Honda Vietnam refuses warranty for new vehicle

Dat's vehicles was checked by Honda Vietnam dealer's technical staff. Photo: tieudung.vn

At 7.30 PM on June 29 Nguyen Tien Dat (Ho Chi Minh City) and his wife were driving on Ba Thang Hai Street (District 10) at the speed of 45 kilometres per hour when they ran into a protruding manhole cover (Ba Thang Hai Street is currently under construction and some manhole covers are still several centimetres above the road surface).

Afterwards, Dat took the vehicle to a nearby repair shop for checking, then discovered that the vehicle’s rims were warped and jutted out 1.5 cm toward the shock absorber part. As there was no damage to the tire, Dat and his wife drove the vehicle to the Honda dealership still that night.

After 8 PM the same day, they took the vehicle to the Honda Vietnam dealer on Kinh Duong Vuong street (Binh Tan district’s An Lac ward) for repairs under the warranty. However, the dealer’s technical staff refused to repair and replace the damaged part because the damage occurred from an outside source, namely a pothole.

According to tieudung.vn, Duong Minh Duc, a staff of Honda Vietnam’s public relations department, said: “In the case of Dat, the technical department checked the vehicle and found that the vehicle ran over nails, reducing tire pressure, then hit a pothole, deforming the rear rim. This is external damage that does not come from the wear and tear of regular everyday usage, so Honda Vietnam cannot apply warranty for this case."

However, Dat repeatedly claimed that there are no potholes on the road segment he drove on June 29 and his vehicle’s tires were not flat. As Dat required Duc proving flat tire, he receive an answer that reading carefully the user's manual.

He also stated that he and his wife weight approximately 100 kilogrammes together, while the vehicle’s maximum carrying capacity is 162 kg. In addition, the vehicle’s maximum speed is 140km per hours, while he drove with the speed of 45km per hour. Thus, Dat claims that his use was well within what would be construed as ‘regular usage’ and the contents of the user's manual.

Dat threatened to sue Honda Vietnam for violating the Law on Consumer Protection.

Dat supposed that instead of sending staff to Ba Thang Hai street to verify whether there are any potholes on the road, Honda Vietnam blindly went on blaming external issues. Honda Vietnam has notexplained him how a vehicle bought two months ago was so easily damaged because of a little impact on the road? Furthermore, a damaged rim is not covered by the warranty.