Design flaw in the 2017-2020 Ford Ecoboost engine

There's certainly a class action under way in the USA and Canada regarding this issue. It appears to be centred around Ecoboost engines ranging from 1.5 to 2.0 litres in size, and manufactured between 2013 and 2019. But until there's a ruling from the courts, there's no way to know whether it will be successful or not.

We checked with Ford Australia and it seems no such class action has not been initiated here. Given the differences in consumer law in other countries, it's often the case that a class action in one jurisdiction doesn't make it to some others.

For the record, a Ford Australia spokesman told us: “No Australian sold vehicles are involved in the class action referred to and we otherwise do not comment on ongoing litigation.”.

Don't forget, too, that the Fords we see in Australia are often built in completely different plants to the North-American version of the same car. For example, the North American Focus ST was manufactured in Michigan in the US, while Australian-delivered Focus STs were made in Ford's plant in Germany.

If this problem was to result in an adverse (for Ford) class action decision or a recall, then Ford would be bound to take the appropriate steps to rectify the situation, regardless of whether the model in question was still for sale in new-car showrooms. For the record, Ford in Australia switched to a five-year/unlimited kilometre warranty from May 1, 2018. So, many of the cars we're talking about here would still be covered by that warranty in this country.