LEGAL NEWSLINE

LOS ANGELES (Legal Newsline) -A federal class action has been filed against Ford Motor Co. concerning alleged defects in the MyFord Touch dashboard systems that are found in some Ford manufactured vehicles.

The action, styled The Center For Defensive Driving v. Ford Motor Company, was filed July 15 in U.S. District Court for the Central District of California. Consumer class action law firms Grant & Eisenhofer P.A. and Hagens Berman Sobol Shapiro LLP are representing the Center for Defensive Driving, a nonprofit educator based in Torrance, Calif., in the action.

The suit seeks compensatory relief on behalf of a proposed class of purchasers and lessees of Ford vehicles equipped with MyFord Touch systems but does not include persons who have personal injury claims resulting from alleged defects in the systems.

The Center for Defensive Driving asserts that it leased a 2013 Ford F-150 Lariat equipped with a MyFord Touch system, which suffered from numerous problems, including: System lockup and total system failure; periodic non-responsiveness to peripheral devices (such as MP3 players and smartphones); and periodic non-responsiveness to voice commands.

The Center alleges that the MyFord Touch unit in the F-150, leased in late February, failed or locked up on no fewer than 27 separate occasions prior to July 1.

The suit claims that the plaintiff's experiences are not isolated and refers to several Technical Service Bulletins issued by Ford in connection with the MyFord Touch problems. Additionally, the suit claims that "the internet is replete with examples of blogs and other websites where consumers have complained of the exact same defect within the Class Vehicles."

The complaint alleges violation of the Manguson-Moss Warranty Act, breach of express warranty, breach of implied warranty of fitness for a particular purpose, breach of implied warranty of merchantability, and violations of specific California consumer laws.

Requested relief includes the certification of the class with The Center designated as Class Representative, enjoinment of Ford from "continuing the unfair business practices alleged," actual and punitive damages, interest on awarded amounts, and attorney fees and costs.

"Affording Ford a reasonable opportunity to cure its breach of written warranties would be unnecessary and futile here. Indeed, Plaintiff has already done so, and Ford has failed, after numerous attempts, to cure the defects," the complaint states.

"At the time of sale or lease of each Class Vehicle, Ford knew, should have known, or was reckless in not knowing of its misrepresentations and omissions concerning the Class
Vehicles' inability to perform as warranted, but nonetheless failed to rectify the situation and/or disclose the defective design.

"Under the circumstances, the remedies available under any informal settlement procedure would be inadequate and any requirement that Plaintiff resorts to an informal dispute resolution procedure and/or afford Ford a reasonable opportunity to cure its breach of warranties is excused and thereby deemed satisfied."