Ford Settles Fiesta, Focus Transmission Defect Class Action

Ford Motor Company has reached a settlement that addresses a class action lawsuit that accused the company of selling Ford Focus and Ford Fiesta vehicles with malfunctioning transmissions.

Plaintiff Omar Vargas, initially filed the lawsuit in 2012, complaining of a transmission defect. After signing the lease of his new 2011 Ford Fiesta, Vargas says he had to make multiple trips to Ford dealers to have the transmission checked out.

According to the plaintiff, nothing seemed to be able to fix the transmission problem. Vargas’ complaint alleges that Ford Motor Company knew about the transmission defect but decided not to forewarn their customers of the issue. Vargas’ lawsuit was consolidated with a similar class action in 2015.

“The complaint alleged that the transmission, which Ford billed as a new type of transmission that combines the best features of automatic and standard transmissions, causes class vehicles to slip, buck, and jerk and to suffer sudden or delayed acceleration and delays in downshifts,” the Ford class action claimed.

The settlement relieves the plaintiffs and all Class Members who owned or leased a 2011-2016 Focus or 2012-2016 Fiesta vehicle with several substantial restorative measures including and not limited to: cash payments, reimbursements, and credit towards the purchase of a new vehicle.

The proposed settlement has multiple key elements, the first of which, grants Class Members cash payments partly for the inconvenience of having taken their vehicles back to Ford dealers for repairs. This cash payment does not exclude customers who did not incur any out-of-pocket costs while doing so.

Moreover, customers who have had, “three or more service visits for a replacement of one of the primary transmission parts will receive $200 for the third visit,” the settlement documents explain. This returned service fee will increase with each additional visit.

The settlement further discusses that “In lieu of cash, Class Members may elect to receive a Vehicle Discount Certificate (‘Certificate’) toward the purchase of a Ford vehicle for twice the cash value. Class Members may collect up to $2,325 in total cash payments or $4,650 in Certificate value.”

Class Members can also replace their defective vehicles or repurchase a new vehicle through an “arbitration program” within a span of one or two months. Those consumers who may have also been incorrectly charged or were not able to repair their vehicles can purse warranty claims, as well, under what is called a “Warranty Arbitration.”

The settlement further allows consumers entitlement to full reimbursement for those who had replaced a clutch a third time within a five- year span or 60,000 miles. Ford will also provide their dealers, “with language designed to make prospective buyers aware of issues related to the unusual characteristics of the transmission,” the settlement claims.

Top Class Actions will post updates to this class action settlement as they become available. For the latest updates, keep checking TopClassActions.com or sign up for our free newsletter. You can also receive notifications when this article is updated by using your free Top Class Actions account and clicking the “Follow Article” button at the top of the post.

The plaintiffs are represented by Jordan L. Lurie, Tarek H. Zohdy, Cody R. Padgett and Karen L. Wallace of Capstone Law, Russell D. Paul of Berger & Montague and Thomas A. Zimmerman Jr. of Zimmerman Law.

The Ford Defective Transmission Class Action Lawsuit is Omar Vargas, et al. v. Ford Motor Company, Case No. 2:12-cv-0838, in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California.

UPDATE: October 2017, the Ford PowerShift transmission class action settlement is now open. Click here to file a claim. 

UPDATE 2: On Feb. 2, 2018, objectors have urged the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to reject a proposed $35 million Ford transmission defect class action settlement, claiming that many Class Members will not receive meaningful relief.