— Honda Accord and CR-V battery drain problems have caused a class action lawsuit that alleges the batteries are too small to power the vehicles.
In addition, the lawsuit alleges 2017-2019 Honda Accord and 2017-2019 Honda CR-V batteries suffer from parasitic draw which kills the batteries.
The Honda battery lawsuit alleges the batteries are simply too weak to run the electrical systems, leaving customers stranded with disabled Accords or CR-Vs.
Honda Accord and CR-V owners report the expenses related to a drained battery, including battery replacements, dignosing the problem and emergency roadside assistance.
The Honda battery lawsuit was filed by two owners, one who purchased a 2017 Honda Accord Sport in September 2017. The owner says the battery drained within three years of buying the car.
The vehicle had about 44,000 miles on it when the Accord battery wouldn't start. The plaintiff jump-started the car and he took it to a towing and repair shop. The mechanic allegedly replaced the Accord alternator at a cost of $495. However, the Honda Accord battery allegedly drained 11 days later and couldn't start.
The mechanic who replaced the alternator wasn't sure if he had caused a problem, so the lawsuit says he contacted a Honda dealership and was told to check the powertrain control module.
"The mechanic checked all the wires running from the alternator to the PCM. Wire replacement and subsequent testing returned wrong voltage levels. The mechanic removed and replaced the PCM and also installed a new battery. The total cost for the replacement of the PCM, the battery, and the towing left Plaintiff with a $1,335.00 bill." - Honda battery drain lawsuit
The plaintiff says he has never been reimbursed by Honda even though the automaker has allegedly known about the Accord and CR-V battery problems since at least 2017. Customers complain about parasitic draw on the batteries that have been too small since the vehicles were first sold.
The Honda battery drain lawsuit alleges the automaker sent notices to service managers and advisers that it wanted to collect batteries from 2016-2017 Honda Accords where the customers complained of a “no-start condition.”
In 2018 and 2019, Honda also allegedly announced a battery collection program requesting batteries from 2018-2019 Accords, 2017-2018 CR-Vs and 2016-2018 Pilot Touring/Elites.
Even though batteries were being collected by Honda, the plaintiffs who sued claim the automaker never specifically said anything about Accord or CR-V battery drain problems.
The alleged Honda battery problems send Accord and CR-V drivers to dealerships when the vehicles are still under warranties, but owners are allegedly often told battery tests indicate the batteries are functioning normally.
And according to the Honda battery lawsuit, even getting the battery replaced for free doesn't mean much because dealerships use the same batteries that are too small and weak to handle the job.
Honda Battery Problems Include Locked Doors, Jump Starts and Complaints
The class action lawsuit further alleges Honda Accord and CR-V owners report their vehicles losing important safety features when the batteries drain. Hazard lights, headlights and all electrical systems fail, including the door locks.
Honda Accord and CR-V drivers complain about being locked out of their vehicles when the batteries drain with the doors locked. Then there are the troubles caused when cell phones, wallets or other objects are locked in the vehicles with the doors locked, possibly in bad weather.
The Honda Accord and CR-V battery drain class action references CR-V battery complaints submitted to CarComplaints.com by three owners.
"After replacing the battery three times and getting only "We don't know" from dealer and "Sorry you are having battery problems" from Honda, I decided to get rid of it. The electrical system seemed to drain the battery over a 3-to 5 week time period. Making the problem more annoying the door locks were set on Auto after leaving the car. So you could not open the doors until battery was boosted. Honda refused to recognize the problem and only when I started "Lemon Law" activities did I get an offer to replace the vehicle."
"Battery just died. Charged it for hours, started, died again later that day. $127. Major pain in the ass getting all the trouble codes and messages to disappear from dashboard, although there’s no help in the manual. Pretty cheap damn battery, maybe 20 months since car new."
"Tried to start my car and all I got was clicking with lights flashing on the dash. I called the HondaLink Roadside Assistance. They sent AAA to jump my battery. The AAA guy says he's jumped a lot of 2017 CR-V's with the same problem. I am taking the car to the dealer to see what solution they have for me."
The Honda battery drain lawsuit says the automaker conceals the problems even when customers report multiple occurrences of drained batteries.
The Honda battery drain class action lawsuit was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California: Mastrangelo, et al., vs. American Honda Motor Co., Inc., et al.
The plaintiffs are represented by Migliaccio & Rathod LLP, Levin Sedran & Berman, and Baird Law Firm, APC.