THE case of novelist Latifah Emir claiming against Kah Motors over a battery defect in her Honda Civic Hybrid entered a new phase on Tuesday when the president of the tribunal deemed their rebuttal insufficient to win them the case.

According to Latifah, the judge told Kah Motors and Honda the Consumer Act 1999 deems a warranty for a product as an assurance to customers and not a contract as it is usually one-sided and rejected the argument the car's defect surfaced after the warranty period.

Latifah said defects began appearing in month 22 of ownership as the high voltage hybrid drive batteries failed to recharge properly but Honda insisted there was nothing wrong with the car. The battery failed completely about two months after the two-year warranty period lapsed.

The tribunal president then queried Honda about their claims over 10 to 12 years' battery lifespan and was told the life of the battery would depend on the way it is driven. The president then asked Honda to furnish any documentary evidence that accompanied the sales brochure to support this claim but Honda failed to do so.

Honda told the court they had offered to replace the battery of the Civic Hybrid but Latifah rejected the offer. The claimant then told the tribunal Honda had refused to entertain her request for battery replacement until the matter is brought to the tribunal and she felt the offer was not good enough and the tribunal president agreed claimant had a right to refuse offers that are deemed not good enough.

In the end, the president gave Kah Motors and Honda Malaysia until Sept 9 to provide a written submission to prove what they did is within the laws of Malaysia, and to challenge the Consumer Act 1999 Law if they deem it wrong. Otherwise, the judge will rule permission for Latifah to claim a sum of RM21,521.19 from Kah Motors.

The hearing for the verdict will be held on Sept 13.

Sos Kicap from MMail
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TLDR version

Civic Hybrid battery kong 2 months after warranty.
Honda refuse to replace eventhough battery life supposed to be 10-12 years.
Say warranty is assurance not contract.
Consumer tribunal ask Honda to cite law else pay RM21k
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Hah, buy hybrid summore lah.
Green konon, battery is hazardous to the environment too.

even if battery last 10 years, cost rm20k
petrol can save rm200 a month or not?
how often one drive car no change for 10 years...
think of the resale value after 10 years. no one wanna buy sked battery kong.

Thinking of buying Insight,
after reading this, scared liao

This post has been edited by duckaton: Oct 1 2011, 04:28 PM

malaysia climate will make the battery KONG even faster, hybrid or EV car are not suitable in malaysia

RM20k? I wonder why people buy hybrid car.
They can save FC but it useless if battery itself cost that much
Car maker should introduce better incentive to cust for buying this hybrid car.

honda malaysia is cap ayam wan.....

my opinion hybrid technology is a conjob.

using battery is not "green"
charging battery needs electricity which comes from fuel like diesel, coal or nuclear anyway.

when battery kong need to dispose off properly, else hazardous waste.

She should have bought a prius lar instead of that chao ah beng honda car...

it's the same thing....still using battery..battery is useless
everything is the same nowadays...same as every electronics
the product will soon kong after warranty end

lol.. rm20k... even the much bigger battery Prius battery also do not need rm 20k now....

I rather buy compact car petrol version than hybrid sedan for the fc purpose.

This post has been edited by dantck: Oct 1 2011, 06:26 PM

here i confuse... Honda willing to replace the battery for her... but she say not enough... then court rule honda might need to pay her RM21k+... she also need to buy the battery with that money wat.

rm21k much better... it can buy 3 battery.....

no...read properly...honda refuse to replace for her @ 1st
same case last time with the honda's rear brake
they love to deny
later go to tribunal only scare

This post has been edited by MR_alien: Oct 1 2011, 06:33 PM

for 1.3 engine ,
change to fully petrol,
or BOT.

This post has been edited by dantck: Oct 1 2011, 06:36 PM

Defeat the purpose of buying hybrid in the first place. wanted to save FC but pay for conversion..

the battery warranty so short only meh?

might as well get 1.8 civic instead...

Some is saying the battery of an Honda Insight is RM6-7k to replace one in 3 -5 years time.
I told my bro who owns one to do simple maths (for primary kids):
100,000km x RM0.10 (savings per KM) = RM10,000.

Not many people would travel that much 100,000km. The ultimate savings derived is not great in our subsidised fuel environment. Look at real performance of a car instead of getting an hybrid b'coz it's an hybrid. Lolz.

Some hybrid car does drive really well and have extra torque at low rpm (but those are real expensive high end hybrid car).

ngv is the true money saver..buy an rm45k 2.3l BMW E39 and put ngv sure win..

This post has been edited by megat89: Oct 1 2011, 07:45 PM

I think 2 years ago, the price is even closer to 2.0 version...

Aiyar nobody buys a hybrid to save fuel ler. They buy hybrid cuz they wanna be able to say that they drove a hybrid. Something special mar.or other selling point like cbu from japan,etc etc. Saving fuel was never the main priority.