2012 Civic ac compressor locked up

[DrDusty86]

The car in question is a 2012 civic with about 18,000 miles on it. The ac compressor has been growling like MAD for the last 6 months. It was noisy from the time she bought the car with 3 miles on the odo. Honda said it was normal sounding.
It goes in the shop Monday.
Dusty

 

[Artem]

Ask the mechanic that said it sounded normal before if THIS is now considered a normal life span for the compressor...

 

[JHZR2]

It happens. Sorry she got a lemon. Worse that she likely paid a premium for the honda badge, to have this happen...

 

[DrDusty86]

I don't buy the lemon story. My stepmom's Honda van compressor lasted a bit longer. I'm NOT seeing quality in Honda vehicles lately. We have had WAAAY to many issues for about 4 different vehicles to be lemons. She bought the 2012 because her 96' went 230k miles on fluids/filters and rubber changes.
She is MAAD. We already got the "oh but Hondas never fail additude from the dealer" The gloves are coming off now.

I rubbed it in a bit to buy a Ford next time. She wasn't happy. lol
Let me guess. We own the fruit stand? I doubt it
They will probably put a remained on it.

 

[spackard]

Not to put you on the defensive, but wasn't it noisy on the test drive, prior to purchase?

 

[ram_man]

People get so mad when anything honda fails if this was a chevy or ford they take it in and have it fixed. Not nearly as much complaining. So let them fix it. And there you. Does not mean its a lemon.....tons of cars have issues right off the line. Is it ideal.... no but it happens a lot.

 

[SwampSurvivor]

Originally Posted By: DrDusty86
I don't buy the lemon story. My stepmom's Honda van compressor lasted a bit longer. I'm NOT seeing quality in Honda vehicles lately. We have had WAAAY to many issues for about 4 different vehicles to be lemons. She bought the 2012 because her 96' went 230k miles on fluids/filters and rubber changes.
She is MAAD. We already got the "oh but Hondas never fail additude from the dealer" The gloves are coming off now.

I rubbed it in a bit to buy a Ford next time. She wasn't happy. lol
Let me guess. We own the fruit stand? I doubt it
They will probably put a remained on it.



Same as with the American companies - the Honda of today is NOT the mid 90s Honda that most people think of. Honda and Toyota have gone seriously donwhill in the last few years.

 

[crazyoildude]

stealers usually say there is nothing wrong under warranty but after the warrantee is expired they want to fix everything.. Like i have said Honda is not what it used to be thats for sure i have them in my engine shop with low miles 10 years ago i did not see as many with low miles

 

[SLCraig]

As many people know, one of the biggest flaws of Honda vehicles is their poor A/C systems. That is unusual even for a new Honda though, my 2011's A/C still works well at 60K miles, but it is not uncommon to have a condenser leak, or a compressor problem with Honda. My dad's Maxima still has original factory sealed A/C system which still works like a charm, 14 years and 150K miles later. I honestly can't imagine the A/C system on my Civic lasts that long based on what I've seen from other Civic owners.

But if the A/C had noises from the get-go, I'd be making sure the repair is covered. That is clearly a factory defect.

 

[Bill in Utah]

Originally Posted By: DrDusty86
The car in question is a 2012 civic with about 18,000 miles on it. The ac compressor has been growling like MAD for the last 6 months. It was noisy from the time she bought the car with 3 miles on the odo. Honda said it was normal sounding.
It goes in the shop Monday.
Dusty


Made noise when they bought it?

If ANY stealer says that its "normal" I'd go out to their lot and start up 2-3 others. If they are "broken" (ie they are quiet) I'd tell the idiot who said normal to either fix the ones that are broken or fix mine.

If its doing it BEFORE I bought it, it stays theirs.

At least the vehicle does not require being TOWED and spending close to 1/2 a month in the shop (with no rental and still having issues) when 6 months old like my Nieces 2012 (of another brand) did last winter.

There is Job #1!

Do what I said in the beginning of this post. If they all do it then it is normal and there you go...

I doubt they will.

Bill

 

[asiancivicmaniac]

If it was noisy when she bought the car, then why did she buy it? There must have been more than one car on the lot for her to pick?

 

[ram_man]

Originally Posted By: SLCraig
As many people know, one of the biggest flaws of Honda vehicles is their poor A/C systems. That is unusual even for a new Honda though, my 2011's A/C still works well at 60K miles, but it is not uncommon to have a condenser leak, or a compressor problem with Honda. My dad's Maxima still has original factory sealed A/C system which still works like a charm, 14 years and 150K miles later. I honestly can't imagine the A/C system on my Civic lasts that long based on what I've seen from other Civic owners.

But if the A/C had noises from the get-go, I'd be making sure the repair is covered. That is clearly a factory defect.


My civic is 8 yrs old and 124, 000 miles the ac is flawless and is flat freezing even on 100 degree days. I knew some hondas "crv" had ac issues but didnt know all. Nor have inexperienced this.

 

[rjundi]

I had a failure of AC in my Acura MDX and my 2nd issue issue in 25k of ownership starting at 80k now 105k. Actually it was coupled, this part was killing my battery when I first got the car as it is known to stick.

The AC fan clutch relay ($7) was not working properly. The Honda parts guy said they redesigned the part (Made in Japan $30) but stated the Made in USA part $7 you could get 4 of them.

 

[rjundi]

Originally Posted By: Miller88

Same as with the American companies - the Honda of today is NOT the mid 90s Honda that most people think of. Honda and Toyota have gone seriously donwhill in the last few years.


My clutch master cylinder failed in my 1995 Civic was replaced under warranty. Other than that it was flawless to 9yrs/225,000 miles except for failed radiator. The AC quit on a hot day and I walked into a Subaru dealer dropped cash for 2004 WRX brand new.

My 2007 MDX seems to be just as reliable thus far as my Civic and every other car I have owned except VW which was not.

 

[SteveSRT8]

Originally Posted By: DrDusty86
The car in question is a 2012 civic with about 18,000 miles on it. The ac compressor has been growling like MAD for the last 6 months. It was noisy from the time she bought the car with 3 miles on the odo. Honda said it was normal sounding.
It goes in the shop Monday.
Dusty


Typical stealership these days. "They all do that" is a normal refrain.

Makes me wonder when we have trucks with many multiples of 100k miles with completely original AC that works excellent.

I remember when Honda was a great car...

 

[MarkM66]

Honda/Toyota/GM/Ford etc. doesn't "make" a/c compressors.

If you're going to point fingers, point them at the company that produced the part.

 

[fdcg27]

Originally Posted By: SLCraig
As many people know, one of the biggest flaws of Honda vehicles is their poor A/C systems. That is unusual even for a new Honda though, my 2011's A/C still works well at 60K miles, but it is not uncommon to have a condenser leak, or a compressor problem with Honda. My dad's Maxima still has original factory sealed A/C system which still works like a charm, 14 years and 150K miles later. I honestly can't imagine the A/C system on my Civic lasts that long based on what I've seen from other Civic owners.

But if the A/C had noises from the get-go, I'd be making sure the repair is covered. That is clearly a factory defect.


News to me.
We have a '97 and '99 Accords.
Both still have cold AC and neither system has ever been touched.
The '99 is probably a little low on gas, since it's cycling excessively.

 

[rshaw125]

Failure rates and quality are carefully tracked by the manufacturers. Also by companies like JD Powers. I would bet the new Honda's are the best they've ever made statistically speaking. Without a doubt the safest.

 

[Vikas]

she is actually very luck that it broke so soon within warranty

 

[DrDusty86]

She wanted this particular car. She liked the options and color of this one.
Another thing that bugs me about the car that it cranks a long time to start. I went to start it one day and turned the key for 4 seconds then let up, then turned it for 4 more and it finally started. It doesn't happen all the time. It may happen 1 out of 10 times starting the car. She is like "oh I'm sure it's nothing. It probably just needs an oil change or something"
It spins just fine. I'm thinking ecm or fuel issue