deciding
St. Paul, Minnesota, USA
Full Member
Joined: 02/08/2004
View Profile
|
Honda says newer Honda/Acura cars can't be towed 4 down even with a manual trans. I got the story from Honda USA that their reasoning is that at todays higher sustained speeds too much heat builds up and cooks the trans. OK,I get that for an automatic but a manual just freewheels in neutral, how much heat can build up? We are dedicated Honda people and are frustrated.
|
Mandalay Parr
Phoenix, AZ
Senior Member
Joined: 07/09/2004
View Profile
 Offline
|
Honda CR-V automatics are still towable.
Jerry Parr
Full-time
2005 Mandalay 40B
Cat C7 350, 4 Slides
Blue Ox, Brake Buddy
2004 CR-V Toad
602-321-8141
|
rhillx4
Huntington Beach ,CA
Senior Member
Joined: 10/13/2007
View Profile
|
My Hubby is a Honda mechanic... He is going to make a phone call to tech line. I will let you know what he finds out.
2002 Dodge Ram 1500 Quad-Cab
2008 Jayco JayFlight 26BH
|
trop-a-cal
Palm Coast Fl
Senior Member
Joined: 09/24/2007
View Profile
Offline
|
The number of transmission failures in Honda's has made the company re think their sanction of towing them. They will not pay for the repair of a transmission from a towed Honda if the buyer was told it could not be towed. If they state it can be towed then they are liable to repair it. The tow-ability was a sales pitch that sold vehicles. As soon as the claims came in for repairs, on these towed vehicles, the thought was why should we be paying for repairs that are not from normal wear? The answer was we will not. To many that tow the Hondas do not follow the proper procedure for towing, and then try to get it repaired for free. They know the sales of their vehicles is not dependent on the RVing public, so why cater to them. It's a smart decision, as the transmissions are indeed towable, if you follow directions but since they can't be there when you hook-up they can't tell if your doing the required procedure.
|
MRUSA
Boca Raton, FL
Senior Member
Joined: 01/27/2002
View Profile
Offline
|
Trop-a-cal, what you say is widely believed, but nobody has been able to confirm it with Honda. If I knew it were true, I would take my chances and tow a new Honda or Acura at my own risk, since my 2003 MDX (which WAS approved by Honda for towing) has been so good.
But Honda creates the impression that the tranny will break down if towed, and they have done nothing to dispel this idea, so I am not willing to chance it. I hope that rhillx4 can get us a straight answer from Honda. If the transmission is likely to hold up like my MDX has, then I don't need Honda's warranty in order to tow. I would take that small risk. It is the larger inferred risk that puts me off.
Marc, Boca Raton FL
2003 Beaver Monterey 40' triple slide
Blue Ox TruCenter
Acura MDX toad
Unified Tow Brake
Pressure Pro Tire Monitor
Garmin 2610 GPS
Datastorm D3/7000
Sirius Radio
Tivo on board
|
|
|
rhillx4
Huntington Beach ,CA
Senior Member
Joined: 10/13/2007
View Profile
|
Here is as much Honda information as I could find... CRV up to 2008 is towable per owners manual. All other models don't appear towable but info says consult owners manual. Or call 1-800-999-1009 for further information. I will check on Acura MDX tomorrow. As far as dealership transmission warranty's the dealer I work at has never turned down a claim because of tow equipment. Keep in mind if you ever are declined a repair its not the end of the road always contact customer service at 1-800-999-1009. I Will post anything else I find tomorrow night. I have seen Honda help people WELL out of warranty.
|
MRUSA
Boca Raton, FL
Senior Member
Joined: 01/27/2002
View Profile
Offline
|
Thank you rhillx4, but that information does not solve my dilemma. I don't care about the warranty, as much as I do the reason for Honda not approving towing. If the reason is that they expect a high number of failures from towing, then I am not interested in towing the car. No point asking for problems.
However, if the reason is that they are trying to protect against high warranty claims as a result of improper pre-towing procedures by the customer, then I will tow it gladly and take my chances. (I have towed my 2003 MDX over 40,000 miles with never a problem.)
The reason that Honda has discontinued towing approval may be a corporate policy change, as many have speculated here, or it may be because something mechanical has been changed in these cars to make towing inadvisable. Before I would tow one against Honda's instructions, I would have to know which reason to believe. Can you get that information from Honda or from another qualified source?
|
deciding
St. Paul, Minnesota, USA
Full Member
Joined: 02/08/2004
View Profile
|
A follow up on Acura towing. Wrote Remco and they wrote me and flat out said all front wheel drive manual tranny cars can be flat towed. I would like to believe them but doubt they would pay the repair if something happened. I did stop an my local tranny shop that has been around for years and they could think of no specific reason a manual tranny Acura or Honda couldn't be flat towed but deferred to the manufacturers recomendations. So here I am still deciding.
|
bnash
Tampa, FL
Full Member
Joined: 06/10/2003
View Profile
Offline
|
I tow a 2001 Honda Odyssey. According to Honda you can not tow a Odyssey after 2004 but I see people going down the highway towing newer model years all the time (you can tell the different because of the different grills on the 05's - 08's). I wonder how they are doing this. Maybe they are just doing it understanding that if they have a transmission failure it will be on their dime???
2008 Damon Challenger 376
|
rhillx4
Huntington Beach ,CA
Senior Member
Joined: 10/13/2007
View Profile
|
MRUSA wrote:Thank you rhillx4, but that information does not solve my dilemma. I don't care about the warranty, as much as I do the reason for Honda not approving towing. If the reason is that they expect a high number of failures from towing, then I am not interested in towing the car. No point asking for problems.
However, if the reason is that they are trying to protect against high warranty claims as a result of improper pre-towing procedures by the customer, then I will tow it gladly and take my chances. (I have towed my 2003 MDX over 40,000 miles with never a problem.)
The reason that Honda has discontinued towing approval may be a corporate policy change, as many have speculated here, or it may be because something mechanical has been changed in these cars to make towing inadvisable. Before I would tow one against Honda's instructions, I would have to know which reason to believe. Can you get that information from Honda or from another qualified source?
I am still working on this. I will get back to you as soon as I have more info. Waiting on a phone call.
|
|
|
