Ford Class Action Says Lug Nuts Fall Apart, Leaving Drivers Stranded

[Bluedrank]

The lawsuit doesn't mention Fiestas specifically, but we all know that we're definitely part of the affected vehicles.

Source: https://topclassactions.com/lawsuit...lug-nuts-fall-apart-leaving-drivers-stranded/

Ford lug nuts designed to serve appearance more than function have been falling apart, according to a group of plaintiffs in a recent class action.

Plaintiffs Josh Wozniak, Angel Castaneda, Raj Chauhan, Samantha Ellis, Donald Lycan, and David Mathias are taking issue with the wheel lug nuts on recent model years of Ford vehicles.

Unlike traditional lug nuts made of a single piece of steel, these Ford lug nuts are made with a steel core surrounded by an outer layer consisting either of chrome, aluminum, or stainless steel.

While the outer covering may give the Ford lug nuts a nicer appearance, the plaintiffs say it fails to function properly in conjunction with the steel core. They claim these lug nuts tend to swell up and delaminate, making them impossible to remove using the lug wrench provided with the vehicles.

Photos of the damaged Ford lug nuts show they have an outer layer of metal that has deformed and separated from the inner layer. Some of the lugs have visibly rounded edges where their flat surfaces meet.

These failed Ford lug nuts can leave a driver stranded with a flat tire they can’t remove, according to this Ford class action lawsuit. Changing the tire then requires having the vehicle towed to a repair facility, where the owner must pay the labor costs associated with removing the deformed lugs, as well as the costs of replacement lugs.

When they sought to have the defective nuts replaced, many of the plaintiffs say Ford’s own service representatives encouraged them to buy non-Ford lug nuts to avoid being affected by the same defect all over again.

Ford failed to disclose the defect even though it knew about the problem for years, the plaintiffs say. The plaintiffs quote dozens of negative reviews from various online forums from vehicle owners who describe having to deal with this problem. Ford has been aware of these complaints and others filed with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration for at least 10 years, plaintiffs say.

Yet despite being aware of the problem, the plaintiffs claim Ford has refused to replace the defective Ford lug nuts even when the problem manifests within the company’s express warranty period.

The six plaintiffs say these Ford lug nuts are installed on the company’s Fusion, Escape, Flex, Focus, F-150, and F-350 vehicles. Each plaintiff alleges they bought one of these vehicles, then later found out they didn’t get what they paid for because of these Ford lug nuts that are allegedly doomed to fail.

The plaintiffs seek to represent a nationwide Class covering other U.S. persons who are current or former owners or lessees of any of the above vehicles equipped with the purportedly defective Ford lug nuts.

They seek restitution of the purchase price of their affected vehicles or the amount of money they overpaid for them, an award of damages to include punitive damages, and an award of court costs and attorneys’ fees.

The plaintiffs are represented by attorneys Steve W. Berman and Thomas E. Loeser of Hagens Berman Sobol Shapiro LLP, and E. Powell Miller and Sharon S. Almonrode of The Miller Law Firm PC.

The Ford Lug Nuts Defect Class Action Lawsuit is Wozniak, et al. v. Ford Motor Co., Case No. 2:17-cv-12794, in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan.

 

[alexrex20]

smdh, people sue for anything these days. when i became aware of this "issue" i bought a set of Gorilla lugs and locks for like $50 and didn't look back. not once did i think, "i should sue Ford!" and anyway, my cousin had his 2014 since new and he's never had problems with his lugs, so there's that...

 

[captainmorbid]

Hmmmm... I think I have a bag of about 24 or so in my garage...


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[FLORIDAST]

I can see getting new lugs as restitution but the entire vehicle value? Laughable.

 

[Bluedrank]

smdh, people sue for anything these days. when i became aware of this "issue" i bought a set of Gorilla lugs and locks for like $50 and didn't look back. not once did i think, "i should sue Ford!" and anyway, my cousin had his 2014 since new and he's never had problems with his lugs, so there's that...

I definitely don't agree with you in this particular circumstance. People are getting stuck on the side of the road because they can't change their own tire due to a factory defect that Ford won't own up to or fix under warranty. I see that as a problem, and I think the class members (us included) do have a reasonable case.

One of the first mods I did on my car was a new set of lug nuts because I knew very well of this problem. I wouldn't mind seeing that money returned to me.

 

[Seijou]

smdh, people sue for anything these days. when i became aware of this "issue" i bought a set of Gorilla lugs and locks for like $50 and didn't look back. not once did i think, "i should sue Ford!" and anyway, my cousin had his 2014 since new and he's never had problems with his lugs, so there's that...

I don't agree with you either.

The lugs on my 2014 are crap. And if they happen to leave me stranded, I would be very upset too.

 

[alexrex20]

Ya I'd be upset too, but I'm not gonna sue them for it. I guess you two would also sue if your AC blend door fails? Or your radiator fails and your car overheats? Or you'd sue if your taillight gets water in it? Get real.

 

[Bluedrank]

Ya I'd be upset too, but I'm not gonna sue them for it. I guess you two would also sue if your AC blend door fails? Or your radiator fails and your car overheats? Or you'd sue if your taillight gets water in it? Get real.

Lol, you're not helping your cause with that logic. You're listing things that are covered under warranty, and then using them to excuse something that should be covered but isn't. You don't have to get it, and that's ok. It's 2017, it's your right to not understand.

Ford fixed my (and everyone else's) blend doors when they failed under warranty. I was annoyed when mine broke, and I'll probably be annoyed when it breaks again. As long as Ford replaces it under warranty while I still have one then it's fair play.

Ford is currently under investigation in the US for their bandaid fix for the burning coolant issue found in early models of our engine. They're also not owning up to the real problem, which is a factory defect in the head. They know the issue exists, but the fix is super expensive and involves recalling a huge amount of cars outside of warranty. Much like Nissan and the 1.6l Versa engine knock defect, Ford wants no part of replacing engines. It wouldn't surprise me at all of we see a class action case about this as well. The Nissan Versa people are starting to figure it out and get that ball rolling too for their car.

Ford legitimately does have some issues with our cars overheating too. We know the radiator part number changed in mid 16, Ford knows the cooling system is the weak point of our cars. Many FiSTs overheat in totally normal driving conditions, it's not unheard of. All that being said, it's entirely reasonable for a person to be angry that their factory new car is prone to overheating. Could a person also make a case about this? Yeah probably. One could argue that a car that is known to overheat has a lower than expected resale value, which would be Ford's fault.

And finally, we come full circle back to the lut nuts issue. Imagine you're driving in the mountains of North Carolina and you hit road debris, it's 2am, you're far from basically anywhere of note. You try to swap on the spare but the lug nuts just break. You're fucked now. You get a tow to a dealer 40 minutes away, it's still the middle of the night so you grab a cheap motel. The dealer checks out the car in the morning, charge you the shop rate to fix it, and sell you more garbage lug nuts. Despite being under warranty, they laugh and make you pay for the lug nuts because it's not covered. You're out the cost of the tow, the hotel, the labor, AND you had to replace the lug nuts that failed and caused all this. Not to mention you having to cancel whatever you were doing that day. All this because you couldn't change your own tire because Ford installed a faulty part on everyone's car. But you don't care right? And anyone that does care is just somebody out looking to make a quick buck? Get a grip pal.

This is why we have consumer protection laws in the first place.

 

[alexrex20]

tl;dr

please don't sue me for reading all that

 

[CB022481]

same thing happened to mopar lug nuts... guess what they did?

 

[welltal89]

To be honest, the higher torque lug nuts might be an issue. At work we've replaced all the truck and SUV ones that looked at us funny with open lug nuts from Dorman. My personal FiST has had no issues, and I've changed back and forth on race weekends.

 

[MoxBoost]

Lugnuts on my focus were crap back in 2013 and on my Fiesta in 2016. Dealer used to charge me to replace them when they were damaged by them using air tools on it. Every time I fought that and they replace the lug nut for free but they still should not be failing like they are. I actually went out and bought the steel one after my warranty expired on my focus and then swapped the ford lug on my Fiesta to my focus so I could keep my steel lugs for my Fiesta.


"I've been told that if I make one more offensive remark, anywhere, at anytime I will be sacked. Even the Angel Gabriel would struggle with that hanging over his head." ~ Jeremy Clarkson

 

[Seijou]

Ya I'd be upset too, but I'm not gonna sue them for it. I guess you two would also sue if your AC blend door fails? Or your radiator fails and your car overheats? Or you'd sue if your taillight gets water in it? Get real.

This is what we call a lack of empathy. SMH. You know know their personal reasons so don't assume you do.

If lugs break and you're left stranded in the heat with your sick infant in the car? You'd be real upset wouldn't you, all because Ford decided to give us cheap lugs.

 

[Bluedrank]

This is what we call a lack of empathy. SMH. You know know their personal reasons so don't assume you do.

If lugs break and you're left stranded in the heat with your sick infant in the car? You'd be real upset wouldn't you, all because Ford decided to give us cheap lugs.

He's proven himself to be a complete fool. Logic won't help him understand that just because nothing bad happened to him that it can't happen to others. Dumb kids gonna dumb kid.

 

[CivicAssassin]

Happened to me the other day. Luckily, I had an electric air tool to air up the tire enough to get it to the shop. They ended up having to hammer the socket onto the lugs to pull the tire. Only to find out my rim was cracked...again! Third cracked rim i've had on this car, since i bought it in 2013. Thats a whole other issue, though...

 

[me32]

I think they should be recalled. Just doing your normal rotation every 6k will wear out your lug nuts before your 36k warranty

 

[Intuit]

Someone needs to test and compare the results of over-torquing them. If it came down to choosing whether the studs take damage, or my lugs, as a result of over-torquing, I'd choose the lugs every time. They also need to be tested for the effects of corrosion. If user error can be ruled out of the problem then yes, Ford needs to go after their part supplier. Unfortunately their part supplier, if they have the capital to replace the defective parts, definitely will not have the capital to reimburse Ford on their business, liability and labor losses. This all of course assumes that the original engineering specifications that were handed off to the supplier, were sufficient to start with.