— A California emissions lawsuit against Ford will continue after a federal judge refused to grant Ford's motion to dismiss.
Plaintiff Hugo De Anda sued Ford for allegedly failing to provide a required emissions warranty for Ford vehicles in California.
The class action lawsuit alleges California regulations require manufacturers to provide special warranty coverage for a vehicle’s emission control system.
Specifically, manufacturers must provide a 3-year/50,000-mile warranty for “any part . . . which affects any regulated emission” (warranted parts).
For any warranted part that is “high-priced,” manufacturers must provide a 7-year/70,000-mile warranty.
"A warranted part is 'high priced' if its 'replacement cost' exceeds a 'cost limit' defined by a formula that considers the model year and the Consumer Price Index. A part’s replacement cost is defined as 'the retail cost to a vehicle owner' —including the part, labor, and diagnosis—in 'the highest-cost metropolitan area of California.'" — Ford emissions warranty lawsuit
The emissions class action lawsuit also alleges California requires vehicles to be equipped with an onboard diagnostic system which “shall be capable of detecting malfunctions of the [vehicle’s] monitored emission systems, illuminating a malfunction indicator light (MIL) to notify the vehicle operator of detected malfunctions.”
The regulations also require that fault codes be stored.
Plaintiff De Anda owns a 2018 Ford Mustang, and in March 2022 De Anda brought the car to a Ford dealer because the check engine light was on and the Mustang was jerking under certain conditions. The Mustang had 62,128 miles on it at the time.
The lawsuit alleges there was a problem with the catalytic converter which was replaced. But the dealer found the jerking was caused by the transmission.
De Anda contends diagnostic trouble code P2708 (indicating a defective transmission solenoid) and DTC P2705 (detecting a problem with the way the transmission shifts) were stored.
Ford allegedly said it was, “neces[s]ary to remove and tear down trans[mission] due to internal component failure,” but the automaker refused to cover the diagnostic fee and repair.
According to the Ford class action lawsuit, the plaintiff asserts "Ford unlawfully denied warranty coverage for the transmission repair, which involved high-priced emission parts that should have been covered under Ford’s 7-year/70,000-mile California Emissions Warranty."
The Ford emissions warranty class action lawsuit was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California: Hugo De Anda v. Ford Motor Company, Inc., et al.
The plaintiff is represented by Pomerantz LLP, Frontier Law Center, and The Law Office Of Robert Starr.
