GALVESTON – A Galveston County man has filed suit against American Honda Motor Co. Inc. after it reportedly refused to compensate him for problems with his vehicle.
Mohammed Fatehi claims he has a written warranty which the defendant failed to honor when he informed it about his 2008 Honda Accord's defects, a lawsuit filed April 8 in Galveston County District Court says.
Recent court documents show the defendant issued and supplied Fatehi with the aforementioned warranty that included 36,000 mile bumper-to-bumper coverage.
"The warrantor intended the consumer to view the fact the Accord was warranted as an assurance of the Accord's quality, thereby inducing the consumer's purchase," the original petition says.
The defendant completely disclosed the terms of its warranty after Fatehi purchased the vehicle, apparently revealing that the warranty terms were not assurances of quality but rather attempts to limit warranty obligations to repair or replacement of parts defective in material and workmanship.
"The warranty documents also contained various other terms not previously disclosed, negotiated or agreed to, including but not limited to limitations on damages for breach of warranty," the suit says.
Fatehi mentions that he experienced "various defects and non-conformities" after he took possession of the Accord. Among the noted problems are defective brakes and a defective transmission, the suit says.
The plaintiff then took the vehicle to an authorized dealer.
"Despite being given more than a reasonable number of attempts/reasonable opportunity to cure the defects, non-conformities and conditions, the warrantor failed to do so and thus the warranty failed its essential purpose," the suit says.
"The warrantor's failure to correct said defects violate the warrantor's statutory and common law duties to the consumer and the expectations created by the warrantor's promotional documents and warranty."
Fatehi asserts that the time spent demanding the defendant to fix the Accord has rendered the vehicle useless. He adds he did not receive any compensation.
He consequently seeks at least $50,000 and a jury trial.
Attorney Susan A. Landgraf of Austin is representing the plaintiff, and Galveston County 122nd District Court Judge John Ellisor is presiding over the case.
Case No. 11-cv-0611