400 lodge class lawsuit against Ford

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Nereus
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400 lodge class lawsuit against Ford

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400 lodge class lawsuit against Ford

http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/general ... ainst-ford

More than 400 people filed a class action suit Monday against Ford Motor Company (Thailand) and its three sister firms over alleged defects in Fiesta and Focus car models they purchased.

Kriangkrai Nakhawaree, a lawyer representing the car owners, said his clients want the company to buy back the defective cars at full price and pay them a combined total of 24.7 million baht in compensation for having sold them sub-standard vehicles.

About 50 of the car owners went to the South Bangkok Civil Court Monday to submit the lawsuit.

The three other companies named in the suit are Ford Sales & Service (Thailand) Co, Ford Operations (Thailand) Co, Ford Services (Thailand) Co.

The Ford customers said all the firms are responsible for the alleged defects, which they said affected vehicle safety.
The court accepted the suit and scheduled the first hearing for July 3.

One of the plaintiffs, Korbsak Numnoi, said he and the other owners decided to bring the class action after the cars developed problems, including engine fires, a defective transmission system, and the engine generally overheating.

Other problems included rapid deterioration and breakages of components such as the steering wheel, fan belt, shock absorbers, and doors Mr Korbsak added.

Over the past three years, they have tried in vain to obtain help from state agencies and decided to take the case to court after the company repeatedly turned down requests for talks on their grievances, Mr Korsak said.
The class action suit might be a faster way of getting compensation, he added.

Narong Sritalayon, managing director of Ford Motor Company (Thailand), said the company would buy back cars only if the Office of the Consumer Protection Board orders it to do so.

He said the plaintiffs' demand to buy back the cars at 80% of the full price or more was unreasonable.

Thirty-four of the allegedly defective cars had been used for more than four years while 20 others have clocked up more than 80,000 kilometres, he said.

"We're still open to buy-back negotiations, on a case-by-case basis," he said.
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Re: 400 lodge class lawsuit against Ford

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Good luck to them. Having owned a Ford in Thailand from new (1994 Escort/Orion, bought at the motor show) I emphatisize with them.
Ford Sales is basically the spare parts division; the dealerships depend on them for support. However, they are not open on Saturdays, when a lot of dealerships need the support. They also will not entertain genuine grieviences, as was the case when my fuse box circuitry got fried but the fuses were still intact. Cost of a new one was more than 7,000 baht.
At the time, having access to industrial x-ray equipment, I did a couple of x-rays and found a link on the circuit board had blown. I sent this in to Ford but nothing ever happened.

They can be decent motors, but there is no support here and I would strongly discourage anyone from buying one.. BB, you were warned at the time
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Re: 400 lodge class lawsuit against Ford

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VincentD wrote: Tue Apr 04, 2017 7:12 pm They can be decent motors, but there is no support here and I would strongly discourage anyone from buying one.. BB, you were warned at the time
Actually, I had a few ups and downs with Ford initially (too many for comfort). A turbo problem dragged on for a long time. However, I wasn't the only one complaining, and Ford eventually brought in a new management team who sorted the Hua Hin Branch out. I've not had a single problem with the local Ford dealership for a couple of years now.
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Re: 400 lodge class lawsuit against Ford

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Haven't checked recently, but about a year and a half ago, a friend bought a new Focus. This had those HID lights, and within three months of purchase, malfunctioned. Cost of replacement around 10,000 baht, but no spares so replacement was 'borrowed' from another one in the workshop at the time.. The plastic window trim also fell off..

As Saab does not manufacture any more, I'm going Japanese..
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Re: 400 lodge class lawsuit against Ford

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Nereus wrote: Tue Apr 04, 2017 3:49 pm 400 lodge class lawsuit against Ford

http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/general ... ainst-ford

More than 400 people filed a class action suit Monday against Ford Motor Company (Thailand) and its three sister firms over alleged defects in Fiesta and Focus car models they purchased.

Kriangkrai Nakhawaree, a lawyer representing the car owners, said his clients want the company to buy back the defective cars at full price and pay them a combined total of 24.7 million baht in compensation for having sold them sub-standard vehicles.

About 50 of the car owners went to the South Bangkok Civil Court Monday to submit the lawsuit.

The three other companies named in the suit are Ford Sales & Service (Thailand) Co, Ford Operations (Thailand) Co, Ford Services (Thailand) Co.

The Ford customers said all the firms are responsible for the alleged defects, which they said affected vehicle safety.
The court accepted the suit and scheduled the first hearing for July 3.
It will be worth watching how the plaintiffs fare in this class action and likewise how their legal representation performs in taking onan organisation the size of Ford (Thailand). Class actions are a relatively new legal process in Thailand having come into effect on the 4th December 2015. It has the potential to improve the Corporate landscape generally and may prove an effective tool for groups of individuals to tackle such issues as mismanaged property developments.


Tilleke & Gibbins
April 20, 2015
The National Legislative Assembly has passed a bill amending the Civil Procedure Code to allow class action legal proceedings in Thailand. Class action lawsuits were not previously available in Thai proceedings, so this marks a notable development in the country’s court system. The Thai class action legislation contains basic similarities to class actions in jurisdictions such as the United States, albeit with significant differences in both substance and procedure.

The bill has received royal endorsement and will become effective in December 2015 (240 days after publication in the Royal Gazette dated April 8, 2015). The amended provisions provide for the following:-
Cases involving a group of persons who have the same interests and rights related to tort, breach of contract, and other laws including environment, consumer protection, labor, securities and stock exchange, and trade competition can petition to be filed as class actions by a plaintiff, which is a class member, together with the complaint.
The Court has the power to allow, define the scope or characteristics of a class, inquire into, and terminate a class action.
Class members may opt-out of the class action and pursue individual claims.
A judgment binds all parties and members of the group. A plaintiff (or attorney) has the power to proceed with execution of the judgment on behalf of all members of the group.
Defendants may be held liable for plaintiffs’ attorneys fee awards not exceeding 30% of the judgment amount. Historically, the lawyers' fees assessed by Thai courts have been very low.
The new class action law attempts to increase judicial efficiency by aggregating a large number of individualized claims into one lawsuit where judgments will be binding on all class members. However, it also opens up opportunities to aggregate small claims that would otherwise not be cost effective to litigate.

http://www.tilleke.com/resources/class- ... e-thailand
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Re: 400 lodge class lawsuit against Ford

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As Saab does not manufacture any more, I'm going Japanese..
Good choice, we drove the same two vehicles for ten years over there with no problems whatsoever. Mine was a Honda CRV and the missus drove a Honda Civic. All I did in ten years was the normal routine maintenance. They were both great. Pranburi Honda was much better for that routine service than Hua Hin Honda, btw. I liked my CRV experience so much that I bought a newer model one when I came back to the U.S. and same story, two and a half years now and only maintenance expense so far has been oil changes.
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Re: 400 lodge class lawsuit against Ford

Post by VincentD »

HHF... Having used two VW beetles (1973 was the newest) and a Fiat 750 Abarth circa 70's with those suicide doors, finally got to drive a Datsun Bluebird 1600 (last of the rwd models) from new. That was a revelation in that Japanese cars were not bad at all.
When I got to Thailand I bought a mitsu Champ 1500 because the dealership was at the end of my lane and I needed transport for my newborn. I could not wait to sell this off.. Got a Ford Escort, then a Saab 900 turbo, before finally getting a Nissan 4wd suv.
The experience with Ford was a major PIA and I hope no one has to go through what I did. BB included. I'm happy with the suv and service but be careful as not all the service centers are created equal..
I hope they get from Ford what they are going for as I did not. Big corporations can afford to ignore the individual so I am rooting for them as I did not get satisfaction in my case and decided not to ever buy another Ford. A salesperson I met on a river cruise did admit to the problems re poor sales and service support..
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