Anyone else think their F-Car Odometer is off - Obviously several Honda owners did !

Interesting post.

I took my Integra to have the speedometer/odometer check by AAA a few years back and mine is off by -3%.

 

I compared my 348's odo to my gps readout and it was fairly close...within +/- 5%.

I'd hate to waste my time over a lawsuit that would "win" 1 or 2 years to a warranty for my odo, though.

Life's too short.

 

It may sound trivial, but from an industrial engineering POV it really looks like some Honda engineers were playing a game of "let's be cute" and got caught. Or there may be a less sinister explanation. To wit:

If the industry standard is +/- 4%, then designers would shoot for zero, and let tolerances run either side of that. But if the designer knows he can hold tolerances to within +/-1%, then he might be tempted to design for +3%, and be certain that even a bad stack-up of tolerances will keep him within industry standard.

For example, speedometers ARE regulated by law IIRC, but each country has its own standard. Now, I'm working from old memory here, so don't shoot me if the figures aren't exact, but US law says speedometers must read true within +/-2%. Meanwhile, English law says +3%/-0. In other words, in England your speedo can read fast, but it absolutely MUST not read slow. So in the US designers shoot for zero and keep tolerances down to insure that the speedo is off by less than 2% either way. But in England, (and this is the important bit) the designers will shoot for +1.5%, and keep tolerances from going above 3% or below zero. In short, English speedometers will ALWAYS read fast, by design.

That may be the less sinister explanation, a deliberate design to conform to some law, or it may be that some clever boy figured out how to reduce the warranty period by 3.75%. I have lots of politically incorrect jokes to go along with that, but I'll save them for another day....

Gosh, engineers are boring!

edit: me nmo tipe gud!

 

for a ferrari warranty on a new car anyway it won't matter as it is for time I forget whether 2 yrs or 3 yrs but I know it is unlimited miles!
Erik

 

It doesn't matter if the odometer on my car is off by 10%...I'm still over 100K. Meh.

 

Truth in labeling - this is a pet peeve.

I don't know how people expect absolute accuracy from an odometer when there are so many things beyond the the control of the designer/manufacturer. Tire size and wheel size just to name a few. So you will get different results from the same car, depending on your option package or aftermarket tires/wheels Even the amount of wear and the inflation of the tire makes a small difference. And if you spin your driving wheels ( getting out of my driveway in the snow for example) you add a few (apparent) miles).
Most people know this: for those who do not - get real.

Cheers
Warren

 

I have a Honda Ridgeline and got a copy of the settlement in the mail a few weeks ago. The problem has been discussed on the Ridgeline board as well as other Honda related boards. Almost everyone that took the time to compare their odometers to a GPS or to highway mile markers found an error anywhere from +2% to +5%. Virtually nobody had a negative error. This seemed to indicate that Honda deliberately fudged as much as they possibly could in favor of more indicated miles than were actually traveled.

Honda got caught with their hand in the cookie jar and is having to pay for it.

Now for the mockery of the American judicial system. The article stated it was expected to cost Honda $6 million. However, in the settlement papers I got it said the attornies for the plaintiff were asking for $9.8 million in fees and also a $10,000 incentive payment for the lead plaintiff in this class action suit. I'm all for a class action suit in this case since individually the damages are small but it affects many people and in total it adds up to a significant sum. But damn, asking for $9.8 million for nothing more than having to do a statistical sample of Honda owners to see what the actual variance in odometers is and pay a Honda owner to act as the "class action representative" seems a little ridiculous.

 

I know my speedo is off 2-4 mph so that would most likely equate to mileage being off a bit as well.

Intended?

Probably not with such small numbers but anything is possible.

 

Exactly. Whenever a court pays the attorney millions more than the actual plaintiff, the Justice System switches from being about equity to being a lawyer lottery payoff and employment act.

The lead plaintiff shouldn't have an "incentive" payment for suing. We don't want more lawsuits in this country. That's the wrong behavior to incent, as 12 ordinary citizens are getting hauled into court for each of those trials to serve on a jury.

Civil Court awards should be about restoring losses. Punitive damages should be left to the Criminal, not Civil, Court system (that whole "punishment" thing).

If the damages are trivial, then don't sue. If the damages or potential for damage is extreme, then refer the case to Criminal prosecution.

 

YES! DITTO!

 

Ha! I got that from you in the first place! I'm just repeating it.