Apparently (this is long distance, remember), my son was stopped at an intersection and the engine just slowly stopped as if it had run out of gas. The sound was at about the area of the fuel pump. I've never had one die that way - noisily - but it's the simplest thing to check and to hope for.

The car has been a daily driver for some time now. I drove it from San Diego to Salt Lake and back within the last nine months. No problems, engine performed well and sounded good and it cruised well at freeway speds. Oil changes didn't show anything special. Routine maintenance was -- routine. It has received good care for the few years my son has owned the car.

An oil change with examination of the drained oils sounds like a good place to looked for undesired information.

Thanks, and keep the advice coming.

Jim Hampton