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

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.

Honda is no more japanese.

They are under drb-hicom
the same people behind proton and gardenia bread