California Jury Sides with Owner of a Ford F-150 in Lemon Law Case
Apr 12, 2023
The plaintiff, Crystal Young, bought a new 2019 Ford F-150 XLT pickup truck on New Year’s Eve 2019. Unbeknownst to her, the vehicle was sold with known safety defects—according to Ford’s own technical service bulletin.
The California lemon law attorneys of Wirtz Law represented Young.
Like many new car owners that find themselves behind the wheel of a lemon, Ms. Young began experiencing the truck’s serious defects immediately after she drove off the lot. Without warning and for no reason, the collision alert alarm would sound, flash warnings on the dashboard screen, and automatically prime the brakes. This often occurred when Ms. Young was driving on completely open roads and highways with no vehicles in sight.
Visual instruments such as the rear camera display regularly malfunctioned and Bluetooth features were also intermittently inoperable.
The Ford F-150 was presented for repair at least 6 times during the first 36,000 miles, but the Ford Motor Company (NYSE: F) was never able to fix the defects.
When Ms. Young asked Ford to buy back the truck under California’s Lemon Law, Ford willfully refused. The Ford Motor Company gave no explanation for its refusal to buy back the truck even though their internal records showed they knew the extent of the truck’s defects.
When asked for comment, Ms. Young’s attorney Richard Wirtz stated: “It is disappointing, but perhaps not surprising, that even though Ford sells nearly 1 million F-Series trucks per year in the US, it refuses to buy back a single truck with unrepaired defects that so obviously impair the safety of the driver. What’s even more astounding is that at least 4 people rubber-stamped the rejection of Ms. Young’s buyback request hoping that Ms. Young would not pursue her California Lemon Law rights any further.”
The jury awarded Ms. Young a refund of all the money she spent on the truck as well as reimbursement for her registration fees and insurance premiums. The jury also awarded additional out-of-pocket expenses for rental vehicles after she refused to drive the truck following an incident when the F-150 truck’s safety defects caused her to run off the road into a ditch.
The total amount of the verdict was $159,754.00.
Attorneys Richard M. Wirtz, Jessica R. Underwood and Kelsey K. Henry, of Wirtz Law APC represented Crystal Young. The lemon law firm represents consumers in San Diego, Los Angeles, San Bernardino, Riverside, Orange County, and throughout the entire State of California.
Wirtz Law APC
4370 La Jolla Village Drive, Suite 800
San Diego, CA 92122
1-855-501-7986
https://www.wirtzlaw.com
Wirtz Law
