had a grinding noise from the front of my o5' rancher. took it to the dealer i bought it from (13 month's ago), and after $450 bill ( 6.5 HRS OF LABOR), they told me i needed to put a $9.00 bottle of additive in the front differential. they had some other customers come in the past with the same problem. they called honda, and honda told them to put the additive in and that will solve the problem. i asked them why the dealer or honda did'nt notify me or other rancher owners. there response was that the problem was'nt frequent enough to warrant a recall or notification letter ect. of course i did'nt get the extended warranty thinking that buying a honda i would'nt have to buy a warranty!!! the best part was that they told me, if i would of got the 10 hr./100 mile/$150.00 tune up, that the problem would'nt have happened. and they would'nt have added the additive anyways, unless i would have mentioned the front end problem. called honda and they told me tough sh#t!!!! should have bought the extended warranty! sorry to run on telling the whole story! PLEASE RESPOND WITH SOME WELL NEEDED THOUGHTS

 

You ended up with lockers, and didn't know it!

 

The differential additive is a friction modifier that has been pretty much a mainstay with Honda ATV maintanance on the front differentials for nearly 20 years. Well before the traxlox front ends came around.

 

What did the dealer do that they charged you $450? 6.5 hours of labor is WAY too much for anything related to the differential. Flat rate on a front diff rebuild is only 3.2 hours, so I'm very curious as to what they charged you for.

As far as the warranty goes, at what point does the customer take responsibility for the repairs on their machine. You are 7 months out of warranty, why should Honda pay for your repair? No, I don't think any manufacturer should say "oh, well" to anyone thats a week or even a few months out of warranty because each situation should be handled on a case-by-case basis. But, if they covered repairs for machines that are out of warranty, where is the incentive for the next guy to plunk down good money for a 4-year extended coverage? You said you didn't buy the warranty because you didn't think you needed it by buying a Honda. I've worked on just about everything out there and Honda is one of the most reliable. But with everything mechanical, there is a chance it could break. Even though I wrench for a living, can do the labor myself, I still would buy the warranty on a new machine. The part cost of a new ECM itself would pay for the cost of the warranty.

Your dealer also has a lot to do w/ getting something warrantied when your past your six months. Every manufacturer, even Honda, has what they call goodwill. Goodwill or warranty, the customer won't have to pay for the repair. Under goodwill, the manufacturer will probably only pay for it once, not twice, and sometimes will ask the dealer to help w/ the repair also, depending on the situation.

 

reconranger whats lockup??????????

 

I totally agree with the warranty thing. this is my second quad and the first one i got the extended warraty on it. stupid me was thinkin that i could do the maintenace things myself, as i was anywas i.e. oilchanges, valve adjustments etc. what i have a problem with is the dealer takin 6.5 hours to tell m that the problem was a $9.00 bottle of liquid would fix it. why didnt honda send out a message or notification to the owners of the atv's and inform them to the problem instead of letting them get screwed later on because they didnt know.