NHTSA Complaint #11689731 — 2020 HONDA ODYSSEY

When driving from West Hartford to Westerly on June 3, serious banging started coming from the left rear undercarriage. I stopped by a local Midas shop which identified the problem as a totally broken rear spring which created a dangerous driving situation. At the time, the van had 57K miles on it. The shop strongly advised that we should consider the van as inoperable, and we subsequently had them make repairs. I contacted the dealer, Westbrook Honda in Westbrook CT,. The service manager relayed that he had never heard of a broken spring on a vehicle with these few miles, but the certified warranty coverage expired in August 2024. He recommended I contact Honda Customer Service as this failure appeared to warrant consideration due to its rarity and severity. Honda Customer Service responded by agreeing to cover damage for only half the incurred cost because we didn't bring it to a Honda dealership, despite doing that would have constituted a severe driving safety exposure. Their acknowledgement indicates that this may be evidence of faulty manufacturing of the spring which would appear to warrant NHTSA review and assessment. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)