Honda has a well-earned reputation for quality that’s backed up by numerous high-mileage vehicles sitting on Craigslist and Marketplace, but no one bats 1.000 for long. When it comes to the popular V6 that Honda used in nearly every large vehicle over the last year, it might be batting closer to 0.000.
I don’t tend to do a lot of recall news in The Morning Dump, as recalls are just a normal part of doing business, and this roundup is all about spotting unique or important trends at a larger level (and Škoda news I can’t publish anywhere else). This Honda one sticks out to me because Honda has already had a recall for this same engine over the risk of catastrophic failure, in addition to another ongoing investigation over its stop-start system.
And while I’m on the topic of catastrophic failure, is Opel the first Stellantis brand that’s going to get cut? There’s some indication it might be, which would be another sad legacy for Carlos Tavares. BYD’s legacy is probably more secure, but the company seems unhappy with its current image in China.
And, finally, Autopian friend and contributor Parker Kligerman wins Daytona for a second time this year… and won’t get credit… for a second time this year.
The Honda 3.5L V6 May Be Failing For An Entirely New Reason
If you were thinking to yourself: Didn’t Honda already recall and have to replace a bunch of its 3.5-liter V6 motors? Yes. That is a thing that happened quite recently. Since as early as 2020, Honda has been getting complaints from owners that the V6 engines used in the Acura TLX, Acura MDX, and Honda Pilot were susceptible to failure.
Back in 2023, the National Highway Safety Traffic Administration (NHTSA) Office of Defect Investigations (ODI) looked into the issue, with Honda eventually issuing a recall for about 250,000 of these motors over the risk of the connecting rod bearing seizing and basically grenading the entire motor. Here’s what NHTSA describes as the cause:
“During production of the crankshaft, due to improper settings of equipment used to manufacture the engine crankshaft, the crank pin was improperly ground, resulting in crank pins with a crown or convex shape that are out of specification.”
Honda was able to determine which of the two motor plants in the United States was responsible for the error, which limited the number of cars that had to be recalled.
That, unfortunately, is not the end of the story. The ODI just reopened the investigation, and it includes the following vehicles:
- 2018-2020 Acura TLX
- 2016-2020 Acura MDX
- 2016-2020 Honda Pilot
- 2018-2020 Honda Odyssey
- 2017-2019 Honda Ridgeline
These are popular vans/trucks/SUVs, which is why the investigation includes a total population of more than 1.4 million vehicles.
According to the ODI, there have been over 3,000 reports of failure, including seven that resulted in a fire or crash. So far, there have been no reports of injuries or fatalities connected to this issue.
People are often slow to respond to recalls, so is this just an issue of people not getting their car fixed? Nope. From NHTSA:
The Office of Defects Investigation (ODI) has received 414 reports of connecting rod bearing failures in the 3.5L V6 engine used in the following vehicles: Model Years (MY) 2018-2020 Acura TLX, MY2016-2020 Acura MDX, MY2016-2020 Honda Pilot, MY2018-2020 Honda Odyssey, and MY2017-2019 Honda Ridgeline. The subject engine failures were analyzed as part of a Recall Query (RQ24013). It was determined that these engine failures are outside the scope of Honda Recall 23V-751. Further, evidence gathered in conjunction with RQ24013 does not suggest this failure is caused by the same crankshaft manufacturing defect that is addressed by Honda in Recall 23V-751. Based on analysis of data from RQ24013, NHTSA has closed that investigation. The significant number of reports of engine failure in vehicles outside the scope of RQ24013 presents a potential safety risk that warrants further investigation.
ODI is opening this Preliminary Evaluation (PE) to further evaluate the scope and severity of the potential problem and to fully assess the potential safety-related issues. To review the ODI reports cited in the Opening Resume ODI Report Identification Number document, go to NHTSA.gov.
Honda Recall 23V-751 is the first one mentioned, and NHTSA here is saying specifically that this is not related to that failure. Worse, NHTSA is saying that the underlying issue isn’t caused by the same manufacturing defect. I’ve reached out to Honda for more information because this seems quite troubling.
While not every inquiry like this ends up in a full investigation or even a recall, the total number of incidents suggests that this might not be a fluke. It’s possible that there was a secondary manufacturing defect that wasn’t detected, an underlying design issue, or some failure on the part of a supplier that didn’t become immediately apparent. Additionally, many (or possibly all) of these same motors are under a separate investigation due to a stop/start issue.
If it does go to a recall, Honda might have to replace engines like it did with the previous generation car. I’ll be curious to see if it’s all isolated to a single plant or not.
Update: Honda issued a statement acknowledging the PE:
Honda is committed to safety. We are aware that NHTSA has closed an existing Recall Query (RQ24013) and opened a Preliminary Evaluation (PE25008), which addresses complaints that a failure of connecting rod bearings could lead to engine failure in certain 2016-2020 Acura MDX, 2018-2020 Acura TLX, 2016-2020 Honda Pilot, 2017-2019 Honda Ridgeline and 2018-2020 Honda Odyssey vehicles.
Honda has already been in communication with the agency on this topic and will continue to cooperate with NHTSA as the investigation continues.
Opel Is In Trouble
On Friday, I talked about how Alfa seemed like a doomed brand in the United States, but Alfa is at least a sales success in Europe and, especially, in Italy. The Stellantis brands typically do well in their home markets, which is why so many of them still exist.
Opel, though, is not one of those brands. The formerly GM-owned, German-headquartered brand was taken over about a decade ago by Group PSA and its CEO Carlos Tavares (not pictured), who eventually helped roll it into what became Stellantis. The brand had a brief turnaround under Tavares, but like a lot of Tavares-run brands, this was short-lived.
The company has been in trouble lately, with dwindling sales and a lot of pointed fingers. Through the first half of 2025, sales at the brand were down 16.1% YOY (if you include Vauxhall, the British counterpart). Current CEO Florian Huettl is trying to save the company, but, according to this super mean quote from an anonymous Stellantis source in Manager Magazin, it’s going to be a tough go:
Today, Huettl himself plays the regional leading role he claimed rather mediocrely. Peugeot is number two in France, in close competition with Renault. Fiat is still number one in Italy. Peugeot is number two in France, in close competition with Renault. Fiat is still number one in Italy. And Opel? It was only number seven in Germany in the first half of the year.
“Opel is the fifth wheel on the wagon,” says someone from the French Stellantis corner. “Other brands in the group are local champions,” says consultant Kipferler, “but Opel is not.”
Florian Huettl is considered internally to be someone who more or less obediently takes a back seat in the Stellantis hierarchy. “You can get along with him,” says an employee representative. But nothing more.
What I have learned lately is that you don’t want to be the subject of an anonymous quote from a Stellantis employee in Manager Magazin unless you’ve got a back made of steel.
BYD Wants To Shed ‘Be Your Driver’ Image With New Track
BYD is a backronym for “Build Your Dreams,” but lately it seems like the dream you’d have to be living is that of a taxi or rideshare driver, as that’s the main user. It’s led to this funny alternative pointed out in this Bloomberg article:
BYD cars have become a common sight on China’s roads and a favorite among city taxi and ride-hailing drivers. It’s given rise to a popular joke: While BYD officially stands for Build Your Dreams, many quip it’s short for Be Your Driver.
Now, BYD is trying to rewrite that narrative, launching luxury models priced over $200,000. Its latest effort to shed its utilitarian skin has involved building an entire automotive racing and testing playground to bring potential customers from the street to the track.
As you can see in the video above, the new on/off-road racing circuit in Zhengzhou is like an even bigger and more Disney-like version of Porsche’s Experience Centers. We should send a racecar driver to go check it out. I think I know one.
Autopian Contributor Wins, But Doesn’t Win, Daytona For Second Time This Year
If you know anything about race car driver/commenter/car host/journalist/Connecticut booster/Long Island rock fan/superfriend Parker Kligerman, it’s that his talent and his luck sometimes seem to be driving in opposite directions. Proof?
At last year’s NASCAR Xfinity Series ROVAL race, he was robbed of a victory by a poorly-timed caution light. Earlier this year, he clearly won the opening Daytona NASCAR truck race, only to have the win taken away by a bogus (in my eyes) tech inspection. That truck race should be counted as a victory, but he’s in last place instead in the record books.
At the Watkins Glen Xfinity race a few weeks ago, breakout NASCAR star Connor Zillisch was climbing out of his winning car when he slipped and hit the ground headfirst. That was enough to break the driver’s collarbone. While Zillisch was technically cleared to start the Daytona race this weekend, everyone thought it would be better not to risk the driver (who already has secured a place in the playoffs) getting wrecked in one of Daytona’s big accidents.
Parker is now in the booth for Xfinity races, but Dale Earnhardt, Jr. (who runs JR Motorsports) himself asked him if he could fill in as a backup driver for Zillisch for the race. Everyone agreed that it would be a great idea, so Parker suited up that evening. After a rain delay, the race got started, and Zillisch immediately dropped to the back to avoid getting hit. During the first caution, the JR Motorsports crew pulled off an incredible driver change (not common in NASCAR) so Parker could start the race on the lead lap. This is a real thing allowed in NASCAR, not just in Talladega Nights.
It was a great race by Parker, and he managed to play the field perfectly, putting himself into position to win the race. Of course, because he didn’t start the race, Zillisch gets credit for the win.
This time, though, it’s clear who gets the credit for the victory, and everyone seems happy. Congrats to Parker!
What I’m Listening To While Writing TMD
It’s been a while, so let’s have “What’s Golden” from Jurassic 5. The opening sample is going to forever be lodged in my brain.
The Big Question
What’s the most cursed engine of all time?
Top Photo: Honda
The Chrysler 2.7L V6 was a giant piece of sludgy shit, so that gets my vote.
I know we a lot of us claim that we’re at peak vehicle reliability and how that’s the reason the average vehicle age is so high, but I get the feeling that’s only out of pure necessity at this point. It seems like damn near every brand has multiple shit powertrains within their lineup, and in an age where each manufacturer has limited powertrain options, one fuckup can kneecap half the brand. Toyota has done the best, but even they have some pretty severe reports coming from their trucks. I don’t know if this is just a result of having too much information, but 15 years ago I felt like damn near anything I would buy was going to give me 200k if I did a good job on maintenance. Now I don’t have that sort of faith.
While there’s more information getting out, I think there’s a combo of real world things negatively affecting reliability: money going to EVs to the neglect of ICE R&D; operational safety margins have gotten too small due to trying to meet sometimes oppositional goals of greater power and mileage with reduced emissions in vehicles of increasing weight and size; advertised increased maintenance cycles along with declared nonsense stuff like “lifetime” fluids because not only does nobody want to spend time at their (probably horrible) dealers, but because even basic servicing has gotten so damn expensive; oil that’s too damn thin; gimmicky tech to squeeze the last bit of mileage at the expense of reliability, like DoD or variable compression (WTF, Nissan?); and unstable economic conditions and squeezed-out suppliers causing increased penny-pinching that affects QA. I’m likely missing something, but that’s certainly enough. In my experience and the people I know (people who are doing OK financially to very well off with new to nearly new cars), engine failures are far more common in the last 10 years than in the previous 20 and that’s from some companies traditionally considered safe bets and, unlike the old shit-boxes that blew up, out-of-warranty engine replacements today are very expensive and are far more difficult to DIY along with there being a greater reduced availability of used replacement parts (I don’t even know where there’s a junk yard near me when there used to be about a dozen and I only know of one auto recycling where you can’t pick your own parts) or cheap decent cars to jump into, leaving people stuck with paying for the expensive engine replacement as the likely better option. But, then again, so many of these engine failures are due to inherent flaws rather than the odd factory lemon or traditional wear-and-tear, that I’m not even sure about that.
The lifetime fluids are such a joke. So are the suggested oil change intervals. When we had our 2019 Toyota Highlander, the dealer acted like I was dumb for wanting to change its oil every 5k instead of 10k miles. I’m sorry, I’m not going 10k on an oil change interval for a vehicle driven almost exclusively around town/on short trips.
And my car, a paid-off 2016 Mazda6, says in its owner’s manual that it has “lifetime” transmission fluid and that said fluid and filter never need to be changed. I’m approaching 100k miles, so I went ahead and had them both changed. I need this stupid thing to last.
Yeah, while fluids have improved massively, cars have also gotten a lot harder on them. I used to do 7500 mile changes on my mk1 Legacy and I beat the ever living hell out of that car, but it was MPFI 2.2 with 9.5 CR peaking at 130 hp at 5400. On my GR86, I change it at 6k (and that’s with a lot of highway) and I still trust it less than that old EJ22—that damn thing might as well have been a Pratt & Whitney R2800 for the abuse it shrugged off—and there are far more stressed engines out there than the FA24D. There’s no way I would buy a GR Corolla, for instance.
I think average vehicle age being high may be an indication that vehicles from the 2000’s were generally quite reliable, but doesn’t mean that those from more recently are as well. If newer vehicles end up getting scrapped more quickly than 20 year old ones, that could also help raise the average age.
I do find it entertaining that at this point some newer vehicles may have multiple major powertrain failures in under 100k miles, and others are likely to be fine past that mark with absolutely zero powertrain maintenance.
Honda doesn’t have a reputation for reliability anymore.
Their famous K24 engine leaks oil from the vtec spool gasket at the back (pretty sure it burns oil too) and the VTC actuator rattles because of a poor spring. No recalls for either.
Also the backup cameras they used were notorious for letting water in.
My CRV has/had all these issues. Not sure I’d go Honda for my next vehicle.
Not like Toyota is doing any better but the day and age of quality vehicles is behind us, if / when I get a new vehicle, I’m getting the best warranty I can on it.
Honda has gotten pretty chintzy with build quality, too. But the Toyota and Honda cultists/purists will be their fans forever at this point.
My mom has a 2020 MDX, a month or two ago she had to bring it in for the recall. If I understood her correctly, they had to drop the oil pan and change out the crank bearings.
I’ve never been a fan of Honda V6’s, and this just solidifies this. Also, the damn thing still has a timing belt, though she said she doesn’t plan on keeping it long enough to hit the interval. She bought it because it ticked all the boxes, but I get the feeling she’s not in love with it.
I’m going to nominate the Toyota 22R(X) motors. They just kept running and running and running forever. How this heck are going to sell more vehicles if they stay on the road forever?
Wait, you mean from a consumer perspective?? Sure seems like there is a resounding theme in the comments with the Vega motor.
I haven’t heard Jurassic 5 in years. I was mildly obsessed with their music in the early 2000s. I think I still have a few of their CDs somewhere in my house; I’ll have to dust them off and listen to them if I can find a working CD player. They are one of the most underrated rap groups of all time.
As for cursed engines, I’d nominate the Cadillac HT4100. My ’84 and ’85 Eldorados both had this engine. These engines ate head gaskets. I had head gaskets replaced at least 3 times on the ’84 and once on the ’85 (which I only owned for ~3,000 miles). I’m also confused as to how a 4.1 liter V8 could only make 135 hp. Neither of my cars could go 80 mph. 0-60 time was “yes, eventually… going downhill helps.” Despite this craptacular performance, I never got better than 14 mpg and was usually lucky to get double digits. There was literally nothing good about this engine. I’m not sure why Cadillac couldn’t do better in a car that cost over $30k in the ’80s.
I had a 4500 and it was a huge improvement. 190 horse and 240 ft-lbs was light-years better.
My cars definitely could have used more power. 135 hp is not enough for a 4,000 lb. luxury car. It wouldn’t have been a sports car with 190 hp, but it would have helped.
I presume a more powerful engine would have also helped with fuel economy. Driving my cars involved flooring the gas constantly just to keep up with traffic. I’m shocked this was considered acceptable for an expensive luxury car (MSRP is equivalent to ~70k in 2025 dollars). I’m not a fan of ’80s cars, and this is why. There are several ’80s cars I liked, but even those were objectively not very good.
If I remember correctly, I was lucky to get 15 MPG. Of course, I was young and busy, and wasn’t really keeping the car in top shape.
As crazy as this sounds, the DeVille and Seville would’ve been better off with a 3800 instead of the 4.1.
I’d say ALL the 4cyl Kia/Hyundai engines once they stuck direct injection on them. They can’t keep the road bearings in ’em to save their lives.
I was just typing the same thing when your post came up. Run from any Kia / Hyundai with the GDI engine
Interestingly enough, my dad just messaged me yesterday to say that he got a letter from Honda about his Odyssey.
Apparently, the piston rings can rotate and line up, causing excessive blow-by and to run rough, so they’re giving him engine warranty until 240k kilometers. He’s at 210.
Also, GREAT pick on Jurassic 5.
Not surprised. I have experience with a different but similar motor. We owned a 2011 MDX with the 3.7 V6. Powerful motor but around 80k, it started to burn oil. A lot of oil. We used full synthetic and it still would need to have a few quarts added between oil changes. We called Acura and went in for the oil consumption study. Our cars passed it but still had burned over 1.5 quarts in 3 weeks. No way that is normal in a modern engine running full synthetic. They were already replacing a lot of engines but not ours. Fast forward a couple of years and we’re on a road trip when the CEL comes on. Nothing obvious until I restart the car. It was very obvious were were not running on all cylinders. Next morning I take it a to a local shop. Complete loss of compression in cylinder 3. That was it. After speaking with my mechanic back home and looking in all of the owners blogs, it was the same issue a lot of other 2020-2013 MDX owners had experienced. Loss of compression. All in cylinder 3. So 2 issues and one was fatal. Not what I expect from Honda.
I just don’t feel like I could stomach another Honda V6, at least not for a while and while I will probably buy another Honda/Acura in my life, the next car I bought this after was a Toyota.
I’m considering a Highlander to replace my old MDX. At that point I will be all in on Toyota.
We got lucky and found a 22′ Highlander Hybrid with reasonably low miles that was in great shape. People were asking crazy money for them. Toyota tax I guess. Still, I wanted something bulletproof or at least just solidly reliable after the MDX died. I was worried that it wouldn’t keep up in the mountains but it has been terrific so far and still gets 34-35mpg.
Not the base engine, but the shit attached to it. The Cadillac 4-6-8. Pull off the cylinder deactivation and you had a good motor.
It’s fair to say every OEM has had some great engines and some terrible engines. It would be fun to compile a best/worst list.
I’ve been trying to own the great engines: so far that includes the Ford 300-6, Jeep 4.0L and GM 3.8L.
The worst one I’ve owned (reputationally) was the Vega but that thing ran for 125k miles without any problems, by some miracle.
I had a GM 2.8 MPFI, it ran flawlessly for an engine with a bad early repuation. Everything (and I mean everything) on the car around it broke.
That’s the funny thing about “lemons”. Even an engine as obviously and well-documentedly bad as the Vega’s is subject to the laws of probability, which mandate that some Vegas are going to run beautifully for many miles without any problems whatsoever.
I always thought it was kind of funny that the GM 3.8 was so damn good, while the Ford 3.8 was hot garbage. I think they came standard with blown head gaskets.
Meanwhile the Chrysler 3.8’s used more oil that gasoline. I worked at a full serve gas station as a kid, those 3.8 Chryslers always needed oil. One Caravan regular always got 2 or 3 quarts at a time, though to its credit it was north of 200K miles.
I don’t know the history of the Ford and Chrysler 3.8s but GM had been refining theirs since the 70s. Mine’s the Series II.
Most cursed engine in terms of design and layout in my eyes is the early WW1 era King-Bugatti U-16. The Bugatti straight 8 didn’t make quite enough power for it’s application, so they effectively took two of them, spaced them out but were parallel to each other, with their own cranks, and gear driven to a common output shaft. Check out the Wikipedia article, the thing looks hilarious.
Edit: An extremely cursed annecdote, during an endurance test of the engine, the propeller struck and killed a US Sargent, who became the first US mortality of WW1.
That shot of Jurassic 5 was just what I needed this morning. A dispatch from the alternate dimension where fun hiphop wasn’t eclipsed by the flow-less gangsta rap the record companies promoted to rebellious suburban teenage boys.
Most cursed engine? The Chevy Vega I4.
Congratulations Parker.
The most cursed engine is the one you own that quits.
PS Parker, Jamie said on air that you would probably wear your race suit to the set next week. Don’t disappoint him.
Oldsmobile V8 (LF9) this is the one that killed Diesel in the US for a generation and more importantly this is the one that even NON-car people may remember.
Honda V6s have not had bulletproof reliability reputation since they introduce cylinder deactivation way back in 2005 and seems like every iteration keeps getting worse.
and prior to that the V6 Hondas had transmission issues. I’m of the opinion if you need a V6, you move to another brand. Honda does great things with a 4cyl.
I still own an ’05 MDX. The 3.5 motor is sublime, the trans like glass. I have mine fortified with an external cooler and baby it. Looking a used Highlander tonight in fact.
Last year we decided to buy a minivan. It was between a 2007 to 2010 Odyssey or Sienna. Once i read about the VCM issues (EX-L or higher trims) leading to oil consumption and clogged cats on the Odyssey it was Sienna all the way.
I ended up buying a 2007 Sienna XLE Limited with 185k miles and have put on another 12k trouble free miles. Cruised through Central Central California a few weeks ago in 110 degree weather with the AC blasting at 85MPH for hours without a single worry.
*Vtc actuator rattle intensifies
In considering a Pilot myself, it seems like the ownership community generally considers them to be reliable. As REO notes, there were some issues with their “VCM” system years ago, but the people that disabled it seemed to have solved the issue.
10 years ago: I would say French roads were dominated by the 3-big French brands (Peugeot, Citroen, and Renault)
Today, I would say that Toyota is eating their lunch.
Stellantis doesn’t have much hope in Germany without trying to build up Opel, and playing up the German-ness of them. They’ve a shedload of vehicles they could carry over. But, that is unlikely a play used by a French-Italian-American company.
I wonder if this will cause anyone to update their priors about which companies are reliable vs not?
No, better to stick with perceptions cemented in the 1980s.
The ones that manufacture engines in the US? *ducks*
I nominate the engine in the Chevy Vega for cursed contender.
i worked pumping gas at interstate service plaza one winter in 70’s. every time it started to rain in the middle of the night drivers would come and ask for me to check the oil (never asked unless it was raining/snowing). so one night it starts to rain and guy in a vega pulls in, asks me to check oil.
me: “why? it’s a vega, it needs oil, you wanna buy a quart?”
he bought a quart.
The worst engine is the one that requires an act of congress to start up, but never really got killed.
My first car was a gunmetal gray 1985 Chevrolet Celebrity Eurosport Wagon. It came with carbureted variant of the 2.8 litre V6. It was not uncommon to have to do a rain dance, followed by the ceremonial dumping of ether into the carb while making a blood sacrifice, but it would almost always eventually start.
Eventually, that car went to my little brother who ended up totaling it. My guess is that unless that car was compacted for scrap, the engine might still be allowed to run once a year.
When that car was running though, it was so wildly underpowered that it’s 0-60 specs were listed as “Maybe. With the wind from behind and a downhill slope only.”
My first car was an ’86 Celebrity with the Iron Duke. If you thought the 2.8L V6 was slow…
Can confirm, also had a Celebrity with the Iron Puke, technically my mother’s car. My father (divorced and lived farther north) bought a Cutless Ciera, and they told him to get the 4 cylinder with FI because it started more reliably in the winter than the carbed 2.8 V6 did.
They were definitely correct regarding the iron duke starting more easily. But that engine is what most auto journos would describe as “quite agricultural” – loud, buzzy, and not powerful at all.
My first car was an 85 Oldsmobile Cutlass Cruiser with the Iron Duke, glacial was the acceleration time on it. But it was better than taking the school bus.
I think Jason’s
TouaregTiguan ranks up there as pretty bad.Bummer about Opel, the Manta EV Restomod is pretty sweet, but I get confused on who owns them from year to year.
Edit: Mercedes had the Touareg, Jasons is the Tiguan, but to me any VW SUV engine is asking for trouble.
Let’s just set up an Autopian GoFundMe to buy Opel with for a video series.
Get Jason to lead board meetings in a suit with a dollar-sign pattern all over it similar to Matthew Lesko (with question marks).
Start by prototyping the first five-row SUV.
Isn’t it a Tiguan? That first gen Tiguan really seems to have endless problems, and I’ve known other people with them and they just start to fall to pieces after the 8-10 year mark.
I’m imagining the cartoon gag where a Tiguan going down the road starts to have all its panels fall off, one by one, then the wheels, etc., until it’s just the powertrain married to the frame on the ground.
Then a spooked baby tiger and an iguana flee in opposite directions.
yes, I have one and concur. I’ve replaced the water pump, fuel pump (both high and low pressure), Turbo (waste gate valve), front control arms, thermostat and that’s stuff just recently. there are probably some other stuff I can’t remember.
Find me a mechanic that won’t wince if you mention the 5.4L Triton.
Also Hyundai’s Theta 2. Ford 1.0L Ecoboost. MG Rover’s K-series. The twin mess of Audi and VW Group with both the 1.8TFSI and 2.5L TDI V6. Peugeot N14/N18.
The VAG 1.8t in longitudinal setups was especially problematic, IIRC, they revamped all the oil lines so it would fit correctly and it ended up starving the top. A lot of other people with transverse cars had very few problems (relatively speaking).
The 5.4L Triton is wince inducing in two different ways: Early ones had a propensity for ejecting spark plugs, whereas later ones were infamous for spark plugs seizing in the heads.
This^^^^
I’m curious how the passport wasn’t included – didn’t it share the same drive train as all the other vehicles listed in the RQ?
Our 2015 V6 Honda is doing flawlessly after 130k miles (even though we had to replace the alternator a couple weeks ago after it failed at the worst possible time, which is a Sunday afternoon on the highway while out of town).
Yesterday I bought a used X3 with no warranty, even though my better judgment told me to stick with Honda.
Engage temporary smugness!
Most cursed engine of all time? I can’t speak for stuff from before my time, but for today’s engines, I’m going to say the Chrysler Pentastar V6. For an engine designed to go into basically everything, and using mostly well-proven NA engine tech going back decades, it sure does seem to have a lot of problems.
What’s the most cursed engine of all time? The Oldsmobile Diesel will forever be the most cursed.
The V8 diesel was a dog, but I’d say that the Chevy Vega 2.3 was worse. Those new Kia/Hyundai 4 cylinders are also in the running (and more current).
This may be the top 3 here. I can think of none others with so many low milage full out failures. Maybe the Cadillac 4-6-8.