Michelin, Honda to Pay Out After PAX Run-Flat Tire Settlement
Run-flat tires are a mixed blessing, for all the reasons listed here
. Some owners of Michelin's PAX run-flats that came with the "Technology Package" on Honda Odyssey Touring and Acura RL models certainly didn't like them. They filed a class-action lawsuit, contending that Michelin and Honda failed to disclose that the run-flat tire systems lasted half as long as radial tires and that the tires are expensive to repair and replace.
Yesterday a U.S. District Court judge in Maryland agreed, and the two companies will now have to pay plaintiffs between $2,000 and $5,000 as compensation for replaced tires. Additionally, the companies will give plaintiffs a $110 rebate on purchases of new tire or tire repair kits, or a $300 rebate on the purchase of a new Odyssey or RL. Michelin also chipped in a 3-year/36,000 mile extended warranty on the tires.
The total cash payout to the plaintiffs will be $83,000. The total that the companies will have to pay to the attorneys for the plaintiffs? $3 million.
- Posted by
- Joanne Helperin July 1, 2009, 2:35 PM
- Permalink
- Categories:
- Automotive Consumer News, Car Safety, Honda
- Technorati Tags:
- Honda Odyssey, Michelin, PAX Run-Flat Tires
People seem to forget that the only real winners in lawsuits are the attorneys.
I will probably sing a different tune if I was one of those owners, but i'm not ... how about doing some darn homework and realize that every "cool" feature has its drawbacks?
and what about other companies like BMW that use run-flats? do they tell their customers, "hey, it costs a lot of money to keep your car in running order!"?
i guess i don't see this as anything more than consolation for stupidity.