SAN FRANCISCO — The U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California threw out several claims in a lawsuit against Volkswagon and Audi over allegedly defective gearboxes.
Plaintiffs Mike Madani, Eric Walley, Richard DeVico and Romsin Oushana alleged that the defendants “designed, manufactured, and sold” 2010-2014 Audi S4, S5, S6, S7 and RS5 with defective direct-shift gearboxes causing violent jerking when accelerating.
The plantiffs contended that the defendants had continued to sell these vehicles even after becoming aware of the gearbox problems.
According to the court documents, the car manufacturers issued several Technical Service Bulletins (TSB) claiming that the reported knocking noises were normal in their vehicles. Such TSBs were issued in September 2011 and July 2013 before a TSB was issued in October 2018 recommending an improved circuit board for the mechatronics unit.
On Feb. 15, the defendants asked the court to dismiss the operative complaint which the court has granted in part and denied in part.
The court dismissed all but the claims from plaintiff Oushana’s express warranty and the Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act claim against the Volkswagen Group.
The court scheduled a case management conference for April 16 and required the plantiffs and defendants to meet before the Conference in order to compose a joint statement which must be received by the court by April 9.