MacDougall v. American Honda Motor Company, Inc.

If you received a Class Certification Notice in the mail, records collected by American Honda Motor Company, Inc. (“American Honda”) show that you may have purchased or leased a “Class Vehicle” in California, Pennsylvania, New Jersey and/or Florida. The Class Vehicles are:

• 2012 Touring and Touring Elite Honda Odyssey Vehicles (with VINs in the range 5FNRL5H...CB053446 through 5FNRL5H...CB148157),
• 2013 Touring and Touring Elite Honda Odyssey Vehicles, and
• 2014 to 2016 Honda Odyssey Vehicles.

The notice is intended to advise you of a class action lawsuit against American Honda Motor Company and of your rights and options, including the right to exclude yourself from the Class and from further proceedings in this action if you wish to do so.

Judge Jesus G. Bernal of the United States District Court for the Central District of California is overseeing this lawsuit. The lawsuit is known as Dennis MacDougall, et al. v. American Honda Motor Company, Inc., and the case number is 8:17-cv-01079-JGB-(DFM).

Plaintiffs allege American Honda manufactured the Class Vehicles with a defective transmission prone to sudden, unexpected shaking and jerking, commonly referred to as “juddering” or “shuddering,” (alleged “Transmission Defect”) and that American Honda was aware at the time of sale that the transmissions in the Class Vehicles were defective and prone to the Transmission Defect. As a result, Plaintiffs allege the Class Members overpaid for their Class Vehicles.

American Honda denies that the Transmissions are defective and denies liability to Plaintiffs or Class Members. The Court has not decided whether American Honda is liable but has decided to allow the lawsuit to proceed as a class action. The case is continuing. There is no money or benefits that have been obtained for the Class, and there is no guarantee there will be in the future.

In a class action, one or more persons called class representatives sue on behalf of persons who may have the same legal claim. All the people who have the same legal claim collectively make up the “Class” and are referred to individually as “Class Members.” One lawsuit before one judge and jury resolves the issues and legal claims for all Class Members together, except for those who exclude themselves from the Class, regardless of whether the outcome is either favorable or unfavorable. Because Plaintiffs believe the conduct alleged in this case affected a large number of consumers who were economically injured in a similar way, Plaintiffs filed this case as a class action.

This website does not fully describe all of the legal claims, and defenses of Plaintiffs and American Honda. The relevant legal filings and court documents in this class action lawsuit are available on the Important Documents page of this website or online for a fee through the Court’s Public Access to Court Electronic Records (PACER) system at http://ecf.cacd.uscourts.gov; or by visiting the office of the Clerk of the Court for the United States District Court for the Central District of California, Eastern Division, 3470 Twelfth Street, Riverside, CA 92501-3801, on weekdays between 9:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m. In addition, you may contact Class Counsel.

In addition, if you wish to do so, you may also register on the Registration page of this website if you want to be kept informed of the status of the case and receive email communications from Class Counsel.

You are in the Class if you meet one of the following four Class definitions:

• California Class: All persons or entities who purchased or leased model year 2012 Touring and Touring Elite Honda Odysseys with VINs in the range 5FNRL5H...CB053446 through 5FNRL5H...CB148157, model year 2013 Touring and Touring Elite Honda Odysseys, and model year 2014 to 2016 Honda Odysseys in California from American Honda Motor Company or through an American Honda Motor Company dealership.
• Pennsylvania Class: All persons or entities who purchased or leased model year 2012 Touring and Touring Elite Honda Odysseys with VINs in the range 5FNRL5H...CB053446 through 5FNRL5H...CB148157, model year 2013 Touring and Touring Elite Honda Odysseys, and model year 2014 to 2016 Honda Odysseys in Pennsylvania from American Honda Motor Company or through an American Honda Motor Company dealership.
• New Jersey Class: All persons or entities who purchased or leased model year 2012 Touring and Touring Elite Honda Odysseys with VINs in the range 5FNRL5H...CB053446 through 5FNRL5H...CB148157, model year 2013 Touring and Touring Elite Honda Odysseys, and model year 2014 to 2016 Honda Odysseys in New Jersey from American Honda Motor Company or through an American Honda Motor Company dealership.
• Florida Class: All persons or entities who purchased or leased model year 2012 Touring and Touring Elite Honda Odysseys with VINs in the range 5FNRL5H...CB053446 through 5FNRL5H...CB148157, model year 2013 Touring and Touring Elite Honda Odysseys, and model year 2014 to 2016 Honda Odysseys in Florida from American Honda Motor Company or through an American Honda Motor Company dealership.

Exclusions: Excluded from the Classes are:

• Any persons or other entity currently related to or affiliated with Defendant;
• Any person who has a pending action for damages for personal injury or death or property damage against Defendant;
• Any Judge presiding over this action and members of his or her immediate family; and
• All persons who properly execute and file a timely request for exclusion from the Class.

If you are still not sure whether you are included in the Class, please call the Notice Administrator toll-free at 1-888-298-9421.

The Court is allowing this class action case to proceed to a trial for a determination on the merits with respect to the specific legal claims listed below. A trial date has not been scheduled yet.

If you fall within one of the four Class Definitions (See FAQ 5, above) and you do nothing, you will stay in the lawsuit. If you stay in the lawsuit and the Plaintiffs win, you will be notified about how to seek money or other benefits from the lawsuit. If the Plaintiffs lose the lawsuit, you will not receive any money or other benefits. If you do nothing now, regardless of whether Plaintiffs win or lose, you will be legally bound by the orders the Court issues and judgments the Court enters in this class action lawsuit.

Please advise the Notice Administrator of any changes to your postal address so that a claim form can be mailed to you if there is a judgment or settlement in the lawsuit in the future. You may contact the Notice Administrator at:

MacDougall v. American Honda
Notice Administrator
P.O. Box 2447
Portland, OR 97208-2447

If you don’t want to be a part of the Class, but you want keep the right to sue or continue to sue American Honda, on your own, about the legal issues in this case, then you must take steps to get out of the Class. This is called excluding yourself—or is sometimes referred to as opting out of the settlement Class.

To exclude yourself from the Class you must send a letter by mail saying that you want to be excluded from MacDougall v. American Honda Motor Co., Inc. Be sure to include your name, address, telephone number, the year, make, model and vehicle identification number (“VIN”) of your Honda Odyssey and your signature. You must mail your exclusion request postmarked by October 21, 2024, to:

MacDougall v. American Honda Exclusions
P.O. Box 2447
Portland, OR 97208-2447

You can’t exclude yourself on the phone or by email.

To be effective, your exclusion request must be postmarked no later than October 21, 2024.

If you timely ask to be excluded, you will not be legally bound by anything that happens in this lawsuit. You may be able to sue (or continue to sue) American Honda in the future.

If you do not request exclusion from the Class by October 21, 2024, and you fall within the definition of any one of the four classes listed in FAQ 5 above, you will be legally bound by any final judgment or settlement in this class action lawsuit. If you wish to remain a Class Member, you are not required to do anything at this time.

No. Unless you exclude yourself, you give up the right to sue American Honda for the same legal claims that are a part of this lawsuit. If you have a pending lawsuit, speak to your lawyer in that lawsuit immediately. You must exclude yourself from this Class to continue your own lawsuit. Remember, the exclusion deadline is October 21, 2024.

No. If you exclude yourself, and the Court awards money damages to the Class Members after trial or if there is a settlement of this lawsuit, you will not be entitled to any money or benefits. However, you may sue, continue to sue, or be part of a different lawsuit against American Honda.

The Court has appointed Lawrence Deutsch of Berger & Montague, P.C.; Peretz Bronstein of Bronstein Gerwirst & Grossman, LLC, and Gary Mason of Mason LLP as Class Counsel to represent you and other Class Members. You will not be charged for these lawyers.

Any fees or costs ultimately allowed by the Court to be paid to Class Counsel will be paid out of any funds available to the Class as a result of a settlement or recovery in the class action lawsuit, if any, or by American Honda.

If you want to be represented by your own lawyer, you may hire one at your own expense.

You can address written questions to the Notice Administrator at the following address:

MacDougall v. American Honda
P.O. Box 2447
Portland, OR 97208-2447

You can also visit the Important Documents page of this website.

In addition, if you wish to do so, you may register on the Register page of this website if you want to be kept informed of the status of the case and receive email communications from Class Counsel.

You may also call the Notice Administrator toll free at 1-(888)-298-9421.

Please do not contact the Court. Any questions regarding the class action lawsuit or this Notice should be directed to the Notice Administration or Class Counsel listed above.

You can download a long form Class Certification Notice on the Important Documents page of this website.

You may also call the Notice Administrator toll-free at 1-888-298-9421 and request we send you a long form Class Certification Notice by mail.

If you fall within one of the four Class definitions (see FAQ 5, above), whether or not you received a postcard Notice, you may register on the Register page of this website to be included in future case communications.