NHTSA Complaint #10702326 — 2015 HONDA PILOT

I PURCHASED A NEW TOP OF THE LINE HONDA PILOT EX-L BACK IN 2005. MY WIFE DROVE IT FOR NINE YEARS AND TOOK IMPECCABLE CARE OF IT. I STARTED DRIVING IT A YEAR AGO WHEN WE LEASED A 2013 CR-V FOR HER. A COUPLE OF WEEKS AGO, I WAS MAKING THE THREE MILE JOURNEY TO WORK WHEN I NOTICED THAT MY HEAT WAS NO LONGER WORKING. AFTER WORK, THE CAR HAD SOME TRANSMISSION SLIP WHEN LEAVING THE PARKING LOT. I STOPPED HOME BRIEFLY TO MAKE ARRANGEMENTS TO TAKE IT TO THE LOCAL HONDA DEALER. WE ALWAYS HAD IT SERVICED THERE ( MOSTLY OIL CHANGES, A SET OF BRAKE PADS, ETC. AS IT ONLY HAD 84,000 MI. ON IT). ON THE WAY TO THE DEALER, WHO WAS FIVE MILES AWAY, THE TRANSMISSION WAS SLIPPING MORE AND MORE. THEN, THE VEHICLE STARTED TO MASSIVELY OVERHEAT. I'M GLAD I WAS NOT ON A BUSY HIGHWAY OR IN HEAVY TRAFFIC. LONG STORY SHORT, AFTER THE TECHNICIAN EVALUATED IT, I HAD A CATASTROPHIC FAILURE DUE TO THE TRANSMISSION FLUID MIXING WITH THE ANTIFREEZE. I NEEDED A HEAD GASKET FOR THE MOTOR DUE TO THE HEAT, A NEW RADIATOR THAT HAD AN INTERNAL DESIGN FAILURE, AND THE TRANSMISSION NEEDED TO BE REPLACED AS WELL. A VEHICLE DOES NOT REQUIRE A MIXTURE OF ANTIFREEZE AND TRANSMISSION FLUID ANYWHERE, NOR AT ANY TIME IN THE HISTORY OF AUTOMOBILES. THE REPAIR WOULD HAVE COST NEARLY WHAT THE VALUE OF THE CAR WAS. I CALLED HONDA MOTOR CORP. AND WAS OFFERED NO HELP. THE VALUE OF THE CAR WAS ROUGHLY 10,000.00. I CHOSE NOT TO PROCEED WITH THE REPAIR, AS I FELT IT WOULD HAVE BEEN A FOOLISH DECISION. AFTER MY FAMILY HAS OWNED A HALF-DOZEN HONDA VEHICLES, WE WILL NEVER BUY ANOTHER ONE. I FEEL THAT HONDA OWES ME THE VALUE OF THE CAR DUE TO THEIR OVERLY ENGINEERED RADIATOR. WE SUGGESTED THAT THEY PUT THE VALUE OF THE PILOT AGAINST THE LEASE BALANCE ON THE CRV, THEY DENIED THAT SUGGESTION. THE MOMENT THE HEAT WENT OUT, I HAD NO IDEA THAT MY CAR WAS ALREADY A TOTAL LOSS. CAN YOU SAY RECALL?????????? *TR