TopClassActions  |  November 4, 2013

Category: Legal News

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Calif. Class Action Lawsuit Accuses Ford of ‘Lemon Law’ Violations

By Courtney Coren

 


Ford LawsuitA California man filed a class action lawsuit against Ford Motor Company for allegedly violating its agreement to repurchase or replace defective vehicles from consumers by adding deductions to the buyback price allegedly in violation of California’s “lemon law.”

According to the class action lawsuit, Rex Potter purchased a brand new 2011 Ford F-150 from Lake Elsinore Ford in Lake Elsinore, Calif. on May 30, 2011 for about $62,000. Potter added a third party extended service contract to his purchase for $1,615, as well. At the time of purchase, Ford included an express warranty “under which Ford agreed to preserve or maintain the utility or performance of the vehicle or provide compensation if there is any failure in utility or performance for a specified period of time.”

 

Potter allegedly began having transmission problems within weeks of purchasing the vehicle. “At least two different authorized Ford dealers confirmed the existence of transmission problems and conducted various transmission repairs during the express warranty period,” Potter’s class action lawsuit states.

 

Potter, with the help of his attorney, sent a letter to Ford requesting the car company to repurchase the vehicle due to the transmission problems he was continuing to have, according to Ford’s obligations under the Song-Beverly Consumer Warranty Act. Ford did agree to repurchase the vehicle, but its offer came with “certain qualifications and deductions.”

 

First, the truck had a cracked windshield, and Ford said it would subtract the cost to repair it from the repurchase price as part of “abnormal wear or collision damage.” Second, Ford’s buyback price did not include the registration fees as is required under the Song-Beverly Act. Third, it did not include the “non Ford” extended service contract that Potter purchased for $1,615. Finally, the buyback amount proposed by Ford did not include the thousands of dollars that Potter spent to insure the truck, which Potter alleges is required under the Song-Beverly Act.

 

“Ford’s proposed repurchase offer communicated to Mr. Potter falls several thousand dollars below what Ford is required to offer Plaintiff under the Song-Beverly Act,” the class action lawsuit states.

 

Potter claims that Ford has violated California’s Song-Beverly Act, which says that car companies are required to either repurchase or replace a vehicle that it isn’t able to repair according to their express warranties provided that consumers have made “a reasonable number of attempts” to have the defect repaired.

 

Under the Song-Beverly Act, automakers are allowed one deduction based on the mileage put on the vehicle until the customer files the first complaint. Ford’s deductions go “beyond the predelivery mileage offset, including deductions for abnormal wear or collision damage.”

 

In his class action lawsuit, Potter alleges that Ford has been including deductions that he claims are not allowed under the law, such as the broken glass and other damages. The automaker is also allegedly violating the California law by not including costs incurred by the consumer that the automaker is required to include in its final calculation such as sales tax, license fees, registration fees and other incidental damages, such as the cost of a tow truck when the vehicle broke down and of a rental car.

 

Potter filed the class action lawsuit on behalf of himself and all California consumers who purchased a vehicle from Ford in the last four years and faced repurchase or replacement offers with deductions in violation of the Song-Beverly Act and California’s Unfair Competition Law and Consumer Legal Remedies Act.

 

The plaintiff is represented by Payam Shahian and Karen Nakon of Strategic Legal Practices APC and by Dara Tabesh of EcoTech Law Group PC.

 

The Ford Buyback Class Action Lawsuit is Potter v. Ford Motor Co., Case No. 1:13-cv-05095, in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California.

 

 

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6 thoughts onCalif. Class Action Lawsuit Accuses Ford of ‘Lemon Law’ Violations

  1. Bonnie Dumas says:

    Please contact me I believe I have a case I’m going through something with Ford right now. I have been denied once and they know about what’s going on now after the denial letter and I have taken my Mustang in after Monday it will be four times and my Mustang was sold to me on April 11th 2021 I bought it new with cash paid off with a brake recall and I believe the brakes recall was supposed to be fixed on all Mustangs before that date and they sold it to me anyways. I’ve told them from the beginning that I’ve had electrical issues with the the dashboard in the middle of taking pictures and video and now I have an appointment on Monday with gosh Ford of Temecula because I bought the Mustang with gosh Ford of Hemet and my dashboard is in the middle Frozen because there’s something wrong with it and all this time they have not fixed it and they have brushed me off I should have no problems with this mustang however all I’ve had is problems check engine lights going off gas problems they had to put a brand new gas sender after both shops called the hotline and only one of them fix the Mustang properly the other one didn’t fix it at all after 8 days after being at their shop. Totally not addressing the cold going off of the lamp malfunction light that that was the reason I brought the Mustang in the first place then gospel to Temecula they scratch my driver lower panel up so they have to replace that. Ford is where of all this because I contacted them a few days ago and told him all of this and still they will not give me a new Mustang they’re hiding saying about a lemon law that I don’t qualify and I believe that is not true and they are doing me very wrong I just bought this Mustang on April 11th 2021 brand new with the recall brake recall and all these troubles and they do not want to help me nobody from any of the forts they do not want to replace the Mustang at all it’s like sorry about your luck sister please contact me please help me I definitely qualify for this case

  2. chris says:

    I’m going through a similar case.They deducted the gap insurance and the extended warranty from my buyback settlement check.The problem is i cancelled the gap insurance and the warranty over a year ago, so i don’t understand why they would deduct that from me.Also i did not receive the sales tax back.

  3. S Edwards says:

    I received a recall notice in the mail that Ford refuses to acknowledge as a recall for the 2013 Ford Focus I purchased from the Ford dealership. I took the car in because it had the same exact symptoms they are trying to say are normal in their automatic dual transmission including but not limited to sudden heaving of the engine, sudden loss of power/speed and sputtering between low gears. These symptoms have placed me in more than a few dangerous situations on the road and almost ALWAYS on a left turn at low speeds. I have been offered to join a law suit after taking the car in 3 times and being told there is nothing they can do to repair the problem. They acknowledged there was a problem but refused to type it into my receipt for service under my extended warranty which shouldnt even come into play here. I had the technician hand write a note on the receipt but it was vague and not specific to what he said to me. This is a huge problem. I am looking for legal representation but dont want to be part of a huge class action suit.

    1. Cathy says:

      You need to contact your Lemon Law for your state. Just look up Lemon law (state) on google. If that does not work then contact the Attorney General for your state.

  4. Dana says:

    I also have had a problem with my Ford. I have a 2011 Fusion and my Throttle went bad after 50000 miles. I was told by someone at the dealership that this is becoming a common issue with the Fusions..Very disappointing!

  5. kathy zorich says:

    i have a 2007 ford f150 and I have been having issues with the transmission. it has just started lately. it doesn’t want to shift right and is very much pissing me off as this is the last time I thought I would have to buy a vehicle.

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