Santa Clara, CA: Owners of Honda Acura vehicles featuring the HandsFreeLink Bluetooth phone-pairing system have filed a consumer fraud class action lawsuit against the automaker alleging there is a battery-draining defect which has plagued owners since at least 2005 despite Honda knowing about the issue.
The class-action lawsuit states that Honda’s HandsFreeLink feature will get stuck on even if not in use and even after the car is turned off. Once stuck, the unit creates a constant “parasitic” drain on the electric system, leading to drained and dead batteries, recurring battery replacement and premature failure of other essential electric components such as alternators.
The lawsuit cites complaints to the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration detailing the defect’s safety hazard to drivers, including accounts of vehicles unexpectedly stalling during high speeds, and sudden, complete electrical failure.
Acura owners are not only out the cost of potential replacement, the suit states. According to the lawsuit filed in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California, owners find themselves with cars that are less valuable than comparable cars with properly functioning hands-free phone-pairing systems.
“Acura owners are faced with the choice of expensive replacement of the HandsFreeLink™ unit (in excess of $1000.00), with no promise that the replacement also will not get stuck ‘on,’ or disabling the HandsFreeLink™ system by disconnecting the HandsFreeLink™ unit from the car,” the complaint states. “Despite knowing about the issue with its HandsFreeLink™ since at least 2005, Honda has merely issued internal Service Bulletins to its dealers over the years, notifying only the dealers about the problem, but offering no meaningful solution, warranty coverage or recall.”
The complaint states that in its rush to become the first automaker to offer hands-free calling with its HandsFreeLink system starting with 2004 model year Acura vehicles, Honda failed to ensure the unit would reliably switch off, and also failed to adequately notify owners of the issue or remedy the problem.
The lawsuit seeks reimbursement for vehicle owners related to the defect and an injunctive order to end Honda’s concealment of the defect and denial of warranty coverage for repairs related to the HandsFreeLink defect.
Plaintiffs are represented by Hagens Berman Sobol Shapiro LLP.
