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 Honda Accord sport 2015 and I have been experiencing these problems for months now, I bought a brand new battery, that’s not the problem, we cleaned the starter, and it’s still giving me problems everyday. I’m not sure why one day it works perfectly and why one day I have to put the car in neutral or park and shake the car aggressively to just get the engine to work properly.
Please add me to the lawsuit I was also told my car is no Longer under warranty to replace the starter they replaced it I paid for it and then they had replace it again because it was defective bad business I’ve had five Hondas I will no longer purchase another one
2014 Crosstour. Intermittent starting. 37,598mi. VIN 5J6TF2H52EL002551. Please add to lawsuit.
I am from San Jose California, my Honda Accord exl 2014 same problem, is giving problem while starting. Could you add me to your lawsuit or its for New Jersey residents only?
I have a 2013 CRV that had grinding sounds upon starting especially in cold weather at first start. I had to purchase a new starter for over $600 when the car had 38,000 miles on it . Now with the car at 44,000 miles it’s doing the same thing. This is definitely a defective starter that Honda is unwilling to acknowledge, fix at no charge or reimburse. Please add me to this class action suit!
I have a 2015 Honda accord EXL and I am having the exact same problems with my Honda. My car has about 45,000 miles. Today I took my car to my Honda to be fixed but they said they could not find the problem. After a few minutes the service writer tried to start the car. They could NOT start the car. I isolated the Non-starting sound to the engine compartment. The mechanic checked it again and determined the problem to be the STARTER! Any advise, Can this be claimed?
It should be covered by HONDA.. I think it’s some kind of cylinoid problem connection between the battery & starter?? My battery is not even a yr old and I only purchased a new one because of this issue but the problem has never stopped.. There needs to be a recall or compensation to consumers for this. AS WE SPEAK IM IN MY CAR AND IT WONT START!! I’ve tried for 30 min now. Pissed!
I purchased my 2015 Honda Crosstour with 21k miles. When the mileage reached at approximately 39k miles the starter began giving me problems sporadically, however, with this issue and thinking it was a battery problem, the battery was changed twice. The problem with the starter got worst. At 68k miles it has come to a point that I would have to try 8 times before the started engaged properly. I finally took it to the mechanic. The mechanic changed the complete starter but my mechanic also found that the flywheel of the starter is also in bad conditions. I called Honda at 800-999-1009 on 11/11/2021. The Agent said that it wasn’t covered because it had exceeded the 36k miles warranty and there was no recall on the starters and/or the flywheel of the starter.
This situation is totally unacceptable as I am seeing the same problem which I am experiencing with a great number of people.
To safeguard all the maintenance I provide my Honda Crosstour I will have my mechanic procced with the remaining part to be replaced (flywheel of the starter), but I want Honda to reimburse for all the services rendered to my car.
In November, 2021, after reading so many problems with the Honda Crosstour’s, I reported this agonizing problem to the Better Business Bureau (BBB) which gave me a case number. The BBB has been following up and had given Honda until Dec 8, 2021 for resolution. Today, Dec 7, 2021 I called Honda in an attempt to settle the mechanic’s costs, and I was told by Jessica that my warranty expired at 36k. This is totally disgraceful and makes a person very upset.
I have same issue in my 2015 honda accord v6 exl. My car randomly doesn’t start and i have to try 3 time to start it. It has started 1 Month ago and it have 2-3 per week so far. I’m reading, it’s beacise of faulty starter and not correct adjustment and interesting thing, honda has released a document to repair it but it cost me $900 and still don’t know if it’s going to fix my car or not. All I’m asking is , honda accept his mistake and be responsible for it.
Please add me to lawsuit.
Thanks.
This just happened to me to. Please add me to the lawsuit.
I am having the same issue with my 2015 EX-L. At the start of this issue 2 years ago, it only occurred once every 2 weeks. After a few months it was once per week, then once per day, then multiple times at each start. Had the starter replaced, then the problem went away for 6-9 months, then started the same pattern. This is unacceptable. This is a known widespread defect that Honda should fix.