Lawsuit alleges infotainment systems in Honda Odysseys and Pilots go black and fail.

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Honda Odyssey and Pilot Infotainment System Lawsuit Filed
Lawsuit alleges infotainment systems in Honda Odysseys and Pilots go black and fail.

— A Honda Odyssey and Pilot infotainment system lawsuit alleges defects cause failures of the radio, backup camera, cabin watch system, navigation, entertainment and audio systems.

The proposed class action lawsuit includes 2018-2019 Honda Odyssey minivans and 2019 Honda Pilot SUVs with infotainment systems that allegedly crash and freeze.

Plaintiffs Lesley and Tom Conti purchased a new 2018 Honda Odyssey EX-L in Ohio in June 2017 and have allegedly experienced repeated problems with the infotainment system within two months of owning the minivan.

The first sign of trouble was a message that said, “Radio unavailable," and there was allegedly no sound from the radio, CD player, hands-free calling and navigation system. A Honda technician was told about the problems and less than a month later the audio tuner was replaced according to directions in Honda service bulletin 17-088.

But according to the lawsuit, the infotainment system failed just two days later, causing the plaintiffs to take the Odyssey back to the dealership. The plaintiffs were told the entire dashboard had been removed in an effort to fix the infotainment system, but the plaintiffs claim the problems continued.

In February 2018, the plaintiffs took the minivan back to the dealer twice and received an invoice that allegedly said:

“Vehicle has a new tuner, new audio unit from brand new donor and OTA software update. According to customer, vehicle is still malfunctioning. Per DPMS and field service engineer, customer needs to keep for a few weeks and log malfunctions and report back to us to further diagnose. Closing paperwork for now.”

The plaintiffs say the service manager suggested they keep a journal of the infotainment system problems where it was noted problems occurred "every single day between February 28, 2018 and March 12, 2018."

According to the lawsuit, a Honda technician contacted the plaintiffs in March 2018 with a text message that said:

“We have spoken to Honda on the situation not just with your vehicle but with others as well and are getting the same response which is don’t replace any more parts and wait for an update. Very frustrating I understand.”

The minivan was taken again to the dealership which kept the vehicle for 10 days to replace the instrument panel wire harness, floor wire harness and rear entertainment system control unit. However, the infotainment system problems allegedly continued.

On May 1, 2018, the plaintiffs contacted the dealership about infotainment system problems such as crackling sounds and a non-functioning backup camera, then a few weeks later the system wasn't producing any sound.

According to the lawsuit, the infotainment display turned black and went completely out twice, so another trip to the dealer led to the replacement of the DVD player and speedometer. However, the plaintiffs say the problems continue.

Honda allegedly conceals the infotainment system problems in more than 100,000 Odysseys and Pilots even though dealerships allegedly have no clue how to fix the systems.

The lawsuit also references complaints submitted to CarComplaints.com.

“The infotainment on this car really sucks. It has a mind of its own. And, to add insult to injury the whole thing froze rendering the infotainment useless. The Dealer informed that the infotainment is a known issue yet nothing has been done to fix it." - 2018 Honda Odyssey owner

"The screen does not load properly, it crashes, reboots, freezes, has error messages, sometimes the radio stays dead, sometimes its on. No hands free operation, no GPS. Honda Replaced the unit 1st week of Jan 2019 and 1st of Feb, the problem reappeared. To get it working - i have to exit the car lock and unlock and hopefully the start sequence will work." - 2019 Honda Pilot owner

In addition, the lawsuit references a downgraded rating from Consumer Reports about the 2018 Honda Odyssey which is “No Longer Recommended” due to “much-worse-than-average reliability, with problems including the infotainment display freezing and losing all functionality.

The Honda Odyssey and Pilot infotainment lawsuit was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California, Western Division - Lesley Conti and Tom Conti, et al., v. American Honda Motor Co., Inc.

The plaintiffs are represented by Hagens Berman Sobol Shapiro, Goldenberg Schneider, LPA, and Niekamp, Weisensell, Mutersbaugh & Mastrantonio, LLP.

CarComplaints.com has owner-reported complaints about the Honda Odyssey and the Honda Pilot.

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