Sydney man David Stavros, pictured in 2014 with his brand new Ford Focus. He’s one of the plaintiffs in the class action case against Ford.

The 56-year-old lives on a quiet cul-de-sac in suburban Sydney, so the police siren and its blue and red flashing lights soon drew curious neighbours out onto the street.

“The cop comes over and says ‘Can I see your licence please? We’re going to do a random breath test’. I said sure, but I hadn’t been drinking, so I asked why she wanted to do a random breath test,” Mr Storos told news.com.au.

“She said ‘We feel that you don’t have control over your car’. I tried to explain to her that I have this dodgy lemon Ford Focus that lurches and jerks, but she didn’t believe me.

“She said ‘Look, I’m very close to issuing you with a traffic infringement notice for not having proper control over your vehicle, but I can see that you’re almost home’.” (NSW Police couldn’t confirm the incident to news.com.au because no warning was issued).

By this point, Mr Storos’ neighbours and his family were all watching.

“They were probably wondering ‘What on earth has this guy done?’ Even my granddaughter said to my daughter, ‘Is grandad going to the police?’”

Mr Storos, who bought his car for $27,500 in 2014, says this is the fourth Ford Focus he’s owned.

“I’ve always been a Ford person,” he said. “You’ll never see me in a Holden, but after this experience I’m never buying a Ford again.”

David Stavros’ Ford Focus, which he purchased in December 2014. Picture: David StavrosSource:Supplied

He is one of the 1500 disgruntled Ford customers who are suing the company as part of a class action case, which returned to court this week. (The law firm representing the case say they have been contacted by more than 7000 Ford owners).

Lawyers are accusing Ford of misleading and deceptive conduct in selling 22 different models of Fiesta, Focus and EcoSport vehicles between 2011 and this year. More than 70,000 allegedly dodgy cars could be affected.

The affected models are equipped with the Ford PowerShift transmission, which promises to deliver “acceleration much smoother than a conventional automatic”. This technology has the features of a manual gearbox but is designed to drive like an automatic.

But cars with Ford’s PowerShift transmission technology have been nicknamed “shutterboxes” by unhappy customers because they shudder and jerk unexpectedly.

“This car doesn’t know what the f*** it’s doing,” Mr Storos said. “It’s shuddering and slipping and jerking. The gear changes are quite bumpy and quite chunky. Driving on freeways is OK, but at low speeds, it’s a piece of s***.

“The dealers feed you so much bulls*** and say, ‘You need to learn how to drive the car’, but they never told me that when I bought the car.”

Mr Storos, who works as a law agent, now only drives the car from his home to the train station and the local shops.

“Even if I wanted to sell it, no one wants to buy it. The car has 19,000 kilometres on it, but I’d be lucky to get $10,000 for it,” he said.

Mr Stavros’ Ford Focus. Picture: David StavrosSource:Supplied

On Wednesday, when the case returned to the Federal Court, it was revealed that members of the class action had contacted Ford and tried to arrange out-of-court settlement deals. These deals usually involved a trade in on a more expensive car.

Professor Peter Cashman, acting for Bannister Law, said Ford owners were not being provided with “any explanation of the legal consequences” before entering into the agreements, which often include a confidentiality clause.

“Normally when you buy a car you’re not expected to enter into a confidentiality agreement. It’s an odd requirement,” Prof Cashman said.

As news.com.au reported in June, many disgruntled customers who have tried to trade in their dodgy Ford cars have been asked to sign confidentiality agreements as part of the deal.

“You agree that you will not take any actions ... which would have the effect of interfering with or preventing the normal trading activities of Ford Australia or any other authorised Ford dealer,” the agreement says.

“This offer is subject to being kept strictly confidential between you and Ford Australia.”

A Ford Australia spokesman said it was “standard commercial practice” for legal settlements to include a confidentiality agreement.

“Where we settle a claim with a customer by providing a refund or replacement vehicle or other financial contribution, it is standard practice for the agreement to include a confidentiality clause, and the confidentiality obligation only applies to the terms of the settlement,” he said.

“We encourage any customers who have questions to work with their local dealers on their individual circumstances.”

Ford is facing a potential billion dollar class action.Source:Supplied

Prof Cashman argued that Ford, who had asked the law firm running the case for its list of clients, should be restrained from contacting people involved in the class action.

He asked that Ford be open and honest with people before offering out-of-court settlements, including an acknowledgment at the top of the letter that they could no longer be involved in the class action.

It will take up to two weeks for the court to decide whether it will require Ford to include more detail and transparency in its settlement deals.

The class action case against Ford is built on the experience of a Victorian woman Billie Capic who was “frightened for her life” after a power loss while driving her 2012 Focus Sport in February this year. Miss Capic also experienced uncontrolled movement of the car, sudden gear changes and gear-skipping.

The lawsuit alleges the cars are not of acceptable quality, as defined under Australian Consumer Law and that Ford knew of the problems. The vehicles have never been recalled.

The action seeks refunds or the difference between the purchase price and the true value of the vehicles, as well as aggravated damages.

The cost of refunding 70,000 cars at an average price of $25,000 would be $1.75 billion.

rebecca.sullivan@news.com.au