Posted by A MINI Cooper is one of the most popular model of cars in North America, and in fact the company has had its home market for quite some time now. Recently however, the mini Cooper line of cars has received a lot of bad press, with many people (including myself) attributing the reputation to bad manufacturing. In fact, I believe that this reputation stems from one marketing plan promoted by the company – the “timing chain” lawsuit. Now, let’s talk about the lawsuit itself.
Mini Cooper Timing Chain Lawsuit
The Timing Chain lawsuit is a marketing plan developed in response to the serious problems that the mini Cooper engine had been facing in recent years. The lawsuit says that the design of the mini Cooper engine was so flawed that it caused serious engine failure that would result in an airworthiness defect and the injury to the person driving the vehicle.
In essence, the design of the timing chain was such that if the chain got sprocked, then the engine would fail, even though all of the other components remained intact. As a result, thousands of little people were put in danger of injury or even death when they drove their mini Cooper vehicles around town.
Naturally, many people are upset at the idea of being involved in such a frivolous lawsuit and are thinking that it’s probably a bad idea to sue the manufacturer over such a design flaw.
To that end, one might expect that a case like this wouldn’t make for a very good class action lawsuit settlement. But surprisingly, the Timing Chain lawsuit was able to force the Ford Motor Company to issue a recall for the entire Mini Cooper line of vehicles. The recall included not only the car itself, but also all models of the minivans that were manufactured in Canada.
It’s interesting to note that there is actually a class action lawsuit that was brought against the Ford Motor Company for its design flaw in the Timing Chain.
This lawsuit was eventually lost, however, due to the lack of sufficient evidence to support the claim. One could assume, however, that other Ford cars may be affected by the same problem. Therefore, it’s quite possible that this legal issue will continue to rise through the years as more Ford vehicles are sold with defective tensioners.
Because the Timing Chain Act is a federal law, it only applies to products manufactured within the United States.
This means that it is possible for you to file a lawsuit on behalf of all Mini Cooper owners who happen to live outside the United States. In addition, you could represent yourself in a legal capacity if the company you’re suing is refusing to grant you any class action lawsuit settlements or is simply unwilling to cooperate with you.
The unfortunate truth is that many Ford dealers and workers have participated in illegal activities which have caused injury or death to many innocent individuals.
If you have been injured as a result of defective Ford timing chains, timing chain tensioners, or other Ford motor vehicle parts, you may have a case. The key to winning your lawsuit is hiring a qualified attorney to aggressively pursue your claim.
If you’re not sure who to hire, consider asking someone who has already successfully litigated cases similar to yours. If they can’t give you the best advice, then you should consider using an attorney who has an extensive history of winning high percentage winning cases for Classified Motor Vehicle Plaintiffs.