Fiat Chrysler Class Action Says Lifetime Warranty Is Unfair

UPDATE: On Dec. 15, 2020, a federal judge refused to throw out a class action lawsuit accusing the Fiat and Chrysler motor company of breaching a lifetime warranty it offered to consumers.

Vehicle owners have filed a class action lawsuit against Fiat Chrysler, claiming the car manufacturer is not honoring its lifetime warranty.

The plaintiffs, which include 27 drivers from 22 states, allege that Fiat Chrysler is not standing by their lifetime warranty of 2006-2009 Chrysler, Dodge, and Jeep vehicles, sold and delivered on, or after, July 26, 2007.

One plaintiff in the Fiat Chrysler class action is Paul Grundy, a Michigan resident. Grundy says he purchased a new 2009 Dodge Journey which Fiat Chrysler represented came with a lifetime warranty.

In December 2019, Grundy alleges that he brought his vehicle to the dealership to diagnose and repair the vehicle’s engine components. He says Fiat Chrysler refused to make the repairs on the vehicle, saying the lifetime warranty was revoked because the vehicle had not undergone a powertrain inspection under the inspection clause of the warranty.

As a result of Fiat Chrysler’s breach of their obligations under the lifetime warranty, Grundy explains that he has suffered economic damages, which includes the cost of the parts and labor necessary to repair his vehicle.

In their lifetime warranty class action lawsuit, the plaintiffs claim that Fiat Chrysler is not honoring their lifetime warranty because of a provision in the warranty that their vehicles must undergo a “powertrain inspection” within 60 days of each five year anniversary of its in-service date.

In addition, the vehicle owners state that Fiat Chrysler has repudiated its obligations to repair the vehicles altogether by “revoking” the lifetime warranties. Thus, the plaintiffs say that going forward they will have to incur further expenses to repair powertrain components in their vehicles.

The drivers claim that they were never given reasonable notice of the existence of the inspection clause in the lifetime warranty when they purchased their vehicles and that the inception clause is unconscionable.

In July 2007, Fiat Chrysler made an announcement that it would start to offer a lifetime warranty on 88 percent of its fleet models, the plaintiffs allege.

From 2007 to 2009, the drivers claim that Fiat Chrysler sold hundreds of thousands of vehicles by providing these lifetime warranty assurances to vehicle owners. 

“Burdened by the financial promises made by the Lifetime Warranty offer, FCA now routinely voids the Lifetime Warranty because vehicle owners were unaware that they needed to have their powertrain inspected within that arbitrarily narrow window,” the Fiat Chrysler lifetime warranty class action lawsuit states.

The plaintiffs claim they were not informed of the lifetime warranty’s specific terms and conditions, specifically the inspection clause. They say that the terms of the lifetime warranty were excluded from warranty manuals that were provided to all purchasers of the 2006-2009 Class vehicles. 

The terms of the inspection clause was included in the 2009 Class vehicles, but it is in fine print and indistinguishable from the surrounding text, the drivers explain. The inspection clause, they say, is atypical, serves no commercial purpose, and is one-sided. 

The lifetime warranty was the main consideration of the putative Class Members when they purchased the vehicles, and Fiat Chrysler allegedly knew this.

The plaintiffs aver that Fiat Chrysler enticed them to purchase their vehicles by promising the lifetime warranty and then did not inform them of the terms and conditions that would subject the warranty to cancellation.

Questions of law and fact in this class action lawsuit include: 1) whether Fiat Chrysler breached the terms of the lifetime warranty by denying claims under the warranty; 2) whether the plaintiffs were provided reasonable notice of the inspection clause; 3) whether the inspection clause is unconscionable; 4) and whether the members of the class are entitled to equitable, legal, or injunctive relief.

The drivers say that, in connection with the purchase of their vehicles, Fiat Chrysler expressly warranted that the Class vehicles were covered by the lifetime warranty.

Under the warranty, Fiat Chrysler promised to cover the cost of all parts needed to repair powertrain of their vehicles that were deemed defective.

“FCA has breached the Lifetime Warranty by refusing to cover the cost of repairing defects in the workmanship and/or materials of the powertrain parts and components of the Class Vehicles,” the Fiat Chrysler limited warranty class action goes on to say.

Because of Fiat Chrysler’s breach of contract, the plaintiffs claim that they have been damaged in an amount to be proven at trial, which shall include all compensatory damages as well as incidental and consequential damages.

Do you own a Fiat Chrysler vehicle with a lifetime warranty that was declared null or void? Leave a message in the comments section below.

The plaintiffs 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 Fiat Chrysler Lifetime Warranty Class Action Lawsuit is 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.

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