Ducati North America Sued for Allegedly Defective Superbike

Ducati North America, Inc. and Pro Italia Motors sued in California lemon law lawsuit for alleged failure to repair and repurchase defective Ducati 1198 S motorcycle.

Ducati North America, Inc. has been named as a defendant in a lawsuit filed in California's Los Angeles County Superior Court, and which alleges a transmission defect in one of its Ducati 1198 S superbikes. The Plaintiff is represented by the Vachon Law Firm, a prominent Southern California lemon law and consumer rights law firm. In the Complaint, the Plaintiff alleges that his Ducati 1198 S qualifies as a lemon under California's "lemon law" statute because of a serious defect that allegedly caused the motorcycle's transmission to lock up. The lawsuit also names Pro Italia Motors, a Glendale, California motorcycle dealer, as a co-defendant. The suit was filed on July 29, 2013, and is titled Chang v. Ducati North America, Inc., et al. (Los Angeles County Sup. Ct. No. BC516637).

ALLEGATIONS AGAINST DUCATI AND PRO ITALIA MOTORS

The lawsuit's Plaintiff is Kevin Chang, a Monterey Park, California consumer who purchased the Ducati 1198 S from Pro Italia Motors in early 2010. In the Complaint, Chang alleges that the Ducati 1198 S suffered from a dangerous defect that caused the motorcycle's transmission lock up. He claims that he twice took the motorcycle to Pro Italia Motors, one of Ducati's authorized repair facilities, for repair of defect; but that on both occasions the dealer returned the superbike to him without properly fixing it.

Chang alleges that after the second repair attempt the transmission locked up again while he was driving the motorcycle, causing serious bodily injury, property damage, and pain and suffering. In the lawsuit, he alleges that after the accident he made requests to both Ducati North America and Pro Italia Motors to repurchase the Ducati 1198 S under California's lemon law statute (i.e., the Song-Beverly Consumer Warranty Act), but that both defendants refused to voluntarily offer a lemon law buyback.

Chang's attorney, Michael R. Vachon, Esq. (the founder of the Vachon Law Firm), states that it is common for manufacturers and sellers of non-automotive products to assert that California's lemon law does not apply to them, and that they are not obligated to repurchase defective products under the statute. According to Vachon however, California's lemon law statute applies to all consumer products in sold at retail in the state.

The Chang v. Ducati North America lawsuit contains lemon law causes of action against both Ducati North America and Pro Italia Motors seeking a refund of the Ducati 1198 S's purchase price, damages for Chang's "physical injuries, pain and suffering, mental suffering, medical expenses, property damage, lost earnings, and lost earning capacity," and a civil penalty against Ducati for its alleged intentional failure to comply with the California lemon law's requirements.

Both Ducati North America and Pro Italia Motors have denied all liability and wrongdoing. The Los Angeles County Superior Court has not yet determined whether the Complaint's allegations are true.

LEMON LAW ATTORNEY LOOKING FOR OWNERS OF OTHER DEFECTIVE SUPERBIKES

Vachon has announced that his firm is currently attempting to locate and contact other owners of Ducati superbikes who may have experienced chronic or repeated transmission defects, or who may have other information relevant to the Chang v. Ducati North America, Inc. lawsuit. He is asking owners problem-plagued Ducati motorcycles to contact him at his San Diego, California office (Phone: 855-4-LEMON-LAW).

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Tags: california lemon law, Ducati North America, Pro Italia Motors


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Michael R. Vachon, Esq.
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