On Dec. 3 Sacramento County Superior Court Judge David De. Alba granted preliminary approval to a settlement that would resolve a case seeking damages related to Ford's claims that its Explorer SUV was safe.

The settlement entitles the 400,000 California class members - which Judge De Alba certified in February 2005 - to either $500 towards the purchase of a new Explorer or $300 towards the purchse of another Ford vehicle.

The unfair competition law (UCL) claims alleged that Ford promoted the vehicle as safe despite knowing that it had a tendency to roll over.  The plaintiffs claimed that after the rollover problem was made public the vehicles lost approximately $1,000 in value.

A full report on the case, including a copy of the settlement, will be available in the Dec. 21 issue of the Mealey Publications' Section 17200 report.