I was driving my family in my 2009 Honda Pilot traveling 30 mph when the engine just died and I had to pull over to the side of the road. I had it towed to a local dealership who say that the rear cam on the engine seized, causing the timing belt to slip and causing irreparable damage to the engine. Their price to replace the engine with a used engine (with higher mileage), plus the water pump and timing belt, is at a cost of $6,914.50. Other Honda dealerships/service have quoted comparable pricing or higher.

It was sheer luck that I wasn’t traveling at highway speeds when this accident occurred; that I was able to pull over off the road; that no collision occurred with other vehicles; and, ultimately, that no one was hurt.

This is the 3rd Honda I've owned in a row, in fact the only model car I've ever purchased. I bought it used with 40K miles on it from the original owner, a family member who bought it new. I have all service records for the car, however the service was minimal as it was a new car with low mileage (89K when the accident occurred).

I'm facing a $7K repair to put in an engine with more mileage than my current car in it, just to keep it running for (hopefully) a few more years and hope this same issue does not occur again.

The dealership and I both submitted cases to Honda with no goodwill assistance to fix because "the car was out of warranty" due to age (not mileage). They were rejected.

I had no known oil leaks but we had remarked how frequently we needed oil changes on this vehicle; I wonder if it isn't the engine in this lawsuit:http://www.autonews.com/assets/PDF/CA913971022.PDF http://www.autonews.com/assets/PDF/CA913981022.PDF

Honda, what a disappointment in your "safe," "reliable" cars. I'm just very lucky this didn't result in an accident or harm to my family or others.

2009 Pilot began by showing engine light and we drove it directly to our Honda maintenance shop and dropped it off. First told it was spark plugs, later told it was engine failure and would cost $8,000 to $12,000 to replace engine. Informed them we had extended warranty that covered up to 150,000 miles and then told it would have to be investigated to determine what caused engine failure. After 2 1/2 weeks of investigation we were told it would not be covered under the extended warranty. Stated they think a spark plug broke off and fell into engine! OK, we didn't break it off and put it there. We don't know what caused the spark plug to break. This vehicle was supposed to have 100,000 mile spark plugs in it and we had to have all spark plugs replaced in it at 35,000 miles which we still have the maintenance ticket for. Why is Honda selling a vehicle with an engine that is not going to last much longer than 100,000 miles and why are they selling extended warranties that aren't going to cover a major malfunction of this sort. We have had many Hondas over the years. This is our last. Believe me, our friends, business acquaintances and and anyone else we know, will certainly know that we would never recommend a Honda. Just seems strange and unfair that the service department would tell you that your cars engine has failed, then after investigation they can't really find the source of failure, and you are left with a vehicle that should have lasted at least another 100,000 miles that is worthless. Recently heard that service department personnel are working on commission, I guess maybe they are! Honda needs to investigate their employees!!! Although our attorney is checking it out.