It looks like many people think a "TSB" is a free repair. That's not (always) the case. A TSB is quite often just the manufacturer acknowledging a common failure and advising techs how to quickly ID them and fix them. If it's under warranty, it's covered. If it's out of warranty, the TSB only "helps" the shop. TSBs are not recalls.
I helped my daughter with a bad vehicle situation
- Thread starter grampi
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Right, he was scared of a TSB without giving much details about it. Odds are it probably didn't apply, but he was afraid of the cost so it doesn't sound like he thought it was free.
They may not work well but they still work. To say you have to have a SUV because you have two kids is ridiculous.
Good point
Yeap, another good point. When we had (2) kids, we had a 4-door Accord and it was great. Plenty of room obviously as it's a 5-seater anyway and our kids were both under 12. My wife was pregnant and in a modern non-large car, it would have sucked for our two older kids. Infant seats are HUGE (but for good reason). Do people need a minivan or SUV ? Nope, but they sure are nicer ! As the kids got older, got their own car(s), friends went places with us, we didn't even try cramming everyone in. In fact, when our Odyssey got totaled, my wife wasn't stuck on a minivan or SUV to replace it and the kids convinced us that one wasn't necessary any longer. The 5 of us went to Myrtle Beach a couple of months ago (no boyfriends or girlfriends or friends tagging along this time) and we HAD to take (2) cars. No way 5 people would be comfortable on a 10-hour drive + luggage would fit in a Ford Fusion. We could have fit, yes, but our luggage wouldn't...
JHZR2
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?? They traded the car and rolled the negative equity into a loan. The only way for that to happen is for the dealer to facilitate it. It doesn’t happen magically with that many moving parts. I would understand if a loan through a credit union was taken out and then they walked into a dealer to buy a car….
Yes, on your own, see what the dealerships return policy is, some are even as much as 30 day return for money back or exchange and than if possible, encourage them to get into a more affordable sedan that has a good build quality, reliability record and a less abrasive financing situation; monthly payments, insurance, upkeep and repairs. Sometimes there is no return policy and that's usually on cheaper vehicles and this one is probably going to have some recourse if the time has not expired.
Many of us have bought cars that are beyond our abilities to repair and maintain. I would recommend to someone needing financing to go pick from the older 4 door sedans with low mileage if buying from a buy-here-pay-here lot. Teaching them how to check the fluids and tire pressure may also help them develop an interest in doing some of their own repairs, a small OBD2 code reader for a gift may also be a inspiration.
Newer, used cars that are out of warranty could become a big expense. If you can't get the maintenance history one very may be getting into vehicles with high mileage oil change intervals and sealed transmission that should have scheduled maintenance. If I recall right, some manufacturers has a 10k oil chance interval after about 2010, I'd look for something with a 5k interval, not sure what Honda's is.
I'd venture that a 129k Odyssey and a 73k Pilot aren't far enough apart in mileage that either one is that much better than the other. That Odyssey is said to be the Cadillac of minivans and I'd pick that over the smaller cargo space of an SUV, more bang for the buck including tire cost and gas mileage, that's just me, I am not able to evaluate these vehicles for making that choice.
I was only on page 2 when posting this and the subject is up to page 9 so I've still got a lot of catch-up and if I can think of anything more that is helpful I'll get back here.
My thought is vehicles are more complex and more delicately built.
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JHZR2
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We were able to make it work with our Saab and VW with our first. While my wife is tall - 5’9, she could move the seat up enough to work.
I had to buy the accord because I couldn’t sit in the driver seat with a rear facing child seat (forget the baby bucket) behind me. So I get it. But the accord is working fine with three kids, one infant bucket, one forward facing, and one booster…
OP’s daughter would have been better off buying a lower cost sedan, be it an accord, Camry, Altima, sonata, impala, Malibu, doesn’t matter. A low cost high value (I.e. no “I deserve” frivolities) used one for much less cost, better mpg, and no TB coming due within two years.
The loan sounds kinda fishy. Auto loans are secured by the vehicle. I wonder how they rolled $5K (or whateer it was) into a new loan for a used car? I didn't know banks would do this...
I am probably missing something.
One of my pet peeves about schools in our Country is the lack of personal finance education. People need to be armed with at least basic knowledge of banking, loans, investments, time value of money, etc.
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An overdue TB job is owner neglect is it not?
I think most normal people wouldn’t go out and buy the same brand of car after having poor luck with a previous model.
Yes, normal banks don't do this, but the banks at the dealer lots allow lots of shady stuff that wouldn't fly with normal banks to go through. The way they compensate for it is to charge higher interest rates. You don't find those loans at normal banks because they charge normal interest rates. Basically the way they do it is allow for 100-150% of book value financing. Then you can be completely underwater.
Life moves forward not backwards, and we do the best we can with what we have in front of us. Looks like she made a plan and got a fresh start. I’m a big rehasher of the past, but trying to stop it. All the rehashing in the world and nothing changes. If she gets more piece of mind,whatever was done it was worth it., imo.
If they returned the car tomorrow, the loan still needs paid off. It won't just go away. Maybe if the check hasn't been mailed or the money transferred to the dealer, the lender can simply "cancel" everything. No idea if they can or will. What I mean is the car dealer and the lender are two separate parties and contractual obligations.
Lenders will loan more than the vehicle is worth too. Well, some will. I was pre-approved on a car loan through my credit union earlier this year and talked to the CU rep quite a bit, for example, I asked if they'll loan money for an "overpriced" car, i.e. KBB, NADA, etc say it's worth $6000 but it's being sold for $7000 (just made up numbers, by the way). She told me they may approve a loan for 125% of a car's market value. In the OP's case, I honestly don't know how rolling an old loan into a new one, and for that amount of money, works. People do it every day though (I did not and never have). I suspect it involves very high interest rates though.
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You missed grampi's thread/rant about Honda still using timing belts, huh ?
It's Honda's fault, not the car owner's neglect... 
Did they get an extended warranty and gap insurance ? In this situation, they need gap insurance. Their auto insurance carrier can add this though I'm guessing the dealer included it in their loan.
JHZR2
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I don’t know. What objective basis?
I see a van that is the same make, model, and year as ours, without the issues you claim. Sure I get it that ours has 70k vs 129k, but falling apart is either due to age or abuse. Based upon age (and I’d argue the large number of door operations, etc) I’d say no,
These vans aren’t falling apart unless treated badly.
Mileage based wear and need for service should be expected.
Maybe I’ll eat my words when our van is 129k miles. But again, ours is the same age, lives outdoors in the sun, heat, rain, snow, cold.
You haven’t really told us what was not due to neglect. I’d argue the doors are user caused.
Not having the TB done screams user neglect. I mean, the computer and owners manual tells it to be done. What else did they not do that will be attributed to the vehicle falling apart?
If you read the owners manual...
When my grand-kids were little I had brand new front and rear facing car seats in the back of my Accord. There was no problem.
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