Depending on the state that the case was certified in, the class action may be presented as either fraud or a breach of warranty due to the cars entering Limp Mode under “normal” conditions. Ford maintains that this is a safety feature—that since it is not a malfunction, it doesn’t represent a vehicle defect and thus is not a warrantable claim.
The judge, however, is not convinced by the warranty argument. The order to certify the lawsuit specifically calls out the lack of coolers as a design choice and labels it an alleged design defect rather than a manufacturing defect, though consumers’ protection on this becomes muddied on a state-by-state basis when approached as a warranty issue.
“Through product placement in James Bond movies and racing partnerships with figures like Carroll Shelby, Ford has spent half a century cultivating an aura of performance and adventure,” writes Judge Moreno in the order. “But these Plaintiffs allege, to Lee Iacocca’s chagrin, that their cars are more like Pintos than Mustangs.”
It appears that the next step for this long-dragged-out lawsuit will be to duke it out in court. That alone might be concerning for Ford considering that Hagens Berman—the firm that won $1.6 billion from Toyota over unintended acceleration, $350 million from GM over its ignition switches, and $330 million from FCA (now Stellantis) over an emissions scandal—is leading the case.
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