NHTSA Complaint #10257672 — 2005 HONDA PILOT

YESTERDAY, MY DAUGHTER'S 2005 HONDA PILOT WITH 71K MILES SINCE NEW, WAS ROLLING ALONG AT 60 MPH ON INTERSTATE 66 WHEN BRAKES ENGAGED BRINGING CAR TO SUDDEN STOP. SEVERAL CARS BEHIND HER HAD TO TAKE DEFENSIVE ACTION TO PREVENT PILING UP. VSA LIGHT AND ABS LIGHTS WERE ON. THIS HAPPENED SEVERAL MORE TIMES TO A POINT WHERE CAR WAS UNDRIVEABLE AND HAD TO BE PULLED TO SIDE OF THE ROAD. CAR WAS TOWED TO HONDA BY AAA. SAME THING HAPPENED IN OCT 2008 (ABOUT FOUR MONTHS AGO) BUT OCCURRED ONLY INTERMITTENTLY AND CAR COULD BE DRIVEN TO DEALERSHIP. DIAGNOSIS FROM DEALER WAS NEED FOR NEW BATTERY. ORIGINAL BATTERY WAS REPLACED AND CAR WORKED FINE UNTIL YESTERDAY. IT APPEARS THAT THE HONDA DIAGNOSTIC SYSTEM AT THE DEALERS CANNOT PROPERLY IDENTIFY THIS PROBLEM ALTHOUGH IT IS SURELY SERIOUS ENOUGH TO WARRANT A RECALL. ACCORDING TO MEMBERS POSTING AT HONDAPILOT.ORG FORUM, THIS HAS HAPPENED TO OTHERS AND WITH THE SAME POTENTIALLY HAZARDOUS RESULTS. MORE TROUBLING IS THE FACT THAT HONDA DEALERS ARE UNABLE TO DIAGNOSE THE PROBLEM WITH CURRENT TECHNOLOGY. SOME HAVE REPLACED TIRE PRESSURE SENSORS, SOME HAVE REPLACED STEERING WHEEL SENSORS AND OTHERS HAVE REPLACED SIDE CRASH SENSORS AND BRAKE SYSTEMS. IN MY CASE, THE DEALER REPLACED THE BATTERY. THE FACT REMAINS, HOWEVER, THAT THE PROBLEM COULD NOT BE THE RESULT OF MALFUNCTIONS OF ALL THESE SYSTEMS AND THE CURRENT DIAGNOSTIC CODES APPARENTLY ARE INSUFFICIENT TO PINPOINT THE EXACT COMPONENT THAT FAILED. THIS LEVEL OF UNCERTAINTY ONLY COMPOUNDS THE ORIGINAL PROBLEM AND INCREASES THE LIKELIHOOD OF A MULTI-CAR PILEUP WHEN THE VSA SYSTEM ENGAGES FOR NO GOOD REASON. *TR