CarMax Wants Defective Car Class Action Lawsuit Dismissed

UPDATE: On April 29, 2019, the judge in the CarMax Defective Vehicles class action lawsuit granted a motion for summary judgment in favor of the defendant. Top Class Actions will let our viewers know if we learn of any new CarMax class actions filed.

CarMax has requested that a California federal judge throw out a proposed class action lawsuit claiming that the used car dealer knowingly sells defective cars.

According to CarMax, the customer who brought the car defects class action lawsuit hasn’t presented evidence to back up his claims that the car dealership tried to pass off defective cars as functional ones.

The motion for summary judgment from CarMax was filed the same day that consumers filed a motion for Class certification of California CarMax customers.

The CarMax car defect class action lawsuit was filed by plaintiff Anthony Gilbert Santos in 2017. He argued that he purchased a 2002 Ford F-150 from CarMax, not knowing that the vehicle had been included in a Ford safety recall. He says that the vehicle burst into flames in 2014 when it was turned off and parked in his driveway.

According to Santos, CarMax sells many cars that have been subjected to recalls, and he aims to represent himself and all other CarMax customers who purchased a recalled vehicle from CarMax between 2006 and 2010.

Santos states that the class period ends in 2010 because in 2010, CarMax added arbitration agreements to their sales agreements.

The CarMax class action lawsuit claims that a CarMax employee assured Santos that the Ford F-150 was free of defects, and said that it had been inspected.

According to Santos, he was offered a 30-day warranty that stated that the truck was in “top condition” at the time of purchase.

However, Santos’ CarMax class action lawsuit argues that CarMax knew or should have known that the vehicle was subject to a recall and therefore was not in “top condition.”

“Plaintiff is one of thousands if not hundreds of thousands of customers of CarMax in California who were misled as to the quality of their vehicles because of CarMax’s false representations,” Santos states.

However, CarMax has shot back against these claims, saying that Santos has not been able to prove that the truck fire was a result of the defect that led to the recall.

The used car dealer also says that Santos has not shown that his particular vehicle was defective — just that it was part of a group of vehicles deemed defective.

CarMax’s argument states that “Santos lacks even a scintilla of evidence showing that CarMax knew of the recall, much less a defect.”

CarMax further claims that Santos filed for bankruptcy in 2010 and was discharged from bankruptcy in 2015, releasing him from certain debts.

According to CarMax, Santos did not mention that he had the Ford F-150 truck that he purchased from CarMax. CarMax argued that he hid this asset from creditors assessing his finances and is now attempting to “turn around and seek cash for himself” in filing the CarMax class action lawsuit.

Based on this claim, CarMax argues that the court should dismiss the CarMax defective vehicles class action lawsuit.

Santos and the other CarMax drivers are represented by Brian S. Kabateck, Christopher B. Noyes, Brian Hong and Joana Fong of Kabateck LLP and by Edward W. Hess Jr. of the Law Offices of Edward W. Hess Jr.

The CarMax Defective Vehicles Class Action Lawsuit is Santos v. CarMax Inc., et al., Case No. 3:17-cv-02447, in the U.S. District Court for the District of Northern California.