NHTSA Complaint #10243536 — 2006 HONDA CIVIC

WE WERE DRIVING ON 2 LANE HIGHWAY AT 55 MPH. NO WARNING OF A PENDING PROBLEM. HALF OF THE FRONT BUMPER CAME LOOSE FROM THE FRAME AND FELL DOWN AND STRUCK THE PAVEMENT, THEN BEGAN BOUNCING UP AND DOWN, TEARING THINGS UP. LOUD NOISE LIKE PIECE OF TIRE FLAPPING IN WHEEL WELL. WE STOPPED AND INVESTIGATED THE DAMAGE. COULD NOT DRIVE OVER 35 MPH TO THE NEXT TOWN, SOME 20 MILES AWAY. REACHED TOWN AND BOUGHT AND USED DUCT TAPE TO HOLD THE FENDER UP OFF THE GROUND SO WE COULD DRIVE HOME. WE THEN TOOK THE CAR TO A LOCAL HONDA DEALER. WE WERE TOLD THE UNDERNEATH PLASTIC CLIPS AND OTHER COMPONENTS WERE DAMAGED AND THAT THE CAR MUST HAVE BEEN RUN INTO A CURB OR SOMETHING LIKE THAT. I INVESTIGATED FURTHER, AS I KNEW THAT THE CAR HAD NEVER HIT A CURB. IT HAS, HOWEVER, MADE SCRAPING NOISES WHEN PASSING OVER A TYPICAL PARKING LOT WHEEL STOP. IN MY JUDGMENT, THE DAMAGE WAS CAUSE BY THE FACT THAT THE FRONT OF THE VEHICLE DOES NOT CLEAR WHEEL STOPS, AND HITTING WHEEL STOPS HAS SEVERELY DAMAGED THE PLASTIC COMPONENTS UNDER THE FRONT END, RESULTING IN THE BUMPER FALLING OFF AT HIGHWAY SPEED. HAD BOTH SIDES OF THE BUMPER COME LOOSE, I WOULD HAVE RUN OVER THE BUMPER, PROBABLY LOSING CONTROL OF THE VEHICLE AND BECOMING INVOLVED IN A WRECK. LOOKING UNDER THE VEHICLE, YOU CAN SEE THAT BOTH SIDES HAVE BEEN DAMAGED BY SCRAPING OVER PARKING LOT WHEEL STOPS. WE WERE LUCKY TO HAVE SURVIVED. I CONSIDER THIS A SERIOUS SAFETY HAZARD BECAUSE: 1) WE COULD HAVE BEEN KILLED; 2) PARKING WITH YOUR WHEELS AGAINST A WHEEL STOP IN A PARKING LOT IS A NORMAL PRACTICE AND IS NOT SOMETHING ONE WOULD NORMALLY WORRY ABOUT. REPAIRS EXCEEDED $485 AT A PRIVATE COLLISION REPAIR CENTER AND WOULD HAVE COST APPROXIMATELY $800 AT THE DEALER. REPAIRS: REPLACED CLIPS, SOME PLASTIC COMPONENTS UNDER FRONT END, AND REPAINTED BUMPER. THE DEALER REFUSED ANY WARRANTY COVERAGE. *TR