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Drivers who claimed that they paid too much for Fiat Chrysler vehicles with defective gearshifts will receive partial Class certification in their gearshift multidistrict litigation.
U.S. District Judge David M. Lawson did not certify a nationwide Class of drivers, as requested, but did conditionally certify an “issue based” Class of drivers from 21 states.
According to the judge, a nationwide Class of consumers should not be certified because a previous Supreme Court ruling determined that claims regarding consumers who overpaid should be determined on an individual basis, and not on a Class basis.
The judge also declined to certify 16 subclasses of drivers in various states and to certify alternate Classes for drivers in 23 states. The judge objected to this approach of Class certification, calling it “piecemeal.” He also said that this proposed method of dividing up Classes did not properly address claims affecting certain drivers.
The judge argued that the subdivision of the drivers into the proposed Classes would be unmanageable, and further criticized this proposal by returning to the issue of individual versus Class claims that he made in his rejection of the nationwide Class.
According to the judge, drivers “simply have not done the heavy lifting of analyzing state by state and claim by claim why the purported issues predominate over any individual question.”
According to the court ruling, the drivers had created many state Classes to avoid what he called “significant obstacles” to Class certification and to minimize Class certification. The judge determined that this was an improper approach to Class claims, and rejected the proposed Class certifications as a result.
The judge also said that because the main argument that the drivers had made to assert economic loss was to seek damages, the Class could not be satisfied. Previously, Fiat Chrysler had attempted to have the claims trimmed in the gearshift multidistrict litigation.
Judge Lawson determined that the Class of drivers across 21 states was more appropriate, because all of the drivers in that Class had been injured in a different state. The issue-based Class is composed of consumers who say that they made their purchasing decisions at least in part on false representations about the vehicles.
According to the drivers, Fiat Chrysler of America knew that the gearshifts were defective, and knowingly concealed this information from consumers. Allegedly, had they had all of the information, the affected drivers might not have purchased the affected vehicles.
The vehicles at issue in the gearshift multidistrict litigation are the 2012-2014 Dodge Charger, the 2012-2014 Chrysler 300, and the 2014-2015 Jeep Grand Cherokee, which are equipped with a monostable shifter. Around 800,000 vehicles possess the gear shifter at issue, notes the judge.
The drivers had claimed that the gear shifter is defective because it does not allow drivers to select gears reliably and does not allow drivers to comfortably shift gears.
Have you experienced the Fiat Chrysler gear shift problem? Share your experiences in the comment section below!
The plaintiffs and recently certified Class are represented by E. Powell Miller and Sharon S. Almonrode of The Miller Law Firm PC; Joseph H. Meltzer, Peter A. Muhic and Tyler S. Graden of Kessler Topaz Meltzer & Check LLP; Steve W. Berman, Sean R. Matt and Christopher R. Pitoun of Hagens Berman Sobol Shapiro LLP; Daniel E. Gustafson, Jason S. Kilene, David A. Goodwin and Raina C. Borrelli of Gustafson Gluek PLLC; Robert K. Shelquist and Rebecca A. Peterson of Lockridge Grindal Nauen PLLP; Gregory F. Coleman, Lisa A. White, Mark E. Silvey and Adam E. Edwards of Greg Coleman Law PC; and David Honigman, Douglas Toering and Gerard V. Mantese of Mantese Honigman PC.
The Fiat Chrysler Gearshift Class Action is In Re: FCA USA LLC Monostable Electronic Gearshift Litigation, Case No. 16-md-02744, in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan.
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11 thoughts onFiat Chrysler Gearshift Defect Class Action Gets Partial Cert.
Our 2016 Town & Country has transmission/shifting problems at 85k miles!!! How can an engine or transmission only last 85k miles in 2022? I feel scammed by Chrysler.
My gear shift has been faulty since I bought my car in 2016. I have documentation proving my complaints. UConnect has always been an issue and when I complained to Fiat, they told me to go online and download an update…and then what?!? I don’t have a CD player!
There is also a defect with manual transmission shifters breaking outside of the transmission.
As much as I love my Jeep this gear shifter lever is very dangerous. I have been to my local car wash and when I drive out to get it dried. I have mistakenly put it in reverse and almost backed into the the guy drying my Jeep on more than one occasion.
Randomly, my transmission will stuck in 1st gear, making it impossible for me to accelerate into highway traffic safely. Sometimes the paddle shifter will just engage randomly man’s it will stuck in gear until I upshift as well. This has been to the dealer to be “ reflagged “ but all that accomplished was their stupid recall software update that slams the vehicle into PARK when the door is slightly ajar. Good luck getting FIAT to accept responsibility for their overpricing and shitty workmanship. The Luxury priced grand Cherokee should also be COMFORTABLE and the seats feel like you are sitting on plywood!! I pray to God that American MOPAR gets sold back to an Aneeican company sometime soon.
my wife got out of the car in our drive way, when the car started to roll backwards she got out of the way and i jumped in and hit the brakes, she could have been hit by the door, he car scares me
The problem also with the shifter is that when direct sunlight enters the vehicle on the console you cannot see what gear the vehicle is engaged in. This is dangerous and could cause a driver to inadvertently accelerate forward when you can’t identify what position the shifter is in. So you have to shade the shifter with your other hand and then shift. Even more dangerous taking your hands off the steering wheel. I’m glad someone has finally taken this company to task because I would gladly get rid of this vehicle if we could afford to replace it over this poorly designed shifter.
There has been many issues with my shifter not only with me but even more dangerous when other people who drive the vehicle who aren’t use to it. And to the claim well still have the vehicle cause it’s was over 30,000 dollars and can’t afford to get a new one so why I still own it. I have gotten out ( thinking I’m in park ) and more than once and lucky have seen the back up lights are on so quicky was able to throw in park. Also have been driving and it getting bumped into neutral leaving me in a bad spot.
As a result of this issue my wife was in an accident. She was sat in a turn lane to enter our neighborhood and a an ambulance reversed into her. She had more than enough time to backup but when she tried the car did not go into reverse. As a result the ambulance hit her head-on even though she was honking and screaming out the window. She was stuck in neutral and just had to sit there as the ambulance came full speed into her.
I leased a 2014 Dodge Charger that was unsuccessfully serviced three times for a stalled automatic transmission. I first noticed the issue when the check engine light came on while I was on the expressway. Suddenly the car would not accelerate even though the engine was revving properly. When I took it to the dealership, the diagnostic test listed a ‘TRANS CODE PO730’ error. The Charger had the transmission replaced while undergoing several other services to the value body but the issue was never resolved.