NHTSA Complaint #11220688 — 2013 HONDA ODYSSEY

ON APRIL 4, 2019, WHEN MY VEHICLE REACHED APPROXIMATELY 104,000 MILES, THE CAR'S ENGINE LIGHT AND VSA LIGHT CAME ON WHILE DRIVING. THE CAR IDLED ROUGHLY AND WOULD NOT ACCELERATE. IT LIMPED ALL THE WAY TO THE MECHANIC. THE INDEPENDENT MECHANIC DIAGNOSED THE PROBLEM, IDENTIFIED BY THE PROBLEM CODE GENERATED BY THE VEHICLE'S COMPUTER AS P0301: CYLINDER #1 MISFIRE. THE MECHANIC REPLACED ALL THE SPARK PLUGS AND THE IGNITION COIL FOR THAT CYLINDER. TWO MONTHS LATER, WITH THE ODOMETER AT APPROXIMATELY 107,000 MILES, THE CAR AGAIN MALFUNCTIONED, WITH A ROUGH IDLE, ENGINE AND VSA LIGHT, AND LIMPING PERFORMANCE. THE CAR WAS RETURNED TO THE SAME INDEPENDENT MECHANIC, WHO TOLD US THE SAME PROBLEM CODE (P0301) WAS GENERATED, INDICATING A MISFIRE IN THE FIRST CYLINDER. THE MECHANIC REMOVED AND INSPECTED THE SPARK PLUG, WHICH SHOWED EVIDENCE OF OIL FOULING. ONLY AFTER THE SECOND REPAIR DID I FIND INFORMATION THAT THE MANUFACTURER HAD EXTENDED THE WARRANTY FOR THIS SPECIFIC DEFECT PURSUANT TO A CLASS ACTION SETTLEMENT. I WAS NEVER INFORMED BY HONDA OF THE SUIT, SETTLEMENT, OR WARRANTY EXTENSION. WHEN I CALLED THE HONDA DEALER TO ASK THEM TO FIX MY VEHICLE PURSUANT TO THE SETTLEMENT'S WARRANTY EXTENSION, AND NOTED BY MULTIPLE SERVICE BULLETINS, THE DEALER DECLINED AND SAID THEY WOULD NOT FIX THE PROBLEM UNTIL THE CAR BROKE DOWN FOR A THIRD TIME. I CALLED THE MANUFACTURER DIRECTLY, AND A REPRESENTATIVE THERE ALSO DECLINED TO FIX THE CAR UNDER THE WARRANTY EXTENSION, SAYING THEY WOULD NOT DO ANYTHING UNTIL THE CAR BROKE DOWN AGAIN, DESPITE MY DOCUMENTATION THAT THE PRECISE CONDITIONS FOR THE WARRANTY EXTENSION HAD BEEN MET: A PROBLEM CODE OF P0301 AND A SPARK PLUG WITH OIL FOULING. GIVEN THAT THIS HAS HAPPENED TWICE WITHIN 3,000 MILES, MY CAR IS NOT SAFE TO DRIVE, AS I DON'T KNOW WHEN IT WILL BREAK DOWN AGAIN DUE TO A KNOWN AND DOCUMENTED PROBLEM THE MANUFACTURER REFUSES TO ADDRESS.