For those interested in the arbitration process. This dealer lost despite a customer wearing out a clutch in 22k miles.
“This entire process just wrapped up for me and there's not much online about the NCDS arbitration process so I figured this was a good place to share.
TLDR: Dealership and Honda corporate denied my warranty claim, but I fought it in NCDS arbitration and won.
So I have a 2020 Honda Civic Sport with the 6-speed manual transmission. It's an absolutely amazing car and has been a joy to drive. Until recently. With just over 22,000 miles on it, the clutch started slipping. I would be driving on the highway and trying to accelerate, but it would do so very slowly and the engine revs would shoot up. I realized this was a problem and found out it was the clutch slipping after some research, so I took it into the dealership as soon as I could.
At the dealership, they confirmed that it was the clutch slipping, but denied to cover it under warranty. They claimed both that it was a wearable part so it wasn't covered and that the damage was caused by user error. I argued this with the dealership because I don't ride the clutch, I don't race the car, and don't do anything reckless. The service manager told me that this is just the way it is and if I have a problem, to take it up with corporate.
And so I did. I called the Honda service number in the warranty booklet and the first person I talked to said that this issue should be covered under warranty. With this information, I called back the dealership and was rudely told that corporate was wrong and that this would not be covered. I called corporate again, hoping to file a claim for the dealership wrongfully denying my warranty. Instead, I was told by corporate that this issue was not covered and they misspoke before hand.
With this, I kinda just thought I was SOL and would have to take it to a mechanic to get it fixed, which was quoted at $1600, far less than the $3600 Honda wanted but still a lot of money. Then, upon reading the warranty booklet again, I found out about the NCDS arbitration process.
This process is a 3rd party mediation process where you present your case before an arbitrator and he will give a decision that is binding for Honda, but not for the individual, so small claims is still an option if the NCDS denies your case. I did some research about this process, but did not find much online to guide me. I filed a claim anyway, not expecting much out of this process.
In filing the claim, you fill out the form on the NCDS website and tell your side of the story, what the problem with the car is, why you think it should be covered under warranty, etc. I filled this claim and within a week got a response from Honda, saying they wanted to try to come to an agreement outside of this system.
I got a call from a Honda mediation specialist, which I thought would go somewhere, but he simply reaffirmed what the dealership had told me, that Honda didn't believe this was an issue with these cars and intended to fight this through arbitration.
So we got our arbitration scheduled over teleconference call and I didn't hear back from Honda until the day before, when they sent their 'manufacturer response form' less than 24 hours before the arbitration. In this form, they made multiple claims, saying that it was definitively caused by abuse, that it was a wearable part, that I did not service my car because I never took it for service at a Honda dealership, that body damage from a no-fault accident proved that I drove my car in an abusive way, etc.
So I spent the next hours reading through this and figuring out ways to fight every point they were trying to argue. They thought that they could gain an edge by sending this in at the last minute and I was determined to take this away.
We get to the arbitration and it is me, my father, two representatives from Honda, and the arbitrator on the line. First, I gave me side of the story, explaining the issues I had with the car and why I believed it should be covered under warranty. Then Honda had the chance to ask clarifying questions, and they had none.
After this, Honda gave their side of the story, explaining the form that they had sent in the day before. Then, we were given the chance to ask clarifying questions. This was the most important part of the arbitration. We attacked every point that they tried to make. We asked them for definitive evidence that it was abuse and they had none because THEY NEVER EVEN LOOKED AT THE CLUTCH PLATE, the very part they claimed wasn't defective. The only evidence they had was that there was excessive clutch dust in the transmission housing, which comes from the clutch wearing down and is not a sign of abuse.
We asked where in the warranty does it say that the clutch is a wearable part and they had no answer, because it is not in the warranty. We asked if there was any service that should have been done to the clutch so soon (given that on Honda's website, the listed lifetime of the clutch is 100-120k miles), and the Honda rep had to answer no. We attacked their claims that I drove the car recklessly and that I didn't service my car, making it clear that they had no real evidence of this.
After question time, both sides were able to make a closing statement. This is time to tell your side of the story and your interpretation of the evidence, how it fits your claim. I brought up how they had no evidence that ruled out a defective part and no evidence that I drove the car recklessly, even pointing out that a Honda employee at a dealership taught me to drive stick.
Then Honda gave their closing, restating their argument which basically boiled down to "our clutches don't fail and this 19-year old kid's did, so it must have been abuse."
The arbitration ended after closings and we were told that the ruling would be out in 10 business days.
In just five business days, we got our ruling, stating that my request for repair was awarded! The arbitrator did not see enough evidence to support Honda's conjecture that this was not a defect.
So final thoughts on this: it's a long process and that's by design because Honda doesn't want people to use it. It takes time and money for them. And they will play dirty every step of the way, lodging personal attacks and bringing forward "evidence" to make you look worse. They'll release their report just the day before the hearing so that you are unprepared. But if you have the time and know that your are right, you can win.”
