Honda to Extend Warranties on 6 Million Cars

A class-action lawsuit has forced Honda to extend warranties and pay off lease fees due to faulty odometers for 6 million Hondas and Acuras. The voluntary industry standard is 4% accuracy for accumulated mileage. The government does not regulate odometers.

Honda says its odometers were within 3.75% accuracy but the company decided to settle the lawsuit because “the customer expectation is that it would be based on zero. We weren't. So we decided to settle the suit," according to Honda spokesman Chris Martin.

Vehicles affected were bought from April 13, 2002 to November 7, 2006. Purchased cars will get extended warranties while leased vehicles will receive added mileage to the terms of the lease, or those charged for overages on past lease deals will be reimbursed.

Honda says all 2007 models — excluding the Honda Fit — have received adjusted odometers with almost no variation in mileage.

[Honda Says Odometers on 6M Cars Click Off Mileage at Too-quick Pace, USA Today]

Comments

I'm glad to see the press and consumers are holding Hondas and other Japanese imports up to the same scrutiny that domestics have faced for years. These automakers have pretty much received a free pass up until now.

It seems that Honda learned from Toyota's mistake (of not admitting to the engine sludge issue) and is resolving this problem quickly by extending the warranty -- a relatively inexpensive fix to a problem that could have easily spun out of control if they had gone into "lie and deny" mode.

And Honda has been known for doing such volunteering preventive things before it gets worst.

Therefore most of the customers are happy returning customers.

Makes me wonder if other brands still have over enthusiastic odometers.

How dare Honda have a odometer that is off by upwards of 3.75%! I deserve to know if my Honda really has 180,000 miles or 186,750 miles! Life is so much easier driving GM or Ford as they fall apart at 80,000 miles but at least the odometer is accurate.

Another clear sign that attorney's are scum and will do anything to collect a check.

Mike

I would like to wait and see if anyone bring up such lawsuit to GM and Ford before saying that they are accurate.

My 2002 Toyota Corolla VE 4-Door Sedan Silver that I transport my kids to school and back home in the morning....My husband drives a 2002 Honda Civic DX 4-Door Sedan also silver and he picks up our kids going from home to school and back in the afternoon just like I do in the morning. We take 100% the same route and we both got the same exact mileage total for the trip to pick up our kids, a total of 15 miles. We did this for 5 days in a row and we even switched cars....We still got same mileage everyday...If the odometer on my Toyota Corolla is within your accuracy claims then so is the odometer on my husband’s Honda Civic.

I own a 2003 Honda Accord V-6 and my wife’s car is a 2002 Mercedes-Benz CLK320. We drove our cars the same distance, taking the same exact route. We calculated the mileage we made on our cars from start to finish and the results were 50 miles on my 2003 Honda Accord and 50 miles on my wife’s 2002 Mercedes-Benz CLK320.

So this article really boggles my mind. Simply put, life is much easier driving a reliable, worry free car, than being stranded on the shoulder of the interstate. I really wonder if my wife’s car has an accurate odometer because we traveled the same route and distance and we got the same mileage.

One word describes the lawsuit:

IRRATIONAL

Do Chevy’s have accurate odometers? I wonder if they really do because it seems that they made a big deal with Honda. Maybe try to dig deeper and investigate others and have their 12 million cars under scrutiny.

I got my class action notice today. and it explains an observation I made last year. A trip to visit my mother is always 835 miles plus or minus 5. Last year it was 870 and I thought I was losing my mind.

This is the type of thing that the domestics need to take a clue from. All brands have things that malfunction - although some more than others. Thats right, even Honda and Toyota do have some malfunctions from time to time. They are not assembled by Jesus. They just tend to handle their problems better. It would just be best to fix the problem correctly the first time and retain a few customers.

P.S. I have had many cars in my day and I have had Japanese brands completely crap out at 100k and I have had domestics last 300k and over. I have also had the opposite happen. Stuff breaks.