A sad but true reality is that a staggering 80 percent of vehicles sold today are sheathed in grayscale colors: white, black, silver, and gray—in that order. White takes the color(less) cake with a 34-percent share of the pie. With that many white cars being purchased, you’d think the finishes would be of the premium high-tech paint variety. Honda owners feel the opposite is true and have sued the automaker for low-quality paintwork.

A class-action suit was filed this month against American Honda Motor Company alleging defective paint was used in 2013 and newer model-year Honda and Acura vehicles. Filed with the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California, the lawsuit alleges that some white paints are so poor that the finishes “inevitably fail, peel, delaminate (that is, the separate paint layers separate due to adhesion issues), bubble, and flake.” Indeed, there are examples all over the internet on places like the Ody Club owner forum and Reddit.

The four shades of white currently named are:

• White Diamond Pearl (paint code NH-603P) used on Acura MDX, Honda Odyssey
• Taffeta White (NH-578) used on Honda Odyssey, Honda Pilot
• White Orchid Pearl (NH-788P) used on Honda Fit, Honda HR-V
• Bellanova White (NH-788P) used on Honda Fit, Honda HR-V

There is a notation that the plaintiffs reserve the right to add more vehicles to the suit should they display the same “paint defect.” The group calls out the numerous times Honda has issued service bulletins or extended warranties specific to the white paints mentioned in the filing. Also included are a number of customer complaints, some as recently as the month before the lawsuit filing. 

This isn’t the first time Honda has faced litigation over paint degradation. A similar class-action suit filed in Canada was settled in 2022 for upwards of $27 million. Hmm, perhaps it’s time to consider a more vibrant color option. It definitely helps in a crowded parking lot, anyway.

The affected vehicles are found nationwide, meaning the paint issue is unrelated to specific regional climates, for example. The suit alleges that the paint defect “existed in latent form when Honda manufactured the vehicles and when Plaintiffs purchased the vehicles” but will “manifest itself” during vehicle ownership. Also, per the filing, the vehicles were manufactured at Honda’s plant in Lincoln, Alabama, with the paint applied via a “robotic paint system.”

The plaintiffs have requested a jury trial and seek a host of remedies, including but not limited to compensation for repainting work, reimbursement of counsel fees, and “restitution, compensatory damages, and costs for economic loss and out-of-pocket costs.” Honda has yet to comment on the class-action filing.