NHTSA complaint #11762554

Owner complaint summary

While driving on a winding, two-lane rural mountain highway, I came up behind a slower vehicle. When a designated passing lane opened up, I pulled out to overtake them. The driver ahead safely slowed way down to let me pass, so I applied normal, moderate acceleration to complete the maneuver.Mid-way through the pass, the vehicle suddenly suffered a catastrophic loss of motive power and entered "Limp Mode." Simultaneously, the entire dashboard lit up frantically with warning alerts indicating that virtually every Advanced Driver Assistance System (ADAS) had failed.The vehicle lost nearly all forward momentum and would barely move. Because of the immediate power loss, I spent a grueling half-mile struggling to find a safe place to pull off the roadway. I was forced to come to a stop on a highly dangerous, blind mountain corner. On a highway where traffic routinely travels at 55 mph or faster, being stranded at a dead stop around a blind curve placed me in imminent danger of a severe, high-speed rear-end collision. Safety Concern & Product Defect:While the vehicle's programming forces "Limp Mode" to protect the mechanical components of the engine, the real-world execution of this feature creates an extreme, life-threatening hazard. Cutting power entirely during routine highway maneuvers—such as passing or merging onto a 65 mph freeway—renders the driver helpless. Rather than preventing damage, this defect actively creates a high-probability scenario for a fatal high-speed accident. Honda's safety systems should not prioritize engine preservation over human life. After thoroughly researching this specific failure pattern, the evidence strongly indicates that the root cause is premature fuel injector failure—an issue that is heavily documented as a common defect in this specific engine layout.This component should not be failing at this stage in the vehicle's lifespan. My husband is a certified mechanic and meticulously maintains all of our personal vehicles!