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UPDATE 4: October 2020, the Ford door latch class action settlement is now open. Click here to file a claim.
UPDATE 3: On March 5, 2020, Ford agreed to pay $5.3 million to settle customers’ claims that the door latches in F-150 trucks do not latch in frozen conditions. Now, the settlement awaits preliminary approval in New York federal court.
UPDATE 2: On Aug. 6, 2018, a judge denied a motion by Ford Motor Co. to dismiss a class action lawsuit alleging certain Ford F-150 pickup trucks had door latches that failed to latch properly in freezing temperatures.
UPDATE: On May 8, 2017, the plaintiff in a class action lawsuit alleging the doors on Ford F-150 trucks fail to latch properly in freezing conditions urged a New York federal judge to drop Ford’s motion to dismiss the case.
A New York man says the doors on recent model years of Ford F-150 pickups fail to latch and lock in cold weather.
Plaintiff Brandon Kommer says defendant Ford Motor Company knew about a defect in the doors of late-model F-150 pickups that would prevent them from securely latching, yet failed to alert owners and lessees about that defect.
Kommer claims that Ford fails to deliver on the company’s promise of a truck that’s “Built Ford Tough.”
Throughout Ford’s advertisements of its F-150 pickup trucks, the company heavily emphasizes these vehicles’ toughness and durability, Kommer claims. He quotes marketing on websites and television that promise Ford F-150 trucks are “Battle-Tested” and provide “Rock-solid Durability.”
Kommer says he relied on representations like these when he decided to purchase a 2015 Ford F-150 XLT SuperCrew pickup truck.
But from the outset, he says, there were problems with the doors and locks on his new truck. These problems allegedly included “front, rear, driver and passenger side doors that would not latch close; electric locks that would not open; door handles not moving; locks not releasing; and having to use the door’s exterior electronic keypad to lock the doors.”
Other owners reported similar trouble in online forums. Kommer quotes several complaints from F-150 owners, reporting that their doors do not latch shut in sub-freezing weather. One reviewer said he had to warm the door’s latch with a hair dryer to get it to finally catch.
Ford is well aware of these problems, according to this class action lawsuit. Kommer cites two technical service bulletins from as early as April 2015 that describe the problems with these Ford defective doors.
According to the first bulletin, some 2015 F-150 SuperCab and SuperCrew Cab trucks built on or before March 25, 2015 were built with doors that may fail to latch during or after freezing temperatures.
Ford issued a second bulletin in November 2016, addressing the same defect but expanding coverage to include all F-150 vehicles from model years 2015 through 2017.
These two bulletins were supposedly addressed only to Ford dealers and service providers. Kommer says the company did nothing to disclose the Ford defective doors to affected owners.
Kommer is proposing a plaintiff Class that would include all persons who, within New York State and during the applicable statutory limitations period, purchased or leased a Ford F-150 truck from model years 2015 through 2017.
He seeks a court order that would bar Ford from making representations that would violate sections 349 and 350 of the New York General Business Law. He also seeks an award of damages, attorneys’ fees, court costs and interest, and any other relief the court sees fit to grant.
Kommer is represented by attorneys Jeffrey I. Carton, Robert J. Berg and Myles K. Bartley of Denlea & Carton LLP.
The Ford Defective Doors Class Action Lawsuit is Brandon Kommer v. Ford Motor Company, Case No. 7:17-cv-1724, in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York.
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24 thoughts onFord Class Action Says Truck Doors Fail to Latch in Cold Weather
UPDATE: On May 8, 2017, the plaintiff in a class action lawsuit alleging the doors on Ford F-150 trucks fail to latch properly in freezing conditions urged a New York federal judge to drop Ford’s motion to dismiss the case.
My 2003 Ford explorer sport track fail to lock or unlock in winter my 2002 Ford f150 transmission failed to engage in to anything but REVERSE and this is common less than 150,000 on truck
I have a 2004 friend explore that I almost fell out of as the door just popped open when it was really cold.. also have a 2003 f150 that does the same thing….
I have had these problems with mine and took it in and they replace them and the problem returned on both rear doors.
I have had these problems with mine and Ford dealer wouldnt do anything(I live in TX ) where its rarely icey cold. it was the driver door, and I almost fell out of car, when the truck turned and door flung open. Lucky for seat belt holding me,
2003 f 150 door locks wont work half the time
My Windstar has the same problem!
My ford taurus does this too…my 8 year old son had to ride in my front seat holding my pass door shut for 8 miles.
2004 explorers xlt dose it also..my 14 year old child was just dropped off at school..as I was pulling away and turning a corner the door flew open! I had a very hard time getting it to latch close to take my other children to school!
Oh my gosh! I thought this just happened to us. We had the problem with our F250 on both the passenger and driver side doors. When it first happened, we didn’t even know. We found out because the door swung open and our dog went flying out while my husband was driving to pick up our son from school one day. Luckily she was not seriously injured however since my husband came to an immediate stop and ran out of the vehicle to get her, it almost caused an accident with another vehicle. He and his truck were almost hit. The whole event was so traumatic for all of us!
With a dog, young child and senior mom as unknowing passengers, this tradegy could have been even worse especially because no one would knew the door latch didn’t catch properly.
However we fixed it at our own expense only to have the same thing happen with the drivers door. We fixed that as well as it was equally dangerous.
This apparently has been going on a long time with the Ford trucks!!
Oh my gosh! We had this problem with our Ford F-250 on both the driver and passenger side. Once not knowing the passenger door wasn’t latched securely, the door swung open while taking a turn and our yellow lab fell out. Luckily it was at a low speed and she wasn’t not seriously hurt.
However it almost caused an accident as my husband stopped suddenly and ran around to get our poor dog. The whole incident was traumatic for us.
With a young child, senior mom and dog, we were super concerned and paid to have it fixed ASAP. However the same happened with the drivers door as well. We had that fixed immediately, too.
Thought it was just us!
Sincerely,
Karen Durante
karen_durante@sbcglobal.net