Honda Australia Pty Avis 

We were excited to purchase a new Honda ZRV. We have been long time Honda owners & excited to have a smaller SUV type car suitable for both daily driving & holidays. Over the course of the first 18 months of owning the new car we have experienced water coming through down the door windows at varying levels of severity. We notified Honda twice & on the second occasion they determined that the Honda-installed roof racks were at fault as they utilized a clamp system that clips through the door & allows water to enter the cabin. The Honda service team determined that there is no fix for this problem & stated on the repair document that it is "not fit for purpose". Subsequently we were informed they had to remove the roof racks from the car. Now we have an expensive car that we want to use for holidays etc & can't pack anything on the roof which we need to do to carry all needed. Had we known this at the time of purchase we would have gone to Toyota, Subaru, Hyundai, etc....any of the alternatives that offer similar cars with better designs that don't have compromised integrity. Unfortunately the customer service team at Honda don't have the empathy to appreciate the impact on us & have tried to fob us off with a petrol voucher & free service instead of finding a way for us to be supplied a car that is complete as presented on the sales contract or a full refund so we can purchase alternative elsewhere. In my communication with the Honda Customer Care Manager he overtly stated this is a minor matter. He continually refers to fixing the leaking car as a success despite it being the result of supplying roof racks that caused the leak. The problem is that we don't have the car we purchased; we can't use the car as we intended when we made the purchase. A basic fundamental of the car should be that it is water proof? The Honda Customer Care Manager went on to suggest we could retain the roof racks & put them on & off as needed! I can't believe this is the recommended outcome from a multinational company. I guess we could choose to only travel on sunny days (to avoid cabin flooding) & when we have time to muck around with roof rack installs & removal!!!. We will now be forced to seek legal action to resolve this despite Australian Consumer Laws being in place to outline this matter warrants a better outcome. Further to this problem, our previous car was a Honda HRV that was found to leak water through the sunroof drainage. Honda identified this problem & promised us it was resolved only to find so much water had entered the cabin we ended up with mold in the cabin we could never get rid of. Can't believe we are experiencing another similar problem with a second new car from the same company. Save yourself a headache & check out alternatives.

Let's start with Alex from Australia Honda in Victoria who is very arrogant, condescending & very ignorant. He has no customer service skills, absolutely no interpersonal relationship skills & highly argumentative as was Luke of Honda Sydney City in Alexandria, the mgr who couldn't mgr anything! The above are inept, asinine & morally bankrupt & aggressive & should be sacked immediately! Honda is on its way out very unceremoniously due to such dreadful staff!

Honda service BEWARE! I bought my Honda Civic with a 7-year warranty from Honda Astoria, Melbourne. I was up to date with the 40,000 km service and due for the 50,000 km service. The 40,000 km service was done in March 2023 at Garry and Warren Smith Honda, Oakleigh which is where I had been taking my car since purchase. When I could not contact the Service Centre, I was told by Honda Customer Relations they stopped being an authorised service centre in March 2023 (the same month I took the car). They said the 40,000 km service was not registered in the Honda database even though the 40,000 km service was stamped in the service book and the invoice for $503 was on a Honda invoice. Garry and Warren Smith Honda tried to rectify the problem and requested Honda Customer Relations to add the 40,000 km to their database but Honda refused. I also spoke to Alex, the Manager at Honda Customer Relations and told him Honda had a duty of care to advise me that Garry and Warren Smith, Oakleigh was no longer an authorised service centre. However, Alex was rude and continued to say it was not an authorised service centre and Honda would not register the 40,000 km service in their database. He said that he would provide me with a written response to my complaint within 5 business days and also let me know the exact date Garry and Warren Smith ceased being an authorised Honda service centre. Instead, after 7 days of no response, I called Alex regarding the promised 'within 5 business days' letter and he was unapologetic and said he was busy. When I received the written response after my call, it was the same as his verbal response and I was not provided with dates when Garry and Warren Smith ceased being authorised. When I called back after receiving the letter, he said he only told me to wait 5 business days because I would not listen to his response. Alex also said he is the head manager at Honda and I could not speak to anyone else. I will continue to pursue Honda to add the 40,000 km service to their database. However, buyer beware because you need to check if you are taking your car to an authorised service centre, even if it used to be an authorised services centre!

I have owned the Type R since I purchased it new in 2009, it was a stunning looking sports car then, and still is as this body style has not aged and still looks current with today's cars, it's always a pleasure to drive as it is certainly a driver's car with spirited and very responsive acceleration, as soon as you sit in the comfortable seat you feel part of the car as it cocoons firmly around your back and shoulders, the small racing steering wheel is thick to hold and looks the part to complement the sporting feel of the car.

It is certainly not the most economical car petrol wise, but allowing for the sports car performance from the Type R that is understandable, for touring though, I do find the petrol economy quite acceptable and it has never been an issue for me, as it has a large fuel tank and the distance travelled between fill-ups is quite comparable to most other cars.

The Type R has been serviced regularly by my local Honda dealer and it runs just as smoothly now as it did 11 years ago when new, I'm very happy with the Honda Type R and have never had any regrets about purchasing it, I have no plans of letting it go any time soon as I still enjoy driving this car, it is solidly built, and it has also been very reliable and never let me down as you would expect from a Honda.

Summing up, I would say that the Honda Type R is the best quality car that I have owned to date, and would recommend this model to anyone who is looking for an upmarket car with good performance, reliability, and modern European styling. I should add that the interior matches the spirit of the car and looks great too.

Purchased in December 2009 at Larke Hoskins for $44,500.00.