MIAMI—Plaintiffs' attorneys have filed two class action complaints against Volkswagen Group of America Inc. and Volkswagen A.G. for alleged faulty wheel alignments.
"All of the class vehicles at issue in this litigation share a common, uniform defect: faulty suspensions, shocks, and struts," stated the two complaints filed Aug. 10 before the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida and Aug. 11 before the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey.
This defect causes rapid, uneven wear and degradation of tires—"an effect often referred to as 'Tire Cupping,'" the complaints said.
According to the court documents, Volkswagen Group of America and Volkswagen A.G. have designed, manufactured and sold the Volkswagen CC vehicles with the allegedly faulty alignments from 2010 to the present.
"The defendants have known about the alignment defect for years," the complaints said. "Thus far, however, the defendants have offered no remedy to correct the alignment defect, except to recommend the replacement of the class vehicles' tires with new tires—at the owners' expense."
Both complaints contained multiple testimonials from Volkswagen owners who told of having to replace all their tires at intervals averaging 15,000 miles, at costs of $500 to $700 each time.
All the plaintiffs in the complaints, as well as other VW owners, repeatedly complained about faulty alignments to VW and its authorized dealers, to no effect, according to the court documents.
"Despite knowing about the alignment defect, the defendants failed to disclose it either to the plaintiffs or to any other class member," they said. "Instead, Volkswagen has actively concealed the alignment defect and has continued to manufacture, distribute, and sell the class vehicles with the alignment defect."
Both complaints seek class action certification, a jury trial, an order enjoining Volkswagen from distributing and selling the allegedly defective vehicles, reimbursement to each vehicle owner of the sale or lease prices of their vehicles, compensatory and punitive damages, prejudgment and post-judgment interest, and attorneys' fees and court costs.