benbow

I found this posted on autoblog today.

Last September, a class-action lawsuit was filed against Honda looking for restitution for 750,000 late model Accord and Acura TSX owners. The suit claimed that a design defect in a new braking system led to excessive force on the rear brake pads that reduced the lifespan of the pads from 70,000 miles to under 20,000 miles. The cost to replace those rear pads? The suit claims the average total is about $150, but if the rotors were damaged, the price can spike to $250 or more.

A report in The New York Times shows that the months of legal wrangling has paid off for 750,000 owners of 2008 and 2009 Accords and the 2009 (plus a few 2010 models) Acura TSX. Honda has reportedly agreed to settle the suit without admitting responsibility or any wrongdoing, while also providing cash to customers with the brakes in question. Owners who have already gotten their brakes done will receive one half of the cost of repairs, or a maximum of $125, whichever is less. The owners in question will also receive $150 towards the cost of a set of new rear brake pads that Honda says will last longer than the units being replaced. The law firm handling the case will reportedly receive $2 million for its efforts. In total, Honda could be on the hook for well over $100 million if all affected owners receive new brakes.

With the class-action suit settled, the next step is for Judge Margaret M. Morrow of the United States District Court for the Central District of California to give the agreement an official seal of approval in May.

[Source: The New York Times]

princelybug

iTrader: (16)

Get the news out to all the 2G TSX owners.

nj2pa2nc

my mom owns an 08 honda accord-I wonder if all owners will be notified or do the owners have to do something

Tapwave

http://wheels.blogs.nytimes.com/2010...t-over-brakes/

Colin

This might also explain why some were getting 'non answeres' from Acura Client services on the issue. "Litigation Pending' so no comment.

tsx_ridah10

I would like to know what 2010 TSX models they are referring to?

LuvMyTSX

This has been going on for a long time, though. 1G TSX owners have also had brake issues, what about us? Chopped meat, I guess.

I replaced the brakes on my 04 at about 30k because I couldn't take the horrible vibrations and squealing. I went aftermarket to avoid the same problems with new OEM brakes, and paid a lot more than $250.

Colin

The settlement is similar to the early NSX settlement for short tire wear.

TheGoodGuy

While it is a step in the right direction, it does not fix the problem. For someone who drives an average of 20,000 miles a year its not reassuring to replace it once a year.

I am going to look at seeing if there is a way to make the floating brake system work better, perhaps a thicker shim on the outside pad to bring it closer to the disc. It needs a redesign

rgoldd

Question how do you know what 2010 models are affected?

benbow

Can anyone confirm from TSBs that the rear brakes have been redesigned, software modified, or more durable pads installed on the latest 2010 TSXs?

FrOregon

So what does this all mean? Can I just call my dealer and get a free brake job done?

ed_423

^shuold be under warrenty from the tsb right?

karbotsx2

Amazing......I just purchased a brand new 2010 TSX, I currently have 600 miles. Should I mention this article to the dealer during my first oil change in the coming months?

Thanks again

Draconis77

This would be why they replaced my rear breaks for free the last time I had my car serviced I guess. That was a nice surprise.

Tishkevich

iTrader: (3)

i don't get it i got nearly 45k miles and my rear brake PADS are fine.. all my rotors now.. they have all warped. and have since replaced them with slotted rotors

ed_423

i have around 7.6k and my breaks are VERY sqeuaky

Tishkevich

iTrader: (3)

my brakes squeaked at 500 miles, I blamed it on it being cold so never got it looked at, Then my rotors warped at 1k, and so onn and so forth.

nj2pa2nc

Do you do a lot of highway driving. I think that helps- My brakes are still good after 100,000+miles.

Tishkevich

iTrader: (3)

well i used to yeah, first 28k miles or so. I also am in the dirty habit of down shifting

patcracks

so how do the hell do we get this money? 150 is not enough i had to pay for 2 new rotors too

Simba91102

Typical lawyer con job. The saps get $125.... the fu**ing lawyers get rich.

frescagod

took my TSX to the dealer and they said there was plenty of pad left on all four brakes, and that the horrible squealing noise was "normal." haha. i asked the service guy if the tech could at least apply some silicone grease/lubricant to the calipers, etc, but he refused and then happily stated that my car was washed and vacuumed...?

oh well...i did show him the lawsuit on my phone as i was leaving and he said he'd keep it in mind when the lawsuit was actually settled. the service manager then called me an hour later and said that he had heard something about it but that they didn't have the redesigned pads yet, but he put me on a "list" of some sort and would be contacting me when everything was finalized.

the brakes still squeal, sometimes embarrassingly loudly. like some others on here, i guess i will be looking into aftermarket pads and rotors. unlike some people, though, i buy Hondas and Acuras because i don't want to do anything aftermarket at all...i want a reliable, decently fun car to drive with minimal maintenance. i got that (mostly) with my two previous Acuras and my old S2000, but not with the new TSX. if it had been an isolated issue, i'd be more understanding, but it's a crappy design and engineering issue, and with the brakes, no less! one of the most important parts of the car and Honda screwed it up.

i take issue more with Honda than the dealer, whose employees were courteous and helpful.

Omega751

I just took in my 2010 TSX because the brakes were squealing. The dealer gave me a little push-back at first, but then they told me that a new revised TSB came out in March this year (revised from prior year) and my VIN # was within the covered range. They replaced my front brake pads, shims and springs per the bulletin. They no longer make any squealing sounds.

So, it looks like the 2010's definitely have the brake issue still. At least for some models. They didn't give me the TSB # but I think it is just an amendment to the 2009 TSB.

StonedCL

iTrader: (1)

My brakes are fine but I only have 8K miles on them. Does anyone know what the VIN range is? So my brakes will be replaced for free, or will I get $150 credit toward my brakes?

ed_423

im at about 7.5k and it started seqaking liek crazy, so my dealer replaced the breakpads for me. underwarrenty of cousre now its sqeak free!

FrOregon

Here is my question?I have a '09 with 12,000 miles and have been noticing squeeky brake from start up to about few blocks of driving. Can I call my local dealer and tell them of this and would they fix it for free??

ed_423

^ they shuold

AC415

took my 2010 tsx in to dealer today and the guy looked up my vin and said that there were no service bulletins for mine. i bought it in september of 09 which should probably mean that the brakes are the same as those of 09 models am i correct?

frescagod

you might be right, but i can't find this range of VINs to see if mine falls within it either.

for some reason, the dealers generally don't like to do warranty work, even though they still do get paid by Acura. i'm speechless that they would let my car go and call the brake noises "normal." to have a near-luxury Acura on the road sounding like a school bus would just be flat out embarrassing if i owned or worked for Honda/Acura.

Acura Client Services doesn't care either. they basically say "we rely on the dealers to make these judgment calls. sorry, is there anything else i can do for you today?"

based on this experience, this will be my 4th and last Honda. i have not been a fanboy, but i have been very biased towards Honda and against Toyota and American cars my entire life. not anymore. i'm going to lubricate the calipers and the backs of the brake pads myself and hopefully that will be the end of the noise, until i can get redesigned pads from this lawsuit being settled.

ed_423

lol i jsut got their lawsuit letter thing in the mail with the 150 bucks cash back for the pads...so i guess i'll be doing it over the summer

09TSXTech

^ed, check your rear brakes to make sure they are not all worn down (no sure what kind of mileage you have on your car). If the pads are not worn down to the rotor, the dealer can just machined them and put the new pads on.

I think yellowdotz's vehicle may have pads scrapping the rotors which necessitated rotors replacement also and that push the repair cost up to $350. Regular rear brake replacement should be around $200 (parts and labour).

hmbtsx

So if I understand things correctly, we, the car owners, did nothing wrong while Honda/Acura messed up the design of the rear brakes.

Our compensation for having to prematurely replace these rear brakes is apparently less than the cost of replacing these rear brakes (folks are quoting $200-$350). So what kind of crazy settlement was this? Shouldn't they have gotten Honda/Acura to agree to fix the problems at their expense - end of story?

Although since it was a class action suit that I'm sure was handled on contingency, it was important that the settlement be in cash because then it was easier for the lawyers to calculate their cut.

I had already bought new aftermarket pads for our 09 TSX but since it now sounds like there are some small changes that Acura is making to the rear brakes, we don't have any choice but to bring it to the dealer to have it fixed. Is anyone now getting this fixed under warranty or has the lawsuit nixed that? We probably just have a month or two of wear left on the rear pads so I'll just book it into the dealer in June to have them replaced and file a claim with the class action settlement.

09TSXTech

^hmbtsx, are the pads in your car the original ones or have you installed aftermarket pads already. If they are OEM ones, then bring it back to the dealer and they may do the whole thing under warranty.

Up here in Canada, with 33K miles on the odometer, my dealer replaced both front and rear pads (machined rotors) under warranty.

defconskylude

i got that settlement mail last night. do you need to bring that mail to get the brakes replaced under warranty or can they just do a VIN look up and check whether it qualifies for warranty or not?

hmbtsx

I had held off installing the new aftermarket pads because we still had some wear left on the inside pads - and it also looked to me like something had to give on either the warranty or lawsuit front - an obviously flawed design. So I'll give the local dealer (Hopkins in Redwood City) a call next week and see what he can do for me and report back.

defconskylude

went to acura dealer in thousand oaks, ca. they've been advised that all acura dealers nationwide instruct the owners pay for the rear brake jobs FIRST at $217 and then call up honda/acura to file a reimbursement claim for $150. acura dealers will not give brake replacements for FREE which is also called "goodwill." the rep said if the lawsuit never happened, acura wouldve issued a TSB and replace the brakes for free under warranty. he said the settlement fcked everyone over.

overall:
NO FREE BRAKE REPLACEMENTS. NO GOODWILL
They will no longer honor the warranty due to the lawsuit settlement.
$150 reimbursement. So about $70 out of pocket to get it replacement for new pads

i have an 09. 13,700 miles. no squeaking and no brake issues so far. i only drive about 10-15 miles a day conservatively to and from work. i have 3 years to use the $150. at the moment ill just wait until it hits 2mm to get them replaced

NorCalTSX09

Any idea whether these replacement pads are a new design/material? Seems pointless if they're just replacing with the same faulty pads.

defconskylude

theyre new thicker pads

ed_423

my milage on my car is fairly low even though i have had it for a year (mostly cuz my mom drives it, but when i get in in a few weeks, i am sure i'll be putting a lot more milage on it) so shuold i still get my pads done during the summer? or wait it out? nothing seems to be worng so far, i did resurface my front ones though due to squeaking