My vehicle was parked in the parking lot of a grocery store. I was on my home from work and had stopped to purchase a few items. The engine was turned off. I had been in the store for about 10 minutes when I heard the loudspeaker asking for the owner of a 2005 gold Honda Accord to come to the customer service counter. When I approached the person behind the counter, he asked me to look outside to see if the vehicle on fire was, in fact, my car. Smoke was coming from the engine of my car and two vehicles from the fire department were trying to put out the fire. The car was totaled. Honda insisted it was my fault, but I found out much later that engine fires had occurred in other 2005 Accord. State farm gave me the replacement value for the vehicle, but it wasn't enough to purchase a car of equal value. The Honda Accord was still under warranty. I felt I should have been compensated for the entire cost of the car. Plus, if the fire had occurred while I was driving, I might not be here writing this letter to you. I was just recently made aware of some of the recalls from Honda for this exact problem. I believe Honda should take ownership of this problem and compensate me fairly for my loss. I have the VIN number and all of the paperwork from state farm, including photos of the damage to car taken after the fire.

- Normal, IL, USA

Vehicle with extended warranty was purchased from Honda of pasadena on 7/22/05 (delivery done on 7/26/05). On 10/10/05 vehicle developed a mechanical problem. On 10/14/05 vehicle delivered to colonial Honda for diagnosis and repair. They identified the problem as intermittent power steering system failure w/ extremely low fluids, no leaks. They topped up fluids and indicated that the system should function normally. Their trained technician noticed (and pointed out) evidence some body work and repainting done to the front end of the vehicle. Honda of pas. Had never disclosed to me that the car had sustained any kind of damage or repairs prior to sale of the car to me. The car was sold as brand new, not 'as-is'. after my initial complaint, Honda of pas. Failed to produce records of damage/repairs prior to sale of the vehicle, they did not believe the damage/repair was significant. The problem continues to persist. On 10/31/05 vehicle back to colonial Honda for repair. Service manager at colonial indicated that they would not repair it under warranty since they believed the problem was caused by collision damage. I would have to pay $90 to have diagnosis. At that time no repair was done. Honda of pas. And american Honda both declined to do anything about the vehicle. A) if the vehicle was indeed damaged in a collision, then that would void several parts of the factory warranty and extended warranty that they sold to me for $1350 (sales fraud & misrepresentation). Potentially there could be additional safety-related problems with the vehicle that are (still) dormant at this stage B) if Honda of pas. Is telling the truth, then this power steering failure is a defect that needs to be addressed: However colonial refuses to fix the problem under warranty. I want to know 1) if the driveability of the vehicle was compromised 2) if I'm putting myself at risk by driving the vehicle 3) if the factory warranty and additional extended warranty that I purchased are valid.

- San Gabriel, CA, USA