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A Honda infotainment class action lawsuit will continue in an Illinois federal court, but not by much.
Plaintiff Leticia Rivera is the former owner of a 2020 Honda Pilot which she alleges had “a defective infotainment system that produce[d] an intermittent, unpredictable, and loud popping and/or crackling noise from the speakers.”
The class action alleges certain 2020-2022 Honda models have infotainment system problems caused by “a loose connection in the MOST network, which transmits audio and visual signals from and between the various components.”
The plaintiff asserts her Honda caused the “speedometer and other screens, including the screen displaying her navigation system, to malfunction and go ‘blank’ while she was driving.”
The lawsuit alleges the plaintiff took her Honda Pilot to dealers between June 2021 and June 2023 to no avail. But in June 2023, Honda issued an infotainment system recall for her vehicle and all the vehicles included in the class action lawsuit.
The Honda infotainment system recall was due to problems in the Media Oriented Systems Transport (MOST) network that caused interruptions between images taken from backup cameras to the infotainment display screens. The repairs also fixed the audio popping and crackling noise coming from the speakers.
The plaintiff admits the infotainment system recall repairs fixed the popping and cracking sounds from her speakers, but her class action continued.
However, the plaintiff’s Honda was involved in a crash and documents from January 2025 show her insurance company declared her Pilot as a complete loss and paid her $14,700.
Motion to Dismiss the Honda Infotainment Class Action
According to Honda, the insurance payout to the plaintiff reflects no deduction for the alleged defect in the infotainment system. But the automaker also argues the plaintiff does not have standing to sue for monetary damages, for a few reasons.
Honda says the plaintiff “twice lost any stake in litigating any purported ‘defect’ in the infotainment system.” First, Honda says the free infotainment system recall from 2023 eliminates any overpayment injury because the “sole basis for ‘overpayment’ was an alleged ‘cost of repair.’”
And due to the fair market value insurance payout for her Honda Pilot which compensated Rivera for the full market value of her Pilot without deducting anything for an infotainment defect, her alleged overpayment damages have been erased, according to Honda.
It cost $402 to file the class action for more than $5 million, and the Honda owner who sued says an expert report proves she overpaid for her vehicle by $295.
According to the plaintiff, she purchased her Pilot “with an undisclosed, known defect” such that she may seek diminution in value damages based on overpaying for the vehicle at the time of sale. The plaintiff also argues the recall did nothing for the alleged $295 she overpaid for her Honda Pilot.
This was sufficient for the judge who ruled a financial injury such as overpayment or diminished value is good enough to establish standing to sue for monetary damages.
However, the judge says that finding Rivera has standing to seek monetary damages “does not guarantee that her standing extends to injunctive relief on her claims.” The judge says to have standing for prospective injunctive relief, a plaintiff “must face a real and immediate threat of future injury.”
This is impossible for the plaintiff because she no longer owns the Honda Pilot.
“Allowing Rivera to seek injunctive relief simply because other members of the putative class might be able to seek injunctive relief is at odds with this principle. Because Rivera does not have standing to pursue injunctive relief, she cannot serve as a class representative as to injunctive relief.” — Judge Lindsay C. Jenkins
The Honda infotainment class action lawsuit was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois (Eastern Division): Leticia Rivera v. American Honda Motor Co., Inc.