Honda VCM Class Action Settlement

[Indydriver]

Mailings are going out to all owners of Honda VCM V6s (Accords, Odysseys, Pilots and Crossovers since 2008) from the U.S. District Court for Northern California announcing a legal settlement on behalf of all these owners.

If you own one of these vehicles, you are automatically included in the settlement and must opt out in writing if you wish to preserve your individual right to sue Honda. If you disagree with the settlement you are invited to write the court.

The settlement includes reimbursement for documentable out of pocket expenses for certain diagnostic trouble codes submitted by April 10, 2014 and a warranty extension for all owners to 8 years from date of purchase for this particular defect.

Further details may be found at: enginemisfiresettlement.com.

Good luck to all those thousands of owners who have been stonewalled by Honda.

 

[CourierDriver]

Im waiting for millions to respond to,,,did anyone loose a life over this??????????????????????

 

[eljefino]

If Honda "cheated" in declaring their product emissions compliant, it's only fair to their competitors who had to play by the rules, and did.

 

[Indydriver]

Originally Posted By: CourierDriver
Im waiting for millions to respond to,,,did anyone loose a life over this??????????????????????

No but thousands of unsuspecting Honda buyers who thought reliability was part of the package were lied to and stonewalled by Honda and their ever compliant dealers. The sad thing about the settlement is that it doesn't address those many owners who got frustrated by the whole thing and traded off their VCM lemons at significant financial loss.

 

[Indydriver]

Originally Posted By: eljefino
If Honda "cheated" in declaring their product emissions compliant, it's only fair to their competitors who had to play by the rules, and did.

Not sure what you mean by this post. This is not an emissions issue. It is an engine failure issue resulting from Honda's variable cylinder management design.

 

[mclasser]

Still waiting for my letter. Hopefully I never have to take Honda up on this extended warranty.

 

[BISCUT]

Amazing how it doesn't matter what country of origin; all corporations tend to chase the profit and leave the bag in someone else's hand.

 

[Indydriver]

Originally Posted By: BISCUT
Amazing how it doesn't matter what country of origin; all corporations tend to chase the profit and leave the bag in someone else's hand.

It's not fair to use this situation to condemn all corporations. I work for a big one. We try to do the right thing. Many are very defensive about claims because of our litigious society and outright fraud trying to take advantage.This is an issue where I thank America for having a vibrant legal system.

I'm close to this issue because I own a car covered by the settlement. I've not had any problems yet but the car only has 22,000 miles on it. But ive read many very sad tales about how (formerly) loyal Honda owners have been lied to and treated like dirt. Try googling "Odyssey oil consumption" and you'll find some very, interesting reading. Long time Honda fanboys on their fourth or fifth Honda who got totally screwed because Honda wouldn't admit to their bad design. They still wont admit it. And unfortunately, they are still making this engine.

 

[BISCUT]

Originally Posted By: Indydriver
Originally Posted By: BISCUT
Amazing how it doesn't matter what country of origin; all corporations tend to chase the profit and leave the bag in someone else's hand.

It's not fair to use this situation to condemn all corporations. I work for a big one. We try to do the right thing. Many are very defensive about claims because of our litigious society and outright fraud trying to take advantage.This is an issue where I thank America for having a vibrant legal system.

I'm close to this issue because I own a car covered by the settlement. I've not had any problems yet but the car only has 22,000 miles on it. But ive read many very sad tales about how (formerly) loyal Honda owners have been lied to and treated like dirt. Try googling "Odyssey oil consumption" and you'll find some very, interesting reading. Long time Honda fanboys on their fourth or fifth Honda who got totally screwed because Honda wouldn't admit to their bad design. They still wont admit it. And unfortunately, they are still making this engine.


Wasn't a condemnation; hence the usage of "tend" in my post. BUT as you said your corporations TRIES to do the right thing as, in my opinion, the majority do. BUT when it comes to stopping a production line or taking the proverbial big hit almost all will not do the right thing if it would mean exorbitant loss. Nature of the beast.

 

[Hounds]

This issue has been discussed extensively on driveaccord.net and vtec.net. A few points are worth mentioning here.

First, this case has not been litigated or settled. What is now being quoted on various boards is a proposed settlement. In this regard, quoting from the proposed settlement order (PSO): "The Court has not decided in favor of Plaintiff or Defendant. Instead, both sides agreed to a settlement on behalf of everyone in the proposed Settlement Class . . . . Settlement Class Members will only receive certain agreed-upon benefits "if the settlement is approved and becomes final." That determination will not be made until March 21, 2014.

Second, it is important to note the scope of the proposed settlement. Here again, quoting from the PSO: "This lawsuit is about Engine Misfire and its symptoms and causes. . . . The Engine Misfire at issue generates one or more of the following vehicle diagnostic trouble codes (“DTC”): P0301, P0302, P0303, or P0304." Significantly, the proposed settlement does use or mention the words "oil consumption" anywhere in the proposed settlement order. Thus, unless a claimant's V-6 experiences a "diagnosed" "engine misfire" that results in one of the DTCs listed in the proposed order, the fact that the engine may consume "x" amount of motor oil per thousand miles is not relevant and is not included in the PSO.

Finally, the extent of any increased engine warranty provisions has not been agreed upon. That, too, will be in the final settlement order issued in March 2014.

 

[blackman777]

Originally Posted By: Indydriver
Originally Posted By: BISCUT
Amazing how it doesn't matter what country of origin; all corporations tend to chase the profit and leave the bag in someone else's hand.

It's not fair to use this situation to condemn all corporations. I work for a big one. We try to do the right thing.

Riiiight. I cannot think of a single car company that does not have a history of screwing-over the customer. It's okay to make design errors, but to try to cover-up the error & refuse to honor an engine warranty (by voiding it) is unacceptable. (In case its unclear I was talking about Toyota not Honda.)

 

[Sayjac]

Quote:
I cannot think of a single car company that does not have a history of screwing-over the customer. It's okay to make design errors, but to try to cover-up the error & refuse to honor an engine warranty (by voiding it) is unacceptable.....

Speaking from personal experience, just ask the owners of 2002-03 2.5L Altimas and Sentras that were hung out to dry by Nissan with ticking time bomb precats that destoyed the engines and left owners hung out to dry with no recourse. At least Honda owners are getting something, 2.5L owners got squadoosh except for a dead engine.

 

[Vikas]

How many vehicles are going to develop problem in only eight years?

 

[Indydriver]

Originally Posted By: Hounds
This issue has been discussed extensively on driveaccord.net and vtec.net. A few points are worth mentioning here.

First, this case has not been litigated or settled. What is now being quoted on various boards is a proposed settlement. In this regard, quoting from the proposed settlement order (PSO): "The Court has not decided in favor of Plaintiff or Defendant. Instead, both sides agreed to a settlement on behalf of everyone in the proposed Settlement Class . . . . Settlement Class Members will only receive certain agreed-upon benefits "if the settlement is approved and becomes final." That determination will not be made until March 21, 2014.

Second, it is important to note the scope of the proposed settlement. Here again, quoting from the PSO: "This lawsuit is about Engine Misfire and its symptoms and causes. . . . The Engine Misfire at issue generates one or more of the following vehicle diagnostic trouble codes (“DTC”): P0301, P0302, P0303, or P0304." Significantly, the proposed settlement does use or mention the words "oil consumption" anywhere in the proposed settlement order. Thus, unless a claimant's V-6 experiences a "diagnosed" "engine misfire" that results in one of the DTCs listed in the proposed order, the fact that the engine may consume "x" amount of motor oil per thousand miles is not relevant and is not included in the PSO.

Finally, the extent of any increased engine warranty provisions has not been agreed upon. That, too, will be in the final settlement order issued in March 2014.
Partially correct but wrong about the details. I've read the settlement agreement. It is an agreement negotiated between the plaintiffs and Honda. Honda insisted on eradication of any mention of excess oil consumption even though this was central to both plaintiffs claims. Honda also insisted that 4 cylinder cars be excluded even though one of the plaintiffs drove a 4 cylinder Accord. Honda agreed to pay the plaintiffs' legal fees to the tune of $800,000. Honda was successful in limiting the settlement to V6 VCM engines where they have identified the deficiencies and hopefully corrected them (we'll see about that). [ Sidebar: there's a lot of talk on BITOG about the usefulness of moly. Part of Honda's "fix" for VCM was the use of moly-impregnated rods that time release the moly into the factory fill. All of a sudden Honda dealer's were insistent that new owners NOT change the factory fill before the MM called for it, which was 8,000 miles in my car.]

The details of the settlement have been negotiated and cannot now be changed. If you own one of these cars, you are obligated to accept the settlement unless you "opt-out" in writing before e settlement is finalized. If there are 1,000 opt-outs, Honda reserves the right to bail on the settlement agreement. The warranty extension is set at 8 years from date of purchase or lease and if you haven't had a problem yet and don't opt out, that's all you're ever going to get.

 

[Indydriver]

Originally Posted By: blackman777
Originally Posted By: Indydriver
Originally Posted By: BISCUT
Amazing how it doesn't matter what country of origin; all corporations tend to chase the profit and leave the bag in someone else's hand.

It's not fair to use this situation to condemn all corporations. I work for a big one. We try to do the right thing.

Riiiight. I cannot think of a single car company that does not have a history of screwing-over the customer. It's okay to make design errors, but to try to cover-up the error & refuse to honor an engine warranty (by voiding it) is unacceptable. (In case its unclear I was talking about Toyota not Honda.)


Biscuit said "all corporations" not all auto manufacturers. So, my objection to his generalization stands.

 

[Indydriver]

Originally Posted By: Vikas
How many vehicles are going to develop problem in only eight years?

And this is now the dilemma for owners like me, who bought a Honda for my daughter to drive expecting it's reputational reliability of 200,000+ miles over 10-12 years.

 

[CourierDriver]

O boy,,,now if the Einsteins that dreamed up computers for cars had left well enough alone, we wouldn't have all this gibberish over codes and misfires,,,,,,,,,,bring back the tuneup kits and so on.............I would venture to guess that Japan / Honda is broken hearted..tissues anyone?

 

[Propflux01]

Originally Posted By: Vikas
How many vehicles are going to develop problem in only eight years?

If your talking about this particular issue then scouting some of the Honda forums may shed some light, if your speaking of just any vehicles in general, I'd say quite a few.

 

[jrustles]

Is VCM really that useful? Does it really save that much fuel? I mean, is it required to be included in the firmware due to the EPA testing results, where if it were deleted, EPA estimates would need to be revised? If I were Honda, I'd disable the program or make it far less agressive. Nothing good could come of idly sliding (certain) pistons up and down the cylinder wall with no pressure and perhaps even a vacuum above them. Is there a wear levelling algorithm that alternates the power and idle pistons for even wear?

 

[mclasser]

Originally Posted By: jrustles
Is VCM really that useful? Does it really save that much fuel? I mean, is it required to be included in the firmware due to the EPA testing results, where if it were deleted, EPA estimates would need to be revised? If I were Honda, I'd disable the program or make it far less agressive. Nothing good could come of idly sliding (certain) pistons up and down the cylinder wall with no pressure and perhaps even a vacuum above them. Is there a wear levelling algorithm that alternates the power and idle pistons for even wear?


Nope, it really isn't that useful and is too complex for it's own good. I know that in the Pilot, it was added to squeeze out an extra 1 MPG. Honda claims the VCM activation/deactivation is smooth and imperceptible to the driver but go to any Honda forum and you'll see this just isn't the case. It's stupid that Honda forced this feature down owner's throats and didn't add a button for us to control it. I'm also surprised this lawsuit doesn't include the engine mounts as well; premature failure is common due to the constant turning on/off of the engine cylinders.