My car is recalled and Honda won't give me a loaner?

My 2005 crv has been recalled due to a problem with the drivers side airbag inflator. Apparently the inflator could explode, not inflate correctly, or allow metal fragments to pass through in the event of a crash.

I was at my local dealership and they told me that the parts are on back order and should be here by October. I then asked about a loaner car to which the service advisor said that they wouldn't do it. I explained how in the letter it said that Honda will give a car or provide reimbursement for a loaner car until the repairs are done.

The advisor smirked as said I was lucky Honda is even going to replace the part for free and that the car is now ten years old they don't have any responsibility for it.

Now I drive mostly on the highway every day and I have some concern driving a car with a faulty airbag.

By giving me the recall notice, didn't Honda basically release their liability? The letter says they will give me a loaner. The dealer said that's only on the day of the repair and only if the car will stay overnight.

Am I missing something here? Should I call Honda directly? Or go to another dealer?

They will give you a loaner during the actual time of the repair. Nothing more. Keep in mind that the recall is not necessarily for a faulty part, but for a part that may potentially be bad.

Going to another dealer won't do you any good, as the answer will be the same. There may be hundreds of thousands of vehicles mentioned in this recall, and Honda will not pay for hundreds of thousands of loaners until such time as parts are available.

The risk is tiny and for most vehicles, non-existent. The recall is a precaution driven more by the risk of potential litigation due to liability claims. It's notable that the same cars in the rest of the world where fitted with the same airbags are not being recalled and it's because the risk of lawsuits is far lower elsewhere. But if there was a genuine serious safety risk then Honda would make those additional recalls.

No company would give you a loaner for the months it can take to obtain parts and schedule the work through the shop. The offer would only ever have covered the time the car is in the repair shop.

You therefore have some choices to make:-

1. Accept how low any risk is and that it may not even exist and use the car as normal until the work is done.

2. Stop using the car until the work is done, and in the meantime provide your own alternative transport.

3. Sell the car and buy another. Which may have a whole load of other non-recall problems waiting to bite you on the bum…

There's no harm in contacting other Honda dealers to check whether they can carry out the recall work sooner than you've been offered. But if there genuinely is a shortage of the parts needed then you'll get similarly delayed bookings.

To put the risk into perspective, does your car have any tyres older than five years? If so you have far more risk of one of those failing at speed. Do you ever use your phone whilst driving? If so that puts you at vastly greater risk of a collision.

There are several million cars involved in this airbag recall, hence the delay getting the parts. It takes time to make X million new airbags. There aren't enough loaner cars in the world to give even 1% of the affected customers a loaner.

In reality the risk is VERY small, and probably only a precaution in most cases.

You have a better chance of being struck by lightning than of having the airbag go off in your face. Perhaps you should stay inside for the next several months.

This is Honda problem, not the current owners problem.
So Honda should provide you with a new loaner car from their dealership at no cost to you.
You should not have to deal with any Rental Companies
You bought a Honda!
So why would you be expected to accept another make of car.
who pay the insurance on the rental car?

Honda recently supplied a rental car at no cost for 2 straight months for my daughter when she had her 2010 CR-V in for recall.

I have a 2005 Honda Pilot, US model, licensed in Ontario, Canada. I had smoke coming out of the steering column, entered my vin online and found there was a recall on the wiring harness. The vehicle is inoperable due to this wiring issue. My Pilot has been at the dealership since Nov '21, waiting on Honda Canada. The dealership, to their credit have been trying to get Honda Canada to cooperate in getting the recall work completed without cost to me or the dealership, Honda Canada refuse to help. The vin for my Pilot was transferred from US to Canada but this seems to elude them at each attempt to settle this. Yes, the Pilot is a 2005, but it's in great shape and runs great and it's what I can afford to drive at this time. Besides that, there are valid recalls associated with my vin that Honda Canada are responsible for therefore the work should be done at no cost to me or the dealership. It is now January 2022. No word yet, and never an offer of a loaner.