Carter v. Ford Motor Co.

ERIC CARTER, et al., Plaintiffs, v. FORD MOTOR COMPANY, Defendant.

CASE NO. 19-62646-CIV-ALTMAN

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF FLORIDA

March 26, 2021

ORDER

Ford's F-series truck has been America's best-selling vehicle for the last 42 years. But the Plaintiffs—representing a putative nationwide class of F-150 owners—have highlighted (what they say is) a material defect in the F-150: a bubbling of the dashboard panel that affects the trucks' value. Alleging that Ford knew about the defect and failed to fix it, they've filed this lawsuit, in which they assert a farrago of false-advertising and consumer-protection, warranty, and Magnuson-Moss claims. Ford's Motion to Dismiss the complaint is now ripe for adjudication. This Order follows.

THE FACTS

Ford has been designing, engineering, manufacturing, and selling automobiles for more than a century. See Second Amended Complaint ("SAC") [ECF No. 61] ¶ 110.¹ In the United States, Ford sells its vehicles through a network of authorized dealers. See id. ¶¶ 15, 110. The F-Series truck has been (by far) Ford's most successful and profitable vehicle—holding the top spot as America's best-selling truck for more than four decades and comprising nearly one-third of all pickup trucks sold inthe United States. See id. ¶¶ 111-12. To put it bluntly, a lot of people drive these trucks—and, as a result, these trucks have made Ford a lot of money. See id.

The Plaintiffs bring this putative class action on behalf of a nationwide class of current and former owners and lessees of 2015-20 Ford F-150 XL and XLT trucks.² See id. ¶ 1. While Ford offers its F-150 in several "trim levels"—N.B., depending on the trim level, an F-Series truck can cost you anywhere from $30,000 to over $67,000—the Plaintiffs' claims concern only two of these trim levels: the XL and XLT, which are (generally) the least expensive trim options. See id. ¶¶ 113-15. These Class Vehicles (the SAC alleges) are equipped with an instrument panel—commonly referred to as a dashboard—that's defective in that it's prone to warping or bubbling (the "Defect"). See id. ¶¶ 1-2, 113-15. This Defect most often manifests—in both the Class Vehicles' original dashboard ("Original Dash") and Ford's replacement dashboards ("New Dash")—in the areas around the defrost vents. See id. ¶ 2. In many cases, the dashboard has warped and peeled away from the truck's body within Ford's warranty period.³ See id. ¶¶ 1-2.

By April 2015, Ford knew about the Defect because hundreds of F-150 drivers had complained about it to Ford. See id. ¶¶ 1-3, 120-28. Despite this knowledge, the Plaintiffs say, Ford has continued to sell the Class Vehicles without ever mentioning the Defect. See id. In 2018, Ford notified its dealers about the Defect and instructed them not to try to repair it. See id. ¶ 4. Again—as they had done for three years—Ford and its dealers decided not to disclose the Defect to consumers. See id. The next year (2019) Ford told its dealers to replace the Original Dash with a New Dash Ford was then manufacturing. See id. ¶ 5. Unfortunately, the SAC alleges, the New Dash—which uses the very same parts as the Old Dash—carries the same Defect. See id. ¶¶ 5-6. In other words, even thoughthe F-Series's other trim levels don't have the Defect—meaning that Ford was producing and installing very similar, non-defective dashboards in the more expensive trims of the same model truck—Ford elected not to use that dash on the Class Vehicles. See id. ¶¶ 5-6, 8. Instead, as we've said, Ford manufactured (and began installing) a New Dash that was also defective. See id. Still, according to the Plaintiffs, Ford refuses to offer the higher-grade dashboards as replacements for the Class Vehicles. See id. As a result, three of the named Plaintiffs—Glass, Linderman, and Wooding—had the Old Dash replaced with the New Dash, only to see the Defect appear again within a few weeks. See id. ¶¶ 6, 36-54, 93-97.

The eight named Plaintiffs each allege that they purchased or leased a new 2018 or 2019 Ford F-150 XL or XLT from an authorized Ford dealer.⁴ See id. ¶¶ 18-88. The named Plaintiffs hail from four different states—Florida, Virginia, California, and Illinois—and seek to represent subclasses of residents from each of those states. See id. ¶¶ 17-97. They all allege that Ford failed to disclose the Defect to them. See id. Let's take a look at each of their claims in more detail.

Eric Carter, a Florida citizen who bought his car in Florida, alleges that, less than a month after he bought a 2019 F-150 XLT, he noticed that the Original Dash had begun to warp. See id. ¶¶ 17-26. Carter informed his authorized dealer, who promised to forward his complaint to Ford. See id. Carter also filed a report about the Defect on Ford's website. See id. About a month later, the dealership's service manager told Carter that he was waiting for Ford to issue a recall. See id. In the meantime, the manager said, there was nothing else the dealership could do. See id.

Mark Siracuse lives in Florida, where he purchased a 2018 F-150 XLT in November 2018. See id. ¶¶ 27-28. Within two months, Siracuse noticed that the Original Dash had started warping—so he notified the authorized dealer, who refused to repair the Defect. See id. ¶¶ 31-32. After Siracusecompleted a Ford survey, in which he described the Defect, the dealership offered to split the cost of the repair—which the dealership estimated at several thousand dollars. See id. Siracuse refused this offer and took the truck to his local Ford dealer—i.e., not the authorized Ford dealer that had sold him the truck—to whom he submitted a warranty repair request. See id. At some point later, the local dealer told him that the Defect couldn't be fixed and that Ford was still investigating the problem. See id. Siracuse also continued to correspond with the Ford dealer that had sold him the truck. See id. ¶ 33. Although that dealership finally agreed to cover the repair's full cost, it added both that the Defect couldn't be fixed and that any replacement dash, including the New Dash, would likewise warp. See id.

Like Siracuse and Carter, Michael Linderman, Stephen Michael Glass, and Drew Wooding live in Florida, where they purchased their 2018 F-150 XLTs. See id. ¶¶ 36-54, 87-97. Linderman had only driven 118 miles in his new truck when he noticed the Defect. See id. ¶ 40. Glass had only had the vehicle for a few months when he noticed it. See id. ¶¶ 45-51. Wooding saw the Defect within a month of his purchase—and with only 800 miles on the odometer. See id. ¶ 91. Linderman, Glass, and Wooding all informed their authorized Ford dealers about the Defect and eventually had their Original Dashes replaced with New Dashes. See id. ¶¶ 36-54, 87-97. But, within a few weeks of their replacements, both Linderman and Glass noticed that their New Dashes also had the Defect. See id. Wooding, for his part, noticed the Defect in the New Dash almost immediately. See id. ¶¶ 93-94. Glass told the Ford dealer about the New Dash's Defect and asked for warranty coverage, which the dealership promptly denied. See id. ¶¶ 52, 94. Glass then contacted Ford national customer service about the Defect and requested warranty coverage. See id. In response, Ford instructed Glass to return to the dealership and to renew his request for coverage. See id. But, when he did so, the dealer's service advisor told him that any replacement would be pointless because that replacement would also warp and (sometimes) rattle. See id. Unlike Glass, no one told Wooding that another replacement would be worthless. See id. ¶¶ 87-97. When Wooding told his Ford dealer about the New Dash having the sameDefect, the dealership again directed Wooding to contact Ford's customer service line. See id. Ford agreed to replace the New Dash (with another New Dash). See id. ¶¶ 93-94. Unfortunately, the second New Dash also bore the Defect. See id. ¶¶ 94-95. When Wooding told Ford about the Defect a third time, Ford refused to help with any further repairs. See id.

Joey Mendoza, a California resident, leased a 2018 F-150 XLT in May 2018 from an authorized Ford dealer in California. See id. ¶¶ 55-56. By September 2018, Mendoza had noticed that the Original Dash, which had begun to warp, creaked or rattled as he drove. See id. ¶ 59. Mendoza repeatedly asked his Ford dealership about repairing the dash and, each time, was refused. See id. ¶ 60. When Mendoza called Ford's national customer service line about the Defect and requested warranty coverage, Ford admitted that the Defect couldn't be fixed and refused to attempt a repair. See id. ¶ 61. Mendoza later learned about a 2018 announcement—an announcement Ford made before Mendoza called the national customer service line—in which Ford recommended replacing the Original Dash with the New Dash. See id. ¶ 62. Armed with this announcement, Mendoza called the Ford national customer service line again. Id. This time, Ford agreed to put him on a waiting list for the repair—though Ford refused to say how long it would take to get the repair done. Id.

Julie Deakin lives in Illinois. See id. ¶ 65. In June 2018, she bought a 2018 F-150 XLT from an Illinois Ford dealership. See id. ¶¶ 65-66. By September, the Original Dash in Deakin's truck had begun to warp, buckling and peeling away near the defrost vents. See id. ¶ 69. When Deakin requested warranty coverage, her Ford dealership told her that Ford was working on a solution. See id. ¶ 70. Deakin repeatedly checked in with her dealership about Ford's work on a potential fix. See id. ¶ 71. In November 2018, Deakin visited her dealership, where she learned that Ford had known about the Defect before her purchase. See id. ¶¶ 71-72. Eventually, Deakin contacted Ford's national customer service line about the Defect. See id. ¶ 73. Eight months later—in August 2019—Deakin followed up with Ford and discovered that Ford had no record of her need for a repair. See id. Ford told Deakinthat her dealership...