Honda Faces Class Action Lawsuit, Broken Windows to Blame
A group of angry customers filed a class action lawsuit against Honda because they say the company manufactured and sold vehicles with defective window mechanisms.
“The right passenger side window fell into the door of my 2002 Honda Odyssey LX in September 2011. It was a startling, loud sound that jolted me,” plaintiff Phyllis Grodzitsky of San Diego said. “I lost use of my Odyssey for two days and it cost over $400 to fix the window. I made a complaint to Honda. Honda said there is no recall for the window systems on my vehicle. I feel that arrogance by a large corporation in response to a safety issue is unacceptable in this day and age.”
The suit claims such a defect poses a hazard to drivers and passengers nationwide. The vehicles said to be affected include Honda Odyssey (pictured above), Pilot, Element, Accord, CR-V, Civic and Acura MDX models from years 1994 to 2007.
According to the plaintiff’s lawyers, there is a defective piece of plastic that is meant to keep the windows in place while the window motor operates. Their claim suggests that piece of plastic breaks under normal operating conditions, causing the defect Grodzitsky described above.
The lawsuit is being filed against Honda by two disgruntled owners who apparently have gone through repeated repairs in an attempt to fix the same issue.
They may need a good bit of luck and patience to win this, though. Power windows in decade-old cars fail routinely and it’s not outrageous to think that after 10 years of weather and friction that such a part may fail. Honda has a crack-team of vicious lawyers who deal with cases like these as if they were insects.
Cases like these also rarely render significant compensation for the plaintiffs. A woman recently took Honda to small claims court over lower-than-expected mileage in her Civic hybrid. She chose that route because even when won, class action suits often offer little more than a coupon for cheaper repairs and minor monetary compensation.
We’ll keep an eye on the case and let you know how it progresses. What are your thoughts? Tell us below.
[Source: lieffcabraser.com]
Luke is an energetic automotive journalist who spends his time covering industry news and crawling the internet for the latest breaking story. When he isn't in the office, Luke can be found obsessively browsing used car listings, drinking scotch at his favorite bar and dreaming of what to drive next, though the list grows a lot faster than his bank account. He's always on <A title="@lukevandezande on Twitter" href="http://twitter.com/lukevandezande">Twitter</A> looking for a good car conversation. Find Luke on <A title="@lukevandezande on Twitter" href="http://twitter.com/lukevandezande">Twitter</A> and <A title="Luke on Google+" href="http://plus.google.com/112531385961538774338?rel=author">Google+</A>.
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how do you get n the law suit for the honda crv glass breakage
Just purchased a 2007 Honda CRV and noticed everytime I open the rear hatch small pieces of glass in the cargo hold. Also the door made a rattling sound when I lifted it up. I removed the tailgate lower trim panel and found it was full of shattered glass cubes. I wonder if the same thing happened to this Honda?