A federal court has declined to certify a proposed class of Ford Focus drivers who allege a suspension defect in their cars. Daniel v. Ford Motor Co., No. 2:11-02890 (E.D. Cal. 6/17/13).

Plaintiffs generally alleged that the 2005 to 2011 Ford Focus vehicles had a rear suspension “alignment/geometry defect” which leads to premature tire wear, which in turn leads to safety hazards such as decreased control in handling, steering, and stability. Plaintiffs sought to certify a class consisting of “[a]ll individuals who purchased or leased any 2005 through 2011 Ford Focus vehicle in
California and who currently reside in the United States.”

Before certifying a class, the trial court recognized it must conduct a “rigorous analysis” to determine whether the party seeking certification has met the prerequisites of Rule 23. See Mazza v. Am. Honda Motor Co., Inc., 666 F.3d 581, 588 (9th Cir.2012) (quoting Zinser v. Accufix Res. Inst., Inc., 253 F.3d 1180, 1186, amended by 273 F.3d 1266 (9th Cir. 2001)).

After motion practice, plaintiffs were left with warranty claims. Predominance was the key issue, and let’s focus on the causation element — the need for plaintiffs to show that the breach of warranty caused their alleged injury.

The court noted that when a warranty requires that a claimant show that something like tire wear (a condition caused by many things) is caused by a defect in the vehicles, the claims for breach of that warranty do not easily satisfy the Rule 23(b)(3) predominance test.  A determination whether the defective  alignment caused a given class member’s tires to wear prematurely would require proof specific to that individual class member.  Tires deteriorate at different rates depending on where and how they are driven; so, whether a set of tires wore out prematurely, and as a result of the alleged alignment defect, are individual causation/injury issues that make class-wide adjudication inappropriate.

While named plaintiff presented evidence that her rear tires experienced the type of tire wear allegedly associated with the alleged suspension defect, even her experts admitted that driving habits, failure to properly maintain the vehicle, and other actions by a vehicle’s owner can cause or contribute to premature tire wear.  Resolving whether the alleged suspension defect caused the tire wear in the named class representative’s vehicle would not resolve the same question for other class members who might have experienced different types of tire wear caused by different factors.

Therefore, concluded the court, whether the alleged suspension defect caused the proposed class members’ injuries was not a common question. Given the centrality of the causation issue, individual questions would predominate over questions allegedly common to the class; the court denied plaintiffs’ motion for class certification under Rule 23(b)(3).