Padilla v. Porsche Cars N. Am., Inc.

391 F. Supp. 3d 1108
CourtDistrict Court, S.D. Florida
DecidedMay 21, 2019
DocketCase Number: 18-24988-CIV-MORENO
StatusPublished
Cited by20 cases

This text of 391 F. Supp. 3d 1108 (Padilla v. Porsche Cars N. Am., Inc.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, S.D. Florida primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Padilla v. Porsche Cars N. Am., Inc., 391 F. Supp. 3d 1108 (S.D. Fla. 2019).

Opinion

FEDERICO A. MORENO, UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE

Plaintiffs Santiago Padilla and Murray Shames (collectively, "Plaintiffs") filed a *1111Class Action Complaint against Defendant Porsche Cars North America, Inc. ("Porsche"), seeking declaratory relief and damages for alleged violations of the Florida Deceptive and Unfair Trade Practices Act ("FDUTPA") and for breach of the implied warranty of merchantability under Florida law, based upon Porsche's alleged knowledge of an alleged safety defect in the cooling system of certain Porsche vehicle models. Porsche filed a Motion to Dismiss, asking the Court to dismiss Plaintiffs' 3-count Class Action Complaint with prejudice under Federal Rules of Civil Procedure 8(a), 12(b)(1), and 12(b)(6). For the reasons below, Porsche's Motion to Dismiss is GRANTED IN PART.

I. BACKGROUND

Plaintiffs allege that Porsche sold its high-end performance vehicles as safe, despite knowing for more than a decade that it used a defective epoxy adhesive to join coolant pipes to the thermostat housing assembly. According to Plaintiffs, the "Cooling System Defect" occurs when the epoxy adhesive degrades, loosens, and eventually fails due to the contraction and expansion of coolant pipes caused by repeated heating and cooling over time; and when the epoxy adhesive fails, the cooling pipes separate from the thermostat housing assembly, causing a significant coolant leak that in turn causes the engine to overheat.

Plaintiff Padilla purchased his used 2011 Porsche Panamera from The Collection, a car dealership located in Miami, Florida. Plaintiff Shames bought his used 2011 Cayenne S from the Carmax in Tampa, Florida. Within two years of purchase, each high-end performance vehicle suffered the Cooling System Defect, which resulted in each Plaintiff having to pay thousands of dollars in repairs out of their pockets. After Shames's vehicle suffered the Cooling System Defect a second time, within seventeen months of the first occurrence, he wrote a letter to Porsche notifying them of the Cooling System Defect and demanded that Porsche pay for the repairs. When Porsche refused to pay, because the repairs were incurred outside the standard warranty period, Shames traded in his 2011 Cayenne S at a loss. Padilla apparently still owns his vehicle.

On November 29, 2018, Plaintiffs commenced this class action lawsuit on behalf of themselves and a nationwide class of all current or former owners and/or lessees of certain Porsche models that suffer from the Cooling System Defect. On January 28, 2019, Porsche filed a Motion to Dismiss the Class Action Complaint.

II. LEGAL STANDARD

"A pleading that states a claim for relief must contain ... a short and plain statement of the claim showing that the pleader is entitled to relief." Fed. R. Civ. P. 8(a)(2). To survive dismissal, the Class Action Complaint "must contain sufficient factual matter, accepted as true, to 'state a claim to relief that is plausible on its face.' " Ashcroft v. Iqbal , 556 U.S. 662, 678, 129 S.Ct. 1937, 173 L.Ed.2d 868 (2009) (quoting Bell Atl. Corp. v. Twombly , 550 U.S. 544, 570, 127 S.Ct. 1955, 167 L.Ed.2d 929 (2007) ). "A claim has facial plausibility when the plaintiff pleads factual content that allows the court to draw the reasonable inference that the defendant is liable for the misconduct alleged." Id. (citing Twombly , 550 U.S. at 556, 127 S.Ct. 1955 ). "While legal conclusions can provide the framework of a complaint, they must be supported by factual allegations." Iqbal , 556 U.S. at 679, 129 S.Ct. 1937. And those "[f]actual allegations must be enough to raise a right to relief above the speculative level." Twombly , 550 U.S. at 555, 127 S.Ct. 1955. When ruling on Porsche's Motion to *1112Dismiss, the Court must view Plaintiffs' Class Action Complaint in the light most favorable to Plaintiffs and accept Plaintiffs' well-pleaded facts as true. See St. Joseph's Hosp., Inc. v. Hosp. Corp. of Am. , 795 F.2d 948, 954 (11th Cir. 1986).

III. DISCUSSION

The Class Action Complaint asserts three claims against Porsche: (1) in Count I, violation of the Florida Deceptive and Unfair Trade Practices Act, Florida Statute Sections 501.201, et seq. ; (2) in Count II, breach of the implied warranty of merchantability under Florida law; and (3) in Count III, declaratory relief pursuant to 28 U.S.C. Section 2201. Porsche seeks to dismiss each Count with prejudice. The Court addresses each Count in turn.

A. COUNT I - FLORIDA DECEPTIVE AND UNFAIR TRADE PRACTICES ACT

In Count I, Plaintiffs assert one claim for violation of the Florida Deceptive and Unfair Trade Practices Act. Porsche argues this FDUTPA claim should be dismissed with prejudice as barred by the statute of limitations.

1. Statute of Limitations

"A statute of limitations bar is 'an affirmative defense, and ... [P]laintiff[s] [are] not required to negate an affirmative defense in [their] complaint.' " La Grasta v. First Union Sec., Inc. , 358 F.3d 840

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391 F. Supp. 3d 1108, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/padilla-v-porsche-cars-n-am-inc-flsd-2019.