While Reyna was driving to work, her car engine sputtered, stopped, and started smoking. Reyna pulled over to the side of the road and got out of her car. Suddenly, the engine caught fire and started burning out of control. She called her office to say she was running late. “I’m having a little car trouble,” she told her boss. Which literary device did the author use in the passage? symbolism paradox allegory understatement

When Reyna says she is having a little car trouble, the literary device is an "understatement". An understatement means she is not telling things the way they really are. She is softening their state, sugarcoating the reality. Another example of an understatement would be a person who has lost all their money telling a friend they don't have enough money to go out for dinner.