Honda must change oil every 5,000 km, now compensation begins

The Tel Aviv District Court approved the settlement agreement in a class action lawsuit filed against Honda's importer, Meir Company. The amount the company will pay: NIS 2.5M.

The lawsuit was filed by attorneys Amit Ben Aroya and Shira Blum-Wolf, on behalf of Guy Cohen, who purchased a 2019 Civic 1.5 Turbo model, and was surprised to find out she was required to change oil every 5,000 km. This frequency is higher than the annual maintenance for most drivers, and has long been unacceptable in the market today, as modern cars have their oil replaced every 15,000 to 30,000 km, and sometimes even every two years.

Cohen argued that there is no mention of this requirement in the car's manuals and warranty booklets. Meir Company argued that this is not a defect, but a feature that the car manufacturer embedded in vehicles equipped with turbo engines produced between 2013-2017. The company claimed that the car's computer determines the timing of the oil change, according to the specific driver's driving style, and therefore in these vehicles, the frequency of engine oil changes may be different from the periodic maintenance routine.

In the settlement agreement, it was written that the vehicles marketed today by the company do not require oil changes at such frequency (except for the Civic Type R, which is still being sold but in small numbers) and therefore agreed to the settlement.

Who is included in the agreement? 4,661 owners of the Civic 1.5 and 1-liter turbo gasoline or CR-V with the same engine, manufactured between 2017 and 2021, and sold for private use, and Civic Type R models manufactured in 2022-2023.

Each of the vehicle owners will be entitled to one free oil change at one of the full or partial ownership service centers of Meir Company, with an 80% discount on a change at a service center not owned fully or partially by the importer, or a discount of NIS 1,000  on the purchase of a new private vehicle from the importer.

The plaintiff Guy Cohen will receive NIS 78,750 and his lawyers - NIS 315,000.

Meir will be represented by the lawyers Dror Kedem and Roee Dalach.