A class action lawsuit was filed Wednesday in Cook County after local owners of Honda CRVs complained of falling ill from an odor--and their attorney says there could be hundreds of others--if not more--who have yet to come forward.
Every time Carol gets in her CRV she says she doesn't know when she'll smell gasoline. NBC 5 is not using Carol's last name due to concern over her privacy.
"You can turn it on and smell it or you can drive for 10 minutes and smell it," she said.
Her attorney, Alexander Loftus, filed a class action lawsuit against American Honda Motor Company--claiming 2015, 2016, and 2017 model CRVs are filling up with a harmful noxious gasoline odor.
"I was afraid that the car might explode," Carol said. "What's going on? Where's the gas? What did I do?"
An odor that carol says has even made her kids sick.
"They've experienced the headaches and sickness from the fumes," she said. "And I don't know how to protect them when I can't even protect myself."
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"They keep selling the car, people keep complaining, they don't do anything about it," Loftus told NBC 5.
Loftus is representing four clients locally but says dozens of people have contacted him about the issue from around the country.
The lawsuit claims, despite knowing Honda is selling cars that reek of gasoline, Honda has failed to honor warranties requiring replacement of defective vehicles.
"We also have some mixed responses from individual dealerships who try to fix it and they can't figure out how," Loftus said.
A Honda spokesperson tells NBC 5, once they've seen the complaint, they'll be in a better position to consider a comment regarding the allegations.
As for Carol who still drives the CRV, she says she used her life savings to purchase the vehicle and can't afford a new car.
"This is my only vehicle and I have to rely on this," she said.
Loftus also pointed us to hundreds of complaints that can be found on online message boards.
Last year he represented a couple who settled with Honda over the same issue.
