NHTSA Complaint #11176303 — 2018 HONDA CR-V

THIS CAR WAS PURCHASED NEW IN JULY 2018. AFTER ABOUT 2 MONTHS OF OWNERSHIP, IT WAS OBSERVED THAT THE OIL LEVEL WAS SIGNIFICANTLY ABOVE THE "FULL" MARK ON THE DIPSTICK. CHECKED ON-LINE AND LEARNED THAT MANY OTHER OWNERS HAD MADE THE SAME OBSERVATION, NOTING A STRONG ODOR OF GASOLINE IN THE OIL ON THE DIPSTICK. DEALER ACKNOWLEDGED THAT 1.5 LITER TURBO ENGINES ARE HAVING THIS PROBLEM WITH INCREASING FREQUENCY. DEALER CHANGED OIL AND FILTER AT NO CHARGE. PROBLEM PERSISTED, WITH 3 MORE OIL CHANGES AT NO COST OVER NEXT 4 MONTHS DUE TO GASOLINE DILUTION OF OIL AND CONSEQUENT OVERFILL OF CRANKCASE AS READ ON THE DIPSTICK. HONDA DEALERSHIP CARRIED OUT A HONDA PRODUCT UPDATE ON THIS VEHICLE REFERENCED AS "1245A2 PRODUCT UPDATE CAMPAIGN" THAT INVOLVED A SOFTWARE UPDATE IN WHICH THE PCM AND TCM WERE PROGRAMMED AND THE A/C CONTROL UNIT WAS REPLACED. OIL LEVELS SEEMED NORMAL FOR ABOUT TWO MONTHS, BUT ONCE AGAIN WERE WELL OVER THE FULL MARK AND HAD A STRONG GASOLINE ODOR ON FEBRUARY 11, 2019. TOOK CAR TO DEALERSHIP TO HAVE PROBLEM CHECKED AND WAS INFORMED THAT HONDA NOW STATES THAT THIS CONDITION IS "NORMAL" FOR THIS VEHICLE AND THAT OIL CHANGES FOR OVERFILLED OIL CONDITION WILL NO LONGER BE DONE AT NO CHARGE. I SCHEDULED AN OIL CHANGE AND WILL HAVE THIS DONE IN ONE WEEK. CAR HAS 12,000 MILES ON THE ODOMETER. THIS SEEMS TO BE A WIDESPREAD PROBLEM WITH 2017 AND 2018 HONDA CRV'S WITH THE 1.5 LITER TURBO ENGINE. HONDA NEEDS TO SOLVE THIS PROBLEM OR OFFER A REFUND ON THE VEHICLE. THE POTENTIAL FOR EARLY ENGINE WEAR AND FAILURE SEEMS OBVIOUS DUE TO GASOLINE DILUTED OIL. ALSO, THERE IS SOMETIMES A GASOLINE ODOR IN OR NEAR THE VEHICLE.