Author: lfsuser

Gonzalez v. Toyota Motor Sales U.S.A., Inc., dba Lexus

Settled claim involving a 2014 Lexus IS 250.

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Condon v. Volkswagen of Van Nuys

We demanded arbitration on behalf of a consumer against Volkswagen of Van Nuys for selling a used car as new.

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Reaves v. Good Guys Auto Sales

We demanded arbitration on behalf of a consumer against Good Guys Auto Sales for selling a wrecked vehicle and failing to disclose a deferred down payment.

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Ellington v. Perry Falk Infiniti

We demanded arbitration on behalf of consumers against Perry Infiniti for selling a wrecked vehicle and failing to disclose a deferred down payment.

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Auto Fraud Legal Center Sues SmileCare

Auto Fraud Legal Center has filed a class action against Coast Dental Services, Inc., otherwise known as SmileCare in San Diego County Superior Court: Simon v. Coastal Dental Services, Inc., Case No. 37-2014-00030167-CU-CO-CTL. The action is based on SmileCare’s failure to comply with California law when helping patients obtain credit cards to pay for dental services. California law, in Bus. & Prof. Code Section 654.3,requires SmileCare to provide the following to its patients before it can help a patient obtain a credit card to pay for dental services and/or provide any dental services (1) a written notice called “Credit for Dental Services” that includes all of the information required by the law (2) a written treatment plan that includes all of the anticipated services to be provided and the estimated costs for each service, whether insurance will cover any of these costs, and that the patient has the right to see if his insurance will cover any of the costs before treatment is provided, an (3) a list of the treatment and services to be rendered, the estimated costs for the treatment and services, and which treatment and services are being charged.

The lawsuit alleges that SmileCare failed to give this information to Plaintiff Irene Simon and other patients who obtained dental services from SmileCare since September 9, 2010, and who obtained a credit card arranged for by SmileCare to pay for dental services.

Ms. Simon alleges that she went to a SmileCare facility in La Mesa because she had a toothache. Ms. Simon had two teeth pulled and impressions taken for three crowns. She was shocked to receive a credit card bill for over $4,000.00 for these dental services. In addition, SmileCare advised Ms. Simon that she owed it almost $1,800.00 for dental services that were not charged to the credit card. Ms. Simon never received any of the disclosures required by Bus. & Prof. Code Section 654.3. She is seeking relief on behalf of herself and other individuals similarly situated to her. The lawsuit also alleges that SmileCare violated the Consumers Legal Remedies Act, Civil Code Section 1750 et seq., and the Unfair Competition Law, Bus. & Prof. Code Section 17200 et seq., for failing to comply with Bus. & Prof. Code Section 654.3.

Attached is a copy of the Complaint filed. This matter is being handled by Gregory T. Babbitt, who can be reached at 858-348-1005 x. 104, or greg@rbblawgroup.com.

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Why Did Ford Extend Its Warranty On My Ford Focus Or My Ford Fiesta?

If you feel like you have been a victim of auto fraud at a Ford or any other dealership in California, please reach out to us for a Free Evaluation.

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If you drive a Ford Focus or Ford Fiesta you probably just received a letter from Ford. This letter announces that Ford has decided to extend the warranty on the transmission on your vehicle. This letter followed thousands of customers who complained about a harsh shift or the basic handling of the transmission on the Focus or Fiesta vehicles. This letter announced that Ford had extended the warranty on your transmission to your warranty seven (7) years or 100,000 miles, whichever occurs first. Ford also announced that it was directing its dealerships to service your transmission free of charge.

Service my transmission? Didn’t the dealer tell you that there was nothing to fix? Didn’t the dealer tell you that your complaint was normal? Or that there was nothing to repair? What’s an “automated manual transmission?” You may say to yourself, “I thought I purchased an automatic transmission.” So what’s going on? If there’s nothing to repair, or my concerns are normal, why did Ford extend the warranty on my car? You may have a claim for a breach of warranty or a false advertising claim against Ford. Please contact Auto Fraud Legal Center for a free evaluation.

A brief explanation of the history of the transmission on the Ford Focus and Ford Fiesta sheds light on these potential claims. First, the Ford Focus and Ford Fiesta have the same transmission. Ford launched the new transmission in 2011. Ford first called the transmission an “automatic.” This transmission was praised as being “new technology” that was “fun to drive” and that was “smooth.” Chances are you purchased your Ford Focus or Ford Fiesta because you thought the vehicle had an automatic transmission. This automatic transmission is called a Dual Power Shift transmission, or “DPS6”.

The problem is that the transmission did not drive or function like an automatic transmission. The transmission did not meet peoples’ expectations, and started to complain to their local dealers wanting it to be fixed. Repairs were made under the Ford warranty. Typical complaints were a rough, jerky or shudder when shifting. These complaints were most noticeable when accelerating from a stop. These early repairs were unsuccessful.

Here is the problem. The Dual Power Shift transmission is not an automatic. Rather, it is two 3 speed manual transmissions “bolted” together. The vehicle has two (2) clutches, whereas a typical manual transmission has only one (1) clutch. A computer controls both clutches that enable the vehicle to shift up and down through the various gears. This is why the vehicle does not drive or feel like an automatic transmission. It is a computer controlled manual transmission vehicle.

In September 2012, Ford began to realize that it could not fix the complaints people had with the way the Focus and Fiesta shifted. Ford published a document for its dealerships entitled “Power Shift 6 Speed Transmission Operating Characteristics.” This document attempted to define the complaints that people had with their vehicles as being “normal.” These “normal” characteristics includes various whines, clicks, low speed grinding, and a trailer hitch feel. Chances are if these true operating characteristics were disclosed at the time of purchase, you would not have bought your Focus or Fiesta.

Dealerships occasionally provided a copy of this document to their customers. They did this to support the position that the complaints about the problematic shifting was not a defect, but a “normal characteristic” of the vehicle. Perhaps a dealer told this to you. We have seen various dealerships refusing to document transmission concerns on the repair orders because these concerns were considered “normal.”

How “normal” could this be? Shortly after defining normal people would consider to be a defective transmission, Ford published various Technical Service Bulletins to address the alleged “normal” characteristics. Remember, Ford’s marketing brochure describes the 2012 Ford Focus as “Not just fun to drive –it’s unforgettable to drive.” The problem is the Ford Focus is “unforgettable to drive” for all the wrong reasons due to the intermittent jerk and shudder on acceleration.

On September 5, 2013, Ford published TSB 13-9-4 to address an Intermittent Transmission Clutch Shudder in the DPS6 transmission that may include fluid leak. This TSB superseded the following TSB’s: 13-4-5, 12-4-6, and 11-12-13. A TSB is an advisory issued by a vehicle manufacturer when there are several occurrences of an unanticipated problem requiring repair. TSBs can range from vehicle-specific to covering entire product lines and break down the specified repair into a step-by-step process. TSBs are widely circulated among dealership service departments and mechanics to provide an engineering-level description and solution for a problem common to type, year, make, or model of car. A well-managed TSB process can save technicians troubleshooting time, provide organized, itemized repair procedures, and standardize the repair process.

These TSBs confirm Ford and its dealerships knew the DPS6 transmission was defective, but made no efforts to change their marketing, description, or warranty. Ford and its dealerships continued to tout the DPS6. All the while Ford and its dealerships concealed the actual “Operating Characteristics.”

On March 11, 2014, Ford published TSB 14-0047. This TSB instructed dealerships to perform a pinpoint test to evaluate whether the transmission was problematic. The problem is that TSB stated that it was attempting to test for an“intermittent clutch shudder.” We believe that Ford developed this pinpoint test to create an “objective” test to reinforce its position that there was nothing wrong with your vehicle.

This now brings us to the current TSB14m01. Ford called this TSB a “Customer Satisfaction Program.” Many people do not realize that part of the Customer Satisfaction Program, Ford published yet another TSB. TSB 14-0131 superseded theprevious TSB. Ford has now changed the description to that of an “excessive transmission clutch shudder on light acceleration,” which may or may not include an internal fluid leak. Ford published this TSB on July 22, 2014, at about the same time Ford informed its dealers that the Customer Satisfaction Program was being released.

Here’s an issue that cannot be overlooked. Ford’s warranty specifically includes defects with the design of the vehicle:

Defects may be unintentionally introduced into vehicles during the design and manufacturing process and such defects could result in the need for repairs. For this reason, Ford provides the New Vehicle Limited Warranty in order to remedy any such defects that result in vehicle part malfunction or failure during the warranty period.

We believe that there is a defect with the design of the transmission for the 2012 – 2014 Ford Focus and Ford Fiesta. Please contact us for a free case evaluation.

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New Documentary on Arbitration

Paul Bland from Public Justice posted a link to a new documentary on the unfairness of forced arbitration clauses:

The Alliance for Justice has just released an extremely powerful documentary, “Lost in the Fine Print,” which you can view HERE. Narrated by former Labor Secretary and genuine American hero Robert Reich, it provides both a big picture overview of what’s unfair with forced arbitration, and three examples of the human impact of its unfairness. Unfortunately, as incredibly unfair as each of the three examples is, they are not at all uncommon stories. – See more at: http://publicjustice.net/content/lost-fine-print-%E2%80%93-new-documentary-blows-lid-gross-unfairness-forced-arbitration#sthash.gn0amxLl.dpuf.

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Outsourcing Justice – New Book About Federal Arbitration Act

Paul Bland, Senior Attorney at Public Justice, wrote a piece on Professor Imre Szalai’s new book on arbitration. Here’s what Paul has to say:

http://publicjustice.net/blog/important-new-book-proves-federal-arbitration-act-badly-distorted-by-supreme-court This post examines a recentlypublished book by an extraordinary law professor, Imre Szalai, who has goneback through the papers of the three men who drafted and lobbied for and pushedthe Federal Arbitration Act. In painstaking historical detail, reviewingall sorts of primary materials, he establishes convincingly that the FAA wasnever intended to (a) apply to employment contracts at all; or (b) apply totake-it-or-leave-it contracts. This book is an important development inthe historical scholarship on the Act, and demonstrates conclusively that theFAA has been distorted and mis-shaped by the U.S. Supreme Court in recentdecades. The Act now covers millions of people and transactions that itwas never intended to address.

The advocates of forced arbitrationare literally on the wrong side of history – the Court’s decisions fly in theface of what the authors and supporters of this statute had intended.

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Motor Home Problems on the Rise

The economic downturn caused the motor home industry to go stagnant. Auto Fraud Legal Center saw several manufacturers and dealership file for bankruptcy protection or go out of business. Now that the economy has recovered motor home manufacturers are once again beginning to sell their product. You should know that motor home dealers are subject to the same financing disclosure requirements as car dealers. Once again, our attorneys are beginning to see that the motor home dealers are failing to adhere to their responsibilities to make the mandated financial disclosures. These dealers are proving that they are as unscrupulous as car dealers. Find our more about our most recent case after the jump.

Our lemon law attorneys have just accepted a case against Thor and the selling dealer for failing to install seals on the slide out. Even though one dealership was an authorized Thor repair facility, it refused to work on the motor home, and ignoring the fact that poisonous carbon monoxide fumes and biting insects were filling the coach. We have also learned that the selling dealership steered this particular, defective motor home to our clients.

Typically motor home dealers require you to keep your motor home parked on their lot for weeks, if not months, at a time while waiting for parts, which is wrong and prevents you from using your motor home. Here, Thor’s authorized repair facility flat out refused to service the motor home.
Few attorneys will accept cases involving motor homes. We do! It is important to hire an attorney who has experience navigating the complex world of motor home litigation. This is because you frequently face warranty issues from both the end manufacturer, such as Tiffin, Forest River, or Jayco, as well as the chassis manufacturer, such as Ford or Freightliner. If you have problems with the generator, slide out, or leveling jacks, you may also have to address warranty coverage issues involving the corresponding component part manufacturer, such as Onan, Power Gear or HWH.

We also have experience in addressing the implications of an out of state delivery and how this may impact your rights under California and federal laws that protect you. Perhaps the selling dealer failed to mention this fact to you.

Recently bought a motor home? Please contact us to see how we may assist you with your motor home. You can reach us by filling out our contact form on the side bar or on the main page, as well as by telephone by calling (800) 466-5366.

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