The Honda PCX / Forza / ADV150 / SH Forums

As the title states, I own a 2013 Honda PCX 125 (I am located in Israel). The scooter has ~9,300km on it and has been serviced only at the Honda dealer.

I was riding back from a town which is ~18km away. About halfway through my trip I heard a weird noise from the engine, then the engine light came on and the throttle stopped working. I coasted over to the shoulder and waited for a tow truck. In the meantime, I noticed oil coming out of the bottom of the scooter. After I had it towed to the dealer, they informed me that the piston hit the engine block and essentially the scooter totaled itself. The cost of a new engine is ~$2700USD which is about the price of a new one here.

We have tried to find numerous motors from crashed PCXs, but they all do not fit for some reason.

Then...they offered me a 2012 PCX with 25,000km, and wanted me to pay out of pocket as well (~$500USD). I politely refused the offer, stating that my scooter inherently had a defect in their workmanship...it was defective when it came off of the line in Thailand. My scooter barely lasted me just over 9,000km, how do they expect me to think the new scooter will last anywhere as long?

I also emailed HondaUK. I know Israel is not their jurisdiction but sometimes Israel is considered part of Europe. Apparently, Honda Israel said they were in correspondence with HondaUK, but, when I asked HondaUK if they had spoken with them, they denied it. I approached Honda Israel about this and they said "oh we have the emails to prove it." So I politely asked them to forward them to me (which of course they didn't). They're tarnishing the name of Honda with their poor customer service and by not standing behind the quality of their scooters.
I am trying to reach out to other Honda branches to have them pressure Honda Israel into fixing the situation.

What advice do you guys have on what I can do?

Brother that's a story we never heard before. No idea how you recover from such a twist of fate. Do you still have possession of the bike? If something like that happened to me I would part out and cut my losses. Unfortunately Honda parts are not worth much

homie wrote:Brother that's a story we never heard before. No idea how you recover from such a twist of fate. Do you still have possession of the bike? If something like that happened to me I would part out and cut my loses. Unfortunately Honda parts are not worth much

The garage manager told me its the 2nd time he's seen something like this in his 25r+ career at Honda.
Its currently at the dealership, sitting in their graveyard. I wanted to part it out but I'm not really sure how to do so in this country.

As the scooter is out of warranty its unlikely you'll get any joy.

You say its been serviced at the dealer, but unless you stand over the mechanic you never really know for absolute certain if the work has been done or not.

As far as selling it goes, do you have eBay and Gumtree and the like in Israel...?
If so stick it on there and see if anyone wants it.

homie wrote:Unfortunately Honda parts are not worth much

Maybe not where you are, but the market for parts varies from one country to another.
For example used Honda bike and scooter parts here in the UK will often be more expensive than new ones where you are.

One other person had a new PCX total itself - posted here long ago and I believe one of the LED versions. Turned out it was due to poor finishing on some part of internal engine metalwork which led to the demise of the engine - dealer and Honda did not admit liability and I believe did not cover much in way of costs of replacement.

In the UK you have the sale of goods act which states anything should be good for purpose up to 6 years on a sliding scale of replacement/repair - but hard to prove Honda or the dealer are at fault and that would rely on you pushing the SOGA at them (a friend has had a 4 yr old large screen flat TV replaced foc because he stood up for himself and used the SOGA stating a TV is not a TV if the screen develops large areas of blemish on it - Dixons replaced it in the end for nowt for a new modern one! < most people are too scared or get fobbed off but the law is often on your side. Overseas and 3 yr's old - not sure you are on a winning streak with getting Honda to do anything for free.

Hi, sounds like a piston seized due to lack of coolant and the Conrod went through the crankcase hence the oil leak, what speed were you doing ?

So sorry this happened.

Lafree wrote:Hi, sounds like a piston seized due to lack of coolant and the Conrod went through the crankcase hence the oil leak, what speed were you doing ?

I was going about 95-100km/hr (I was on a freeway).

iceman wrote:One other person had a new PCX total itself - posted here long ago and I believe one of the LED versions. Turned out it was due to poor finishing on some part of internal engine metalwork which led to the demise of the engine - dealer and Honda did not admit liability and I believe did not cover much in way of costs of replacement.

In the UK you have the sale of goods act which states anything should be good for purpose up to 6 years on a sliding scale of replacement/repair - but hard to prove Honda or the dealer are at fault and that would rely on you pushing the SOGA at them (a friend has had a 4 yr old large screen flat TV replaced foc because he stood up for himself and used the SOGA stating a TV is not a TV if the screen develops large areas of blemish on it - Dixons replaced it in the end for nowt for a new modern one! < most people are too scared or get fobbed off but the law is often on your side. Overseas and 3 yr's old - not sure you are on a winning streak with getting Honda to do anything for free.

Are there any laws like SOGA in the EU? Israel follows the EU's delegation.

Did you buy the scooter from new?
Recently have it serviced?
Seems a long time for a manufacturing fault to show itself.

So it was running at close to wide open when this happened. Did you keep up with service by checking oil level and fluid levels before riding it daily? Maybe one of those was low. These are single cylinder engines and they run hot, so it is important that the fluids be checked regularly.
I know that the pcx prior to 2013 had a problem with the center stand breaking and puncturing the case. It is hard to tell when they finally fixed the problem. I know that the 2013 pcx 150 sent to the United states was fixed. However, the 2013 version for the United States was built in 2012. Your bike might have been one of those that had the problem with the centerstand.

DAB wrote: Seems a long time for a manufacturing fault to show itself.

Enough said.

DAB wrote:Did you buy the scooter from new?
Recently have it serviced?
Seems a long time for a manufacturing fault to show itself.

I had it serviced in February 2016 (9 months ago). <10,000km is a long time for a manufacturing fault to show itself? Are you saying this from opinion or professional experience (ie mechanic)?

Mel46 wrote:So it was running at close to wide open when this happened. Did you keep up with service by checking oil level and fluid levels before riding it daily? Maybe one of those was low. These are single cylinder engines and they run hot, so it is important that the fluids be checked regularly.
I know that the pcx prior to 2013 had a problem with the center stand breaking and puncturing the case. It is hard to tell when they finally fixed the problem. I know that the 2013 pcx 150 sent to the United states was fixed. However, the 2013 version for the United States was built in 2012. Your bike might have been one of those that had the problem with the centerstand.

I rode it a maximum of 6km/day. I admit, I did not check the fluid levels daily.

bekeeram wrote:

DAB wrote:Did you buy the scooter from new?
Recently have it serviced?
Seems a long time for a manufacturing fault to show itself.

I had it serviced in February 2016 (9 months ago). <10,000km is a long time for a manufacturing fault to show itself? Are you saying this from opinion or professional experience (ie mechanic)?

Common sense I suspect.

bekeeram wrote:

DAB wrote:Did you buy the scooter from new?
Recently have it serviced?
Seems a long time for a manufacturing fault to show itself.

I had it serviced in February 2016 (9 months ago). <10,000km is a long time for a manufacturing fault to show itself? Are you saying this from opinion or professional experience (ie mechanic)?

After 42 years of motorcycling and only having had new motorcycles, I have found that the few problem that occurred were in the first 1000 miles.
No need to check the fluids every day, I last checked mine about 3 months ago. I check the tyre pressure more regularly.