NHTSA Complaint #10227500 — 2001 HONDA ACCORD

OWNER OF A 2001 HONDA ACCORD WITH ONLY 20,000+ MILEAGE. A WEEK AFTER AN ANNUAL INSPECTION, THE SRS LIGHT CAME ON AND HAS REMAINED SO. DEALER INDICATED A $90 DIAGNOSTIC CHARGE WOULD BE REQUIRED AND ONLY WAVED IF A PART WAS FOUND TO BE DEFECTIVE. I RESEARCHED THIS ISSUE ON THE NHTSA WEBSITE AND FOUND THIS PROBLEM HAD BEEN INVESTIGATED IN RECENT YEARS AFTER A SIGNIFICANT NUMBER OF OWNER COMPLAINTS. I ALSO FOUND SOME REVEALING CORRESPONDENCE BETWEEN THE NHTSA AND HONDA REGARDING CONTINUING PROBLEMS WITH THE SRS LIGHT ISSUE AND ALTHOUGH SRS LIGHT WARNINGS ON SOME VEHICLES CONTINUED TO OCCUR REPEATEDLY AFTER ADDRESSING THE DTC 15-3 CODE, NHTSA CLOSED ITS #PE05043 INVESTIGATION. I ASSUMED THIS ACTION WAS TAKEN AFTER IT WAS DETERMINED THAT A SAFETY ISSUE WAS NOT INVOLVED AND HONDA AGREED TO EXTEND THE WARRANTY ON SRS ILLUMINATION AND OPDS ISSUES TO 10 YEARS OR 150,000 MILES. I NEVER RECEIVED A NOTIFICATION LETTER FROM HONDA INDICATING A NO COST REPLACEMENT OF THE OPDS UNIT. MY CONCERN IS, DOES THE DEALER HAVE THE RIGHT TO CHARGE A DIAGNOSTIC FEE ($90) IF HONDA EXTENDED THE WARRANTY AND THE HISTORY OF ISSUES INVOLVED IN THIS FREQUENTLY DEFECTIVE SRS WARNING LIGHT APPARENTLY REMAIN UNRESOLVED. *TR