NHTSA Complaint #11584558 — 2016 HONDA PILOT

We bought the car online from a Honda dealer located about 450 miles away in Arkansas and on [XXX] we met them in Dallas near the halfway point and they delivered the car It was a one owner with just under 29000 miles, had a clean carfax, title, etc. Over the next 10 days, we put about 300-350 miles on the car, including the 220 miles home from Dallas. On [XXX] we were driving at about 45-50 miles an hour when we heard a sort of "ping" noise, sort of like a tin can dropping, the car began to run rough and a number of message lights flashed on the dash. We had it towed to our local mechanic who drained the oil and cut open the filter and he found metal fragments and diagnosed a thrown rod bearing. We then had it towed to the local Honda dealer who said that was probably correct, but they couldn't diagnose without taking the engine apart. We spent several months talking with the Honda dealer who sold it to us as well as American Honda and in the end they said sometimes things just break, it's not under warranty and repairs were on us. We had the engine replaced with a used engine at the local Honda dealer. Total cost parts and labor $8922. We called American Honda and were told our VIN is not included in the current recall announced in November 2023, but that the recall may be expanded. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)