Sask. man says SUV warranty woes wrecked his family holidays

A Prince Albert man was shocked after a dealership said a catastrophic breakdown under the hood of his Honda wasn't covered by his warranty.

In late September, Mark Zulkoskey and his wife were travelling from Prince Albert to Fort Macleod, Alberta in his 2019 Pilot — a vehicle still backed by a warranty.

Zulkoskey explained they heard a loud metallic sound followed by a ‘ping’.

“Within about probably less than 20 seconds after all those warning lights had come up the vehicle finally died,” Zulkoskey said.

Zulkoskey was able to pull the SUV onto a side road where it was later towed to the nearest Honda dealership in Brooks Alberta.

He says the dealership confirmed a connecting rod snapped and the cap had punctured through parts of the engine. But he was told his warranty would be of no help.

“They were trying to find reasons to justify why I had caused the damage so they could renege on the warranty,” said Zulkoskey.

After finally receiving the vehicle back a month-and-a-half later, with the dealership eventually doing the work under warranty, the family decided to take the SUV for a drive to look at Christmas lights, only to find more trouble.

The family noticed a strong odour causing Zulkoskey to pull over where he found a pool of gasoline leaking from the vehicle.

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Zulkoskey believes the dealership "kept having to tear down the engine" to review whether they were working within the perceived boundaries of the warranty.

"To constantly do these things so they could meet their warranty and potentially put my family's life at risk,” Zulkoskey said.

In a statement to CTV Honda Canada said they have reviewed the situation involving independent Honda Dealers and a representative will be reaching out to Zulkoskey to discuss next steps.

Zulkoskey says this issue did a huge disservice to him and his family over the holiday season and he hopes other customers experiencing similar issues will speak up.