Even Honda parts start to fail after 17 years

Dear Car Talk: The driver-side window on my 2002 Honda Accord suddenly rolled down on its own. Although I could hear a noise when I pressed the window switch, the window wouldn’t roll up!

The Honda dealer had to remove the door panel and replace the window regulator at a cost of more than $500. My service adviser said that in four years of working for Honda, he had seen only one other car with this same window malfunction!

My husband and I have never experienced this problem with all the cars that we have owned throughout the years, and I was wondering if you were familiar with this or ever heard of this problem before?

— Inge

Inge, I think you are a victim of excessively lofty expectations.

Hondas are very reliable cars, but that doesn’t mean you can go 17 years without a single part failing. We’ve replaced plenty of window regulators over the years.

The regulator is a metal, scissors-like mechanism inside the door that holds the window glass. When you push the window button, it folds and unfolds to move the window up and down. Due to corrosion and use, after an eon or two, the welds will break, and the window will fall down into the door.

It’s almost always the driver’s door regulator that fails. Why? Because that’s the one that gets the most use. When you’re driving alone, you use it. When you stop at a toll booth, you use it.

The price you paid sounds a little high to me. Next time, you might want to shop around, and try a non-dealer garage, too. But I don’t think you can really complain too much about a window regulator that failed after 17 years, Inge.

I’d focus on the upside. You now have a new window regulator that should take you clean through the 2036 presidential campaign.

Dear Car Talk: Here’s an item that I think would interest your readers.

I have a 2019 Buick Enclave. One of its many features is the automatic engine shutoff when I stop. It’s not something I love, but I eventually got used to it.

Yesterday I came across a discussion on Facebook, and there were literally hundreds of rants about why it was no good. “It doesn’t save gas,” “It will require replacement of starters and associated parts,” etc.

Many mentioned the lack of heat or air conditioning while stopped, although mine starts back up if needed. Others mentioned holding up traffic while you restart, which is not true.

So, is this a gimmick, or does it really save gas?

— Tom

It does save some gas, Tom. Studies show it improves fuel economy by a few percentage points.

Let’s say you’re stopped at a light or in traffic about 3% to 5% of the time you’re driving — now you’re not using any gas during those stops. You’re also not putting any wear and tear on your engine, which is nice. More importantly, you’re not creating any air pollution.

These systems have been around for five to 10 years now, and we haven’t seen any increase in starter or battery replacements yet. And because warm engines are so easy to start, there’s very little additional demand on the starter and battery.

The only real downside we’ve found is that the restart (on some cars) can be a bit annoying. Some manufacturers haven’t executed these systems as smoothly as others.

The heating and cooling fan keeps running when the engine shuts off. And if the temperature in the cabin gets out of its acceptable range (which it rarely does during a 60-second traffic light), the engine will turn itself back on and fire up the compressor.

As you’ve discovered, restarting is instantaneous as soon as you take your foot off the brake, so there’s no making anybody wait behind you. In fact, a BMW we drove recently uses its automatic emergency braking sensor to tell when the car in front of you starts moving, and it restarts the car when it sees that, even before you take your foot off the brake. Pretty smart!

We’re with you, Tom. We don’t love these systems, but we got used to them. The environmental benefits alone make the case for everybody using them.