Honda Dealer/BG additive/engines for life

Well....found this on the BG site.
https://www.bgprod.com/lpp/

They say that in order for the warranty to be effective "All services must be performed by a professional technician at a licensed service center using an approved BG maintenance procedure with proper BG products and equipment." AS I read more fine print...."This Plan excludes in-house maintenance/repair facilities." So, they have effectively just excluded any DIY maintenance. Wow.....just Wow.....like shooting fish in a barrel.
Now, isn't there something along the lines of the Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act or something like that which allows a DIY'er, keeping receipts, to actually still perform those maintenance items AND still be covered???
 
Originally Posted by KrisZ
Magnuson-Moss only covers original manufacturer warranty. You have entered a third party contract, Magnuson-Moss doesn't apply.

Yeap, M-M doesn't apply here.
 
So, is that how those buttheads are getting away with the dealer maintenance service only? They go through a 3rd party, you HAVE to take it to the dealer or some other "professional" shop and pay them the gobs of money to do maintenance items? That sure seems to go against the spirit of that Act. But hold on, since the dealer is promoting this stuff and using it, wouldn't that Act still be in affect?
 
No, the dealer does not equal the manufacturer. A car dealer is a private company, separate from the manufacturer. Dealers are free to do all sorts of things and as long as it doesn't go against rules or policies that the manufacturers have in their agreements, the manufacturer won't (can't) stop them.
 
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Most dealers do this to get you to come back to their shop. Yes it's "Fish in a barrel" type thing. It's also a captive audience thing, guaranteed profit/sales! I remember some idiot honda dealer that had that lifetime junk in their paperwork. They did the worst work I've ever had on a Honda. I left there, went to another Honda dealer, got great results. Who cares about the "lifetime" promises? Did they ever spell it out in writing what "lifetime" actually means? I bet you won't be able to find it!

You can get worked up about it if you want, but if you're not happy with the BG products, then either tell them you don't want that or go somewhere else. I have used BG's 44k fuel cleaner,, their intake cleaner system and their dot4 brake fluid, all excellent results. I just don't believe in the motor oil additive, no thanks. I doubt that BG's products is going to make your Honda last longer than it was designed/engineered to last. Seriously. It's good stuff but it's not some sort of fountain of youth.
 
Think of it this way, Schmoe. As much as I dislike it, you really can't blame the dealer. They are able to offer a long term warranty that doesn't cost them out of pocket and doesn't cost the owner a penny at the outset (in contrast to conventional extended warranties). They get to offer this lifetime warranty for "free," with it being underwritten by someone else, all being required is that the dealer does the maintenance and the BG product is used. The dealer has even more people come in and has another product being upsold, and they don't have to pay out for the warranty issues. It sure looks good to the people who only go to the dealer for maintenance in the first place.

The more I think about it, the more I'm wondering if the Chrysler dealer that offered me the lifetime engine warranty on the G37 was using a BG warranty, too. BG products are all over dealerships here, of every OEM. The Chyrsler dealership told me it was oil changes, and not other maintenance items, but I can't confirm I saw that in the "fine print" since I declined anyhow.

The Infiniti dealer, at least, had BG items listed as part of certain services. Considering they pushed synthetics and Infiniti/Nissan OCIs were notoriously short back then, I'm not sure of the utility of the additive.
 
Originally Posted by OVERKILL
This sounds like a Scamarama! Good grief
33.gif



And if you add up the additional cost of all the required mx at the dealer, Versus DIY, then you can see it's Scamarama - with an exception: folks that don't do anything but put fuel in it. For them I can see the value. Maybe.
 
Still think it's kind of cheesy. I'm not sure what I'll do now. I do have that 120K Honda warranty, but do plan on keeping this for a long time as long as she doesn't get into any more wrecks. I mean, my 06 is my DD and I've done all the maintenance to it except for the dreaded timing belt change at 100K and it's been running fine. Just chaps my arsche that those dealerships charge so much for those simple services. I mean, I know they got to make money and all, but come on!!!
 
Honda dealers love pushing BG or MOC - and 95% of their new car customers fall for it. Even high-end car dealers around here push MOC or BG.

I've gotten almost all the cars in the family past 200K and then some without BG or MOC, well, for a while when I worked at the dealer the techs told me to help myself to whatever MOC snake oil was on their benches.
 
Originally Posted by Schmoe
Still think it's kind of cheesy.

It certainly is, in my view, too! As I mentioned, I understand where they're coming from, but the cheesiest part is them offering the lifetime warranty based upon specifically ignoring a specific manual instruction - that being about the usage of additives.
 
Don't fall for the Warranty For Life scam. It ties you to the dealer for ALL maintenance at whatever price they want to charge. The will also use all of the snake oil additives at a rediculous price. 15 years ago I met a chemical engineer who spent his career designing additive packages to take base stock oil to whatever the oil company wanted it to be. Here is what he told me.1 Buy good quality oil, you get what you pay for. 2 Never add anything to the oil. Putting an additive into the oil ruins it. 3 Change oil often, suggested 5k intervals because oil shears during use and you lose viscosity. 4 They have tested all of the additives and none of them do what they say.
 
Still reading the fine print.....but mentions that if you are towing and the hitch was not put on by the dealer, warranty is void. Geesh. There are loop holes and then there are worm holes. Yeah, think I'm just going to keep letting them change the oil, 44 bucks every 2 months ain't bad, I can live with that and the dealer is where my work works in OKC. We live 45 miles SW of there. I also got to looking underneath the CRV, LOT'S of plastic to move just to get to the filter and plug, don't want to really mess with that plus I don't have a ramp. Appreciate ya'lls reply. Learned a lot.
 
I actually emailed Honda Corporate on this and got a reply.

Thank you for contacting us to obtain more information in regard of the recommended engine oil for your Honda. We value you as a Honda client and we appreciate the opportunity to respond to your concern; and, offer our sincere apologies for inconvenience this may have caused you. We appreciate the time you took to notify us of your experience. We would also like to congratulate you on your new vehicle.

Are you referring to engine oil change on our 2018 Honda CR-V by ESKRIDGE HONDA Dealership?

As stated on page 572 of the owner manual we recommend premium-grade 0W-20 detergent oil with an API Certification Seal on the container. Is what the dealership is using is 0W-20 with an API Certification Seal?
Your vehicle does not require oil additives. In fact, they may adversely affect the engine performance and durability.


Sooooooooooooo corporate is saying the it MAY adversely affect the engine.....Great. I replied to that above comment from Honda and told them that great, now I have to worry not only the dilution problem the 1.5T is having, now the additives in my engine too??? Their reply was this:

Thank you for reaching back to us in regard of the dealership's service practice. We would be glad to document your concern as an official dealer complaint for internal review. As our dealers are a private business in our dealer network and handle sales and service related concerns more directly. We do apologize for your experience, as the dealerships do carry our name and we will certainly document a formal complaint on your behalf. Please follow up with management or the Service Manager to address your concern.

If you have any additional questions or comments please do not hesitate to contact us back.


It's not like I'm calling the dealership, but I was really surprised that Honda said additives are a no-no.
 
Originally Posted by Schmoe


It's not like I'm calling the dealership, but I was really surprised that Honda said additives are a no-no.



Pretty much all brands do. It introduces unknown variables that cannot be accounted for in internal testing, nor are they factored into the API, ACEA or OEM approval regiments. It's thusly a pretty good idea to indicate that their use is not encouraged and in fact may cause issues with a warranty claim.
 
Originally Posted by Schmoe
I actually emailed Honda Corporate on this and got a reply.

Thank you for contacting us to obtain more information in regard of the recommended engine oil for your Honda. We value you as a Honda client and we appreciate the opportunity to respond to your concern; and, offer our sincere apologies for inconvenience this may have caused you. We appreciate the time you took to notify us of your experience. We would also like to congratulate you on your new vehicle.

Are you referring to engine oil change on our 2018 Honda CR-V by ESKRIDGE HONDA Dealership?

As stated on page 572 of the owner manual we recommend premium-grade 0W-20 detergent oil with an API Certification Seal on the container. Is what the dealership is using is 0W-20 with an API Certification Seal?
Your vehicle does not require oil additives. In fact, they may adversely affect the engine performance and durability.


Sooooooooooooo corporate is saying the it MAY adversely affect the engine.....Great. I replied to that above comment from Honda and told them that great, now I have to worry not only the dilution problem the 1.5T is having, now the additives in my engine too??? Their reply was this:

Thank you for reaching back to us in regard of the dealership's service practice. We would be glad to document your concern as an official dealer complaint for internal review. As our dealers are a private business in our dealer network and handle sales and service related concerns more directly. We do apologize for your experience, as the dealerships do carry our name and we will certainly document a formal complaint on your behalf. Please follow up with management or the Service Manager to address your concern.

If you have any additional questions or comments please do not hesitate to contact us back.


It's not like I'm calling the dealership, but I was really surprised that Honda said additives are a no-no.



Using that crap may in fact void you factory warranty, even more so as you just told them and God forbid its on any paperwork when they do an oil change.
So if you ever do have a problem with the engine they can use your own paperwork against you without any questions about OCI or oil used, they couldn't care less if an additive was used and they prove it.
 
Just follow the olm. Our 18 has been great so far. 17K miles. The first oil change was with EP 0W20 and now Amsoil SS 0W20. So far no rise on the dipstick it does smell like fuel though.
 
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