When Ford officially confirmed that it was conducting an internal investigation over possibly misstating fuel economy on the new Ranger and possibly misstating emissions, many expected suits to follow. The DOJ announced it was conducting an investigation and Ford said at the time that it was not under investigation for using defeat devices. This week, a law firm with a former Lousiana state attorney general announced it was filing a suit against Ford over the fuel economy issue.
Another law firm, Hagens Berman, has now announced that it has filed a class-action lawsuit on behalf of consumers against Ford. The Ford suit alleges that Ford knowingly installed a mileage cheat device and misrepresented fuel economy ratings on the 2019 Ford Ranger truck. The law firm also alleges that a cheat device is installed in F-150 series trucks and possibly all other Ford vehicles.
The law firm has given no indication of where it might have come by any evidence that Ford is using cheat devices. The complaint for the class-action Ford suit was filed on May 6, 2019, in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan. The lawsuit accuses Ford of deceiving consumers with false claims regarding the 2019 Ranger mid-size truck.
Ford marketed the Ranger as the “All-New Ford Ranger Rated Most Fuel Efficient Gas-Powered Midsize Pickup in America.” The firm is calling for all Ford Ranger owners to join the class-action Ford suit. The law firm claims that Ford employees questioned the fuel economy calculations and that the automaker chose to ignore their warnings.
The certification testing cheating focuses on “Coast Down” testing and “Road Load” calculations. Ford had stated early on that it had hired a third-party company to test Coast Down independently in its own investigation. While Ford has said nothing about the F-150 pickup, the suit alleges that the truck has failed to measure up to its advertised mileage and could be included in the lawsuit.
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Source: Hagens Berman
Comments
I think it is time to rethink the EPA MPG fiasco. Even though EPA has revised the test procedures to try to get to real world numbers there is just too much room for interpretation by everyone. For one, the auto manufactures must be stopped from advertising the EPA numbers in their ads including the cost per year and carbon foot print. These figures should only reference the EPA web site for the official numbers and nothing more.
Buying a vehicle is more than MPG and now with EV about to really slam the landscape, more law suits will follow. What does 100 mpg really mean in electrics and KW rating means nothing to the non geeks. And a 240mile range for EV’s worse than the original EPA calculation during the 1970’s. I wouldn’t be surprise if new type of numbers come out for EV’s such as impact on the waste stream and its toxicity to the environment as EV’s will eventually need to go to the recycling yard and some parts will not be able to be recycled.
I pretty much disagree with all that-
My 2017 F150 FX4 4×4 5.0L crew cab gets 18.4 MPG when running 87 octane driving easy city & highway. I am real happy with the MPG.
My 2019 F 150 3.5 Eco gets exactly what sticker says at 23mpg Hwy and maybe a touch more right from the get go.. Maybe it will do even better once it gets some miles on. Tested it on a hwy trip and it performed great.
This gas used was regular. And yes I don’t drive like I stole it at correct mph
I think it’s time that people accept the fact that if you buy a truck, you’re not going to get the same fuel economy as a Prius. You bought a truck because it’s a truck and honestly people are so stuck on this idea of fuel sipping 4-cylinder engines and all of that stuff, they fail to realize that four cylinder engines are probably the most inefficient engines out there along with hybrid engines. People have honestly overlooked the fact that when it comes to reliability, simplicity is your best friend and there is nothing simpler than a pushrod V8 engine and no one knows this more the General Motors. From the 1950’s until today, GM is still using their tried and true pushrod V8 engine and it works phenomenally. Even the 4.3L Pushrod V6 is an example of a tried and true design that actually works. Even Dodge is using a pushrod design in their cars and guess what, the design works. GM has spent a lot of time developing ways to make the pushrod V8 engine work. Active fuel management systems and several other things give their trucks and their V8 sports cars phenomenal gas mileage considering their power levels. Something Ford should truly take notice of.
My 2018 F150 XLT with the 3.5 Ecoboost and 3:55 gears exceeds the mileage rating every tank. It’s understood that every car or truck being sold may or may not meet the EPA mileage rating, too many variables! The number should be used as a loose indicator and used only when comparing one vehicle to another, nothing more. YMMV.
My previous 3.5 F150 also did exceed Ford window sticker with reg Shell gas. I also periodically use a can of Seafoam in about a quarter of tank of gas to empty and only fill withe Shell exclusively. My new truck has not had a chance to get the” Seafoam reset” I don’t think people believe me i can exceed. I am expecting that same performance again with 2019
Quit solving every issue with law suits that only enrich lawyers. We all pay for this in increased cost of all products.
A turbo engine will respond with much better MPG ratings when mid grade 89 octane gas is used, compared to a non-turbo engine. It’s in Ford’s interest to promote that fact. It’s actually cheaper to use the more expensive grade of gas, because the fuel economy jumps up significantly compared to the regular grade, especially during hot summer weather. By the way, to avoid legal problems, all low grade gas rated at 87 octane actually is made to be 87.5 octane so the refiners don’t get in trouble with the government. The same applies to the mid grade 89 octane fuel, it’s actually 89.5. Premium gas has the same spread of an extra half a point in the 91 octane to be 91.5. E85 gas just approved in June by the EPA, will also improve both power and better fuel economy than normal gasoline which has a 10 percent ethanol content because it’s basically E-10. GM tests all engines with synthetic oil and that allows an extra 5 percent better fuel economy in hot weather, compared to normal petroleum based engine oil. Ford could solve the issue by requiring the owners to use only semi-synthetic oil or full synthetic oil in all it’s cars and trucks. A semi-synthetic oil will increase MPG by 3 percent based on standard tests. That means an engine rated at 25 MPG for highway driving, will gain 3/4 of a MPG if only semi-synthetic engine oil is used. If the MPG rating is 30 MPG on highway driving, when a semi-synthetic oil is used, a gain of 9/10 of a MPG will be seen. Another solution is for Ford to require only a 0W30 semi-synthetic oil is used instead of 10W30 petroleum based oil, as many drivers are old school and don’t follow the factory recommended oil. There is a very significant cooling affect on the engine water temp when using a semi or full synthetic oil. It also means the air conditioner does not have to work as hard as the underhood temps are lower with either a semi or full synthetic oil. Trust me on this, my fleet vehicles have gone over 40 million km or 25 million miles using either semi-synthetic Shell test oil or full synthetic.