- Honda faces a new class action over alleged 3.5-liter V6 defects.
- Plaintiff says her Pilot engine failed at just 76,420 miles.
- Multiple Acura and Honda models are included in the class action.
Honda is once again facing legal heat in the United States, this time not over its smaller four-cylinder engines but its larger, widely used V6. The company, already entangled in legal proceedings related to its 1.5- and 2.0-liter engines last year, is now named in a new class action lawsuit centered on its 3.5-liter V6.
Plaintiffs allege that this engine suffers from potentially severe mechanical problems, including the risk of total failure.
Read: US Investigating 1.4M Honda And Acura Models After V6 Engine Failures
The complaint outlines a series of issues associated with the V6, including misfires, power loss, delayed throttle response, stalling, and unusually loud operation. According to the filing, the root of the problem may involve internal damage to key components such as the connecting rods, pistons, bearings, and crankshaft.
What’s Going Wrong with the V6?
The lawsuit has just a single plaintiff at this stage, Savannah Messenger. She purchased a used 2016 Honda Pilot in August 2024 and began noticing troubling engine noises not long after.
A dealership inspection uncovered metal shavings in the oil pan, indicating significant wear or breakage inside the engine. The odometer showed just 76,420 miles, which Messenger contends is far short of the 200,000-mile lifespan she expected from the engine.
Faced with a dealer repair quote of $11,874 for a full replacement for the V6, Messenger instead paid $2,400 to have a rebuilt unit installed by a third-party mechanic.
She argues that Honda has long been aware of flaws in the 3.5-liter V6, pointing to a November 2023 recall involving over 200,000 vehicles. That recall addressed certain crankshaft-related defects but, according to the lawsuit, it failed to fix deeper problems affecting the engine’s core design.
“The recall was limited in scope and failed to address the underlying defect present in all Class Vehicles,” the lawsuit states, as reported by CarComplaints. “It did not resolve the core design and manufacturing issues related to the rotating assembly or excessive operating and idling temperatures, leaving many Class Vehicles without an adequate solution to a dangerous problem.”
Which Models Are Named In the Lawsuit?
The suit names a broad group of vehicles that use the engine in question. This includes the 2014–2020 Acura RLX, 2015–2020 Acura TLX, 2016–2020 and 2022–present Acura MDX, 2016–2022 Honda Pilot, 2018–present Honda Odyssey, 2019–2025 Honda Passport, and 2017–present Honda Ridgeline.
All of these models are powered by some version of the 3.5-liter V6 at the center of the legal complaint
