09 Touring - PS Rack replacement

[moda_way]

Well, our beloved Touring is going in for a new power steering rack next week. It has 52k miles and Honda was "kind" enough to split it 90/10 with us, so it will only cost $100, which seems fair, right? I guess it begs the question, "Why should I be paying for a complete steering rack at all?" The rear brakes were completely worn as well (mind you the fronts still have plenty of meat on them, yet wobble due to the common issue of pad reminents and not warping), which seems to be Honda's solution to adding more stopping power by putting on a lower life, more aggressive, yet cheaper grade material pads. In the end, that bothers me way less than the fact that we've had 2 wheel bearings put in and now a new PS rack.

Is there any wonder why this once die-hard Honda guy really isn't interested in ever buying another Honda product again? I'm neither impressed or see any passion in the lineup from Acura or Honda. This PS rack could be a one off situation, but on my Acura, we've been waiting for the A/C compressor to grenade like so many have before me and they seem to plague all vehicles with the K24 motors. Kudos to Honda and their bearing supplier [hands clapping].

Toyota may have committed multiple public failures, but Honda has quitely been having their own for years now. Any jerk off company can make a car last for 4-5 years without issues, but who consistently makes a car that lasts 10-14 years without any problems. I'd pre-pay $2000 more for that vehicle to have all the fluids changed over its lifetime by the dealership. $1000 set aside for oil at $31 (dealer cost), you'd get 11 years of oil changes. The other $1000 set aside for all other fluids, serp. belts, spark plugs, wiper blades, etc. so long as the manufacturer was building more quality into the car.

I feel like car manufacturers have taken a page from the appliance manufacturing industry. They once were items you bought for quality and longevity, gain your loyalty to buy more of their products over the long-term. Now, they cost less are built cheaper and you can pretty much guess when they'll fail except for the rare one that goes longer.

I'm not just annoyed at Honda (well, ok I am a little but...), I'm confused. What executive made the decision to cut cost to remain competitive, allow the design of the brand to become something of a trend follower rather than a trend setter. When did that executive choose to roll the dice on warranty costs rather than increase margin by getting it right the first time. Shouldn't that executive continue to ask, "how can we do it better, not necessarily cheaper?"

[rocky]

Interesting commentary.

Competion brings pricing pressures, and having worked overseas know that the US has very low prices in comparision to other markets. When people start demanding quality instead of lowest price then stuff will last longer.

Sounds to me like you got yourself a rare Honda- one that thinks it's real home is the dealership.

[belundy]

Moda, I share your sentiments; my daughters '01 Civic and the '03 Pilot have been a disappointment, from the view that I've paid a premium to buy Honda and Toyota for 25 years, to get that stellar engineering and reliability. A good plan until that least 6 or 7 years.

Consumer Reports published a 10 year problems/100 cars graph last Fall that was very revealing. Honda and Toyota are still the most reliable after the 3 year point and are still significantly better than the other Aisians and Domestics, but while Toyota's problem rate gradually increases towards the 10 year mark, Honda's go up pretty quickly after 5 or 6 years, which has been my recent experience.

Of course, in five years, we'll know what the current model trends are; I'd guess we'll see Ford has improved a lot, GM somewhat, Honda worse, Toyota worse. I hold hope for Toyota as they took a drubbing, were very embarrassed and seemed to have stepped up the effort, since. Honda still seems smug.

Also interesting is the difference between Pilot and Highlander forums. While Pilot owners are talking about dealing with transmissions, front end issues, vibrations, steering racks, air conditioning, lock actuators, ....the HL owners talk about sagging sun visors, sun roof issues, spark plug choices, oil/trans fluid intervals, the occasional AC compressor, and some sludging issues from 01/02. Mostly with vehicles well past 100k miles.

My son's '02 Ranger forum is littered with everything, and many with vehicles in the 60 to 80k mile range.

Both the Civic and Pilot have nickeled and dimed me the 3 or 4 years. The Civic dumped it's transmission last Spring to the tune of $1900. The Pilot transmission has been acting goofy since 60k miles. Previous posts list my "maintenance" issues with this thing, not to mention Tahoe-like gas mileage.

I could have bought an older Ford or Chevy or Mazda and gotten the recent Honda experience, but would of paid 15 to 20% less in the first place.

I just bought an '08 Highlander and am holding my breath that it will be as reliable as the '02 HL has been.

But for now, no more Honda's. I hold a soft spot for Honda...hope they sort it out.