Lawsuit alleges hybrid Escape, Maverick and Lincoln Corsair are prone to spontaneous fire
Six Ford customers allege "a dangerous defect" has led to spontaneous explosive fires in certain hybrid vehicles built by Ford Motor Co. and puts thousands more vehicles at risk, according to a 124-page lawsuit filed this week by Seattle-based consumer law firm Hagens Berman.
The lawsuit, filed Tuesday in Detroit at the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan, seeks class-action status and alleges that Ford’s recall “fix” for the defect failed to address the issue and caused additional performance problems in at least 125,322 vehicles, including certain models of the 2020-23 Ford Escape Hybrid, 2022-23 Ford Maverick Hybrid and 2021-23 Lincoln Corsair Hybrid, "equipped with engines that were prone to 'blowing' and causing spontaneous fires."
These vehicles have a 2.5L hybrid electric vehicle engine or a plug-in hybrid electric vehicle engine.
The plaintiffs allege the vehicle engines are prone to seizing, which shatters the connecting rods and bearings, propelling them through the engine block itself or the oil pan.
This is what is referred to as a “blown engine,” which can lead to the engine stalling, cause highly flammable liquids and vapors to escape, and result in sudden and explosive under-hood fires.
No known deaths or burn injuries have been reported involving this situation, according to a May 23 letter from Ford to safety regulators. The lawsuit says 23 such fires were known before Ford's recall.
The plaintiffs are Todd Nishon, of San Diego; James Capps, of Kingman, Arizona; Joseph Vaillancourt, of Phoenix; Harry Hillburg, of St. Louis; Raymond Dyne III, of Omaha, Nebraska, and William Simmons, of Janesville, Wisconsin.
James Capps: Smoke billowing
Capps purchased a 2021 Ford Escape Hybrid in February 2021, in Kingman, Arizona. He purchased the vehicle as his primary auto, and the lawsuit says at no point did the dealership disclose the vehicle had a stall/fire risk.
"On April 5, 2022, (Capps) and his wife were driving to Mesquite, Nevada, from Kingman, Arizona. They were about 40 miles north of Kingman, around 12:30 p.m." at an intersection when they noticed the vehicle wasn't driving properly, the lawsuit says. White smoke began billowing from under the car and Capps immediately turned around to pull off the road.
The car gave the message “zero oil pressure” and “engine shut down.” The vehicle rolled into a pull-off and it was turned off, the lawsuit says. Another vehicle pulled in and a person yelled at Capps and his wife to get out of the vehicle because it was on fire.
The vehicle was consumed by the fire within about 15 minutes, said the lawsuit, which included a photo.
Todd Nishon: 'Exploded into flames'
Nishon purchased a 2021 Escape Titanium Hybrid in November 2021. He received a call around September 2022 about needing a recall repair. While getting an oil change, Nishon asked the dealer to fix the recall problem.
"The dealership declined to complete the recall repair," the lawsuit says, because the dealership said it had only one employee trained to do the work and that employee was only available on certain workdays. "The dealership declined to schedule a day for (Nishon) to have the recall completed."
Then, about a month later, the engine compartment in Nishon's Ford Escape hybrid "exploded into flames," the lawsuit says, providing photos to illustrate the severity of the issue.
William Simmons: Ghosted by the repair shop
Simmons, who owns a 2022 Lincoln Corsair Hybrid, has struggled to get his car fixed with no luck, the lawsuit says.
He received a recall notice around June 2023, concerning risk of engine failure and under-hood fire. He contacted his dealer to inquire about the recall fix and was repeatedly told that it was not available, the lawsuit says. Later, the dealership told Simmons that the recall repair was no longer available and Ford was working on a new repair that was not yet available.
Had he been aware of the spontaneous stall/fire risk, Simmons would not have purchased the vehicle or would have paid less, a position maintained by other customers named in the lawsuit.
Raymond Dyne III: No parts available
Dyne, who owns a 2022 Maverick, attempted to schedule a recall repair when he was notified of the problem. The dealer repeatedly said no parts were available to do the fix. But several months later, Dyne read that no new parts were needed to do the fix. Ford corporate intervened to help with the dealership.
When the Maverick was at the dealership in mid-March, Dyne was not provided a loaner vehicle. He had to take an Uber home and then back to the dealership to pick up his car. He remains concerned about the spontaneous fire risk because he often drives with children.
Ford responds
Ford spokeswoman Maria Buczkowski provided a statement to the Detroit Free Press on Wednesday in response to the lawsuit filed a day earlier: "As we indicated in our submission to the federal regulator, we expected the initial repair to be effective, but continued to monitor the performance of the vehicles and reacted responsibly as facts developed. We’ve now learned that some customers continued to drive on the alternative hybrid electric system even after an engine block breach, and so we are notifying customers to park the vehicle if what’s known as a 'block breach' occurs. Our team is working earnestly to resolve the issue and meet the needs of our customers."
'Ticking time bombs'
However, Steve Berman, managing partner at Hagens Berman and lead lawyer in the case, said these Ford customers were lucky to survive the fires.
“Drivers are still reporting under-hood fires, and Ford itself has admitted that its supposed fix does nothing to mitigate the risk of catastrophic engine failure and fires," Berman said in a statement. "Assuming just 1% of vehicles with this engine are impacted by the defect, as Ford claims — and that may be an underestimate — that means there are over 1,250 ticking time bombs out there on the road today. People’s lives are at stake.”
Ford attempted to 'minimize' seriousness of issue
In a July 2022 recall, Ford admitted that engine manufacturing issues in the affected vehicles had caused certain vehicles to catch on fire.
In its recall, however, “Ford made no mention” of the risk of this defect causing engine components to be ejected through the block and oil pan, the lawsuit says.
The lawsuit claims “Ford has chosen its language to attempt to minimize the seriousness of the issue.”
Instead of doing anything to discover defective engines in the population of affected vehicles, the lawsuit says, Ford issued a “fix” that consisted of drilling holes in the under-engine shield and removing blinds from the active grille shutter to allow flammable vapors and liquids to spill onto the roadway. This “fix” left vehicle engines “just as likely to blow up and eject parts and flammable fluids and vapors … as they were before," the lawsuit says.
'Leaking flammable liquids'
The Ford remedy also creates new safety and environmental risks, such as leaking flammable fluids onto roadways and owners’ garages and driveways, the lawsuit says. The vehicle modification meant to address the recall ends up leaving owners with active grille shutters that are partially disassembled and no longer work as intended, and engine floor shields that are drilled full of holes and may no longer provide the wear protection and aerodynamics they were designed to achieve, the lawsuit says.
“Rather than do the right thing and globally offer every consumer a buy back of their Stall/Fire Risk Vehicle at a fair price — the Blue Book value on the day before the recall was announced — or at least offer to provide a comparable loaner, Ford has done nothing of the sort," the lawsuit says.
Hagens Berman initially filed the lawsuit against Ford and Lincoln regarding this defect in August 2022. The court granted Ford’s motion to dismiss the lawsuit on the grounds that the automaker had issued a recall and proposed fix for the defect, rendering owners’ complaints moot. But Ford has since admitted its recall did not work, according to the lawsuit.
'Ford seems content ... to save $60 million'
There are four fire-related recalls for the 2021 Escape Hybrid alone: March 25, 2022, for an engine oil leak; July 7, 2022, for an engine compartment fire risk; Nov. 18, 2022, for a cracked fuel injector that may leak; and May 26, 2023, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) website. The fire-related recalls in July and May apply to all three hybrid vehicles mentioned in the new lawsuit.
“Ford seems content to let its customers experience blown engines in order to save $60 million in costs to actually inspect, locate and replace the engines before they fail,” said Berman.
Advising vehicle owners to "park and shut off the engine as quickly as possible if they hear unexpected engine noises, notice a reduction in vehicle power, or see smoke" is unacceptable, the lawsuit says.
On May 26, Ford submitted a report that specified there are 86,656 Ford Escape Hybrid (HEV) and Plug-in Hybrid (PHEV) vehicles, 35,501 Maverick Hybrid vehicles, and 3,165 Corsair Hybrid vehicles subject to the 2023 Expanded Recall.
It also suggests manufacturing defects in the engine itself are causing internal explosion that cause engine components called connecting rods to break and be ejected through the engine block or oil pan with tremendous force, the lawsuit alleges. Ford has submitted a series of documents and explanations with federal safety regulators monitoring the issue. The automaker includes detail about engine manufacturing issues related to “crankshaft machining/finishing operations” and “contamination introduced during engine assembly” resulting in “engine failures resulting from a worn crankshaft bearing," according to Ford documents submitted to NHTSA.
'Engine or fuel vapor ... may ignite'
In June, Ford sent letters to owners warning them of the dangerous defect.
One letter, cited in the lawsuit, said, "The engine could fail prematurely. In the event of an engine failure, significant quantities of engine oil and/or fuel vapor may be released into the under hood environment and may migrate to and/or accumulate near ignition sources ... Engine oil and/or fuel vapor that accumulates near a combustible source may ignite, increasing the risk of a fire."
The letter ends with, "When parts become available, Lincoln will notify you via mail to schedule a service appointment."
More: Ford Expedition fire destroys Ohio home as panicked mom escapes with baby, dogs
More: 2020-23 Bronco Sport, Escape recalled again for fire risk and injuries
The law firm has a history of winning against automakers, including the case against Volkswagen for its “Dieselgate” emissions scandal, and it served as co-lead counsel in a case against Hyundai and Kia regarding the Theta II GDI engine, which was prone to spontaneous, non-collision fires. Hagens Berman has sued Ford previously.
Recalls and warranties cost money, as do lawsuits
Ford recalls and warranty repairs have plagued the Dearborn automaker, which spends billions more on these costs than its competitors. Ford CEO Jim Farley has brought in quality review specialists and increased quality check protocols on the all-new Super Duty. Shareholders asked about improving vehicle quality during the annual meeting in May.
Contact Phoebe Wall Howard: 313-618-1034 or phoward@freepress.com. Follow her on Twitter @phoebesaid.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Lawsuit against Ford claims 3 hybrid vehicles are prone to fire
