— Ford has filed a motion to dismiss an F-150 Coyote engine class action lawsuit that alleges 2018-2020 Ford F-150 trucks consume excessive amounts of oil.
According to the Coyote engine lawsuit, the F-150 trucks use oil at excessive rates because the “piston ring assembly and cylinder coating in the Class Vehicles are defective,” and “permit[s] engine oil to seep into the combustion chamber of the engine” instead of “preventing oil from by-passing the rings.”
Ford allegedly concealed defects in the 5-liter Coyote engine which has an oil capacity of 8.8 quarts. A truck is also equipped with an Intelligent Oil-Life Monitor that determines when the oil should be changed based on how the truck is used.
Dealerships for Ford supposedly fail to properly repair the F-150 trucks that have lost their values due to oil consumption problems. Dealers also allegedly refuse to repair the trucks for free.
Motion to Dismiss the Ford F-150 Coyote Engine Lawsuit
Ford describes the details of admitted oil consumption problems in F-150 trucks by saying Ford sets a “minimum criterion for oil consumption for average retail customers based on laboratory/customer correlation” of 10,000 miles per quart (MPQ). Ford says the 10,000 MPQ consumption rate is calculated using “engine laboratory oil consumption … mapped to public road vehicle operating conditions.”
According to Ford, the 10,000 MPQ standard is not based on real-world driving behavior and is used only for internal benchmarking. Ford expects a “[n]ormal variability range from 10,000 miles per quart” and “Ford does not quantify expected oil consumption in the Owner’s Manual or other customer information.”
Ford says by October 2018, about a year after launching the 2018 F-150, Ford saw a trend of oil consumption warranty claims, but engineers couldn't find the root cause.
However, the automaker found oil consumption complaints were associated with F-150 trucks produced in February 2018, "when a running change was made to the engine’s valve stem seals (a cylinder head component unrelated to the piston assembly)."
Ford argues it found the root cause of F-150 oil consumption problems in 2019 and retained a German company called Lubrisense. A team of European engineers found the fuel-saving deceleration fuel shutoff (DFSO) was contributing to excessive oil consumption.
"During DFSO, the engine experiences a strong vacuum, which can lead to an excessive amount of oil being sucked past the piston’s ring and into the combustion chamber, where it is burned." — Ford
Ford created new software that allegedly fixed the F-150 oil consumption problems and issued technical service bulletin (TSB) 19-2365 months later in December 2019. The TSB provided a new powertrain control module calibration that allegedly “reduce[d] engine vacuum during some DFSO events,” supposedly followed by a large decrease in oil consumption-related warranty repairs after the TSB’s release.
According to Ford, the F-150 Coyote engine lawsuit should be thrown out because the plaintiffs do not have evidence to support their claims. Ford says the customers received free repairs whenever they reported any oil consumption problems within Ford’s F-150 warranty time/mileage limits. Ford also argues the plaintiffs have no evidence to show they ever paid for any such repair during the warranty period.
The motion to dismiss alleges the damages sought by the plaintiffs, which include “benefit of the bargain”/ “diminished value” damages, don't hold up because of a lack of evidence.
"Such damages are measured 'by the lesser of (1) the cost of repair, or (2) the difference between the fair market value of the vehicle as warranted and the fair market value of the vehicle as sold, reduced according to Plaintiffs’ ability to mitigate or avoid damages.'”
Ford says this means the plaintiffs have no viable claims for problems that were, or could have been, repaired for free.
Ford also argues warranties cover only manufacturing defects, but the plaintiffs allege design defects not covered by the warranties.
Ford further argues there is no evidence it knew of any Coyote engine oil consumption problems before the plaintiffs bought their trucks. Ford says the plaintiffs claim to have experienced problems with their trucks, but those problems allegedly vary.
Ford contends one plaintiff's truck did not excessively consume oil, while another plaintiff says their F-150 made noise. According to Ford, information about different problems or random reports of similar problems are not enough. Ford says "evidence must show occurrences of the issue were frequent enough that they were not lost in [the] sea of complaints and repairs amassing by the dozens each day."
Four plaintiffs purchased their F-150 trucks before the Lubrisence testing was completed in August 2019, so they allegedly cannot prove Ford’s presale knowledge.
According to Ford, the judge should dismiss all fraud and omission claims.
The Ford F-150 oil consumption lawsuit was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan: Lyman, et al., v. Ford Motor Company.
The plaintiffs are represented by the Miller Law Firm, P.C., Sauder Schelkopf, Handley Farah & Anderson PLLC, and Baron & Herskowitz.