Posted on 10/01/2004 6:50:09 PM PDT by DeepInEnemyTerritory
SHALIMAR - Ford Motor Co. can refuse to sell police cars to Florida law enforcement agencies that join a lawsuit against the automaker over fuel tank fires, a judge has ruled.
Circuit Judge G. Robert Barron denied Okaloosa County Sheriff Charlie Morris' request that he order Ford to resume selling cars to his department Monday. Ford has refused to sell Crown Victoria interceptors to Morris since July 2003, a year after he sued.
The suit claims the full-size, V-8-powered, four-door sedans have exploded in flames when struck from behind at high speed, in some cases killing officers. It blames poor design.
Barron last month granted class action status, permitting other Florida law enforcement agencies to join the lawsuit. No deadline for joining has been set.
With Barron's ruling in hand, Ford also will refuse to sell the cars to any other agency that participates in the suit, said company lawyer David Cannella.
"It's fundamentally illogical for Sheriff Morris to, on one hand, sue us and, on the other hand, seek the court to order (Ford) to sell him more vehicles," he said.
An attorney for Morris, Don Barrett, has said that although the sheriff views the Ford interceptors as defective, he wants to buy new ones to replace aging cars because seeking other vehicles would be more costly.
Morris' lawyers say there have been 14 accidents nationwide in which Ford interceptors caught fire after being rear-ended. Ford attorneys say that represents 0.01 percent of its interceptors on the road - none of them Morris' cars.
You get the Guinness award (brilliant!)
Thank you, thank you very much! </Elvis voice>
The suit to force Ford to sell cars to him is sufficient proof
That is why they have a "dip stick" to measure how much oil is in the engine.
You are courting a high repair bill if you don't check the level of your oil between changes.
When my kids first started driving, I showed them how to check the oil and told them they could drive the car without checking how much gas it had if they wanted to, but they had better not drive it without knowing how much oil it had.
Lower priced?
It doesn't get much lower priced than the Ford Escort and I know of a 1991 model that went to 170,000 miles before it was sold.
How about the Mustang 5.0? I know of Mustang 5.0s with well over 200,000 miles on them. Mustang 5.0s weren't exactly expensive cars either.
You do know that you are supposed to check the oil level on your car every once in a while, right?
100% assurance of survival in a high-speed chase
Figured that would be coming. I dunno, the Magnum is a large car, but my understanding is that much of the drivetrain is from the E class Mercedes, and I'd be a bit concerned about that. Usually if I see major components from Europe (even if it is Mercedes) in an American car I know what's gonna break first (like the Peugeot transmission in my Jeep).
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