Spoke with an Attorney Firm

[HHGT]

I spoke to my attorney (well recognized law firm in Palo Alto) regarding the Half Shaft issue. They do quite a bit of letigation. One of the partners used to work for Mr/ DeTomasso directly and is somewhat familiar with the automotive industry. He gave me some interesting insight and cautioned me about posting a lot of info on the forum. I can however post the following;

1. Suing Ford and/or Ricardo for Fraud is an option we should consider.
2. Suing Ford and or Ricardo for Loss of Value is another consideration.
3. He would have to retain a Qualified Product Liability expert, which is neither cheap nor abundant.
4. Continuing to make a public issue may erode the vehicle's value.
5. If we do a synchronized Small Claims effort, it may backfire.
6. Focusing our efforts on a Recall is our best bet - for Now!
7. He is interested in taking on the case to conduct research, compile findings, obtain owner statements, conduct a discovery and retain a Product Liability expert.

He gave me an estimate for his fees, PM me for further details if you are interested in looking into this further.

 

[OCPETE]

RECALL arty

 

[ChipBeck]

No thanks.

Lawsuits literally drove me out of the car business. At the end of my 20 year career as a GM dealer I was spending nearly a thousand dollars a day on liability insurance and legal fees and we never had one single person injured or one single legitimate claim. I hate attorneys and the U.S. Civil Injustice System with a passon.:thumbsdow :thumbsdow :thumbsdow All the money went to bloodsucking worthless arrogant selfserving subhuman attorneys who didn't give a damn about their clients. I have a different program. I am going to spend $350.00 extra when the GT Guys work on my car to have them change the bolts and washers and safety wire everything. Ford Motor Company not only built me a great car, they spent a lot of money to show us a great time in Dearborn. Now they are fighting for the Company's life and they don't need a frivilous suit over some bolts that will only result in a couple of law firms making a bunch of money. To hell with that. I want nothing to do with attorneys or child molesters. I feel better now.

Chip

 

[B O N Y]

Lawsuits literally drove me out of the car business. At the end of my 20 year career as a GM dealer I was spending nearly a thousand dollars a day on liability insurance and legal fees and we never had one single person injured or one single legitimate claim. I hate attorneys and the U.S. Civil Injustice System with a passon.:thumbsdow :thumbsdow :thumbsdow All the money went to bloodsucking worthless arrogant selfserving subhuman attorneys who didn't give a damn about their clients. I have a different program. I am going to spend $350.00 extra when the GT Guys work on my car to have them change the bolts and washers and safety wire everything. Ford Motor Company not only built me a great car, they spent a lot of money to show us a great time in Dearborn. Now they are fighting for the Company's life and they don't need a frivilous suit over some bolts that will only result in a couple of law firms making a bunch of money. To hell with that. I want nothing to do with attorneys or child molesters. I feel better now.

Chip

Amen, if you feel like tossing out some money, send it to:
BOYS & GIRLS CLUBS OF FRESNO COUNTY
520 Augusta Ave.
Fresno, 93720

 

[HHGT]

Lawsuits literally drove me out of the car business. At the end of my 20 year career as a GM dealer I was spending nearly a thousand dollars a day on liability insurance and legal fees and we never had one single person injured or one single legitimate claim. I hate attorneys and the U.S. Civil Injustice System with a passon.:thumbsdow :thumbsdow :thumbsdow All the money went to bloodsucking worthless arrogant selfserving subhuman attorneys who didn't give a damn about their clients. I have a different program. I am going to spend $350.00 extra when the GT Guys work on my car to have them change the bolts and washers and safety wire everything. Ford Motor Company not only built me a great car, they spent a lot of money to show us a great time in Dearborn. Now they are fighting for the Company's life and they don't need a frivilous suit over some bolts that will only result in a couple of law firms making a bunch of money. To hell with that. I want nothing to do with attorneys or child molesters. I feel better now.

Chip

Can you please elaborate on the "frivilous suit" comment?

I am not an attorney, nor am I defending attorneys. In my humble opinion, the main reason Ford is loosing money is the F@#$%^& UNION. I dont believe in minimum wage let alone Union protectionism.

Successful companies make money because they create products that consumers buy, not because Lawyers represent them.

 

[HHGT]

Lawsuits literally drove me out of the car business. At the end of my 20 year career as a GM dealer I was spending nearly a thousand dollars a day on liability insurance and legal fees and we never had one single person injured or one single legitimate claim. I hate attorneys and the U.S. Civil Injustice System with a passon.:thumbsdow :thumbsdow :thumbsdow All the money went to bloodsucking worthless arrogant selfserving subhuman attorneys who didn't give a damn about their clients. I have a different program. I am going to spend $350.00 extra when the GT Guys work on my car to have them change the bolts and washers and safety wire everything. Ford Motor Company not only built me a great car, they spent a lot of money to show us a great time in Dearborn. Now they are fighting for the Company's life and they don't need a frivilous suit over some bolts that will only result in a couple of law firms making a bunch of money. To hell with that. I want nothing to do with attorneys or child molesters. I feel better now.

Chip

Can you please elaborate on the "frivilous suit" comment?

I am not an attorney, nor am I defending attorneys. In my humble opinion, the main reason Ford is loosing money is the F@#$%^& UNION. I dont believe in minimum wage let alone Union protectionism.

Successful companies make money because they create products that consumers buy, not because Lawyers represent them.

 

[ladams1]

Lawyers

I hate lawyers also. Truth nor their client matter only billable hours. They have ruined a wonderful proffession. They have also destroyed alot of jobs in this country

If Ford gets sued over this I will offer my services for free as technical expert of some merit.

If you do not like the car do us all a favor and buy a Honda, hell move to Korea

Lee:ack

 

[AZGT]

I hate attorneys and the U.S. Civil Injustice System with a passon.:thumbsdow :thumbsdow :thumbsdow All the money went to bloodsucking worthless arrogant selfserving subhuman attorneys who didn't give a damn about their clients.

So, Chip ..... how do you really feel about attorneys?


:biggrin :biggrin :biggrin :biggrin

 

[ChipBeck]

Can you please elaborate on the "frivilous suit" comment?

Sure. BEFORE we bought our cars a copy of the warranty was available to all of us, that's the law. It spelled out exactly what FMC would do in the event of a failure and for how long. If the bolts in my car fail during the warranty FMC will pay for everything, including towing. If they fail after the warranty expires they have no liability (but they often cover known problems like this anyway). When we bought our cars we implicitly agreed to this. Now AFTER THE FACT some of us want to change the terms of the warranty. It may be cheaper for FORD to recall the cars and change the bolts and washers but that's not my call, it's theirs. I would like it if Ford recalled the cars and performed the fix. But that's not what we agreed to per the terms of our warranty. File a civil suit, seat a jury of unemployed welfare moms, and you'll probably get what you want. People certainly did when they sued me. But I find it distasteful and dishonorable. Ford never guaranteed any of us great resale value, trouble free operation, or preemptive warranty work. What they did guarantee us is in writing, in the glove box's of our cars. If this was a safety issue as some of us profess, a recall would be issued. But this problem just causes the car to stop, and appears to be no more dangerous than running out of gas. Then it's a huge pain in the ass for us. BUT, compared to the pain in the ass that our "Civil Justice System" has been, and the amount of money it costs all of us each year, the halfshaft bolts are nothing. This suit attempts to "change the deal" after the fact. And that makes it frivolous.

As to your assessment of why Ford is losing money, I agree with you 100%. I hope they can pull a Harley Davidson and recover, but I wouldn't bet on it. So I'm gonna take my own preemptive action, and then I'm going for a drive in the best car I've ever owned. Oh, and for the record, I don't like attorneys, not even my own.

Chip

 

[Empty Pockets]

:eek :eek :eek :eek :eek :eek :eek :eek :eek :eek :eek
:shrug :shrug :shrug :shrug :shrug :shrug :shrug :shrug

SOOOOOOOOOO! WHUDDABOUT THOSE METS!!!!!!!!

 

[Kave]

Ford built a great car, and like a lot of other cars out there, it is not perfect. When I did have a problem, I was taken care of. I called ford roadside and a tow truck arrived in less than an hour. The most professional tow I have ever had.

The service advisor called me from Galpin, early the next morning and told me they know about the problem and will take care of it. they have an updated part.

Apparently they are aware of the problem and will take care of it, if you call your nearest dealer.

Thank you for the information, however a lawsuit is not for me. Just enjoy the ride, and try not to think about it so much.

 

[Shadowman]

I spoke to my attorney (well recognized law firm in Palo Alto) regarding the Half Shaft issue. They do quite a bit of letigation. One of the partners used to work for Mr/ DeTomasso directly and is somewhat familiar with the automotive industry. He gave me some interesting insight and cautioned me about posting a lot of info on the forum. I can however post the following;

1. Suing Ford and/or Ricardo for Fraud is an option we should consider.
2. Suing Ford and or Ricardo for Loss of Value is another consideration.
3. He would have to retain a Qualified Product Liability expert, which is neither cheap nor abundant.
4. Continuing to make a public issue may erode the vehicle's value.
5. If we do a synchronized Small Claims effort, it may backfire.
6. Focusing our efforts on a Recall is our best bet - for Now!
7. He is interested in taking on the case to conduct research, compile findings, obtain owner statements, conduct a discovery and retain a Product Liability expert.

He gave me an estimate for his fees, PM me for further details if you are interested in looking into this further.

I have "NO" interest in participating in any lawsuit; my only deisre is to have a confirmed fix that I will likely do myself and never look back.

I have "ZERO>>>ZIP>>>NADA" regrets with my decission to purchase the gal. She is fricken awesome with a minor nit.

Now in saying this my feelings about what has taken place remain however tempered all I want is for Ricardo through Ford to say ......... do this whether wire tie the bolts or ??? is of little concern I simply do not want to be sitting at the intersection feeling awkward.

Takes care

Shadowman

 

[Shadowman]

I edited this post because after a delay my original appeared.

Nuff said

Shadowman

 

[ladams1]

Well said

Chip you got it nailed perfectly. I fought those SOB's for years.

One company I worked for at a mid level had a policy that anyone hurt on the job no matter the fault had a job for life at good pay and if the employee wanted to he could go back to school. As a data point we has a injured man who went back to school to become a Electrical engineer all on the company.

We had an idiot who did the equivalent of trying to change a fan belt while the lawn mower was running. As always my managers approched him about the job for life, what could we do to help, schooling etc. The lawyer would not let us talk to him. So this poor fellow after the suit and appeals etc was working at a gas station for miniumum wage with one arm. He could have had a good paying job $50k-100K in 1982. He never had the chance to vote. Billable hours:ack

Lee

 

[ladams1]

Well said

Chip you got it nailed perfectly. I fought those SOB's for years.

One company I worked for at a mid level had a policy that anyone hurt on the job no matter the fault had a job for life at good pay and if the employee wanted to he could go back to school. As a data point we had an injured man who went back to school to become a Electrical engineer all on the company.

We had an idiot who did the equivalent of trying to change a fan belt while the lawn mower was running. As always my managers approched him about the job for life, what could we do to help, schooling etc. The lawyer would not let us talk to him. So this poor fellow after the suit and appeals etc was working at a gas station for miniumum wage with one arm. He could have had a good paying job $50k-100K in 1982. He never had the chance to vote. Billable hours:ack

Lee

 

[BlackICE]

I posted on another thread that Ford will not say anything official anything about the bolt problem. That is the prudent thing to do given it can only hurt them in a court of law.

Note the follow statements are a laymen's guess and may be completely wrong!

It is a design problem without a lot margin for errors, since some late production cars with new washers are still failing. The best fix would be to redesign the interface between the flange and the transaxle. That isn't going to happen due to the extreme cost per car. Ford knows that the new parts don't fix the problem completely and the a redesign would, but it would cost too much for no financial gains whatsoever. What will Ford do? I believe they will release updated parts and repair the cars as needed under warrantee. Note that many dealers will change the bolt "pro-actively" under warrantee. A new maintenance schedule will be released staying that the bolts should be replaced every 2 years or 10,000 miles whichever comes 1st. The GT will still have the lowest maintenance cost for a super car.

Now can a suit be won? Who knows, it depends on the jury. People, by and large, hate large companies and will side with the plaintiff. Should GT owners sue Ford? Not unless someone has knowledge that Ford knew of the problem before the cars were sold and covered it up and the problem is a safety issue where people may be injured.

Note that when the A arms were found to be defective, Ford recalled all of them. A safety issue.

Suit like this just make companies reluctant to push the envelope. Cars like the GT would never be designed and built if buyers sued for every problem the car developed. Do we all want to be driving a Toyota Camrys? They have much less problems.

BlackICE

 

[SYCO GT]

The problem for attorneys, nationally and locally, may be this: a few give the rest of us a bad name.

Not all lawyers are bad. But bad lawyers cause a lot of problems for everyone, lawyers included.

Sorry to hear that some of you have had bad experiences. As with everything in life, there is good and bad. Most respectable lawyers hate frivolous lawsuits as much as the next guy.

I believe I paid my dues. I prosecuted criminals for South Central Los Angeles Trials. It is not an easy nor well paying job. Later, I worked as Managing Director for a not-for-profit National Foundation for Motorcycle Safety, helping oversee development and implementation of curriculum that is used to train hundreds of thousands of riders every year, with the intention to save lives, reduce incidents and increase enjoyment. I believe my legal experience was a valuable asset to the Foundation.

Not all lawyers are blood thirsty, money grubbing animals. And just like any other profession or industry, it has it's fair share of greed, incompetence, and sin. But don't throw out the baby with the bathwater.

 

[BlackICE]

Not all lawyers are blood thirsty, money grubbing animals.

Just most of them!

I am just kidding. I didn't think much of lawyers until I ran a business. Then I used all types of them. The company must have paid over 1.5 million in legal expenses in just 3 years. It was worth every penny. I wouldn't be driving a GT if I had bad attorneys.

Like they say, you have to pay to play.

BlackICE

 

[MAD IN NC]

back to the original topic...

I spent the $350. I'm happy with the car. Enough said.



And EP - HOW ABOUT THEM BEARSarty even if they lost to GB:mad

 

[Mark O]

Q. What's the difference between a lawyer & a catfish?


















































A: One's a bottom-dwelling scum-sucker & the other is a catfish. :biggrin