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Update:
- Fiat Chrysler argues that an amended complaint accusing it of selling Dodge vehicles with allegedly defective rear differentials did not fix problems that led to the dismissal of the original complaint.
- Fiat Chrysler claims the amended complaint only expanded on the class the plaintiffs, Dodge muscle car owners, wanted to represent.
- Six Dodge muscle car owners filed the class action lawsuit against Fiat Chrysler last year, alleging the company knowingly sold certain vehicles with defective rear differentials.
- The original complaint was thrown out after a federal judge in Delaware ruled the car owners did not sufficiently allege the facts necessary to obtain relief and lacked standing to sue on behalf of a nationwide class.
Dodge muscle car class action lawsuit overview:
- Who: Owners of Hellcat and Demon-brand Dodge muscle cars are suing Fiat Chrysler Automobiles.
- Why: The owners of the cars say they overpaid for them because the differentials in the vehicle can explode, reducing the vehicles’ value.
- Where: The class action lawsuit was lodged on behalf of Dodge muscle car owners in California, Florida, and New York.
(Oct. 21, 2021)
Owners of “Hellcat” and “Demon” brand Dodge muscle cars overpaid for the vehicles, which have a defect in which a part of the car can explode during use, a class action lawsuit alleges.
In court documents filed Oct. 18 in a Delaware federal court, six Dodge muscle car owners fought Dodge parent company Fiat Chrysler Automobiles’ (FCA) motion to dismiss their claims.
The plaintiffs allege that FCA equipped the “Hellcat” and “Demon”-brand muscle cars with high horsepower engines and marketed them as race track-capable.
However, the vehicles’ rear differentials—parts on a car that allow wheels to spin at different speeds going around corners—are inadequately designed for the engine and transmissions’ torque loads during acceleration, the plaintiffs say.
This causes the rear differential to degrade and its internal components in the Dodge muscle cars to fail.
“Nevertheless, FCA marketed the Class Vehicles as designed for high-performance environments,” the plaintiffs say, adding that the defect makes even the ordinary use of the cars unsafe.
“In fact, when the differential fails, it often explodes, sending shrapnel into the undercarriage of the vehicle and damaging ancillary parts that then also require repair or replacement,” the class action lawsuit alleges.
The plaintiffs claim that even when the defective parts in their Dodge muscle cars were “repaired” or replaced with other FCA parts, the defect was not resolved because the vehicles still contained inherently defective parts or received another defective part as a replacement.
The plaintiffs say owners of the Dodge muscle cars overpaid for their vehicles and suffered diminished value because of the defect.
Dodge muscle car owners fight dismissal of class action lawsuit
While FCA had argued to have the class action dismissed because the plaintiffs had not had to pay anything to repair their cars, they argued Oct. 18 that they lost money by overpaying in the first place for what they thought was a race-track capable car.
FCA has also argued the claims were time-barred. However the motion argues that FCA has misapplied the applicable tolling provisions.
Meanwhile, owners of the Dodge Challenger SRT Demon—a limited-run, street-legal race car that retails for more than $84,000—filed a class action lawsuit earlier this year saying the car had a known defect, and its makers were trying to dodge responsibility for it.
However, claims the Dodge Demon had an issue that caused its paint to rub off in certain areas were dismissed by a judge in September.
Do you own a Dodge muscle car or another vehicle with a suspected defect? Learn about a vehicle defect investigation here (links to paid attorney advertisement).
The plaintiffs are represented by Russell D. Paul, Abigail Gertner and Amey J. Park of Berger Montague, and Tarek H. Zohdy, Cody R. Padgett, and Laura E. Goolsby of Capstone Law APC.
The Dodge Muscle Car Class Action Lawsuit is Diaz et al. v. FCA US LLC, Case No. 1:21-cv-00906, in the U.S. District Court for the District of Delaware.
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