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
Honda used to stand for quality but this starter thing is a pr disaster. The longer they wait to issue a recall the more their brand loses value. They need to stop arguing about it and FIX it
2014 honda accord sport. Same problem. Intermittent problem for about a month. Usually starts after multiple attemps but daughter got stranded recently last straw. Car sitting in driveway until diagnosed, Add me
My wife’s 2015 Accord has almost 84K miles. Sometimes starts super easy the way it should. Other times the engine just will not crank. All of the dash lights turn on. The problem is getting worse. Sometimes it takes 5 to 10 minutes for it to finally crank but when it does crank it starts quickly and runs fine. My wife got stranded yesterday. By the time I arrived, she finally got it to start.
Rather than waste my time with lawsuits or trying to get somebody else to pay, I am going to quickly shop and find the best value I can for a new starter motor. I know that the battery is fine. I just hope that the diagnosis is correct that the starter motor is bad. I would hate to go to this expense and then find out that the relay needs to be replaced (also about a $200 part!).
Same. My 2015 Honda Crosstour does the exact same grinding noise occasionally when attempting to start it. I has 48K miles and began doing this at around 38K. This needs to be remedied. Honda is known for GOOD quality but this is not upholding their tradition/legacy.
I have a 2014 Honda Accord i Purchased it brand new and 6 months after i purchased it the battery was having issues. Honda replaces the cell and eventually replaced it with a new battery. Then the battery sensor had to be replaced because their were so many complaints about the vehicle not starting. Now 5 years later at 50,000 miles I’m having issues starting my vehicle. I just paid 700 dollars to replace my starter. Please add me to the lawsuit.
Same issue is happening with my 2014 Honda Accord. I’m taking it in to the dealer tomorrow. There is a Honda Service Bulletin 16-002 on this issue which states the cause is related to the clearance between the starter motor gear and the torque converter ring gear. This is a problem Honda should fix not throw back on their customers. I want to know how I can be included in this suit.
I just spent 700. Dollars on Diagnosis and Starter! Less the 100,00 miles. Hello Toyota!
We purchased a pre-owned 2013 Honda Accord EX-L with only 16,000 miles a year ago. She is away at college and now her vehicle will not start. Started happening a few times a month and has gotten progressively worse. I am not replacing the OEM starter after low miles. Honda should do something about this issue.
Sorry, I meant to say I “am replacing “ the starter.
I’ve recently started having problems with my 2014 Honda Accord starting as well; now it won’t unlock or start up. Not even 60,000 miles yet.
I have a 2014 Honda Accord. For the last month I’ve been having problems with my car starting. It happens every day, I’m afraid one day it won’t start at all. I’m having it fixed tomorrow. It’s terrible that Honda won’t acknowledge responsibility.
2014 Accord problem with push button started about 2 months ago, it is stressful to even stop at the gas station wondering if car will start after filling up. The Honda dealer acts like they never heard of this, could not reproduce it and I had to pay for system check. It takes 1 to 25 tries to start the car. Add me too.