— Honda braking system problems have caused a class action lawsuit after Honda recalled about 124,000 vehicles to repair the problems.
The Honda class action lawsuit includes:
"All persons in the United States who purchased or leased any 2020-2021 Honda Civic, 2020-2023 Honda Ridgeline, 2021-2023 Honda Passport, 2021-2022 Honda Pilot, and 2020 Acura MDX vehicles."
The July 2023 Honda recall was issued because the tie rod fastener that connects the brake booster and master cylinder could be faulty. The problem can cause the brake master cylinder to separate from the booster assembly.
When Honda announced the recall of 124,000 vehicles in 2023, two warranty claims had been filed, but there had been no crash or injury reports.
In addition, Honda told the government 1% of the recalled vehicles may be affected by the braking problems.
Honda Class Action Lawsuit — The Plaintiff
The Honda class action lawsuit was filed for more than $5 million by South Carolina Honda owner Shavonne Geddis-Wright.
The plaintiff purchased her 2020 Honda Civic in November 2020, but she doesn't allege her vehicle had any braking problems.
Her Honda Civic was recalled for the braking issue in July 2023, but the plaintiff claims she doesn't remember receiving a recall notice.
"Plaintiff only recalls receiving notice of a recall related to her vehicle's Air Conditioning ("AC") System." — Honda class action lawsuit
According to the Honda braking system recall, the automaker agreed to repair the vehicles for free, and owners who had spent money on repairs could be reimbursed.
The lawsuit doesn't say if the plaintiff ever had a dealer perform the free recall repairs. However, she says the recall repairs will take hours of her time.
The plaintiff also says the recall is "concerning because it does not offer any foreseeable guarantee that the Brake Defect will go away permanently."
And even if the recall is effective and truly fixes her vehicle, the plaintiff contends she is stuck with a vehicle "that has been devalued" by Honda's actions.
According to the plaintiff:
"Unless Defendant is to issue a more comprehensive recall to truly fix the root cause of the Brake Defect, it is foreseeable, and should be expected, that the Class Vehicles' braking systems will fail once again. Defendant's Recall is no more than a repeatedly ineffective waste of time as there is no true fix for the Brake Defect."
The class action further argues Honda doesn't appear to know what is wrong with the vehicles.
Then there is the alleged time it will take to repair the recalled vehicles.
"Transitioning back to the repair itself, at a bare minimum, this thirty-minute repair time means that it will take Defendant 62,500 hours to repair the Class Vehicles. In a more comprehensible term, 62,500 hours amounts to a little more than seven years."
The plaintiff also complains customers must spend time and money to visit Honda dealerships for the free recall repairs. She also says she "is faced with another difficult expense, the price of towing her vehicle. The average cost of towing, per mile, is $4.75 per mile."
However, Honda hasn't said the vehicles can't be driven.
"Given the additional time it takes for a tow truck to arrive, roughly thirty minutes, Plaintiff's total time spent on her vehicle amounts to three hours, unless of course one is to assume that Plaintiff drives her potentially unstoppable Class Vehicle to the dealership. In all, Defendant's Recall amounts to tens of thousands of hours and dollars needlessly taken from Plaintiff and other Class Vehicle owners." — Honda class action lawsuit
The Honda class action lawsuit was filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of South Carolina (Orangeburg Division): Shavonne Geddis-Wright v. American Honda Motor Company, Inc.
The plaintiff is represented by Poulin | Willey | Anastopoulo.
