LOS ANGELES (Legal Newsline) — Several auto buyers are suing Honda, alleging its soy-based electrical wiring insulation attracts rodents that chew through it.
Daniel Dobbs, Greg Delaney and Sean Rickard, individually and for all others similarly situated, filed a class action lawsuit Jan. 21 in U.S. District Court for the Central District of California against American Honda Motor Company, alleging breach of express and implied warranties.
The suit alleges the 2012-2015 model year Honda vehicles are defective in their electrical wiring. These vehicles' electrical wiring is coated with soy-based insulation that is purportedly more environmentally friendly and less expensive than traditional insulation, but which attracts rodents and other animals that chew through the insulation and electrical wires, according to the complaint.
The suit alleges Honda refuses to cover damages to the electrical wiring under its new vehicle limited warranty, despite provisions in the warranty that allegedly provide the defendant will repair parts that are defective in material or workmanship, free of charge.
As a result, the complaint says the plaintiffs and others in the class are left with improperly functioning vehicles and have had to bear costs of repairing the defective electrical wiring.
Dobbs, Delaney and Rickard and others in the class seek more than $5 million in actual damages, statutory damages, attorney fees and other costs of the suit. They are represented by attorney Michael D. Braun of Braun Law Group PC in Los Angeles, and by attorney Roy A. Katriel of The Katriel Law Firm PC in La Jolla.
U.S. District Court for the Central District of California Case number 2:16-CV-00456-R-JC