Navistar agrees to pay $159M to settle lawsuits against MaxxForce engines

[kscarbel2]

Commercial Carrier Journal (CCJ)  /  May 29, 2019

Plaintiff attorneys in the case described below said Wednesday that members of the class, those who purchased a truck equipped with a model-year 2011-2014 Navistar MaxxForce 11-liter or 13-liter engine, are eligible for compensation from the settlement fund. 

Class members can opt for a “no questions asked” payment of $2,500 per truck purchased, said attorney Jonathan Selbin, co-lead counsel for the plaintiffs in the case. Or they can opt for a $10,000 rebate off of the “best negotiated price of purchase of a new truck,” he said.  Class members can also choose to recover out pocket damages related to repair expenses of up to $15,000, if they can prove their repair expenses were related to the alleged defects of the engine.

The original story, published Wednesday, is below. Selbin said in the press release that the settlement amount  was $135 million. Navistar said in a statement to Overdrive on Wednesday that the company will take a $159 million charge-out in the second quarter to fund the settlement and “for certain other engine lawsuits that are not included in the settlement agreement.”

Navistar, maker of International Trucks, has entered into a $159 million class-action settlement with fleets and truck owners who purchased model year 2011-2014 11-liter and 13-liter MaxxForce engines — a now-defunct engine line from Navistar that allegedly contained defects and piled up millions of dollars in warranty claims for the company. The fallout from the MaxxForce line also led to several years of multi-billion dollar losses for Navistar.

The company has in the past five years piloted a financial turnaround and revamped its product line, shedding the truck and engine models that plagued the company in its pursuit of an EGR-only solution to meeting 2010 federal emissions standards. It now offers its A26 engine in a 12-liter option, and customers can spec tractors with a 15-liter Cummins.

In an 8-K form filed Wednesday with the Securities and Exchange Commission, Navistar notified shareholders of the pending charge-out and settlement. A Navistar spokesperson confirmed the settlement, saying that it will be taken in the second quarter of this year. It remains subject to court approval, and it does not apply to the MaxxForce 15-liter engine, the company said.

The settlement “denies all claims…wrongdoing, liability or damage of any kind, and denies that [Navistar] acted improperly or wrongfully in any way,” the 8-K states. It’s unclear how many members of the class might be eligible for a portion of the settlement.

Navistar in 2016 settled a probe by the SEC into whether the company misled shareholders, paying $7.5 million to end the investigation. Navistar was the only engine maker in 2012 to pursue an EGR-only strategy [at the request of the EPA] to meet federal emissions standards, with all others opting to use the DEF-based selective catalytic reduction system. Navistar later abandoned the strategy and switched to an SCR system.

[HeavyGunner]

$2500 cash back for buying a $100,000 plus piece of equipment that is defective?! Doesn’t sound like a good deal to me. 

[Bullheaded]

It's really too bad. Because if that mass EGR would have worked, they would have been hero's. So many people bought Maxxforce's  to avoid DEF fluid, especially up in the cold climates.

This was a hard fail for International to swallow. Their new trucks, like the HX are awesome and well built. Yet MANY will never consider one because they associate International with Maxxforce.