Legally reviewed by: Jessica Anvar Stotz, JD, MBA
A class action lawsuit against Ford for failing to provide consumers with a required emissions warranty for vehicles in California is currently being pursued in federal court. The suit alleges that Ford did not provide a warranty on certain parts that impact the emissions of the vehicle as required by California law.
To join this class action, an individual should contact one of the firms representing the class. These include Pomerantz LLP, Frontier Law Center, and The Law Office of Robert Starr.
However, joining the Ford Emissions class action may not be in your best interest as the owner of a defective Ford vehicle. To find out why, continue reading below.
Which Ford Owners are Eligible to Join
Eligibility to join this class action is based on whether your Ford vehicle has “high-price emissions parts” that should be covered by a manufacturer’s warranty of 7 years or 70,000 miles pursuant to California law.
If your vehicle contains these parts and Ford denied warranty coverage of them after a repair, you may be eligible to join this class action. Any Ford vehicle with these high-price emissions parts that has been denied warranty coverage would satisfy the requirements of joining the class action.
How to Join the California Emissions Lawsuit Against Ford
Joining a class action lawsuit typically doesn’t involve much. Typically consumers who are current or former owners or lessees of the vehicles that are identified as the class action vehicles are automatically included into the class action unless they specifically and timely opt out of the class action.
Once a class action matter resolves, certain dates and deadlines come into play. These dates will outline the time period by which a class member has to submit a claim for compensation or in the alternative, opt out of the class action settlement.
Usually, a consumer can access a website that contains all of the relevant information and class members typically will receive a notice in the mail regarding their options and rights.
In general, if your vehicle is part of a class action or if you are are interested in joining the class, you should stay up to date on the status of the case. New information about the case will be released as it develops, and knowing those developments as a member of the class can help you stay on top of any issues that may arise throughout the course of the proceedings.
Advantages and Disadvantages of Joining the Lawsuit
There are both advantages and disadvantages to joining a class action lawsuit when compared to pursuing a case on your own.
Potential Advantages: If the class action lawsuit is successful, you will receive compensation that can help you cover some of the costs incurred by the defective vehicle.
Additionally, your legal costs will likely be lower than if you pursued a case individually because legal costs are usually shared among the members of the class in a class action lawsuit.
Lastly, though this could be a detriment to some, being a member of a class action lawsuit typically involves doing less than being an individual plaintiff. While this means you will have less control over the process as a whole, it also means you will likely not have as much work to do regarding the suit.
Potential Disadvantages: For starters, joining a class in a class action lawsuit may require that you waive the ability to bring your own individual case in the future for that issue.
If you believe you may be able to receive more compensation in an individual case, it may be a wiser choice than joining a class action lawsuit. Relatedly, the compensation a plaintiff receives in a class action lawsuit is more uncertain than the compensation received in an individual case.
Because compensation in a class action lawsuit is more abstracted than individualized damages, you may receive very little compensation or none at all. It is therefore possible your expenses may not end up being covered by the resolution of the lawsuit.
Joining a class action lawsuit also involves giving up control over a lot of the legal process. A class action lawsuit will have a class representative that makes most of the decisions regarding the case with the legal counsel for said case.
Any individual class member has fairly little influence over the case as a whole. Finally, class action lawsuits can take a lot of time (months or years) to resolve, and you won’t receive any compensation until the case is over.
If you are relying on this compensation for some reason, it may be wiser to pursue an individual claim against Ford as they typically move quicker than class action lawsuits.
Why Filing a Lemon Law Claim Can be More Beneficial
There are a handful of reasons why pursuing an individual lemon law claim against the manufacturer of a defective vehicle can be more beneficial than joining a class action.
The first and clearest is that bringing your claim as an individual allows for your legal counsel to narrow the scope of the case and work specifically within the issue you are having. The particulars of any given situation are unique, and bringing an individual suit allows for that uniqueness to be represented and utilized so you can receive compensation.
The second reason is that lemon law claims often result in greater compensation for the consumer. While a class action has its compensation split between all members of the class, an individual bringing a successful suit will be compensated with either a reimbursement of the money they spent on the vehicle or with a replacement vehicle of similar make and model. These forms of compensation will almost always be more financially substantial than that of a class action lawsuit.
Finally, a lemon law claim is likely to be resolved much more expeditiously than a class action lawsuit. Lemon law claims are common enough that manufacturers have specific procedures for resolving them, while class action lawsuits are inherently more complex and time consuming due to the number of impacted persons.
Moving through the faster legal process of a Lemon Law claim allows for consumers to get the compensation they deserve significantly faster than in a class action lawsuit.
Deadline for California Emissions Lawsuit Against Ford
As of May 22nd, no deadline for joining this Ford Emissions class action lawsuit has been announced or set. If you believe you may be eligible to join the class and desire to do so, contact plaintiff’s representation to inquire more or stay up to date on the progress of the lawsuit so you don’t miss any vital information as it develops.
Work with a Reputable California Lemon Law Attorney Today!
As discussed, the compensation of an individual lemon law claim is often more financially substantial than that of a class action. If you believe you have a California emissions related claim against Ford, don’t hesitate to contact the Lemon Law Experts today!
Our highly experienced team of attorneys has decades of collective experience and has worked to provide thousands of clients with the compensation they deserve. If you have experienced Emission related issues with your Ford vehicle in California, let us guide you through the legal process. Contact us today for a no-obligation, no cost assessment of your situation.
