in Newswire Published on August 5, 2020

Volkswagen Hit with Class Action Over Alleged Front Assist Braking System Defect Affecting 2015-2019 Vehicle Models [SETTLED]

Last Updated on January 19, 2024

Dack et al. v. Volkswagen Group of America, Inc. et al.

Filed: August 4, 2020 ◆§ 4:20-cv-00615

A class action claims certain 2015-2019 Volkswagen vehicle models are stricken by a Front Assist collision-prevention system defect.

Defendant(s)

Volkswagen AG Volkswagen Group of America, Inc.

Law(s)

Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act

State(s)

Missouri

January 19, 2024 – Court Approves VW, Audi Front-Assist Braking System Defect Settlement

United States District Judge Roseann A. Ketchmark has granted preliminary approval to a settlement that resolves the Volkswagen/Audi automatic emergency braking (AEB) system defect lawsuit detailed on this page and several other related cases and will provide eligible drivers with a range of warranty coverage and reimbursement benefits.

Don’t miss out on settlement news like this. Sign up for ClassAction.org’s free weekly newsletter here.

The deal, which Judge Ketchmark preliminarily approved on January 17, 2024, covers all persons and entities who bought or leased in the U.S. or Puerto Rico any of the following model year VW or Audi vehicles equipped with an automatic emergency braking system and bearing certain vehicle identification numbers (VINs) to be provided to the court:

2019-2023 Volkswagen Arteon;
2018-2023 Volkswagen Atlas;
2020-2023 Volkswagen Atlas Cross Sport;
2016-2017 Volkswagen CC;
2016-2021 Volkswagen Golf;
2016-2019 and 2022-2023 Volkswagen Golf R;
2016-2019 Volkswagen Golf Sportwagen;
2016-2023 Volkswagen GTI;
2016-2019 Volkswagen e-Golf;
2021-2023 Volkswagen ID.4;
2016-2023 Volkswagen Jetta;
2016-2022 Volkswagen Passat;
2022-2023 Volkswagen Taos;
2018-2023 Volkswagen Tiguan;
2015-2017 Volkswagen Touareg;
2015-2020 and 2022-2023 Audi A3;
2019-2023 Audi Q3;
2013-2023 Audi A4;
2013-2023 Audi A5;
2013-2023 Audi Q5;
2012-2023 Audi A6;
2012-2023 Audi A7;
2011-2023 Audi A8;
2017-2023 Audi Q7;
2019-2023 Audi Q8;
2019-2023 Audi e-tron;
2022-2023 Audi e-tron GT; and
2022-2023 Audi Q4 e-tron.

ClassAction.org will update this page when the official settlement website is launched, so be sure to check back. Court documents state the website will include a VIN lookup tool for drivers.

According to the plaintiffs’ December 7, 2023 motion for preliminary settlement approval, the deal provides eligible class members with an extension of a covered VW or Audi’s new vehicle limited warranty to cover 75 percent of the cost of the repair or replacement of the car’s AEB system for an additional 12 months or 12,000 miles from the expiration of the vehicle’s original new vehicle limited warranty.

The settlement also provides class members with reimbursement of 75 percent of the cost of one prior covered repair performed within 12 months or 12,000 miles of the expiration of the car’s new vehicle limited warranty.

Additionally, the settlement requires Volkswagen to implement a “robust program” with which to provide additional information and education to drivers concerning the “functionality, operation, benefits, and limitation” of the covered vehicles’ AEB systems and features.

The deal is the result of “months of protracted litigation, vigorous arm’s length settlement negotiations, and discovery in four cases around the country,” attorneys told the court.

Court documents state that settlement notices will be mailed out to covered class members on May 15, 2024.

A final approval hearing is scheduled for July 17, 2024. It is typically after the court grants final approval to a settlement, and any appeals or objections are resolved, that benefits are made available to class members.

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Volkswagen has failed to disclose to owners and lessees of 2015-2019 model year vehicles that a defect with the automaker’s Front Assist collision-prevention feature can cause sudden and unexpected braking or stalling without driver input, a lawsuit alleges.

The 85-page, 41-count proposed class action claims Volkswagen, despite possessing “longstanding knowledge” of the issue, has concealed the fact that the Front Assist, also called Forward Collision Warning and Autonomous Emergency Braking, feature can activate without warning and cause “sudden and unexpected slowing, sudden stopping and stalling events” that put drivers, passengers and pedestrians at risk.

“When the Front Assist Defect engages suddenly and without warning, it can leave the driver stranded in dangerous traffic situations or with a vehicle that has suddenly stopped and will not move,” the complaint, filed in Missouri federal court by 14 plaintiffs, says.

According to the complaint, defendants Volkswagen Group of America and Volkswagen AG tout the Front Assist feature as a sensor-reliant system that can help monitor traffic and will alert the driver acoustically and visually to a possible rear-end collision with the car ahead. If a VW senses that a front-end collision is imminent, the car’s autonomous emergency braking will step in and support the driver with increased brake pressure or, if the driver fails to react, apply the brakes automatically.

Another component of the Front Assist feature can warn a driver of pedestrians crossing in front of the vehicle, and similarly brake automatically to potentially mitigate the outcome of a collision in case the driver doesn’t heed the vehicle’s warnings, the suit says.

As the lawsuit tells it, however, Volkswagen’s Front Assist feature, found in Atlas, Jetta, Touareg, Tiguan and Golf models, fails at its task of making affected vehicles safer to operate. According to the suit, Volkswagen has known since at least October 2017 that its Front Assist feature can engage suddenly and without warning, and kept the knowledge of the apparent defect from drivers.

Further, the complaint alleges Volkswagen has been “unable or unwilling” to repair affected vehicle models when the Front Assist defect manifests. The lawsuit says the automaker has often conveyed to drivers that affected vehicles that display the Front Assist defect “are operating as intended and therefore cannot be repaired under warranty or otherwise."

To date, Volkswagen has not recalled vehicles hampered by the Front Assist malfunction or offered customers any suitable reimbursement despite a wealth of durability testing data and National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) complaints, the case says. The lawsuit contends that drivers would not have bought or leased their Volkswagen vehicles, or would have paid substantially less, had they known of the Front Assist problem.

Per the suit, Volkswagen has pledged that the Front Assist feature will be standard on nearly all vehicle models by 2022.

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