Catastrophic Engine Failure

[Trey]

Coming from a Subaru STI needless to say I feel your pain. I had no confidence in a rebuilt engine either by the local dealership. I would say that it will cost you nothing but a phone call to contact a lawyer. There are lawyers who focus specifically on lemon law so they can definitely advise you best.

It’s a replacement engine, not rebuilt.

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[Brittania]

Seems my late night whisky induced joke about the engine being made in the US didn't go over so well.

 

[Tickle]

This may not be popular but...

Allow the dealer/Honda to make it right. If you feel you have been made whole and are happy with the car, then it is all good.

If you don't feel that way after recovering your car or there are additional complications then proceed with the process. Like you mentioned the 30 days qualifies you at the very least.

You still have plenty of time to file and start the lemon law process. If you don't like it, you will are satisfied after receiving the car back.

I advise reaching out to Consumer Protection to have a better understanding before reaching out to a lawyer.

This is easy for me to say because it isn't my money or car...

 

[AZCWTypeR]

I’ve been wanting to share my story on an engine failure that I’ve had with my brand new 2024 Civic Type R for quite a while now. For context, I am based in the state of Virginia.

I bought the car on 2/17/24 brand new from the dealership. Three days later, I was midway through my commute to work when my check engine light turned on and other errors popped up on my dash. A few seconds later, I started hearing a faint rattle coming from the front of the car. The rattle became more prominent and louder as a few seconds passed. I noticed white smoke coming out from the exhaust through my rear view mirror and I immediately pulled over as fast as I could as I was on the freeway and turned off the engine. I immediately thought that I had just blown the engine and I had the car towed to the nearest Honda dealership to diagnose the problem.

The next day, my advisor from the dealership informed me that a “catastrophic engine failure” had occurred with the engine and they had to get a master tech to diagnose the car. After a few days they had diagnosed the problem as a valve keeper that had somehow gotten loose in the engine which had thrown off the timing and ended up blowing up the engine. The car is in the process of getting the entire engine replaced and has been there since I had it towed on 2/20/24. I was told a few days ago that the parts had finally arrived for the replacement and that it would be up and running by the end of next week. I will have more information on the damage and hopefully some pictures when they have a full write up of the repair.

This had been such a massive fluke as I had only had the car for three days and the odometer only had about 185 miles on it as of the engine failure. The car is completely stock and most of the mileage had been from driving on the highway. Of course I babied the car and followed the break-in procedures as well; kept it under 4000 RPMs and never floored it. I’m wondering if I’m the only person that has blown an engine in a FL5 CTR up to this point.

I’m wondering if I have a lemon law case in my hands as my car has been in repair for more than a month (which is a criteria in the VA lemon law). I had contacted the dealership where I bought the car to request a replacement of the vehicle and of course they were of no help. A little bit before I hit the 30 day mark of the car being unusable in the dealership, I contacted Honda America for the same request and had made little progress with them. At this point, I am contemplating on going forward with an attorney so I can get a replacement for the car.

I would love to hear if any of y’all had ever experienced engine problems with the FL5 and if you guys have any advice for my situation.

From what I've heard from others, the Lemon Law is a process and asking for it often complicates matters.

 

[FLRib]

built in the US since the FK8 started production. The OP was simply unlucky. would always be in the car’s maintenance records too.

built in the US since the FK2

 

[DragonRider]

you can always ask for a free extended warranty with the provided solution. I'd get a quote on what it costs to rent a CTR for as long as you are without yours, and ask for that if they didn't give you a loaner car

 

[optronix]

Seems my late night whisky induced joke about the engine being made in the US didn't go over so well.

Wasn't just you, my friend.

It does make me wish that Honda chose to build the engine in Japan and not the USA. They just have an unmatched attention to detail in their engineering culture in my humble oppinion.

I would think that a new one where it was assembled in a factory in Japan and untouched would be a lot more special than one where the engine was replaced in a dealership in Virginia, but that's just my humble opinion.

That said, it was Friday evening and I had some small batch Nikka Japanese whiskey myself... but now that morning's come it's good to see some common sense enter the chat. It's pretty crazy to see how many folks were just like "that sucks, I'd demand a brand new car!". It's so much more complicated than that, and end of the day, very likely unnecessary. As someone said already, that's what warranties are for. I know it sucks but let's not let consumer entitlement stand in the way of appropriate business logic. There's not really any difference if the engine blows at 180 miles or 69,900 miles (oh right, 59,900 because it's a CTR and not an ITS lololol ???)

 

[Jester04]

Wasn't just you, my friend.





That said, it was Friday evening and I had some small batch Nikka Japanese whiskey myself... but now that morning's come it's good to see some common sense enter the chat. It's pretty crazy to see how many folks were just like "that sucks, I'd demand a brand new car!". It's so much more complicated than that, and end of the day, very likely unnecessary. As someone said already, that's what warranties are for. I know it sucks but let's not let consumer entitlement stand in the way of appropriate business logic. There's not really any difference if the engine blows at 180 miles or 69,900 miles (oh right, 59,900 because it's a CTR and not an ITS lololol ???)

I agree with you, but at the same time such a engine failure at such an early mileage. Its basically a brand new car, would be fairly easy for the dealership to switch it out for another one. I for one hate dealer techs touching my car. Most warranty work done pays crap and they do a half ass job putting stuff together. That would be my biggest concern and not the new engine.

 

[TypeRD]

built in the US since the FK2

Interesting. I thought the FK2 (including engine) was fully built in UK. Learned something new. Thank you!

…but yeah, the K20C1 has been in production since 2015 ; A couple of years more than I originally thought.

 

[RUNN1N]

Lemon laws are state-specific, and since the OP is based in Virginia, this is his resource: https://www.dmv.virginia.gov/vehicles/general/lemon-law

You have 18 months to make a claim under the state's lemon law, and it does appear you meet one of the most basic thresholds to make a claim: a repair of the same problem 3 or more times, or a vehicle out of service 30+ days in the first year of ownership.

That said, it may complicate getting your vehicle repaired/replaced in a timely manner. If this is a secondary vehicle and you're willing/able to ride out the process, go for it. If you're interested in going down this path, better to ask the Virginia AG per their recommendations rather than us here on the forum.

 

[RP2000R]

I would push lemon law/new car.
If that doesn’t work full crate motor new from Honda not a rebuild in shop.
With crate motor I would want some type of compensation as when ever you sell the car you will probably incur extra financial loss from the work done. Extended warranty would be the minimum I would accept with crate swap.

Goodluck!

 

[Nothing]

Aw man sorry that sounds terrible. I'd probably be asking all the same questions if I were in your shoes. I hope you can get a new car off the truck in exchange. Certainly the car being in limited supply and the dealer having a hard time getting them may complicate things, but hope it works out for you.

Negotiate hard, if it doesn't work out I hope you can wrangle for extended warranty and depreciation credit from Honda and the dealer. The warranty hopefully protects against installation issues since other engines are unlikely to face similar issues. The credit you can use for mods .

 

[TypeRD]

That’s a good take @Tickle and a logical approach. Let the dealership and mechanic do their job. In the meantime the OP should research the legal stuff as well as revaluation of the car (with the new engine).

It’s an odd situation because now the car is basically going to be “refurbished.” It may be back to new and carry the full warranty, but it will have this history, which I believe will lower the value (just like anything that is refurbished). Though I would personally want the whole car replaced, I understand this may not be realistic. With that in mind, I would prepare to negotiate some sort of compensation for the (presumed) devaluation of the car. I think this would be very fair, but I’ve not been in this situation myself. I’m sure you can read numerous stories of this happening to others (with various makes/models of cars) and how it was resolved.

 

[cryptolime]

Of course the one thing assembled in the USA...

i wonder if someone money shifted it before you took possession while on a test drive or one of the lot porters hooned it.

but this is why warranty's exist. manufacturing isn't perfect.

i'm interested to see what caused the failure.

 

[optronix]

i wonder if someone money shifted it before you took possession while on a test drive or one of the lot porters hooned it.

but this is why warranty's exist. manufacturing isn't perfect.

i'm interested to see what caused the failure.

Other than what was already provided?

After a few days they had diagnosed the problem as a valve keeper that had somehow gotten loose in the engine which had thrown off the timing and ended up blowing up the engine.

Any more depth than that is for Big Honda, if they care to find out.

Also worth mentioning, I've gone down the lemon law path in the past. It's not a fulfilling route to resolution, but it is worth pursuing regardless. I wouldn't expect a replacement car, but absolutely would expect a check for diminished value. In my case it was a Range Rover Evoque, utter piece of shit. Needed a new transfer case after ~5k miles and was in the dealer for 48 consecutive days. They did NOT take the car back, but I got a check for ~$2500, AFTER consulting a law firm that specializes in lemon laws. I'm in Maryland, which appears to have similar laws to Virginia.

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