Class Action Filed Over Alleged Braking Defect in Recalled Honda, Acura Vehicles

New to ClassAction.org? Read our Newswire Disclaimer

A proposed class action alleges certain now-recalled Honda Civic, Ridgeline, Passport, Pilot, and Acura MDX models suffer from a potentially fatal defect that can cause the vehicle’s braking systems to malfunction.

Get the latest news on class action lawsuits sent to your inbox. Sign up for ClassAction.org’s free weekly newsletter.

The 24-page lawsuit states that the braking systemsin the allegedly defective Honda and Acura models are equipped with improperly assembled tie rod fasteners that can become loose. The tie rod fastener connects the brake master cylinder and the brake booster, the suit relays. Upon depression of the brake pedal, “a bending load” may occur upon the brake booster assembly tie rod studs, causing them to break and the brake master cylinder to separate from the booster assembly, the case explains.

According to the suit, the braking system defect is the result of “improper engineering, design, or manufacturing” by defendant American Honda Motor Company, which in July 2023 recalled roughly 125,000 of the vehicles at issue in the lawsuit—2020-2021 Honda Civic, 2020-2023 Honda Ridgeline, 2021-2023 Honda Passport, 2021-2022 Honda Pilot, and 2020 Acura MDX vehicles.

As the suit tells it, Honda’s recall “leaves more questions than answers” regarding the vehicles’ safety given that the automaker “does not appear to truly know what is wrong with its vehicles.”

The filing says that the faulty braking systems and tie rods in the above-listed vehicles malfunction within the first two years of the cars’ lifespan, even though the expected span of a tie rod is 70,000 to 100,000 miles, or five to seven years. Moreover, the master cylinder and brake boosters are expected to last as long as the vehicle itself, the case notes.

The suit stresses that although the Honda recall includes a free fix-and-repair clause, these measures will cost drivers hours of their time, and the automaker, more concerningly, has not offered any guarantee that the braking defect will be permanently remedied.

“Rather, the Recall mentions replacing a fastener that has become loose,” the complaint states. “The Recall does not give any detail on what causes this fastener to become loose to start with, other than mentioning some possible part manufacturing concerns, which even when remedied several years ago by Defendant, still did not fix the Brake Defect.”

Even with the repairs offered through the recall, Honda and Acura owners are left with “devalued” vehicles with a “known history of faulty brakes,” leaving the cars worth much less than those with no resumé of issues, the case contends.

“Unless Defendant is to issue a more comprehensive recall to truly fix the root cause of the Brake Defect, it is foreseeable, and should be expected, that the Class Vehicles’ braking systems will fail once again,” the lawsuit posits. “Defendant’s Recall is no more than a repeatedly ineffective waste of time as there is no true fix for the Brake Defect.”

The Honda lawsuit looks to cover all individuals in the United States who bought or leased any 2020-2021 Honda Civic, 2020-2023 Honda Ridgeline, 2021-2023 Honda Passport, 2021-2022 Honda Pilot, and 2020 Acura MDX vehicle.

Check out ClassAction.org’s lawsuit list for the latest open class actions.