Tuesday, February 20, 2007Honda settles suit over defective odometersTentative plan includes Acura; customers will be reimbursed for repairs, warranties will be extended.David Shepardson / Detroit News Washington BureauCovered vehicles: 2002 to 2006 Hondas and Acuras, purchased from April 13, 2002, to Nov. 7, 2006. Some 2007 Honda Fits are included as well. Honda will extend by 5 percent the mileage-based coverage of warranties and lease terms. The company also will reimburse owners for repairs made during the extended warranty period. It will also repay leasees for some excess mileage charges. An approval hearing is set for May 30. WASHINGTON -- About 6 million Honda and Acura owners will get extensions of leases or warranties, or in some cases refunds, as part of a $16 million-plus settlement stemming from faulty odometers, which chalked up miles too quickly.Because of the defective odometers, warranties expired earlier than they should have.In some cases, leaseholders had to pay for miles they did not drive when odometers showed they exceeded mileage limits.As part of a tentative class-action settlement, American Honda Motor Co. will:Extend by 5 percent the mileage-based coverage period of its warranties.Extend mileage allowed in leases by 5 percent.Reimburse customers for repairs made just after their warranties expired.Refund $6.1 million in fees for exceeding mileage limits to about 25,000 former leaseholders -- who will receive $265 each.The suit began in April 2004 when a Texas woman complained that her 2002 Odyssey was overstating her mileage by 2 percent to 4 percent. Other drivers also complained their odometers weren't accurate."People who had been making the 300-mile trip to Grandma's house found out that Grandma had moved 12 miles away when they bought a Honda," James Holmes, an attorney for the car owners, said Monday.Honda said the problem stemmed from the automaker inadvertently overcorrecting inaccuracies in an earlier generation odometer.Even so, the margin of error was acceptable under industry guidelines, which calls for odometers to be accurate to plus or minus 4 percent."Our standards didn't change, but it was well within the accepted industry standards," said Chris Martin, a Honda spokesman."Customers expect it would be based on (close to) zero (error). It's never going to be perfect."Honda has since moved to a speed sensor in the transmission, and a computer calculates the mileage.Martin said he didn't know how many customers were charged for repairs in error. He noted many repairs would have been done at dealerships, which keep good records.Holmes wondered whether Honda was seeking to reduce its warranty costs by overstating mileage -- something the automaker has denied."With everything you know about Japanese engineering, it's hard to believe 2 or 3 percent just slipped past them," he said.Attorneys for the Honda owners will be awarded $9.5 million in legal fees and $300,000 in expenses, if U.S. District Judge T. John Ward approves the settlement.Meanwhile, three new suits have been filed against Honda in Canada.A similar suit charging Nissan with having faulty odometers is pending in U.S. District Court in Marshall, Texas.Nissan has denied wrongdoing.For more information, go to www. odosettlementinfo.com.You can reach David Shepardson at (202) 662-8735 or dshepardson@detnews.com.
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24 Sep 2007, 03:36 pm
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