A federal judge refused this week to throw out a class action lawsuit accusing the Fiat and Chrysler motor company of breaching a lifetime warranty it offered to consumers, but did grant some concessions to the automaker.
U.S. District Judge Stephen J. Murphy, III said the bulk of the class action against FCA US LLC can proceed because there are facts in dispute that he cannot decide on at this stage and the company’s customers have a right to pursue their claims. The judge did, however, grant a request by the manufacturer to dismiss the plaintiffs’ claims for “injunctive relief” in light of a decision previously made as part of the company’s Chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganization.
The bankruptcy court decided that damages for any breach of warranty claim stemming from FCA’s “Lifetime Warranty Provision” would be restricted to the cost of repair and labor for fixing an affected vehicle.
Named plaintiff, Paul Grundy, and his legal team filed the class action lawsuit against the Fiat Chrysler auto group in May in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan. Grundy sued on his own behalf and that of at least 27 other owners of specific 2006-2009 Chryslers, Dodges, and Jeeps for which the company reportedly failed to uphold its limited lifetime warranty.
According to the class action lawsuit’s complaint, Grundy and others were told when they took their vehicles in for repairs that the work would not be covered under warranty because they had not fulfilled the requirements of the warranty. To keep the warranty active, owners are supposed to bring their vehicles to an authorized dealer for a prescribed inspection of the powertrain every five years.
The named plaintiffs, who come from 22 states, claim they were not given “reasonable notice” of the mandatory inspection clause in the lifetime warranty agreement and therefore, FCA’s practice of revoking the warranty for failure to uphold the terms is unfair and unlawful. The terms of the lifetime warranty were not included in the warranty manuals the owners were provided with when they purchased their vehicles, the class action lawsuit alleges.
Earlier this year, lawyers for FCA filed a motion with the court asking it to dismiss the case entirely on the grounds the inspection clause of the lifetime warranty was known to the vehicle owners. The owners were given documents explaining warranty in detail at the time of purchase as part of a standard sales procedure, the company argued. Copies of the warranty booklets were submitted to the court as evidence.
In his ruling this week, Judge Murphy said the booklets themselves could not prove the owners were aware of the existence of the inspection clause – the question of whether the owners were, in fact, given adequate notice of the conditions of the lifetime warranty are the factual dispute at the heart of the case.
Under the law, the judge is not allowed to make a determination of fact at this stage of a case, Judge Murphy wrote in his ruling. Instead, he must “accept all well pleaded factual allegations as true” and allow the plaintiffs to proceed with fact-finding.
Do you own a 2006-2009 Chrysler, Dodge or Jeep with a limited lifetime warranty? Have you been denied coverage of a needed repair because you did not meet the warranty’s requirements to have the vehicle inspected every five years? Tell us about it in the comment section below.
Lead plaintiff Grundy and the proposed Class Members are represented by E. Powell Miller, Sharon Almonrode, Emily E. Hughes, Dennis A. Lienhardt, and William Kalas of The Miller Law Firm PC and Richard D. McCune, David C. Wright, Steven A. Haskins, and Mark I. Richards of McCune Wright Arevalo LLP.
The Lifetime Warranty Class Action Lawsuit is Paul Grundy, et al. v. FCA US LLC, Case No. 2:20-cv-11231, in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan, Southern Division.
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302 thoughts onJudge Refuses to Toss Lifetime Warranty Class Action Lawsuit Against Fiat Chrysler
Chrysler Jeep Dodge Ram Dealership located in Modesto, Ca. has had my vehicle for a year and a half now. It has already had a new engine put in about 80,000 miles. I’ve told them on numerous times that there was something wrong with the transmission. They would tell me there’s nothing wrong with it.
My vehicle has been in the shop now since April 2023. At 125,000 miles it took them over a year of me paying insurance on my vehicle every month just for them to tell me that they are not going to put a new transmission in my vehicle. It does need a new transmission. The Chrysler Corporation and the Chrysler Jeep Dodge Ram Dealership said they would mail me a $4,000 check about 3 months ago. I still have not received no check in the mail plus they do not answer any of my phone calls. They still have my vehicle.
I bought my 2006 Dodge Magnum RT brand new at Rick Hendrick Dodge in Charleston, SC. I knew the day I bought the car that I would keep it for life, and I mentioned this fact, many, many times. When the regular factory warranty was due to expire, I was offered a lifetime warranty, a Chrysler Max Care Lifetime Bumper to Bumper warranty., which I did purchase. I could literally write a book about my experiences with that dealership. And it would be both hard to believe, funny, infuriating, and distressing, They have not denied my warranty lately. But they have repeatedly, dozens of times, with massive amounts of evidence, failed to make necessary repairs in a timely manner, and very often, they never performed the repairs at all. The relationship had become quite contentious to say the least but I will not use another dealership because I am determined to hold this dealership responsible for fulfilling the contractual obligations of the Chrysler warranty, as this warranty is to be employed at a Chrysler dealership. I am an engineer and I keep track of the details of the service which has been done to my car, and allowing another authorized Chrysler dealership shop to do any work on my car would introduce variables, which could easily be exploited by the original dealership by claiming that another shop did this or that. My problem., complaint, and issue is that they have continuously failed and/or refused to perform the necessary work which they are obligated to do. This issue has dozens of instances and it would take a short book to review the scope of these issues. I’m a car guy, and I know a lot about cars, which is indeed a claim made nearly universally by all men. Well, I can back it up, and after one famous meeting with the GM of the dealership, even he made clear note of this fact. My perspective is not unique, but my approach may be. I did peruse the Magnusson/Moss Warranty Act many years ago. I just want the dealership to do their job, but they will not, prove beyond any shadow of a doubt, and surely provable in court. I want a few things to happen with this dealership, and quite honestly the auto industry at large. Ambitious? Absolutely. Slam dunk case? I guarantee. Many times over. For point after point after point.most with hard evidence, and all with circumstantial evidence, and all with evidence of reason that a particular status or reality is either one thing, or another, one of which would be self evident, but either way, they are guilty of one thing, or another, per instance. For example, they either did or did not do their world class inspection after a major repair. They either did or did not notice a pair of rear tires with steel belts showing on the inside shoulders. The car had just had the rear diff rebuilt, so the tires were in their faces a lot. There’s a point to my trap here. They never noted a worn out tire. And that’s fine and that is not my indictment. But they were supposed to re-align the suspension system after doing the diff. Four days and about 50 miles after picking up my car, I noticed excessive tread wear on the aforementioned inner shoulders. So. If the tires had been that way before the service, they should have noted this after the “world class inspection” had been done. It was not noted and the tires were not in that condition before the repair. I cannot prove that but it doesn’t matter. They either should have suggested a pair of back tires if they were shot at the time. and they should have aligned it after the repair, which they obviously did not do. The result was two relatively new tires were junked, the car was out of alignment. and the service department was defiant till the end. There ARE a LOT of other stories. All true. They once told me that I had rocks in my back bumper that were the source of a loud clunk from the rear suspension. That of course was not true, and so outlandish fhat its kind of funny. Of note, my ex-wife used to work for Motley-Rice law firm, one of the pivotal firms which changed the face of tobacco in the United Stares. I would like to expose the auto industry in a similar fashion, and they are arguably MORE dangerous than cigarettes are. If this firm wants to make history., I am the guy to push this issue. For the record, I am not litigious by nature. But I am analytical. I could go on and one and on.. Some of these instances are simply hard to believe but they all happened.
I bought a 2008 1500 truck new with the life time warranty, 10/14/25 I need engine replaced but was told that I didn’t have the warranty. They never told me every 5 years the truck needed to be inspected. Now I have a broken truck that I have never had a problem with until now and can’t get it fixed it’s got 235,000 and could go alot more. Guess that’s what you get for trying to take care of a vehicle.
I bought a 2008 1500 truck new with the life time warranty, 10/14/25 I need engine replaced but was told that I didn’t have the warranty. They never told me every 5 years the truck needed to be inspected. Now I have a broken truck that I have never had a problem with until now and can’t get it fixed it’s got 235,000 and could go alot more.
2007 Dodge Charger Daytona owner here. I had a blown head gasket at 126k miles. They are refusing to uphold the Lifetime Powertrain Warranty stating that it failed an inspection back in 2012. However, it did not fail an the inspection. I was also never notified by any means that my warranty was cancelled. Contacted Dodge “Customer Care” and they failed to give me any legitimate reason and just made excuses. They said they couldn’t help me anymore. Dodge is failing its customers. I have everything in email and have since sent a certified letter demanding my warranty be reinstated and they fix my motor. Anyone who can provide help feel free to contact me.
My 2007 Dodge Charger needed some repairs. They 1st stated the repair are covered through my warranty. Then Dodge Dealer received a letter stating they are cancelling my contract. It stated that the services performed were not covered through the contract (Lifetime warranty) and Mopar Warranty Contract wanted to buy me out because the car is too old. So my contract was cancelled. This is so unfair