Ford Fiesta, Focus transmission lawsuit reaches multimillion dollar settlement
The saga of Ford's jerky, shuddering transmissions appears to be reaching closure.
Ford Focus and Fiesta owners have had many days in court, but finally, it appears a long-running class-action lawsuit will wrap up.
According to court documents filed this past Friday, first spotted by the Detroit Free Press, the Blue Oval has agreed to settle a lawsuit surrounding an allegedly faulty transmission found in the 2011-2016 Fiesta and 2012-2016 Focus. The dual-clutch transmission, named DPS6, has for years been the focal point of consumer complaints.
The lawsuit, filed in 2012, alleged that Ford lied about the problems in the cars and continued to sell them to buyers, allegedly blaming them for the transmission issue. Last July, Ford documents showed the company indeed knew of the DPS6 transmission's defects, but continued selling the Focus and Fiesta with the component.
Payday for owners will include a $30 million guarantee from Ford. The sum is in addition to an ongoing buyback program, on which Ford has spent nearly $47.5 million so far. Reimbursement from the $30 million fund will go to owners who've received multiple failed transmission repairs within five years or 60,000 miles of owning their Focus or Fiesta. Specifically, owners who've scheduled three or more service visits for transmission hardware issues or owners with three or more software updates will be eligible for cash payments.
Ford will also streamline the mentioned buyback program and it will be easier for those who leased an affected Fiesta or Focus to be compensated. The automaker also previously boosted warranty coverage for Focus and Fiesta models built before 2013 to seven years or 100,000 miles. Following a Detroit Free Press report on the matter last year, Ford expanded the coverage to 2014-2016 Focuses and 2014-2015 Fiestas.
The settlement still awaits approval by the court, which is scheduled for Feb. 28. Ford did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
