite the higher parts cost).

    <snip>
     
    JRE, Mar 3, 2010
    #5
  6. steve

    Tony Harding Guest

    I wouldn't, and didn't when I bought my 2003 Accord (new).

    Good luck with your new car.
     
    Tony Harding, Mar 4, 2010
    #6
  7. steve

    tww1491 Guest

    I guess it depends on who you talk to. My assistant has a 2002 3 series
    with about the same miles. It has cost her an arm and a leg -- brake
    problems, radiator and so forth.
     
    tww1491, Mar 7, 2010
    #7
  8. steve

    jim beam Guest

    i did a double-take on this one too. my friend's 2005 330i has munched
    through very expensive brake disks, radiator, coolant sensor housing,
    etc. not a cheap or reliable vehicle.
     
    jim beam, Mar 7, 2010
    #8
  9. steve

    JRE Guest

    Wasn't 2005 the first year for the E90 330i? It remains true even today
    that buying a first year model is not always the best idea. The E46
    325i we have was the fourth year of that car's production (the same car
    was first sold as the 323i and later rebadged). I know others who own
    the same year of the same car and none have had the experience tww1491's
    friend has had. I know people who bought 1999 and early 2000 model year
    E46's and had problems, though.

    So far as the brakes go, there are two things at work your friend should
    be aware of. First, if you use the brakes too gently (what would be
    "normally" in a Honda), you will not keep the rotors clear of surface
    rust and the pads will wear quickly. A vigorous stop once or twice a
    day will make the brakes last much longer.

    Second, BMW rotors are notoriously soft. Aftermarket rotors are far
    less expensive and work fine for street use. Also, aftermarket pads are
    available that don't make the horrible brake dust the BMW pads generate.
     
    JRE, Mar 8, 2010
    #9
  10. steve

    jim beam Guest

    no matter what the year/stage in the product cycle, radiators are mature
    technology. there's no reason to have one fail like this one did.

    don't buy that. doesn't happen on other vehicles so it shouldn't happen
    here.

    they're not soft, it's the oem pads. very high silica content means
    they're very abrasive. you can run bmw disks and akebono ceramic pads
    and get great braking without the high rate of disk wear - just like a
    normal car.

    yup. see above.
     
    jim beam, Mar 8, 2010
    #10
  11. steve

    Zorro_2k Guest

    Of course they come with a warranty...do you know of ANY automobile
    that does not ?
    For the Honda CR-V, it's 3 years/36000 miles. You will likely hit the
    36K miles much sooner than
    you will the 3 years (I hit my 36K in my 2001 Civic commuter-car in 12
    months !). Save your money;
    forget the extended warranty and use the money to get the regular
    recommended maintenance actions done.
     
    Zorro_2k, Mar 8, 2010
    #11
  12. steve

    JRE Guest

    Nearly all the technology that goes into cars is mature technology. But
    new designs using mature technologies still get screwed up on a regular
    basis, and cars are complex machines. Caveat emptor.

    (Why do solder joints on Honda main relays go cold? Surely, soldering
    relays to a circuit board is a mature technology! It happened because
    some combination of materials choice and process did not create a part
    that would stand up under extended use in the field.)
    If you have a late-model 3-series BMW, try it, and see for yourself. I
    don't know why it works.

    I suspect it's because they have more pad surface area for the car's
    weight than most (they have more pad area than some 1-ton pickup trucks
    with 3-ton gross weights!), and one needs to generate enough pad/disk
    pressure to keep them cleaned up, but I have not measured a bunch of
    brake pad surface areas or otherwise tried to prove or disprove that.
    That's the first I've heard of high silica content in the pads.
    Clearly, either material or both could be the cause of the relatively
    fast wear. I'll have to check into that.
     
    JRE, Mar 8, 2010
    #12
  13. steve

    jim beam Guest

    a radiator is not a "complex machine".

    that is a price/vendor incompetence issue. yes, it is mature
    technology. and anyone who has been around electronics long enough
    knows you shouldn't have mechanical load on a solder joint, especially
    one that gets warm. which is precisely what mitsuba do wrong with that
    relay - they didn't take the job seriously and gave it to a greenhorn it
    would seem.

    that's because it doesn't. the pads are high silica. they're naturally
    abrasive - any application short of "zero" will "clean" the disk.

    besides, if the disks are not "cleaning" in normal operation, you should
    always check the calipers and sliders for smooth operation.
    disassemble, lube and reassemble if necessary.

    so it would seem.

    the akebono's don't wear the disks at anywhere near the rate that oem
    pads do because they're not as abrasive. if you used oem pads on
    after-market disks, you'd see them wear too.
     
    jim beam, Mar 9, 2010
    #13
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