NHTSA Complaint #10275185 — 2000 HONDA CIVIC

2000 HONDA CIVIC DX-VP O2 SENSOR FAILED AT 125,000 MILES DUE TO A CRACKED EXHAUST MANIFOLD AT THE SENSOR - NO INFORMATION AS TO HOW MUCH EARLIER THE CRACK MIGHT HAVE OCCURRED BEFORE THE SENSOR WAS DAMAGED. THE SENSOR FAILURE GENERATES AN ERROR CODE AND CAUSES THE CHECK ENGINE LIGHT TO COME ON, AND CREATES ROUGH IDLING AND STALLING IN TRAFFIC, CREATING SERIOUS SAFETY ISSUES. THE VEHICLE WILL NOT PASS THE STATE EMISSIONS INSPECTION IN THAT CONDITION. THE ONLY WAY TO CORRECT THE ISSUE IS TO REPLACE THE CRACKED EXHAUST MANIFOLD AND CATALYTIC CONVERTER ASSEMBLY ALONG WITH THE O2 SENSOR. HONDA WAS CONTACTED AND DENIES KNOWLEDGE OF ANY SIGNIFICANT ISSUES WITH CRACKED MANIFOLDS AND SENSOR FAILURES ON 2000 HONDA CIVICS AND REFUSES TO PROVIDE ANY ASSISTANCE WITH REPAIRS. IT IS WELL DOCUMENTED THAT THE CRACKED MANIFOLD IS A SIGNIFICANT PROBLEM ON CIVICS ON ALL MODEL YEARS FROM 1996 TO 2003. HONDA ISSUED EXTENDED WARRANTIES ON MANY OF THESE MODEL YEARS THAT FAILS TO PROVIDE ANY ASSISTANCE TO MOST OWNERS, SINCE THE DEFECT COMMONLY APPEARS OUTSIDE OF THE EXTENDED WARRANTY PERIOD. HONDA AND IT'S DEALERS ARE ALSO BEING ALLOWED TO GENERATE ADDITIONAL REVENUES FROM THE SALE OF REPLACEMENT MANIFOLDS AND INSTALLATION TO CORRECT THE VERY DEFECT THAT IT CREATED. THIS DEFECT HAS NOT YET BEEN CORRECTED ON MY VEHICLE DUE TO THE EXPENSE INVOLVED ($1000) AND THE VEHICLE INSPECTION NOT EXPIRING UNTIL AUGUST. THIS IS CLEARLY A WELL DOCUMENTED DEFECT FOR WHICH HONDA SHOULD BE HELD ACCOUNTABLE. HONDA SHOULD BE REQUIRED TO MAKE THE REPAIRS OR PROVIDE SOME TYPE OF ASSISTANCE OR COMPENSATION TO THE OWNERS FOR THE REPAIRS, WHICH ARE NECESSARY IN ORDER TO PASS STATE VEHICLE INSPECTION AND KEEP THE VEHICLE OPERATING LEGALLY, AND TO PREVENT SERIOUS SAFETY ISSUES FROM THE STALLS IN TRAFFIC. *TR