01/04/22 | Settlement Approved
On Jan. 4, 2022, U.S. District Judge Cormac J. Carney approved a settlement valued at more than $33 million, which Hagens Berman achieved through nearly three years of litigation on behalf of Honda owners. The terms of the settlement include an extension of vehicle warranty from three years and 36,000 miles to five years and 60,000 miles, and require an external review of Honda’s remedies for the infotainment defect by an engineering expert. The settlement focuses on improving the affected vehicle’s Infotainment System functionality and performance by requiring American Honda Motor Company to notify the Settlement Class about the problems with, and the available repairs, for certain common Infotainment System problems, as well as to continue to work in good faith to improve performance, as necessary, through over-the-air updates. The Settlement also requires American Honda Motor Company to improve dealership performance so that Settlement Class Members have a better experience and outcome when they take their Vehicles in for repairs. The court noted that “Plaintiffs’ attorneys, … have extensive experience litigating complex matters, including automobile class actions.”
In 2022, Hagens Berman achieved a settlement valued at $33 million on behalf of approximately 450,000 owners of vehicles equipped with a defective infotainment system. The settlement brought relief to class members in the form of direct payments and vehicle warranty extensions.
HONDA ODYSSEY, PILOT AND PASSPORT INFOTAINMENT DEFECT EXPLAINED
Hagens Berman filed a class-action lawsuit against Honda in 2019, following reports from owners of 2018 and 2019 Honda Odysseys, 2019 Honda Pilots and 2019 Honda Passports of their vehicle’s infotainment system failing to boot, freezing during use and suffering general malfunctions and glitches. Some owners reported the issues appearing in vehicles with as few as 580 miles.
Honda sold more than one hundred thousand Honda Odyssey, Pilot and Passport vehicles with the affected infotainment system. As early as November of 2017, Honda began issuing Technical Service Bulletins (TSBs) about the infotainment issue. TSBs are private recommended repair procedures issued by a vehicle manufacturer when there are several occurrences of an unanticipated problem that are only sent to dealers and mechanics, not the public.
HONDA OWNER COMPLAINTS
Honda owners have reported that Honda has tried to service defective infotainment systems multiple times, without Honda owners reported that Honda tried to service defective infotainment systems multiple times, but did not achieve a remedy. Yet despite its inability to fix the defect, Honda fails to issue a recall, or make the issue publicly known, instead choosing to ignore the widespread defect. Honda could not fix the issue, yet it refused to take responsibility, forcing Odyssey, Pilot and Passport owners to suffer a defective, unfixable product with no recourse.
- "...3 days after taking possession, the Infotainment System malfunctioned. This has occurred at least 15 times since then and has been brought back to the dealership 7 times for several weeks at a time."
- "The infotainment on this car really sucks. It has a mind of its own. And, to add insult to injury the whole thing froze rendering the infotainment useless."
- "Brand new 2018 Ody Elite - Infotainment screen frozen today."
- "My radio and such has been glitchy here and there, but today it completely froze, even the clock didn't change. Wouldn't turn off, change volume, change channel, nothing."
YOUR CONSUMER RIGHTS
Hagens Berman believes vehicle owners deserve more, and that these automakers should be held accountable for selling a defective product for which owners paid a premium price. While Honda would rather wait until they are forced to act, we think those affected by this issue should receive immediate help. We want to hold Honda accountable.
TOP AUTO LITIGATION FIRM
Hagens Berman is one of the most successful auto litigation law firms in the U.S. and is presently leading nationwide cases against Hyundai, Kia, Volkswagen, GM, Mercedes, and Fiat Chrysler for safety defects as well as emissions-cheating. The firm achieved a settlement in a similar case against Ford for defective MyFord Touch infotainment systems. Your claim will be handled by attorneys experienced in automotive consumer law.
NO COST TO YOU
There is no out-of-pocket cost or fee to join this case. In the event Hagens Berman or any other firm obtains a settlement that provides benefits to class members, the court will determine and award reasonable fees and costs to the class’s legal team.
CASE TIMELINE
At a final approval hearing, U.S District Judge Cormac J. Carney granted final approval of a settlement in the Honda infotainment case valued at more than $33 million in benefits to affected class members
“The proposed Settlement Agreement is adequate, fair, and reasonable,” Judge Carney stated in the order. “Given the substantial benefits provided to the Class Members, the significant effort and results achieved by Class Counsel in light of the difficulties and complexities of the case, the overall positive response to the Settlement Agreement from Class Members, and the arm’s length, adversarial negotiations between the parties, resulting in Class Counsel seeking a fraction of their lodestar amount in attorneys’ fees, having no impact on the relief available to the Class, the Settlement Agreement strikes a balanced approach to resolving claims of Class Members.”
