It’s actually the capacitors that fail first because they have a liquid electrolyte

I have never seen an electrolytic capacitor fail in an automotive context, and I've owned my fair share of capacitor plague-era vehicles. I'd imagine it's a combination of preferring other types of capacitor for that environment and not buying the cheapest shit they can find in the markets that day like Dell did.

Yeah, it could also be a product of where you live. I live in the southwest us so it’s more area here and likely to dry them out faster. You’re definitely right about good quality not being as good as it used to be

Did the computer shutdown(s) cause (or fail to prevent) the timing chain failure?

Yes - it was probably more in the failure to prevent category, but I’m not sure because we never got to the bottom of it, the computer would just freak out and refuse to recognize any systems. We were playing a game of pay the dealer to replace something random to see if it worked, and then repeat when it didn’t. Once it asploded, we paid over $5k in repairs, only to have the computer start convulsing again, so we sold it back to Honda. Something was seriously wrong with Honda’s overall computer design here. I don’t know if they’ve fixed it, but I’m not alone, this is a relatively common issue for ~5 year old CRVs, based on what I’ve found online.

Sounds like you need to stop relying on the dealer and find one of those old guru mechanics that can diagnose a car just by listening to it. Good mechanics are worth their weight in gold and I promise they’re out there if you look for them.

Listening to the computers does not work. Debugging electronics also requires different skillset and oftenly, expensive equipment to even talk to it. Also, manufacturers are increasingly locking down debugability of the cars and after market part availability via parts pairing.

That's why people don't like increasing amount of electronics in cars.

Hehe they can hear the sound of the computer? I have a couple of excellent mechanics on speed-dial, but they couldn’t have done any better here, and I wouldn’t have gotten the work partially reimbursed, nor would Honda have bought the car back after the damage if it had been a 3rd party. It turned out to be really useful in my case that Honda was the one that tried to fix it, and the dealer admitted the problem was out of our control.

Old guru mechanics don't often like computers. lol

> in my experience they are becoming necessary modern safety features

EU recently mandated that all new models have Intelligent Speed Assistance[1].

This requires the car to use GPS, read signs and such to determine the current speed limit, and provide some feedback like a dynamic force on the gas pedal[2].

I got this in my new car, being a model introduced last year, and while it's nice when it works, it's often confused or wrong. And that's when it's operating normally. I already had to replace the gas pedal unit because the force feedback mechanism in it had some issues (would tap the pedal like a light hammer strike at a specific position, repeated around 5 Hz if held at the exact position). Wonder how it'll all hold up down the line.

[1]: https://road-safety-charter.ec.europa.eu/resources-knowledge...

[2]: https://www.autoweek.com/news/industry-news/a40543584/anti-s...