NHTSA Complaint #10356306 — 1997 HONDA ACCORD

1997 HONDA ACCORD COUPE, 2.2L, DX TRIM IGNITION SWITCH FAILURE. FIANCE' AND HER DAUGHTER WERE DRIVING THIS VEHICLE WHEN THE ENGINE JUST "DIED", NO POWER, NO WARNING LIGHT ILLUMINATIONS, ETC. VEHICLE DID/DOES RESTART AT THIS TIME. THIS IS IDENTICAL TO THE HONDA CAMPAIGN RECALL #02V120000 WHICH COVERS SOME HONDAS OF THIS YEAR/MODEL. I CONTACTED HONDA AND WAS BASICALLY BLOWN OFF... "SORRY, THIS RECALL DOESN'T COVER YOUR PARTICULAR VEHICLE'S VIN." FAILURE OCCURS FREQUENTLY, AT RANDOM, NO PARTICULAR INDICATORS THAT IT WAS GOING TO HAPPEN. CONSEQUENCES COULD BE FATAL IF THIS FAULT OCCURRED IN AN INTERSECTION, WHILE PASSING ANOTHER VEHICLE, ETC. BECAUSE HONDA WOULD NOT MAKE SAFE THEIR FAULTY IGNITION SWITCH, I REPLACED THE SWITCH AT MY EXPENSE AT APPROXIMATELY $60/PART, PLUS MY TIME. HONDA CHARGES $211 TO REPAIR THIS, SO THE "TOTAL" REPAIR COST WITH MY PARTS/LABOR IS $211. I DID NOT SAVE THE PART UNFORTUNATELY, NOT THINKING OF NOTIFYING YOU UNTIL TOO LATE. THE FINAL "DYING" THAT OCCURRED ON 9/18/2010 WAS THE LAST STRAW. IT WOULD BE GREAT IF OTHERS SUFFERING FROM THIS OBVIOUS FAULT COULD BE REIMBURSED OR PREVENTED FROM HAVING TO DEAL WITH THIS ISSUE. *TR