EDITORIAL: Engineering lapses test brand loyalty

“Today a bunch of idiot lights appeared in the minivan during my drive to work,” reported my spouse, Suzie, after she arrived home one evening last month. Sure enough, the cluster on our 2011 Honda Odyssey lit up like a Christmas tree when I turned on the ignition to investigate. The Check Engine light and two others were illuminated.

Trouble appeared to be rearing its costly head through the car's onboard diagnostics (OBD) network. Suzie is the Odyssey's primary pilot and a stickler about getting her cars serviced as OEMs intend: by factory-trained dealer techs. So next day, we took the minivan, with 80,000 miles on the odo, to the local Honda store where we bought it (our sixth Honda product) new.