Owners of the Ford Mustang Shelby GT350 have filed a class-action lawsuit against Ford for fraud and breach of warranty as the muscle car allegedly cannot be safely used on a racetrack.
The complaint, filed by Hagens Berman and Grossman Roth Yaffa Cohen, says that Ford’s track-focused Mustang can lose speed and power when being driven hard on a racetrack due to the absence of transmission and differential coolers.
The suit alleges that many purchased the Shelby GT350 as a track-capable street car and that because the transmission and rear differential can overheat, the car can go into ‘Limp Mode’ where it suddenly loses power and “rapidly decelerates.” This is despite the car being marketed and sold as “track-ready”.
In the lawsuit, it is said that “Mustang testimonial websites and Ford customer service files are replete with complaints from consumers who reasonably believed that their Class Vehicles would in fact be ‘Track-Ready,’ but have been put at risk of accident on race tracks and during non-track driving when the defective transmissions and rear differentials overheat, causing the cars to go into Limp Mode at drastically reduced speed and performance.”
Filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida, the law firms are asking for Ford to reimburse customers the full purchase price of the vehicle while also wanting the American automaker to pay for punitive damages and the decline in vehicle values. Additionally, it calls for injunctive relief for all the affected vehicles.
According to managing partner of Hagens Berman, Steve Berman “When Ford marketed and sold these Shelby GT350 Mustangs, it knew exactly how to appeal to track-enthusiasts: it marketed enhanced performance in a limited-edition iconic vehicle that has been associated with racing for generations.
“We believe that Ford induced purchasers with its ‘track-ready’ marketing, when in fact it knew that this defect would ultimately bar these Mustangs from ever being the hotrod consumers paid for,” Berman said.
Ford has yet to publicly respond to the allegations.