Ford Class Action Filed Over Alleged Fiesta, Focus Transmission Defect

Ford Motor Company is facing a class action lawsuit alleging it concealed a known transmission defect in 2011-2013 Ford Fiesta vehicles and 2012-2014 Ford Focus vehicles.

Plaintiffs Julie Dawn Cordaro and Jennifer A. Cordaro allege they purchased a new 2012 Ford Focus vehicle in October 2011.

According to the Ford class action lawsuit, their Focus had a DPS6 PowerShift Transmission, which the plaintiffs claim is defective.

“The PowerShift Transmission is neither a traditional manual transmission, nor a typical automatic transmission, but is a computerized ‘automated manual’ transmission,” the plaintiffs explain in the Ford transmission defect class action lawsuit.

“Ford marketed and sold its PowerShift Transmission as an automatic transmission that offered the ‘best of both worlds’ combining a manual transmission’s fuel economy with an automatic transmission’s ease of operation and shift quality.”

According to the Ford class action lawsuit, the PowerShift Transmission is a set of computerized manual transmissions. The system allegedly uses two clutches to engage and disengage the engine and transmission.

Unlike other “automated manual” transmissions on the market, which use clutches coated in oil, the PowerShift Transmission clutches do not include oil pumps and operate “dry,” the Ford class action lawsuit says.

The plaintiffs claim that the PowerShift Transmission is defectively designed and/or manufactured.

According to the Ford class action lawsuit, the transmission “consistently slips, bucks, kicks, jerks, harshly engages, has premature internal wear, sudden acceleration, delay in downshifts, delayed acceleration, difficulty stopping the vehicle, and, eventually, premature transmission failure.”

The Ford transmission defect can also cause unsafe conditions because they affect the driver’s ability to control the vehicle’s speed, acceleration and deceleration, the plaintiffs say.

According to the Ford PowerShift Transmission class action lawsuit, Ford knew or should have known about the transmission defect since at least 2010 based on non-public, internal data including early consumer complaints, dealership repair orders, testing, and technical service bulletins provided to Ford dealerships and authorized repair facilities.

The plaintiffs say they took their vehicle to an authorized Ford repair facility on multiple occasions between 2013 and 2015 over complaints the transmission was making strange noises and freezing in gear.

Each repair was completed under warranty and the plaintiffs were repeatedly promised that the vehicle was safe to drive, the Ford class action lawsuit says.

The Ford transmission defect class action lawsuit asserts claims for breach of express warranty, breach of implied warranty, fraudulent inducement, concealment, intentional misrepresentation and negligent misrepresentation.

The plaintiffs are seeking rescission of the purchase contract, restitution, damages, prejudgment interest, punitive damages, attorneys’ fees and costs, and other relief the court deems proper.

The Ford class action lawsuit was initially filed on July 16 in the Superior Court of California for the County of San Diego and was removed to California federal court on Aug. 16.

The plaintiffs are represented by Steve Mikhov and Amy Morse of the Knight Law Group LLP.

The Ford PowerShift Transmission Defect Class Action Lawsuit is Cordaro, et al. v. Ford Motor Company, et al., Case No. 3:18-cv-01912, in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California.