- The lawsuit centers on defective white paint used on select Honda and Acura models.
- Most of the affected vehicles were manufactured at a Honda facility in Alabama.
- Plaintiffs are seeking a jury trial along with compensation for paint repairs and damages.
If you own a 2013-present Honda Odyssey, Pilot, Fit, HR-V, or an Acura MDX in certain shades of white, you might be eligible to join a class action lawsuit claiming the paint finish is about as durable as a discount phone case. The lawsuit alleges that defects in Honda’s paint can lead to peeling, bubbling, flaking, and outright delamination, leaving owners with a patchy, unsightly mess.
The lawsuit, filed in the United States District Court for the Central District of California, claims that Honda’s White Diamond Pearl, Taffeta White, White Orchid Pearl, and Bellanova White paint options are defective due to manufacturing issues and the complexity of their three-stage paint process. It alleges the defect was present in a latent form at the time of production and “will invariably manifest itself during the reasonably expected life” of these Honda and Acura models.
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The plaintiffs behind the class action claim Honda should have informed them about the defects when they purchased their vehicles. They also note that Honda has previously issued three technical service bulletins and warranty extensions for Acura MDXs painted in White Diamond Pearl, 2013 Honda Odysseys and 2014-2015 Honda Pilots painted in Taffeta White Pearl, and 2015-2017 Honda Fits and 2016-2018 Honda HR-Vs finished in White Orchid Pearl and Bellanova White Pearl.
Paint defects can reportedly be found in subject vehicles in every US state, indicating that the issue is not associated with geographical or environmental factors. Most of the vehicles were manufactured at Honda’s facility in Lincoln, Alabama, between 2013 and 2017, and painted with a robotic paint system. The lawsuit adds that Honda knew or should have known about the defect because numerous complaints were made directly to it or shared online in “sources monitored by Honda.”
Not the First Time
This isn’t Honda’s first brush with paint-related lawsuits. In 2018, the automaker faced a similar class action in Canada over peeling paint, ultimately settling for $27 million in 2022.
Owners of impacted Honda models in the United States are demanding a jury trial and want to be reimbursed and compensated for the full purchase price of any replacement paint jobs, in addition to restitution, compensatory damages, costs for economic loss, and out-of-pocket costs, in addition to punitive and exemplary damages.
