Class Action Filed Over Allegedly Defective Touchscreen Displays in 2017-2019 Honda CR-Vs

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A proposed class action lawsuit out of California alleges certain 2017-2019 Honda CR-V models are equipped with defective touchscreen displays that can spontaneously dim, go dark, freeze or shine at full brightness—all of which can be dangerously distracting to a driver.

According to the 69-page complaint, the CR-V’s seven-inch touchscreen “Infotainment” display allows a driver to operate the vehicle’s smartphone integration features, safety information, navigation, radio and music controls, and rear-view camera. The issue, the lawsuit claims, is that the touchscreen display, which comes standard on 2017-2019 CR-V EX, EX-L and Touring models, is prone to “regularly and unexpectedly” malfunction while a vehicle is in motion. When the alleged defect manifests, the case says, a touchscreen display can dim or go dark, freeze, or go into full-bright mode on its own, which can be particularly dangerous for those driving at night.

All told, the CR-V touchscreen displays are rendered inoperable by the supposed defect, the lawsuit alleges. The plaintiffs claim that the way they remedied their faulty touchscreen displays was to stop their vehicle, turn it off, and then restart the car once again.

With regard to Honda’s alleged knowledge of the issue, the lawsuit claims the automaker issued in January 2019 a Tech Line Summary Article (TLSA) in which it acknowledged it was investigating the problem, albeit without offering a fix. The case adds that Honda purposely sent the Tech Line Summary Article to its dealers’ service departments, and not their sales departments. The case alleges that the automaker intentionally did not instruct its dealers to inform prospective Honda customers that certain model CR-V SUVs came with faulty touchscreen displays.

“Although Honda knew of such Display Screen faults from the time the 2019 Class Vehicles became available for sale in fall of 2018, and certainly at least as of January 23, 2019, when it published the TLSA (and sooner as Honda gathered information and data to prepare such publication), Honda has not disclosed the Display Defect to consumers,” the complaint reads.

Per the lawsuit, proposed class members, had they known of the alleged touchscreen defect, would not have bought or leased affected Honda CR-Vs, or would have paid substantially less for the vehicles.