$5.6 Million Settlement Against Kia Motors for Selling Cars With Defective Brakes

Philadelphia, PA The Pennsylvania Supreme Court has affirmed the $5.6 million class action judgment against Kia Motors America for selling cars with defective brakes to Pennsylvania consumers. The high Court issued a 79 page decision on December 2, 2011 upholding the 2005 class action verdict but remanding to the trial court for recalculation the award of attorney's fees to be paid by Kia due to its class-wide breach of warranty and violation of the federal Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act.

According to class counsel, 9,402 Pennsylvania class members who had purchased or leased a model year 1997-2000 Kia Sephia will share in the judgment, which works out to $600 per class member.

This case is a great consumer victory and auto consumers should be intrigued about the thousands of individuals who will be getting checks as a result of purchasing cars with faulty brakes. The Supreme Court agreed that the evidence presented at trial supported the class' claim that the brake system of the Sephia was defective, resulting in premature wear of brake pads and rotors after just a few thousand miles, instead of meeting Kia' own expectation that brake components should last for at least 20,000 miles.

Lawyers representing the plaintiffs said "The Supreme Court's decision fully vindicates the reasoning and approach utilized by the trial judge, the Superior Court and class counsel. We are gratified the Court rejected Kia's attempt to repudiate its warranties by engaging in scorched-earth litigation to deprive consumers of the contractual right to have good brakes on their cars. The case shows that corporate promises matter and will be enforced even in small-value cases that could not be litigated on an individual basis."

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Published on Dec-5-11