Honda has been ignoring complaints about a defective engine starter, according to the plaintiff in a recent class action lawsuit.
Plaintiff Joel Merkin says the Honda engine starter in certain recent model years of Honda Accords and Crosstours is defective in a way that causes the starter and battery to fail. Once that happens, the vehicle’s engine will not start, potentially leaving drivers and passengers stranded, Merkin claims.
The engine starter is an electric motor that gets the car’s engine spinning when the driver turns the ignition key, until the engine starts and keeps running on its own.
Merkin claims the defendants have known about this Honda engine starter defect for at least four years. Owners have been filing complaints with Honda about the alleged defect, and the company itself has published internal technical bulletins addressing the problem, he claims.
According to this Honda engine starter class action lawsuit, Honda has been refusing owner requests to remedy the engine starter defect under the affected vehicles’ warranties. Merkin says Honda has dismissed warranty claims for this defect by attributing the problems to wear, owner misuse, improper maintenance or lack of maintenance.
When Honda has bothered to fix the defect, Merkin alleges, the company has only replaced the Honda engine starter with a similarly defective starter.
Despite Honda’s alleged knowledge of the defect and the asserted coverage under the manufacturer’s warranty, Merkin says the company has not “recalled the Class Vehicles to repair the Starter Defect, offered its customers a suitable repair or replacement free of charge, or offered to reimburse its customers who have incurred out of pocket expenses to repair the defect.”
Merkin himself is the owner of a pre-owned 2013 Honda Accord. He says that in May 2016, his Accord would fail to start about once a week. The problem got progressively worse, he says, until the vehicle would fail to start five to six times per day.
A local Honda dealer told Merkin the car was no longer under warranty. Merkin had the problem fixed at an out-of- pocket cost of about $200, he claims.
Merkin is proposing to represent a statewide plaintiff Class consisting of all persons in New Jersey who are current or former owners of one of the listed vehicles equipped with the allegedly defective Honda engine starter. He lists these vehicles as the Honda Accord from model years 2013 to 2015 and the Honda Crosstour from model years 2013 to 2015.
He is asking the court to certify his proposed Class and appoint him as Class representative. He seeks a court order requiring Honda to repair, recall or replace the Honda engine starter in affected vehicles. He also seeks an award of damages with pre- and post-judgment interest and reimbursement of court costs and attorneys’ fees.
Merkin’s attorneys are Matthew D. Schelkopf, Joseph G. Sauder and Joseph B. Kenney of McCune Wright Arevalo LLP.
The Honda Engine Starter Defect Class Action Lawsuit is Joel Merkin v. Honda North America Inc., et al., Case No. 3:17-cv-03625, in the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey.
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454 thoughts onHonda Class Action Says Engine Starter Defect Merits Warranty Coverage
Please add me to suit
I am livid about my 2015 Honda Accord with less than 40,000 miles I had to have starter replaced!
THERE ARE NUMEROUS COMPLAINTS ON INTERNET REGARDING SAME PROBLEM. Very expensive repair for a fairly new car!
I’m having the same starter issues with my 2015 Honda Accord. I have brand new battery and new starter and it’s still has these issues. I keep getting the run around with Honda of Concord. I’m so over this!! I have documentation for each and every time it did not want to start. So far it has been 40+times since they replaced my started. Add me to list
2014 Honda CrossTour has had starter problems for a year, and also an issue with a leak causing rust around the drivers side rear wheel.
Honda refuses to take any blame
I have a 2015 Honda with less that 38,000 miles. It is not under warranty. My car will not start at least 4 days out of the week. Was told to wait until it stops totally and then get a new starter. Add me to the list.
I am having same problem car wont start and sometimes it will start like nothing was wrong..
I have 2014 Honda Accord 4 door sedan 50k miles.. I am taking mine to the dealer this week..
also add me in the list > i have a honda accord sport 2015 and also having trouble with the starter . it was the batterie first failing on me . had to replace it with new battery . car has about 90k miles and this is now happening car won’t start at all sometimes
Is you Honda Sport push start?
2014 crosstour .grinding noise when start
Add me as well. 60k miles and starter issues
Add me as well!!
Honda Accord 2015 with 80k miles
Won’t start and it’s frustrating. Getting it fixed cost $800. No thank you!
What did they finally tell you would fix this issue?
2013 Accord Sport with a starter going out at 70k miles, it now takes several minutes of attempts to get the car started…
2014 Accord LX 4 doors. Starter Issue and it runs after trying many times.
Honda should get this issue fix and it is not Starter itself.