Three owners of the 2021 Ford Expedition and Lincoln Navigator 2021 vehicles have filed a national class action lawsuit against Ford Motor Co., claiming the Dearborn automaker failed to disclose to customers a defect that caused a spontaneous fire in the engine compartment and no repairs were made.
Ford has reported to federal safety regulators 16 under-the-hood fires and one burn, the lawsuit says.
These vehicles, according to the complaint filed Tuesday in the US District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan “that are damaged are dangerous and prone to fire, including while driving, when parked but (started), and when parked and (turned off) Later, even though Ford knows or should have known the fire risk before launching the vehicle, Ford did nothing to warn owners and renters until recently.”
Ford customer recall is dated May 17, 2022, on the website of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Under “repair”, it says, “Owners are advised to park their vehicle outside and away from the building until repairs are made. The repair is still under development.”
The company sent a letter to the owner about the security risk on May 25. A second letter will be sent “once the cure is available.”
Up to 39,013 vehicle owners may be affected, according to the safety website. This is the latest recall of three vehicles that also includes potentially damaged windshield wipers and non-inflated passenger airbags.
The federal agency states in the red box: “URGENT: FIRE RISK WHEN PARKING. An urgent safety recall has been issued for this vehicle due to fire risk.”
This premium vehicle has a base price that exceeds $50,000.
16 fires
Affected vehicles include 32,711 Expeditions and 6,302 Lincoln Navigators built between December 1, 2020, and April 30, 2021. The law firm representing the class, Seattle-based Hagens Berman Sobol and Shapiro, said it was investigating model years after 2021.
Twelve fires were reported when the vehicle was parked and stopped, one fire occurred while the vehicle was parked and started, and three fires occurred while the vehicle was being driven, with occupants reporting a burning odor and smoke from the front passenger. engine compartment, the lawsuit said.
Ford’s report to federal officials confirmed that 14 of the fires occurred in rental vehicles, indicating that the fire defects may be related to mileage or use, increasing the risk to owners if they continue to use their vehicles.
Why sue?
The risk of fire exposes vehicle owners, passengers, other drivers on the road and neighbors to an unreasonable risk of accident, injury, death, or property damage if the vehicle catches fire while operating or, perhaps more commonly, spontaneously ignites when the vehicle is parked at home. , on public roads, or in public parking lots,” says the legal document filed by Hagens Berman Sobol and Shapiro.
The vehicle owners from Florida, New York, and North Carolina named in the lawsuit claim “the risk of catastrophic fire is a direct result of a defect that Ford knew or should have known” and the company “misrepresented the safety, reliability of the vehicle, functionality and quality by this omission.” “
“To date, there have been 16 fires in a vehicle population of just 39,000, a number Ford admits to be statistically significant,” the lawsuit said.
Smell, smoke warning
Ford spokesman Said Deep declined to comment to the Free Press on Wednesday’s pending litigation, as is company policy.
In these situations, Ford has noted that the problem is usually progressive with signs of malfunction that include an unusual odor or smoke.
Deep said, “We are totally committed to addressing potential vehicle issues and responding quickly to our customers. We proactively monitor all potential customer issues in the field. More than ever, we seek all sources of information, including connected vehicle data to identify potential issues so we can resolve them faster for our customers.”
He added, “For our concerned customers, our safety team has been working around the clock to determine a fix. If a customer has unique circumstances and is unable to park outside away from a structure (such as a high-rise condo with a parking garage) they should contact their dealer, Ford Customer Relations Center or Lincoln Concierge.”
Not enough
Asking consumers to park potentially flammable vehicles away from home is an unreasonable recommendation, the lawsuit says.
Steve Berman, Managing Partner of Hagens Berman, said in a statement, “To this day, long after Ford knew or should have known that his vehicle had spontaneously caught fire, Ford has failed to … even instruct the owner to stop driving the vehicle, leaving the customer alone. in danger.”
Ford is not offering owners and renters replacements for these vehicles for their own expense, loss of use, and loss of value, the lawsuit says.
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“Instead of doing the right thing and globally offering repurchase to every consumer … or at least offering to provide a comparable borrower or large rental SUV while keeping a dangerously fire-defective vehicle until they can repair it, Ford does nothing of the sort,” said the lawsuit.
victim story
The lawsuit names three vehicle owners who said they made the purchase based on Ford’s “reliable and secure marketing message”.
This is their experience according to the lawsuit, which requested a jury trial:
- Jessica Stahlman of Mount Dora, Florida, purchased the 2021 Ford Expedition in March 2021 from Mullinax Ford in Apopka. She and her husband purchased this vehicle through a jointly owned dry-cleaning company for use by employees on the delivery route. Stahlman has stopped using Expeditions because he doesn’t want to risk putting the safety of his employees at risk. However, he continues to pay for and insure the vehicles he owns for only one year while not being used. Stahlman cannot park vehicles away from his business property for insurance purposes, so potentially dangerous vehicles are behind his business.
- Jeremy Sessler of Seaford, New York, and his wife rented a 2021 Lincoln Navigator in March 2021 from Hassett Ford in Wantagh. Sessler has three young children who all climb in car seats and “getting them all out safely and quickly in the event of an engine fire would be difficult if not impossible.” On-street parking is not an option as loading small children is done every day near the house.
- RJ Smith of Raleigh, North Carolina, and his wife rented the 2021 Lincoln Navigator in July 2021 from Leith Inc. in Raleigh to share with their three young children. Parking outside the family garage and away from the building is not feasible as there is no such space near the house. The driveway is steep and parking outside is also a risk of damaging vehicles given the trees and the surrounding climate. What’s more, if Smith changed vehicles with his wife, he would have spent more than double the cost of fuel going to work.
Reducing warranty costs has been a top priority for Ford CEO Jim Farley since before he took the helm in October 2020. He brought in an expert this year to try and fix this chronic recall issue.
2022-06-07-Class-Action-Complaints-v-Ford
Law firm Hagens Berman is negotiating a $1.3 billion settlement with Hyundai and Kia for engine damage from the fire and has a pending class action lawsuit against Fiat Chrysler for a spontaneous fire affecting the Chrysler Pacifica hybrid minivan.
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Contact Phoebe Wall Howard at313-618-1034orphoward@freepress.com.Follow him on Twitter@phoebesaid. Read more about wade through and register for us automotive newsletter.