According to the complaint for this class action, Eric Senkyrik’s Ford Focus began shuddering and hesitating at acceleration when it was about three and a half years old. Although he has taken it to the dealership twice, the vehicle still hesitates and shudders because, the complaint alleges, the technician says the shuddering is “within factory specification.” The complaint alleges that certain Ford Focus and Fiesta vehicles come with DPS6 dual clutch transmissions, called Powershift Transmissions, that are defective.
The Nationwide Class for this action is all persons and entities in the US who bought or leased a 2017-2019 Ford Fiesta or a 2017-2018 Ford Focus equipped with a DPS6 dual clutch transmission. Tennessee, Florida, Texas, and Nebraska Subclasses have also been proposed for those who bought or leased any of the above vehicles in those states.
Senkyrik is only one of the four plaintiffs in this case who the complaint alleges are having difficulties with the Powershift Transmissions in their vehicles. The Powershift Transmissions, the complaint claims, are meant to combine the benefits of automatic and manual transmissions, offering convenience along with fuel efficiency and shift speed. However, the complaint alleges that these particular transmissions have had repeated problems and safety concerns.
The complaint alleges that the Powershift Transmissions have a defect that causes, among other things, “transmission slips, bucking, kicking, jerking, harsh engagement, premature internal wear, sudden acceleration, delay in downshifts, delayed acceleration, difficulty stopping the vehicle, and eventually catastrophic transmission failure…”
According to the complaint, these problems stem from problems with “the transmission’s ‘dry’ clutches system which cause clutches to overheat and fail, as well as damage to other transmission components.” They may be aggravated, the complaint claims, by improper programming of the transmission control module (TCM) and may also result from “manufacturing defects with other components within the Powershift Transmission…”
While Ford has issued technical service bulletins (TSBs) on the problem, it has never made customers aware of it, the complaint says. It points to the settlement of a previous lawsuit concerning the same problem in 2012-2016 Focus and Fiesta vehicles and to an article in the Detroit Free Press entitled, “Ford workers break their silence on faulty transmissions: ‘Everybody knew’,” in December 2019.
The complaint alleges that “the Powershift Transmission [has] had serious problems since its early development that Ford simply was unable to fix” and that it “was a new technology to Ford that Ford rushed to the market without disclosing the problems described above…”
The defective transmissions, the complaint alleges, can cause the vehicles to suffer problems such as “suddenly lurching forward, delayed acceleration, and sudden loss of forward propulsion” which make the vehicles unsafe because “they severely affect the driver’s ability to control the car’s speed, acceleration, and deceleration.”
Article Type: LawsuitTopic: Automobile
Most Recent Case Event
Ford Focus, Fiesta Defective Powershift Transmissions Complaint
June 17, 2022
According to the complaint for this class action, Eric Senkyrik’s Ford Focus began shuddering and hesitating at acceleration when it was about three and a half years old. Although he has taken it to the dealership twice, the vehicle still hesitates and shudders because, the complaint alleges, the technician says the shuddering is “within factory specification.” The complaint alleges that certain Ford Focus and Fiesta vehicles come with DPS6 dual clutch transmissions, called Powershift Transmissions, that are defective.
Ford Focus, Fiesta Defective Powershift Transmissions ComplaintCase Event History
Ford Focus, Fiesta Defective Powershift Transmissions Complaint
June 17, 2022
According to the complaint for this class action, Eric Senkyrik’s Ford Focus began shuddering and hesitating at acceleration when it was about three and a half years old. Although he has taken it to the dealership twice, the vehicle still hesitates and shudders because, the complaint alleges, the technician says the shuddering is “within factory specification.” The complaint alleges that certain Ford Focus and Fiesta vehicles come with DPS6 dual clutch transmissions, called Powershift Transmissions, that are defective.
Ford Focus, Fiesta Defective Powershift Transmissions Complaint