I hope you can help us. My husband and I leased a new car…

Hello

I'm sorry for your situation and I can understand your frustration however I would have to recommend you tread carefully here because what you're describing is classic "unintentional acceleration" which has been almost universally shown to be driver error rather than mechanical fault.

Now, a mechanical fault in a vehicle is quite likely - in fact every manufacturer has faults in every model. Its a significant misnomer these days that some cars are impervious to faults (perhaps why purchasers of certain German and British luxury marks are so dissatisfied when their $100K+ vehicles cause problems similar to their neighbors' $13K hatchback). Unfortunately the complex nature of the equipment and the fact that human hands are still involved in assembly simply means some things will fail or some things won't be properly installed. That's why there is a warranty. If a vehicle has a mechanical fault - something that is due either to poor design or build quality - it is incumbent upon the owner/purchaser to pursue their rights. First, under the warranty that exists and, Secondly through the CAMVAP process which can see manufacturers mandated to repair - and if unable to do so - buy-back a faulty vehicle.

It sounds like you did the best you could with the warranty (though I would have suggested you shop around other dealerships until you found one that would give you a proper explanation as to what was causing the phenomenon). If the vehicle continued exhibiting the problem after several repair attempts, you should have gone straight to CAMVAP.

Now, as far as you filing an action against them -- as there are no injuries there wouldn't be any liability. However IF (and this is a very big 'if' -- see below) you can prove there is a mechanical or design fault with the vehicle that isn't unique to yours or is related to something you've done to the vehicle, and you still own it you may be able to sue for a precieved loss in resale value. However, it does sound like the manufacturer is taking the car back -- if they do so and re-sell it with an actual fault that later causes an accident they will surely be pursued by the injured parties. Unforontately, at this point it dosen't sound like you have a claim for any sort of damages.



About "Unintentional Acceleration":
I mentioned a term "unintentional acceleration" above as it sounds like the phenomenon you've described. Unfortunately many cases of alledged "unintentional acceleration" have proven to be merely operator error and not an actual mechanical fault. However, the hysteria that the claims have raised have resulted in significant losses to manufacturers (and, as a consequence, a fair number of individuals and media outlets who were later shown to have fabricated or exaggerated the claims).

The most recent history of the popularization of this phenomenon goes back to the 1980s when Audi was effectively driven out of the North American marketplace due to trumped-up but, as would later be proven, false reports that the vehicles would unintentionally surge forward when drivers were trying to stop. To a lesser extent Jeep saw the same sorts of claims in the mid-1990s on certain models and, most recently Toyota has had to contend with this phenomenon with its Prius models. In all three cases the actual fault was consistently shown to be operator error -- the operator, when applying the brake - often in haste and not paying attention - would also clip the gas pedal with the edge of their foot depressing it. Depending on the angle of their foot the gas pedal could be depressed enough to overpower the brake-pressue being applied thereby causing the vehicle to surge forward. The Audis had european-style pedal arrangements found in high performance cars where having the pedals close to each other is desireable for performance driving. With the advent of wider tires and smaller footwells most manufacturers have moved to a closer pedal arrangement these days so the phenomenon is only more likely to appear.

In the case of Toyota's Prius models, the situation was accompanied by another issue in that the control layout of those vehicles differs from that of a traditional automatic vehicle (no physical gearshift but a joystick that's laid out differently and a start/stop button rather than a physical key) in addition to a slightly over-long gas pedal. The result was that - in addition to the regular type of inintentional acceleration claims described above - when consumers installed aftermarket floormats that would slide up to the gas pedal, the pedal would hang following acceleration. When this happened, because the controls of the cars were different - and operators really not well educated in the operation of the vehicle in emergencies (something Toyota has remedied in its new manuals) folks panicked. Countless news stories and hysterics later and no mechanical fault has been found.

So, unfortunately, the odds are stacked against you here. You're going to have to prove that what you're experiencing is not an operator-related failure but one actually due to a mechanical fault.

There are plenty of product liability lawyers in Ontario that could look at this for you and see if there's anything in the repair orders to indicate actual mechanical issues. If there is, then that may be a place to start. You will, however, need to show that its more than just this one car for what you're suggesting.

Regards XXXXX XXXXX wishes.