FN2 Major problems with 09 FN2

Hi all O/ Dave here, I'm new to this forum but needed some advice/thoughts so I'm posting my story.

It's a pretty beasty story so I'll keep it short.

Just under 6 months ago I financed a car from Honda Cardiff as a treat to myself getting promoted and working hard. It was a Type R of course.

Car ran great felt great and looked fantastic. 3 times since I bought it I have taken it for valeting and top ups to keep it in good running condition.

However LOL...

Last Monday the gear box failed, would put the car into 3rd gear and foot all the way to the floor and the revs would go up but the engine wouldn't respond. Acceleration was very limited. At the same time the engine oil light came on which I checked and the dipstick was fine. So as I'm pulled over in Tesco car park I check under the car and there is oil everywhere...and I mean everywhere.

So I call Honda and they come and collect the car within 30 minutes, great job, love them. Then...and this is when the fun starts lol they ring me and say the gearbox is knackered, apparently they have never seen anything like it! and the warranty won't cover it because of "aggressive driving." To repair it is going to cost me £7500... yes that's serious.

Bare in mind the car has 65k on the clock and I have had it for 6k. I will also state that this car had to bought by Honda from a car dealer in South London to be sold on to me. Personally I think they have sold me a duff car and they are passing the buck. What does this sound like to you guys? I would most definitely not say I'm an angel of a driver but nor am I a boy racer who takes it to the rev limit every gear.

**ALSO** Just had a lovely phonecall from the sales manager at Honda Cardiff, a rude chap, who says "mate, you won't have a led to stand on with trading standards nor financial ombudsmen, we have pictures of the damage!" I am currently in the process of getting another garage to pick up the car and do an inspection for me. Any advice is most welcome. Hi once again haha. Dave

Dont know if this helps but i have an 07 fn2 with same mileage after 2 months driving i noticed the input shaft bearing was getting loud checked under car there was oil coming from gear box. Jacked it up under inspection i noticed my drive shaft oil seals were draining oil so i replaced them and the seals had a kind of fold in them letting oil out i showed them to my friend who is a honda mechanic and he said same as your guys in 15 years he had never seen it. I was lucky and noticed before gearbox was dry even *** my input shaft bearing is still really loud im just wondering if thats whats happened to yours


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Hello Dave, welcome to the forum. Sorry your joining is not under happier circumstances.

Firstly, you can get a recon or second hand gearbox fitted (along with a clutch) for considerably less money than what Honda think it's reasonable to threaten/charge. Secondly, get a second assessment as you're doing and post both sets of results up. With pics if possible.

Regarding the sales manager's comments, it's up to him to prove his accusations as you'd have to be doing something pretty stupid to detonate a gearbox in such a fashion in my humble one. If it's gone that badly I reckon you've had a bearing failure or something similar that's caused something to drop out of alignment and probably smash into the bell housing. How it's not done more damage than just the gearbox is beyond me if that is the case. Plus it would have made one hell of a racket!

Something doesn't add up here though, and I have a feeling that there's more than one thing causing this. Has it been serviced recently, anything changed or upgraded etc?

Hi guys, thanks for your replies. Sorry for any delays as I'm in work pretty snowed under at the moment!

Neil_Jay I have to be honest I'm not great with cars hence why I took it for top ups and checks up every month just to keep it running. I can tell you though that the car had to obvious problems until last week when it went **** up. No knocking, no sound, nothing. It was lovely.

scruffy_ thanks for your reply mate. Something indeed doesn't add up! I would be pretty gutted to get a second hand/recon one put in as the car to me is 6 months old now and I bought it in good faith that it was in good condition hence why trading standards are now involved.

The sales managers comments didn't really have there desired effect on me. It's totally on them to prove it was me who caused this damage, however after speaking to a few garages in Cardiff they have all assured me that this type of damage that Honda are claiming was done is beyond 6000 miles. One even told me it is no business of Honda as to how you drive your car... As stated above there was no racket, just no performance to speak of. It was MOT'd and serviced when I got the car 6 months ago which makes this even more bizarre.

I have literally had to go out and purchase a "run around" to get back and forth from work which as you could probably guess has rubbed me up the wrong way no end LOL. Once again thanks for your input guys.

Sweet, then ignore the idiot and get a second assessment. Then start small claims court proceedings against them with immediate effect, £25 well spent. It'll light a fire under them if nothing else.

Drop Honda UK an email with your account of it so far, and let them respond. If it isn't what you want to hear let them know that you'll be pursuing them maybe via another dealership or your own mechanic to repair the car under the Honda Happiness 12 month guarantee that you will have got when buying a used Honda from a Honda main dealer.

Is this Ryland Honda Dave?

Thanks for the new comments guys. I have rang Phil Dix and left a message with his voicemail. I'll try again at some point this afternoon.

I will also bare in mind the Honda Happiness programme so I appreciate that!

And yes WelshyWelsh it is Ryland Honda mate. Great service to get the car for, pretty terrible after that.

Yeah, Ryland Honda is where I took my car (under warranty) to have a rattle under the car looked at. Was advised I had a loose oil cap! I politely explained that wasn't it, but they were insistent. Took me 30 seconds to turn around and say the noise was clearly still there after driving away. They then said they'd charge to investigate and it probably wasn't covered by warranty (despite not knowing the fault).

Popped on here, quick search - heat shield rattle. 10 minutes to remove the offending item whilst I was at Grinspeed for a service and problem solved.

Still looking for a decent local(ish) garage to take this car to. Bridgend Honda seem better.

In short, they're dodgy. I really hope you can get it sorted and make sure to steer clear from them for servicing etc.

I would have thought if the dealership is performing poorly and getting complaints Honda would pull the franchise....

I hope you get it sorted out soon and back to your Type-R. Good luck

Best of luck to you.

I paid around a grand (with other work) for a FULL recon on my 09 plate gearbox, talk to HUK then get the car off them & find a decent garage/box place. I was told stevie at Grinspeed is well worth the visit but was too far for me

(Redhill Honda)
not the only time Honda have tried over charging/hiding costs, when purchasing my fn2, they tried to add an extra £500 to the bill. they must of thought I wouldn't of checked!
then within 1 month of ownership, my brake pads were completely gone (mot and service done the day I brought it. rung the salesmen up, he seemed to of planted it in his head that I purchased the car for track use only! took it to them so they could check it. then they wanted me to pay £250 for a new set of front discs and they'd fit the pads free of charge! which I told them was defiantly not happening! long story short after some arguing with the manager they fitted both free of charge. very disappointed with the customer service they provided.

Over the years I've learnt that it's not worth using main dealers for anything other than buying a car, customer service once they've got your money always seems to be abysmal! I do as much work as I can do myself and luckily for me my older brother is a mechanic who started his career at Honda so he knows my car inside and out!