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
I Have a 2014 Honda Accord and I am experiencing Push Start issues, so last month I purchased a battery and found myself stranded after my 3 stop on my way home. I had to get my car towed to a shop and I’m now waiting on the starter to be replaced. I need answers!!
I have a 2014 Honda Accord EX it has 64k miles on it and it starts like a charm sometimes other times it take 10 min to start the car. I just sat at HEB today for 15 min trying to get my car to start and after giving it 5 min to rest it worked. This should be a free repair I plan on going to Honda and yelling at them with my husband this should be something that they fixed already but looks like it hasn’t been officially recalled yet. I live in Texas
I have a 2013 Honda Accord..getting my starter replaced today after 100,000 miles. Cars require maintenance but this car has given me many problems. At 60,000 miles the transmission went out, at 70,000 the alternator and entire air conditioning system replaced and to add to frustration the headlights needed replaced because of an issue with the wiring causing them to short out. I had a 2007 Impala for 10 years with 280,000 miles that had less issues. I am hoping this is my last.
Accord 2014. Same problem – starter is intermittent. The problem started a few weeks ago. Please add me to the law suit.
I have a 2014 Honda Accord EX and am having the exact problem with the starter. Sometime the car starts on the first try, other times it can take two to six attempts. Sometimes it will start ten times in a row, and then will have faulty starting for the next three times. The car has become totally unreliable. I have scheduled to have the starter replaced. The car has 75,000 miles.
Same here, I have a 2014 Accord with only 53000 miles. My car starts when it wants to. Some days I don’t have an issue then it will take 3 to 4 times before it will start. The dealership told me it would cost me $800.00 to replace.
Just replaced a starter in my 2014 Accord LX for about 500 with 90k miles on the car
I own a 2014 Accord with the recall being done for the battery cables, which causes the starter to malfunction. So now my starter’s bad and it’s not covered under the recall. Please add me. Thank you
My 2013 honda starter has bern replaced twice
My 2014 Honda accord sport has the same issue. It starts when it wants to.