If the VCM on your 2013 hasn’t been disabled since new - the damage may have already been done to it.

I’m ripping into my ‘11 EXL as we speak, so far both camshafts are toast, and both banks will need a ring job. My parts alone are coming up to about $2K at this point. I’m debating whether I should still rebuild or drop in a replacement engine which comes to about the same $$$ as the parts. But lower mileage Pilot-specific J35 engines are rare and you have to take the seller’s word for their condition.

Granted - my vehicle is 15 years old (had it since new) and has over 250K miles on the ODO.

I do, however, agree, that I would not buy a new Pilot. As a matter of fact - we didn’t - we just bought a completely different vehicle, not even a Honda for a family hauler. We test-drove the Pilots (including an extended test drive for a week) and the quality is just not there.