1.0 Smart plus

Broke my heart

Purchased a used 1 litre (129bhp) petrol Civic from a main dealer with 27000 miles with dealer service history.
Car had 3 previous owners which I should of taken heed of but with the service history and buying from a main dealer I felt safe and also the car was covered under warranty for a further year.The first year I had great fun driving the car although it was too low for my wife to get in and out off. Great performance and fuel economy,big booth that could accommodate my golf clubs and trolley.Over all the car suited my needs.
Fast forward 1 year and 3 weeks and with the car still 3,000 miles short of its first scheduled service since I took ownership the problems started.Driving on the motorway and noticed a wining noise coming from the turbo when I put my foot down, this continued for a further couple of miles so I eased of on the throttle and then the car goes into limp mode and the dash started lighting up like a Christmas tree with every warning light under the sun coming on.Stopped the car and got it towed to a local independent garage who plugged in the diagnostics and said the car has serious issues and I would be best getting it towed to the main dealer.
Car brought to the main dealer who confirmed that the turbo had gone as a result of fragments from the wet belt blocking the flow of oil. The car still only had 33000 miles on the clock although it was coming upto 5 yrs old. The garage would have to send a report to Honda HQ. This dragged on for 3 weeks where by Honda agreed to replace the turbo and engine minus the cylinder heads. Relief that Honda would replace the engine/turbo otherwise I was quoted €7k to get replaced.
Anyways the dealer said between Brexit and the crisis in Ukraine spare parts could be an issue.In the end my car was off the road for 11 weeks and the garage would not offer a replacement car as I was 3 weeks out of warranty. Finally collected the car and within 2 days the car goes into limp mode again and another tow truck required. Issue this time is a seal in the coil pack had failed. Collected the car and 3 days later drove a further 100 miles and then the car starts to over heat, luckily I was close to work and nursed the car to the staff carpark. After a couple of conversations with the garage I agreed to sell it back to them.
I absolutely loved the performance, economy, booth space and over all look of the car but the reliability issues were very disappointing for a Honda. As my local mechanic said it may say Honda on the badge but with all manufacturers outsourcing certain parts of the car the reputation of certain m******s has been diminished. Tip of the hat to Honda for replacing the engine but I will not buy a Honda again.

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