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Certification Denied in Ford Focus Suspension Defect Class Action
By Anne Bucher
A California federal judge declined to certify a class action lawsuit claiming Ford Motor Co. sold Focus sedans with a rear suspension defect that allegedly caused tires to wear out prematurely, creating a potentially hazardous condition.
U.S. District Judge William B. Shubb claimed that the putative class action lawsuit involved too many questions that were particular to individual plaintiffs to justify class certification.
One of the major variables considered by Judge Shubb was that the alleged premature tire wear did not occur at the same rate for all of the putative members of the class action lawsuit. Further, the tire wear did not uniformly occur because of the alleged rear suspension defect and the tire wear did not occur within the implied warranty period for all of the plaintiffs.
The Ford Focus suspension class action lawsuit was initially filed in November 2011. In the complaint, the plaintiff alleged that an alignment defect in the rear suspension of certain Ford Focus models leads to uneven tire wear, which can cause vehicles to drift in snowy or wet weather conditions. The affected models include those built between 2005 and 2011. The plaintiffs allege that the cost of replacing the tires prematurely costs owners and lessees hundreds or thousands of dollars.
Plaintiffs in the class action lawsuit include Margie Daniel, Robert McCabe, Mary Hauser, Donna Glass and Andrea Duarte. They cited dozens of complaints to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration as evidence that Ford should have been aware of the defect, yet the company failed to warn consumers about the situation or take steps to fix the defect until July 2010.
In their class action lawsuit, plaintiffs sued Ford for violation of the California Legal Remedies Act, violation of California’s Unfair Competition Act, breach of express warranty, violation of the Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act and breach of implied warranty under the Song-Beverly Consumer Warranty Act.
In his decision to reject the Ford Focus class action lawsuit, Judge Shubb noted that Daniel alleged that she had to replace her Hankook-brand tires before she had driven 21,000 miles on them, far less than the estimated longevity of 60,000 miles for that brand. However, Judge Shubb noted that other potential plaintiffs may have purchased different types of tires that wore out at differing rates.
“Assuming that replacing, or being told to replace, a set of tires before their expected tire mileage is a manifestation of the alleged suspension defect . . . the alleged suspension defect became manifest in Daniel’s vehicle, and therefore her vehicle allegedly became unmerchantable, within the one-year implied warranty period,” Judge Shubb stated. “The same does not appear to be true, however, for all potential class members.”
Judge Shubb also noted that many factors contribute to premature tire wear, including an individual’s driving habits and the regularity of vehicle maintenance.
The Ford Focus Suspension Defect Class Action Lawsuit case is Daniel, et al. v. Ford Motor Co., Case No. 11-cv-02890 in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of California.
UPDATE: On Sept. 23, 2016, a California federal judge certified a proposed Class of Ford Focus owners whose vehicles allegedly suffered from a rear suspension defect that caused tires to wear down prematurely.
The plaintiffs are represented by John B. Thomas and Eric Grant of Hicks Thomas LLP and James Allen Carney of Carney Bates & Pulliam PLLC.
Updated June 29th, 2013
All class action and lawsuit news updates are listed in the Lawsuit News section of Top Class Actions
5 thoughts onCertification Denied in Ford Focus Suspension Defect Class Action
UPDATE: On Sept. 23, 2016, a California federal judge certified a proposed Class of Ford Focus owners whose vehicles allegedly suffered from a rear suspension defect that caused tires to wear down prematurely.
Huh, go figure… sorry but Judge Shubb, I know as a Republican… you are anti-regulation. But this whyy regulation is needed, otherwise the big corps just run slip shop over the little – and face it, most Focus owners are not rich. Easily up to 10 rear tires iby 100k, all the inside edge… despite all the alignments I was told I needed. Finally started replacing the rears with the cheapest tires I can find because who can afford to have good ones ruined in a FRACTION of their life expectancy???… and then listen to the dealer tell you it needed an alignment?? At least some tire guys know about this, but by FORD dodging the issue it has only made this American vow NEVER BUY FORD AGAIN!
I have had my 2010 Ford Focus for 2 years now and I’m on my 4th set of tires I have the tires rotated every 5k and does not help I work for a Ford dealer and the Service Mgr tells me this is a problum with 2010 Ford Focus
Thanks
Paul Couture
423.400.2406
my tires in rear made loud noise at 13,000 miles had to replace, ford did nothing.one of ford’s rep. told me I would be better off with a Kia
the garage that did rear alingement said rear was out of spec, but not by ford’s specs.
but ford sells a a kit to bring it in spec.
Hey Judge Shubb,
How would you feel trusting one of these cars with your wife and kids? Then tell me it’s not a problem. How can it not be a defect if Ford offers a kit to install on the vehicle to fix the problem? Bet if you look at all the Vin numbers you will see they were built in Wayne Michigan. Something is going on in that plant.