Isuzu Lawsuit...

[alanbradley]

This may be my silly European mind but just what would a class-action lawsuit achieve? Its a sure way to stop a company considering importing any other interesting, low volume vehicles that you may want to buy.

Supposedly MkII MR-2s have the same issue btw...

A

[johnnyapollo]

Class action lawsuits are effective in "slapping the wrists" of corporate giants who have obviously affected the health and well being of hundreds of thousands of consumers. The problems with most attempts are: 1. Generally, the attorneys aren't interested in handling a class action suit unless there is huge material gain for themselves (usually in excess of 1 million in fees); 2. Enough consumers are affected that there is easy proof to tort (hundreds if not thousands of testimonials by experts evaluating the situation); 3. The case can be brought before a judge in a timely manner (the longer it stretches out the higher the fees - it can aid or detract from #1 above); 4. Real harm to consumers - almost all cases involve some type of harm to those that purchased. There are many other factors but these 4 cover the basics.

I hear "let's get a class action suit" all the time, and in almost every case it doesn't make sense to do so. People don't understand what the suit really is - you hear about class-action suits against tobacco companies, occasionally auto manufacturers when it's proven that a design flaw has killed many consumers (like a failed safety part), when people actually get hurt as a result of the flaw. With the VX, there are less than 5000 made - it's just not enough to warrant a class-action suit for the problem (what attorney would spend possibly years litigating something like that?).

Something else to think about - have you ever seen the reward for class action suits? Most recipients of a judgement get a check for a tiny amount, like a dollar or a few pennies. The only people that actually benefit are the attorneys who handle the suit. Just my 2 cents.

-- John

[Choonks]

Very well written, Johnny - informative, precise and comprehendible! Wow, I think I'll go back and read that again!

Thanks for the explanation!

Ursula