— A Porsche coolant leak lawsuit shouldn't be a class action but should be dismissed entirely, at least according to what Porsche says in a motion to dismiss the complaint.
The proposed class action includes 2011-2019 Porsche Cayennes and 2010-2016 Porsche Panameras equipped with V8 engines prone to leak coolant due to bad adhesive.
The plaintiffs claim the leaks occur when the coolant pipes separate from the thermostat housings because the adhesive on the connectors is allegedly defective.
Porsche is allegedly aware of coolant pipe problems because a previous class action lawsuit was settled for customers of 2003-2006 Cayennes.
According to the latest lawsuit, Cayenne and Panamera drivers complain about overheated and failed engines from the coolant suddenly leaking from the connectors. Drivers also allege they sometimes pay thousands of dollars for dealerships to replace the allegedly defective parts with the same faulty parts.
Porsche filed a motion to dismiss the suit by telling the judge the plaintiffs have no legal ground to stand on, including concerning how the plaintiffs acquired the vehicles. The automaker says both plaintiffs bought their cars used and not directly from Porsche, therefore the automaker says it played no role in the transactions.
Porsche also argues the plaintiffs wrongly blame the automaker for the alleged coolant leak problems that popped up many years after the vehicles were originally sold as new to other consumers.
In its motion, Porsche says the lawsuit "should be dismissed in its entirety and with prejudice," then the automaker goes down the line of claims filed by the plaintiffs and why those claims are baseless.
The plaintiffs argue the automaker violates Florida's Deceptive and Unfair Trade Practices Act (FDUTPA), but Porsche points out the lawsuit was filed in November 2018, more than four years after the plaintiffs purchased their used vehicles.
According to Porsche, there can't be violations of FDUTPA because the claims are time-barred and the plaintiffs allegedly haven't plausibly alleged the automaker committed deceptive or unfair acts. In addition, the automaker says the plaintiffs fail to plead that Porsche knew about coolant leak defects but failed to disclose those defects.
As for alleged implied warranty violations, Porsche says the plaintiffs didn't purchase the vehicles directly from the automaker, and one of the plaintiffs didn't provide pre-lawsuit notice to Porsche.
In their lawsuit, the plaintiffs want Porsche to admit their are defects and recall the vehicles, but the automaker says only the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration can do that. This allegedly means claims for declaratory and injunctive relief shouldn't even be heard as part of the lawsuit.
The Porsche coolant leak lawsuit was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida - Padilla, et al., v. Porsche Cars North America, Inc.
The plaintiffs are represented by Morgan & Morgan, Blood Hurst & O'Reardon, and Ray Boucher.
CarComplaints.com has owner-reported complaints about the Porsche Cayenne and the Porsche Panamera.