My 8-year old 2003/52 Honda Civic Coupe 'died' quite dramatically on the M62 when the no. 4 conrod pierced the block. Regularly serviced throughout its short life, the last occasion being July 1st. and clearly fresh clean oil can be seen in the system using the dipstick so oil depravation would not seem to be the cause and of course the age of the car will not make private repair cost effective I suspect.

I have naturally spoken to Honda (Slough) as I believe there may be an issue regarding product quality, particularly with such a low mileage, but its 'customer relations' people tell me that they cannot assist in any way as the vehicle was an American build and that any issues I have must be taken up with Honda USA. This response disappoints me. There seems to be very little 'goodwill' on display here, but can they do this? I'm not new to the Honda stable as I bought my first Accord in 1980 and have had an unbroken succession of Honda cars ever since. Your advice would be much appreciated.