Ford Transit Trail Vehicle Defect Class Action Settlement

Auto Defect · Claims Open

Current Status

Claims are open in the Ford Transit Trail settlement. Claims must be submitted online or postmarked by January 15, 2027; the notice gives no time of day or time zone for that deadline. The U.S. District Court for the District of Delaware has preliminarily approved the settlement, and the final approval hearing is set for March 16, 2027, at 10:00 a.m. ET. No final approval order had been entered and no payment date had been announced as of October 24, 2026.

What Changed Recently?

Ford Motor Company and a group of Transit Trail owners have agreed to settle Provo v. Ford Motor Company, No. 1:25-cv-00569-RGA, a class action before Judge Richard G. Andrews in the U.S. District Court for the District of Delaware. The court preliminarily approved the settlement and authorized notice, and the settlement administrator, Epiq, opened the settlement website and the online claim form. The settlement documents also include a First Amendment to the Settlement Agreement, which the court approved by a separate order.

The plaintiffs allege that the Transit Trail package on 2023 and 2024 Ford Transit vans has defects, including that the vans do not leave enough clearance for the tires inside the wheel wells under certain driving conditions, and that Ford is liable to the class under various legal claims. The lawsuit sought economic damages tied to buying or leasing the vans. Ford denies that it did anything wrong and denies liability. The court has not decided who is right; the parties settled to avoid the cost, risk and time of further litigation.

The case follows a federal safety recall. Ford reported the issue to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration in March 2024 as recall 24V226 (Ford’s recall number 24S21). NHTSA’s recall record says the tires on certain 2023–2024 Transit vehicles equipped with the Transit Trail package may contact the front wheel arch liner and body flange and be damaged, and that a damaged tire may suddenly lose air pressure or separate. The record lists 1,902 potentially affected vehicles. The recall remedy is free: dealers replace the tires, the tire placard and the certification label and recalibrate the vehicle.

Who Qualifies?

The settlement class is every person who, as the Original Owner or Lessee, bought or leased a Class Vehicle before June 1, 2024, for personal, family or household use, and who has not already received any compensation from Ford relating to the van or the alleged defect, including a settlement payment or a repurchase.

Class Vehicles are model year 2023 and 2024 Ford Transit Trails originally sold or leased by an authorized Ford dealer and bought or leased new before June 1, 2024. The Original Owner or Lessee is the first person (or persons, if acquired jointly) to buy or lease the new van for personal use, whether directly from an authorized Ford dealer or indirectly through an outfitter, upfitter or other intermediary that acquired the van new for resale or conversion. There can be only one Original Owner or Lessee per van. Former owners who have since sold the van can still be in the class; buyers who purchased from a private owner are not. The notice directs owners to the official website to confirm whether a specific vehicle is a Class Vehicle.

• anyone who bought a Class Vehicle for business, commercial or other non-personal use;
• anyone who litigated claims against Ford about the recall or economic loss on a Class Vehicle to a final judgment;
• anyone who, through a settlement or otherwise, gave Ford a release of claims about the recall or economic loss on a Class Vehicle;
• Ford employees, officers, directors, agents and representatives, and their family members;
• the federal judges who presided over the case, their chamber staff and immediate families; and
• anyone who submits a valid request for exclusion.