Acura ‘HandsFreeLink’ Defect Class Action Lawsuit Gets Trimmed

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A California federal judge has trimmed a class action lawsuit that alleges Acura vehicles are equipped with “HandsFreeLink” Bluetooth pairing devices with a defect that causes them to drain the car battery.

The HandsFreeLink devices allow drivers to use their cellphones to make calls without using their hands and was a feature that was heavily advertised in promotional materials for Acura vehicles. However, this convenient device allegedly fails to turn off when not in use and causes “parasitic” electrical drain.

U.S. District Judge Jon S. Tigar rejected American Honda Motor Co. Inc.’s bid to dismiss consumer protection and warranty claims from the Acura class action lawsuit. He found that the plaintiffs sufficiently argued that Honda fraudulently concealed the Acura HandsFreeLink defect.

Judge Tigar also found the plaintiffs sufficiently argued the alleged Acura defect was not detectable during diagnosis because the car battery failure was intermittent and mechanics had no reason to suspect the battery drainage was caused by the hands-free calling device.

The Acura hands-free calling device defect class action lawsuit was filed in August 2016 by a group of plaintiffs who claim Honda’s HandsFreeLink device that was installed in some Acura vehicles don’t switch off when not in use, resulting in car batteries being drained and some electronic parts failing prematurely.

The Acura class action lawsuit asserts federal and state consumer protection and warranty claims. On Monday, Judge Tigar agreed with Honda’s argument that some of these claims were filed too late under many state statutes that were listed in the complaint. However, he found that the claims of two California plaintiffs may proceed because they adequately alleged that Honda fraudulently concealed or delayed discovery of the Acura HandsFreeLink defect.

The judge found the Acura HandsFreeLink class action lawsuit sufficiently alleged that facts about the defect would not have been discovered by investigating the known battery defect.

Judge Tigar did dismiss the plaintiffs’ express warranty claims, pointing to circuit court holdings that express warranties that cover “materials or workmanship” do not cover design defects such as the alleged Acura HandsFreeLink defect at issue in the plaintiffs’ class action lawsuit.

The judge found that the Florida plaintiff did not purchase an Acura vehicle from a Honda dealership and dismissed the Florida implied warranty claims.

However, Judge Tigar found that Honda could be held liable for restitution even if it did not make any money off of the sale of used Acuras, and allowed the restitution claims to proceed. Further, he found that the plaintiffs’ equitable relief claims under unfair competition laws could move forward because they are not prohibited from seeking alternative remedies at this state in the litigation.

The plaintiffs are represented by James E. Cecchi of Carella Byrne Cecchi Olstein Brody & Agnello PC and Christopher A. Seeger, Stephen A. Weiss and Scott Alan George of Seeger Weiss LLP.

The Acura HandsFreeLink Battery Draining Defect Class Action Lawsuit is Aberin, et al. v. American Honda Motor Company Inc., Case No. 3:16-cv-04384, in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California.