NHTSA Complaint #11607061 — 2002 HONDA ACCORD

The right side of the main front subframe of the car broke. The subframe on the right side was completely rusted out and corroded away. However, the left side of the subframe was perfectly intact with no damage and only minor surface rust. The car has only 50,000 miles on it. When the subframe broke my friends [XXX]aunt [XXX] old) was driving and the right side of the car dropped down and the steering was compromised. The broken subframe resulted in a loss of control of the car but an accident was avoided thankfully due to her only driving at low speeds. They took the car to an independent mechanic, who welded some support brackets to the subframe to get the car to move. After doing some research, I found multiple forums, websites, videos, and repair TSBs about this issue. The failure occurred because of an engineering failure of the placement of the HVAC evaporator drain hose. The hose drips the draining moisture right onto the right side of the subframe. Over time, this trapped moisture leads to corrosion and rust formation on the subframe. The corrosive effect weakens the structural integrity of the subframe, which caused the subframe to break under normal driving conditions. A mechanic has inspected and patch repaired the subframe. I am willing to have the car inspected if requested. There were no symptoms before the failure, it happened all of the sudden. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)