NHTSA Complaint #11627374 — 2016 KIA SEDONA

Regularly serviced vehicle (2016 Kia Sedona SXL 3.3L) within recommended intervals; most recently on 9/10/2024 at ~117k miles. Invoice indicates dealer put in full capacity of oil (6qt). Vehicle also received multipoint inspection including checking all fluids; non were reported low or in need of flush/replacement. Vehicle had begun to make extra engine noise (rattle/growl) on startup, not sure precisely when; I estimate just in the last few months, maybe September or October. Took 220 (one way, ~440 total) mile trip on 11/5-11/7/2024; vehicle performed well other than aforementioned startup noise. [XXX], vehicle noise had increased significantly and "engine control system" message with CEL was present on the dashboard which was later extinguished after an engine restart. No other warning/error indications were present before or since. Onboard vehicle diagnostics run by the owner (Kia "eServices" app) on 11/12 did not indicate any issues. It was decided we better not drive it and service was scheduled for 11/22. On the same day (11/12) we found the oil to be low by 4.5 qts. Filling the oil to "full" removed a significant amount of the engine noise but (layman's) inspection did not reveal any oil leakage and no other signs of oil burning had been noted previously. One additional trip of ~16 miles made on 11/19 and 6 miles to service on 11/22 (now at 121k miles). Dealer upon inspection stated rod bearings were bad and engine needed replaced. Retrieving the vehicle from service and driving home, it catastrophically failed losing all power in highway traffic and could not be restarted. I'm reporting this because I saw DP24-001 and PE23-019 which seem to be very similar to my issue. I see no reason why a regularly serviced engine could fail so quickly other than a possible manufacturing defect. The engine/components have not been touched since the dealer appointment on 11/22. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)