While driving with the A/C on I heard a bang under the hood. I noticed the A/C vents stopped putting out cold air. I turned off the A/C. I took it to a reputable repair shop recommended by Angie's List. They had seen several 2003 Honda CR-V A/C compressor failures. But mine was the most extreme they had seen, the casing was blown apart. Because they had done other CR-V A/C units they suggested I replace the compressor, condensor, dryer kit and recharge, no evaporator replacement. Their suggested repair has worked fine for 6 months. The cost was $1,364, very reasonable. I think Honda should have issued a safety recall because the compressor casing exploding could have caused a tire blowout or loss of power steering.

On my 2003 Honda at around 66.000 miles the air conditioning quit working. Although I hardly use A/C since I only have a short drive to work. I took the vehicle into a Honda dealer. It was reported that the A/C Blew Up and was contaminated throughout the system. I had to replace everything including lines. Although they claim this happens, I'm concerned since the A/C was rarely used. Clearly a defect in the A/C. Ive owned other vehicles with only having to do regular maintenance on the A/C with no problems. This repair cost 2,611.70. I had an extended warranty which did not help much either, they only paid for a compressor that they found somewhere and to flush the system. The Honda dealer feels this is not going to work and the A/C may get contaminated again. I have been told or read other problems with the A/C in Hondas. Please help.

The Honda dealer i worked with was good to me and gave some discounts.

On 8/31/12 the AC was working and on 9/1/12 it just stopped cooling! No sound, no light, no warning!

When I took it in I was told that the compressor had blown up and contaminated the entire system and that whole thing would have to be replaced at a cost of approximately $4k!!! I had to sit down as I had never encountered a number like that for a car repair before.

Come to find out that this was a known problem and there had even been a class action suit settled by Honda!

The dealer did offer me a discount of 15% and also put me in touch with Honda corporate who after many weeks of phone tag gave me a discount of 30%. I did go ahead and get vehicle repaired as it was starting to get cold and I needed the system to work to defrost.

So what is my complaint???

As a loyal customer, who has the car serviced only at the dealer, I can't believe that they knew about this timebomb in my car and didn't bother to tell me!!!!

If I had known, I could have just had the compressor replaced (according to the dealer the new ones don't contaminate the whole system!) at a lot less than $2,600!!! Seems to me that that is all I should have had to pay for this problem. I argued that with the case manager assigned by Honda but got absolutely nowhere. She actually had the audacity to tell me that my vehicle was too old!! Isn't that one of Honda's selling points? That you can drive their cars practically forever? Certainly longer than the approximately 48,000 miles that were on mine at the time.

I feel this was unfair and Honda owes me at least the difference. After all this was a known design flaw with their vehicle that they could have warned me about!!!

While I was completely sold on Honda before this, unless I get my money back, don't know that I will consider another one!

I've been driving my CRV very happily for the last 4 years, at least until last week. My car was making a strange noise under the hood when my a/c was engaged, so I turned it off and went to Airport Honda to have it looked at. They told me the air compressor blew up. I WAS SHOCKED!! This same problem that occurred 4 years ago when the car was 4 years old was happening again! They told me I would have to have the whole unit replaced and gave me a cost of almost $2000 for one, and $3000 for the other option. When I asked why the second was so much more, I was told because it's a genuine quality Honda part. I was like, did you just say the word quality Honda part to me??? And why are you showing me prices anyway. You just put another defective compressor back in my car 4 years ago! I can't put a new compressor in my car every 4 years, it's completely unacceptable. I told them they needed to fix it. The manager told me that he would contact Honda to see what they could do and would call me the next day. That was Wednesday, still no word. So, when I call him tomorrow, I'll find out exactly what they're going to do. If I have to pay a dime to get it fixed, it will be by someone other than Honda. If they do not fix this problem, they will have lost a long lover of Hondas, and will have gained an enemy. Not only will I never personally buy a Honda again, I will make sure that I Post, Tweet, Status, Rant, and tell everyone who will listen about this experience and to ABSOLUTELY AVOID BUYING A HONDA, NEW OR USED! I still have faith that they will come through, but if they don't my long love affair with the Honda name is OVER!

I bought my Honda CRV in July of 2003. I love my car, it was absolutely perfect. Then four years down the line, the air compressor blew up while I was moving from South Carolina to Tennessee. It is still pretty warm and sometimes hot that time of year, so I was driving and sweating, just tring to get home. I had it looked at at Airport Honda in Knoxville, TN. They told be the problem, and said that Honda would assist with the cost and get it down to $1500. I was shocked, but I loved my Honda so much I did it. I figure there's gonna be a bad part here and there in the world. So, they fixed it, and I went on my merry way, still loving my car.

I purchased this vehicle from a reputable local dealer for 13800.00 on 12/24/2010, and have only made one payment on a four year loan and driven for 1000 miles when this unthinkable nightmare occurred. The sales rep who sold me this car said he had never heard of such a thing happening and said there was nothing he could do! I am faced with a total replacement of the a/c system at the "helping out" cost from the dealer of 2730.20!! This is the most significant auto purchase of my life and I simply dont have the financial ability to cover the repair.

I contacted Honda America and was given a case number with the advice to wait for 24 to 48 hours for a response and did hear from Alex, my case manager, within that time frame. He told me that Honda could not offer any help, but would contact the dealer and see if they would help me. In the meantime I heard back from the sales rep at the dealer who asked how my problem was going. I informed him that I was trying to find an independent mechanic to fix the "system", and he actually told me I should be carefull to only use Honda parts!!! I told him that the car already has Honda parts in it and look how well that has worked out for me. After researching this problem and finding the myriad of other owners who have experienced the same catastrophic failure of their a/c system, I can't help but feel that my only recourse is to always put the word out about this "BLACK DEATH" situation that plagues owners of this awfull vehicle, and is not backed by it's manufacturer.

I am faced with four years of payments for a vehicle that the sales rep said would solve all my transportation problems for the forseeable future. Right on! I intend to paint the car with viable information regarding this issue, informing potential buyers of mine and others predicament and the uncaring dealer and manufacturer who sold and manufactured it.