VW Suspension Defect Class Action Lawsuit Gets Trimmed

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Multiple counts were recently dismissed in a VW class action lawsuit alleging that certain sedan models contain a suspension defect.

The Florida federal judge presiding over the VW defect class action lawsuit said that some of the claims alleged by the plaintiffs did not include sufficient pleadings in relation to limitation periods.

The defendants in the VW defect class action lawsuit sought an outright dismissal of many of the claims in the 29 counts outlined in the amended complaint.

U.S. District Judge Robert N. Scola Jr. eliminated individual plaintiffs from five claims and dismissed 10 others. The judge also says that those claims were dismissed with prejudice since the claimants did not request leave in order to amend them.

Last November, plaintiffs in this VW suspension defect class action lawsuit filed an amended complaint. That complaint included 15 plaintiffs across 14 states who said they leased or owned CC model vehicles from 2009 to the present.

Those plaintiffs in the VW class action lawsuit argue that the tires naturally become unaligned, but that the issue with this cannot be fixed since the suspension system cannot be readjusted.

Ultimately, according to the plaintiffs in the proposed VW defect class action, this causes the tires to wear down quickly and unevenly, a problem referred to as “feathering” or “cupping.”

The VW suspension class action lawsuit says that not only was this defect problematic for customers, but that the company knew about it and went out of their way to hide the issue.

In fact, the VW defect class action lawsuit accuses the manufacturer of telling dealerships to replace the tires on the vehicles. Consumers say that this was a short-term fix since the tires just wore down again because of the alleged suspension issues.

The amended VW defect class action lawsuit proposed a nationwide Class under the Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act.

The VW class action also sought numerous state subclasses brought forth under state laws relating to product liability, consumer protection, advertising, deceptive and unfair trade practices, and warranty.

Furthermore, the VW defect class action lawsuit alleged breach of express and implied warranty and common law fraud.

Judge Scola, however, dismissed claims brought under implied-warranty state laws in Virginia, New Jersey, and Missouri as well as consumer protection laws in California, Florida, Ohio, Georgia, and North Carolina.

Volkswagen had argued that the express warranty claims were filed outside the applicable statute of limitations.

The judge did request Volkwagen’s request to dismiss the fraud claims based on the defendant’s allegations that the claims did not meet the specificity requirement.

The drivers in the VW defect class action lawsuit say they were not told about the issue until they complained to the dealer or automaker.

The drivers are represented by Roy K. Altman of Podhurst Orseck PA, Francesco P. Trapani of Kreher & Trapani LLP, and Harris Pogust of Pogust Braslow & Millrood LLC.

The VW Suspension Defect Class Action Lawsuit is Lila Wilson, et al. v. Volkswagen Group of America Inc. and Volkswagen AG, Case No. 1:17-cv-23033, in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida.

UPDATE: On July 26, 2019, Volkswagen and vehicle owners agreed to a settlement worth $57 million which puts to rest a class action lawsuit claiming that the company sold vehicles with defective suspensions.

UPDATE 2: December 2019, the VW suspension defect class action settlement is now open. Click here to file a claim.