Ah, unintended acceleration. It's the herpes of the automotive world, something that just never seems to go away. Never mind the fact that it's often caused by drivers mixing up their pedals — it's something that scares the crap out of car buyers and has huge financial consequences for carmakers. It nearly put Audi out of business in the U.S., it gave Toyota the biggest black eye they've ever had, and now it looks like it's Ford's turn to share some of that pain.
Bloomberg reports that a class-action federal lawsuit was filed in a West Virginia court yesterday on behalf of Ford customers in 14 states. The suit alleges that Ford’s electronic throttle system can override the accelerator and cause some less-than-consensual speed, according to the story.
But rather than seeking damages from injuries related to crashes, this lawsuit seeks compensation for loss of vehicle value, specifically on Fords built between 2002 and 2010 when a brake override system was added. It claims that Ford knew about this defect and hid it from customers.
This isn't Ford's first dance with unintended acceleration. Earlier this month the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration closed their investigation into unintended acceleration claims on the Freestyle, Five Hundred and Mercury Montego. Ford implemented some fixes that took care of that problem.
This, however, is about to be a matter for the courts, so we'll see how it pans out there — and if Ford will get taken to the cleaners like Toyota did.
Hey Ford owners, have you ever experienced this problem?