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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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276 thoughts onJudge Refuses to Toss Lifetime Warranty Class Action Lawsuit Against Fiat Chrysler
I have a 2007 Chrysler 300 touring. Cylinder head needs to be repaired. Chrysler no longer makes these parts. (how convenient), so using an after market piece voids the warranty. I called Chrysler Customer Care and they are contacting Chapman Chrysler Dodge Jeep in Henderson NV to see if they can locate an after market cyclinder head and then they will make a decision. My question is, if I have kept the power train in full effect since I owned the car, how are they going to tell me they can no longer warrant it since they stopped making the part. I paid for a life time power train warranty and feel they should fix it at there expense. Hopefully I’ll get a good report tomorrow as they say it takes at least one day to decide on their part. (2/22/2024) date I spoke with a representative from Chrysler Customer Care.
Hi Rod, I was a certified automotive technician from 1976-2022. Unfortunately Chrysler is only required to manufacture parts for their vehicles for 10 years. Dealerships will not cover aftermarket parts or labor. Chrysler lost their ass offering lifetime warranty. They changed wording in the contracts. They no longer offer life time. My wife and I are going through this bs. Long story.
Jim
I purchased a 2008 Dodge Ram 2500 in May of 2008 they sold me on the lifetime powertrain warranty as long as I owned the truck and informed me of zero parameters. The vehicle is immaculate looks brand new with all services kept up. 5 years later I received a card in mail stating I needed a 5 year powertrain inspection. I went in and got it done under warranty. Five years later same thing. Then in 2023 no card in all fairness I moved and changed address. Although I remember it was 2018 when I got last inspection so I counted on my fingers and said I’m due lol. So I made an appointment and went in in November and had 5 year powertrain inspection completed I received paperwork said powertrain inspection completed and passed along with lubrication and multipoint inspection all free under warranty. Unbelievably two months later at only 138,000 miles for an 08 I hear a clicking under vehicle at higher rpm and vehicle shuts down. I take it to dealership and the guy jokes with me at least you got powertrain inspection done. He calls me later and states I spun the main bearing and I need a new engine. I said whew! At least I got that lifetime powertrain coverage and it just passed inspection. He says well I sent it in for warranty and it says you don’t have it anymore. He states it’s gonna cost $13,000 for engine. I called warranty place they gave me number for and they state that my last inspection wasn’t done within two months of the date I purchased meaning all my 5 year powertrain inspections have to be done between March and July(2 mos before May or two mos after) I stated where is that written my warranty states million miles maximum care lifetime warranty. Last time I checked 5 years is 5 years and lifetime is lifetime. So I file a claim dispute and they denied extending my lifetime coverage which I stated you guys did the inspection and passed it now I need repair and it’s not within some time limit. So now I’m in the process of locating a used cheaper engine than dealership to get it repaired and sell so I never own another dodge product again. I look on the internet and some who never got a inspection were extended I just don’t get it.
My anniversary date was 9/23/2017.
On 8/14/17, I took my 2007 Jeep Compass to the dealership because I thought the transmission was slipping. I told them that they need to check the transmission and that the Jeep had a Lifetime Power Train Warranty. The dealership used their computer to inspect the vehicle and it returned a code for an evaporator leak. After they repaired the Jeep I picked it up and was driving home when it started jerking again. I took it back to the Jeep dealership and told them that they need to inspection the transmission again. They kept the Jeep for a few days and then told me that they could not find anything wrong with it. I asked them if they did a complete inspection and the told me that they did. They then asked me for permission for one of their mechanics to drive the Jeep. I gave them permission then the following day the called me stating that the mounts holding the powertrain were bad. I told them again to do a complete inspection since mechanic and I drove the Jeep multiples times and I wanted to make sure that the powertrain was not damaged and that I would not have any more problems going forward.
They had the Jeep from 8/14/17 to 8/24/17 but not once they say anything about an official powertrain inspection even though I was at the dealership multiple times and I spoke with them on the phone. I was given a Quality Vehicle Inspection with my receipt.
On 9/19/17, four days before the Jeep anniversary I took the Jeep to the dealership again because it would hesitate while I was driving. The dealership replaced the fuel pump and the connecting hose. Repairs where finished on 9/22/17 and I went to the dealership to pick up the Jeep. This was one day before the anniversary but yet again, no mention of having to have a Powertrain inspection.
I had no idea that the Jeep required an inspection every five years but in my case, the dealership had the Jeep in their possession multiple times during the inspection window. They had the Jeep for a total of thirteen days. Ten of those day was for a powertrain issue and they told me multiple times that they inspected the powertrain.
When I called the dealership, they told me that the purged my Jeep from their database eliminating any and all evidence of me ever bringing my Jeep there for repairs.
😲
Reading through the BBB it appears that Mopar is going through “technical” difficulties again. I purchased the MVP warranty back in 2018 when I purchased my 2014 Fiat. I have the contract, MVP membership card and I have used my warranty 3 or 4 times since purchasing it without issue. However the first time in 2019 that I needed to use for roadside assistance, they stated I didn’t have it. I sent them all of the paperwork including my DL, my sales contract with the dealership, my registration, and the contract I signed for the extended warranty. Fast forward to last week, when I went to pick up a lost key fob that is covered, I was advised by the dealership my contract was in cancellation pending. When I called Mopar, they said it was a “technical” issue with their system but that I again needed to send them all fo the information I had sent them back in 2019. My first question to them was why no one called, emailed, texted, snail mailed me a message saying my contract was pending cancellation. The two reps I spoke with couldn’t answer that, my next question was why do I have to send this information in for a third time? They said it was their policy so they could reinstate the contract, my last question was what are you going to do, to ensure this doesn’t happen again? I mean my car is now 10 years old, and I plan to drive it for as long as possible. My thought is if this “technical” issue happened to me, how many others has it happened to that won’t catch it in time and have their policy canceled? I paid quite a bit extra for the contract, and Mopar to date has tried to cancel my policy twice without any form of communication.
V.I.N. 1D7CW3GK2AS23O509
Purchased with MOPAR lifetime warranty. Company constantly keeps my vehicle for extended periods of time for repairs that would not be performed when I first suggested there was a problem, but only after multiple visits until they find a problem they say necessitates them keeping the vehicle because it is unsafe. They then charge us for shipping and receiving for parts. This has included a new engine, finally, at 134k miles, brakes that I had to replace personally on short notice after they had said on inspection, they were good enough to last through summer. Ball joints just now being replaced after me mentioning it for at least a year. (Which caused a need for new brake calibers, rotors, and other components.) These are only some of the problems we have faced over the years of ownership.
I took my 2008 Dodge pickup in for the 15 year inspection this week. I had previously taken the truck in on years 5 and 10. I was told when I purchased it that every 5 years I was to bring it in. That was a major reason I purchased the truck at that time. My impression was as long as I brought it in within the 15th year, that was all I needed. The dealer did the inspection and found everything was fine–only 64K miles on it at no cost to me. The dealer submitted the inspection to Chrysler and was told the warranty was voided because I did not get the inspection within the 60 day window which I did not know about. I guess I just accidentally got it in the first two time within the 60 days. I called customer service yesterday to get the warranty reinstated but was flatly rejected because I was outside the 60 day window, no leeway- to me a technicality to have them void the warranty. My concern is (1) I was diligent in taking it in for the inspection and there was no leeway on their part on the 60 days to reinstate. (2) what happens in the future if I have an issue and what recourse will I have on the lifetime warranty that I got and they agreed on the purchase?
The six speed manual transmission broke on my 2007 Dodge Dakota. The local Dodge dealer told me it was the clutch, I’ve been building cars for over 45 years and these guys can’t BS me. I had it changed about 5000 miles ago and I told them it wasn’t needed and that if they changed it, the trans was still broken. They changed the clutch and guess what, the trans is still broken. Chrysler wants to give me $5000, and I need to pay for the clutch job at $2800. They want me to take my broken truck and go away. They stopped making parts for my trans so that tells me they had no intention of honoring this warranty. To not honor their warranty I think Chrysler is dishonest. My last warranty inspection was done in 2022, so I’m updated on that. Can you please help me? Thank you!
I am the original owner of a 2008 Dodge Ram that was sold with the limited lifetime powertrain warranty. Last November It simply failed to crank and I was told it had jumped time but the Stokes Chrysler Dealership in Clanton,Al where I purchased it refused to honor the warranty, I am 61 years old and still have the truck but cannot afford to fix it. I purchased the truck in November 2007 because of the lifetime powertrain warranty. According to my warranty paperwork this is a covered repair. I have all the original lifetime warranty paperwork.
I was told at the dealer that my lifetime power train warranty was cancelled when I took my 2009 Dodge Calibur to the dealer for repairs. I was never told about the 5 year inspection that needed to be done and I took my car to the same dealer for 14 years for maintenance and repairs when needed. If I wanted my car fixed it would cost $3000.00. Why did I pay extra for a lifetime warranty? I was not notified about the cancellation for the warranty! I have called MVP, Chrysler Service Contracts and Dodge Service Contracts and there is nothing they can do, except tell me that the 5 year inspection was not done. The Service Manager told me about the lawsuit and told me to look it up!
How do we contact someone about this issue? I am having the same problem with 2009 Dodge truck sold with lifetime powertrain warranty & Max care warranty. Same e dealerships have handled this truck and the many others we have purchased from them. Suddenly, after I JUST had the truck in last year for a seal leak, and requested full inspection, they now say I didn’t ask for powertrain inspection specifically, so warranty is voided. I need someone to help me. Esther2055@sbcglobal.net
My 2008 Dodge Ram has had the powertrain inspected done at the dealership every 5 year and is good there. My issue is that Ram is not reimbursing me for a CV axle repair that is listed in the coverage. They are claiming that the repair had to be done a dealer and I did it at an independent ASC shop. No were in the warranty book does it state all warranty repairs have to be done at a dealer. It does say on page 48 if the warranty book that “it is recommended you return to your dealer”. I’ve sent in claims, documents, reopened cases with Customer Care and get told it is denied, but can’t get anyone to prove or show me where it says that repairs have to be done at a dealer. Any help would be appreciated.