About the dash cam video
Note that the video clips were presented to the Times Free Press before the settlement took place.
A local man who sued employees of a Hixson Ford dealer, alleging among other things that they went joyriding in his $70,000 truck when they were supposed to have been fixing it, has settled with the dealership.
Jeff Chambers, whose special-ordered 2012 Ford F-350 was towed to the dealership after breaking down last December, claimed he had more than a hundred dashboard camera videos of employees of Marshal Mize Ford driving his truck off-site over a 14-day period. In one of the videos Chambers shared with the Times Free Press, the truck is driven to what appears to be a Logan's Roadhouse.
"While they're telling me they're fixing it, they're out driving my truck around every day," Chambers said.
In the lawsuit, Chambers claimed he brought the videos to the attention of Todd Dyer, general manager at Marshal Mize Ford, immediately. He said Dyer apologized, told him he spoke with his employees and that they owned up to driving the truck. He said Dyer asked him not to share the videos, told him the truck would be ready that day, and said that Marshal Mize would pay for his rental costs. Chambers said that two weeks after he picked his truck up, it broke down again. He said that when the wrecker towed his truck back to Marshal Mize, they refused to take it, and Chambers was unsure of the truck's whereabouts for 17 days.
Chambers eventually learned that Ford had towed his truck to an impound lot in Oldfort, Tenn., he said.
"It broke down for the exact same thing they fixed it for, and by them refusing it, they're denying me my right to my factory warranty, my extended warranty, and the work that they did," Chambers said. "They have to stick by their work."
The truck since has been taken to another Ford dealership where it's being repaired.
Chambers said he was not allowed to comment on the details of the settlement.
"The case has been settled and dismissed," said Marshal Mize's lawyer, Bill Rieder. He was unable to comment further.
In addition to his lawsuit against the dealership, Chambers has filed a lawsuit against Ford Motor Co. over what he believes is a defective vehicle. Chambers claims that since he bought the truck in November 2011 it has broken down "over a hundred times," including stalling out while driving 60-70 miles per hour while pulling a trailer on the highway. He filed the lawsuit almost two years ago in Bradley County.
Ford now is being investigated by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration regarding whether the company should expand a 2013 safety recall of diesel trucks to trucks from the 2011 and 2012 model years, which would include Chambers' truck.
Kelli Felker, safety communications manager for Ford, said she couldn't comment on Chambers' case, but said Ford was cooperating with the safety administration's investigation.
Chambers' case against Ford Motor Co. is set to be heard May 13 in Bradley County Circuit Court.
Contact Will Healey at whealey@timesfreepress.com or at 423-757-6731.