Not only were there issues with Navistar trucks, according to the lawsuit filed against the company in Canada, but the company actually took steps to hide the issues from consumers and conceal the flaws, rather than reporting them to reduce the risk.
The lawsuit targets both Navistar International Corporation and Navistar Canada, Inc., which is the smaller Canadian subsidiary of the global corporation.
According to the allegations, there are issues with trucks built between 2008 and 2013 that have the MaxxForce Advanced EGR diesel engines. The emissions systems used with these trucks, and with those specific engines, are defective. The trucks can break down with little warning, and these break-downs can happen repeatedly.
On one hand, these break-downs bring about a huge financial burden for owners who thought they were buying reliable vehicles. While some break-downs are to be expected, the company may have deceived buyers through the coverup, when they wouldn’t have purchased those trucks if they’d had all of the real information.
It’s also worth noting that, since these trucks are purchased as work vehicles — with some small companies or drivers only owning one — break-downs could cause serious business income losses when the trucks are constantly in the shop.
Plus, a breakdown in traffic can be dangerous to those in the vehicle. It could put them unnecessarily at high risk for an accident, when auto accidents are already a leading cause of injury and death.
Those who purchased Navistar trucks between 2008 and 2013 need to know what rights they may have to compensation. When determining how much compensation is needed, they should be sure to look at all of the specifics and losses outside of simply having repairs made.
Source: Rochon Genova LLP, “Navistar,” accessed Aug. 31, 2016
