Warranty woes, any help?

[DRMex06]

Hey, I'm not new to the site however I am a newly registered member and unfortunately this has to be my first post. Here it goes:

I am currently leasing an '06 EX Coupe. I had nearly totaled my car back in December wherein my car took approximately five months after that to repair. I now have my car back with everything replaced. The headlights were not replaced being that they were not damaged.





I noticed that my front headlights were aiming way too low, with the right headlight aiming even lower than the left. I took my car to my nearest Honda dealer and asked if they could adjust the headlights.

He took the car in and thirty minutes later he came into the room to tell me that it cannot be fixed under warranty. He typed this on the invoice.

C/S headlights are out of alignment.
vehicle needs both front headlamp assemblies.
adjusters broken.
vehicle in front end accident.
estimate to replace both headlamp capsules 750.00



Now, my question is, since the headlights are OEM and were not damaged from the accident as evident from the photos... shouldn't they still be covered under my warranty? (36k miles or 3 years) I took my car in last week for a headlight turn signal bulb replacement and that was under warranty...

For now I'm stuck with low projecting headlights and a $750 repair to fix it... did my autobody shop screw me over when they repaired my car?


Any help as to what I can do would be great, thanks!

[Izzy]

See if you can adjust them yourself first. There are two holes that have directions on the plastic cowling that goes directly to the adjustment nut on the back of the headlights. Stick a philips down there, and turn. The front may not have been damaged, but the back of the driver side is nearly pressing up against the coolant line and quite close to the battery...

[ryryninja]

qshooter151 is selling 2 sets of headlights... for cheap.. if you want to just get brand new headlights..

[CivicEX08]

Whoa, are you kidding me?

So if I get rear ended by an idiot, the parts that they damaged will no longer be under warranty? And I assume the body shop doesn't cover the problems. In other words, an accident is basically a death trap for you as a consumer?

Or am I way off?

[Sorry, you asked a different question but this has me wondering]

[Izzy]

Originally Posted by CivicEX08

Whoa, are you kidding me?

So if I get rear ended by an idiot, the parts that they damaged will no longer be under warranty? And I assume the body shop doesn't cover the problems. In other words, an accident is basically a death trap for you as a consumer?

Or am I way off?

[Sorry, you asked a different question but this has me wondering]

Well, the bodyshop labeled the headlights as undamaged. But, when he brought it in, the dealership obviously saw something that WAS damaged but not repaired.

[CivicEX08]

Originally Posted by Izzy

Well, the bodyshop labeled the headlights as undamaged. But, when he brought it in, the dealership obviously saw something that WAS damaged but not repaired.

Oh.

I was beginning to think it voided a warranty. I almost **** myself because I never knew that it did.

[But now I know it doesn't]

[DRMex06]

I'll try that tomorrow morning Izzy, thanks. But if it can be adjusted with a phillips, then why wouldn't the service tech adjust it? I don't know what exactly he meant by listing all the damaged parts, but I'm guessing something that directly adjusts the headlights is busted.

Thanks for the heads up ryryninja, but I honestly feel I shouldn't have to pay for anything, due to the fact that everything should have been repaired already and anything that wasn't altered should still be under warranty if it is OEM and there is no indication that the accident itself caused the damage to the headlight. (Although there is really no other way it could have been damaged.)

I already called my insurance advisor and asked for a list of repairs and replacements that the body shop performed. (My driver's side window was mysteriously broken during the repair process and now the window channel pops out when closing the window. The window glass was replaced with non OEM glass and when I tried to have that fixed with Honda it was not covered by warranty either, the tech estimated that at $240.)

It seems to me that my body shop tried to pocket most of my insurance money with generic brand replacement parts and ignoring other aspects that needed obvious repairment (my headlights).

Seems like for now I'm SOL.

[Izzy]

Originally Posted by DRMex06

It seems to me that my body shop tried to pocket most of my insurance money with generic brand replacement parts and ignoring other aspects that needed obvious repairment (my headlights).

That, unfortunately, is how insurance works to make money, I feel. Yikes.

[DRMex06]

Originally Posted by CivicEX08

Whoa, are you kidding me?

So if I get rear ended by an idiot, the parts that they damaged will no longer be under warranty? And I assume the body shop doesn't cover the problems. In other words, an accident is basically a death trap for you as a consumer?

Or am I way off?

[Sorry, you asked a different question but this has me wondering]

According to what I was told today, basically.

The tech told me that since the car was in an accident and somehow 'altered' or had parts replaced, the parts involved void the warranty. EI My driver's side window that was replaced voids my warranty and apparently my headlights do as well.

[CivicEX08]

Originally Posted by Izzy

That, unfortunately, is how insurance works to make money, I feel. Yikes.

Yikes.

I'd fight with the insurance company for nothing but genuine parts. I'm not turning my Honda into a cheap piece of **** just because the insurance wants to go cheap. Not sure if it'll work, but no one would go cheap on the most expensive item I own.

[DRMex06]

Originally Posted by CivicEX08

Yikes.

I'd fight with the insurance company for nothing but genuine parts. I'm not turning my Honda into a cheap piece of **** just because the insurance wants to go cheap. Not sure if it'll work, but no one would go cheap on the most expensive item I own.

According to my insurance advisor, OEM parts were paid for... so there should only be OEM parts in my car THUS leaving everything under warranty.

My body shop did some really fishy business... When the invoice arrives, I'm going to compare what the body shop requested money for and what was actually done to the car itself. If things don't match up and I see anything not OEM the body shop is going to have problems.

(The window that was magically broken during the repair and replaced is not an OEM part.)

[CivicEX08]

Originally Posted by DRMex06

According to my insurance advisor, OEM parts were paid for... so there should only be OEM parts in my car THUS leaving everything under warranty.

My body shop did some really fishy business... When the invoice arrives, I'm going to compare what the body shop requested money for and what was actually done to the car itself. If things don't match up and I don't see everything but OEM the body shop is going to have problems.

(The window that was magically broken during the repair and replaced is not an OEM part.)

Wow.

What body shop did you go to? I've had friends and family get hit by morons and the person who hit them had to get their insurance to cover it. Sadly, they tried to get them all to go to some crappy body shop such as Maaco or something. However, it was fought and the only body shop they would go to is Collision Revision right by my house and they do excellent work.

Screw those cheap, shoddy, crappy shops.

[DRMex06]

I took it to a local body shop that was recommended by the gas station I had the car towed to back in December. The mechanic at the gas station and the owner of the body shop both assured me that car would be ready in 2 months. I got it back 5 months later.

Did I forget to mention that, after most of the body work, the body shop managed to blow my engine? Head gaskets melted right into the engine and even the oil stick as well. (I did not blow the engine during the accident.)

Thankfully my insurance covered the new engine since they had already put so much money into the repair. I got the car back with missing clips in the side curtain airbag panels, the window channel popping out, and other various little problems.

I'm getting mad just typing this as I am reminding myself of the constant aggravation the whole repair process caused. Total repair cost was ~$14,000. No clue how the body shop got so much money out of my insurance without them calling it a total.