The Ford window glass class action attorneys at our firm are investigating the possibility of a class-action lawsuit against Ford Motor Company, related to exploding window glass in Ford Escort and Mercury Lynx vehicles of model years between 1981 and 1990.

In Wise v. Ford, the plaintiff was driving his daughter's car through a mechanical car wash.  As the car was sprayed by the water jets, the window suddenly exploded, and shattered into fragments.   Wise was injured in the incident.  He filed a product liability lawsuit against Ford Motor Company. 

Ford claimed that the window glass which includes a compressed lining, was already chipped or broken previously, and that this caused the window to break.  Almost every car comes with windshields and windows that are covered with this compressed lining, protecting the glass beneath.  When there is a nick or chip on the lining, it causes the glass to disintegrate.  Ford's argument was that this chip or nick in the lining was present before the car entered the car wash.

Since Wise v. Ford, there have been several instances of Ford car windows shattering or disintegrating suddenly in car washes.  Since then, it has also emerged that window glass breakage was a serious problem on Ford Escort and Mercury Lynx vehicles manufactured between 1981 through 1990.  In fact, documents that came out during the Wise v. Ford trial, showed that Ford had access to information that these breakages occurred far too frequently with Ford models.   Other models of cars manufactured by other manufacturers did not face the same problem in car washes. 

These documents obtained from Ford include a bulletin from the International Carwash Association to other car wash operators.  The bulletin was dated July 1991, and clearly states that carwash operators around the country have seen such frequent glass breakage problems with Ford Escort and Mercury Lynx models.  Operators reported exploding glass in these vehicles, either while the car was in the car wash, in the finishing area of the carwash, or on the street soon after the customer left the carwash.  According to the bulletin, these cases of exploded glass were seen mostly in Ford vehicles.