Honda class action alleges automaker sells, leases vehicles with idle stop defect 

Honda idle stop defect class action lawsuit overview: 

• Who: Hamid Bolooki filed a class action lawsuit against Honda Motor Company Limited.
• Why: Bolooki claims Honda knowingly sells vehicles containing an idle stop defect that can cause them to suddenly become inoperable without notice. 
• Where: The class action lawsuit was filed in California federal court. 

Honda knowingly sells vehicles with defective idle stop features that fail to work properly and put the safety of drivers and passengers at risk, a new class action lawsuit alleges. 

Plaintiff Hamid Bolooki claims Honda has had “longstanding knowledge” of the alleged idle stop defect yet continues selling vehicles containing the idle stop feature and fails to disclose it to its customers. 

Honda vehicles containing the alleged idle stop defect include its model year 2016-2020 Honda Pilot, Honda Odyssey, Acura TLX and Acura MDX, according to the Honda class action. 

The purpose of the idle stop feature is to temporarily shut off a vehicles’ engine when the brake pedal is fully applied and the vehicle is idling before automatically restarting the engine once the brake pedal is released, according to the Honda class action. 

Honda class action claims idle stop defect causes vehicles to become ‘inoperable’

Bolooki claims the alleged idle stop defect is subject to “sudden and unexpected failure” by not automatically restarting the engine once the brake pedal is released, causing the vehicle to become inoperable.

The alleged idle stop defect ultimately causes the affected Honda vehicles to “suddenly and without notice, become inoperable and undriveable wherever it rests,” the Honda class action.  

“Each purchaser or lessee of a Class Vehicle unwittingly paid for a vehicle with an undisclosed and significant safety defect,” the Honda class action states.  

Bolooki claims Honda is guilty of unjust enrichment and fraudulent concealment/omission, among other things, and in violation of the Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act and the Florida Deceptive and Unfair Trade Practices Act. 

Plaintiff demands a jury trial and requests declaratory and injunctive relief along with actual and statutory damages for himself and all class members. 

Bolooki wants to represent a nationwide class and Florida subclass of consumers who purchased or leased a Honda vehicle affected by the alleged idle stop defect. 

In March, Honda recalled 32,000 of its Honda Talon 1000 recreational off-highway vehicles over concerns they were manufactured with intake funnel band screws that could loosen, leading to engine failure. 

Have you purchased a Honda vehicle built with an idle stop feature? Let us know in the comments! 

The plaintiff is represented by C. Moze Cowper of Cowper Law PC; Adam J. Levitt, John E. Tangren and Daniel R. Ferri of Dicello Levitt Gutzler LLC; W. Daniel “Dee” Miles, III, H. Clay Barnett, III and J. Mitch Williams of Beasley, Allen, Crow, Methvin, Portis & Miles, P.C.; and Andrew Trailor of Andrew T. Trailor, P.A. 

The Honda idle stop defect class action lawsuit is Bolooki v. Honda Motor Company Limited, Case No. 2:22-cv-04252, in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California.

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