A Ford cutaway class action lawsuit has been dismissed after the Illinois plaintiffs failed to adequately allege their claims, according to a report by CarComplaints.com.
The Ford class action includes RV owners who “purchased or leased in the State of Illinois a completed motor home vehicle utilizing a Ford E-Series Cutaway [from] 2018” onward.
Plaintiffs Ricardo and Marleinet Gurrola purchased a recreational vehicle from an Illinois RV dealer in March 2022. According to the lawsuit, the RV was built on a Ford chassis known as a Cutaway. A chassis is the skeletal framework of a vehicle with a load-bearing frame that provides the backbone for everything else.
Specifically, the plaintiffs purchased an RV built on a 2022 Ford E-450 Dual-Rear Wheel Cutaway, or what is known as an “incomplete vehicle.”
“An ‘incomplete vehicle’ is an ‘assemblage consisting, at a minimum, of chassis (including the frame) structure, power train, steering system, suspension system, and braking system, in the state that those systems are to be part of the completed vehicle, but requires further manufacturing operations to become a completed vehicle.’” —Description according to U.S. federal regulations.
Once Ford builds an E-Series Cutaway, the automaker sells it to a final-stage manufacturer which turns it into a “completed” vehicle. Third-party manufacturers build a vehicle body on top of the Cutaway frame to make finished RVs, dump trucks, ambulances, etc.
When Ford delivers a Cutaway to a final-stage manufacturer, it must include the frame’s “gross vehicle weight rating,” which goes by the acronym GVWR. The GVWR is the maximum weight a vehicle can safely handle, but a final-stage manufacturer cannot alter the suspension without voiding Ford’s warranty to the end customer.
After a few thousands miles of travel, the plaintiffs noticed the RV was constantly pulling to one side, so they took it to a Ford dealer because the warranty required service at a Ford dealership. The dealer determined the wheel alignment was not correct, but the Ford dealer said it couldn’t adjust the alignment because it would require aftermarket parts, meaning replacement parts not made by Ford.
However, installing aftermarket parts would void the Ford warranty.
