Garmin Can’t Escape Nuvi GPS Battery Class Action Lawsuit

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Class action lawsuit says Garmin Nuvi batteries are prone to premature failure, and Garmin refuses to replace them under warranty.

A federal judge on Thursday denied a motion by Garmin International Inc. to dismiss a class action lawsuit accusing the company of selling GPS navigation products with defective batteries that prematurely fail.

Plaintiff Brian Meyers alleges in the Garmin class action lawsuit that the company not only sold him an automobile navigation system with a faulty lithium ion battery, but also refuses to replace or compensate for the batteries while they are still under warranty. Not only does this violate the company’s own policy, but Meyers asserts that these actions violate the Kansas Consumer Protection Act (KCPA), by breaching either an expressed or implied warranty.

According to the class action lawsuit, if customers want a replacement battery they must pay a substantial fee to Garmin to replace it.  Customers are then left with the option to buy the cheaper battery, or use the GPS system despite it working significantly worse than advertised.

Meyers is not only filing the Garmin GPS class action lawsuit on behalf of himself, but also on behalf of a nationwide Class of consumers who bought the Garmin Nuvi.  This includes two subclasses of consumers whose Garmin Nuvi battery failed within two years of purchase, and those who were charged for a Garmin battery replacement when they sent in the device for repair.

Meyers asserts he purchased his Garmin Nuvi in August 2011 for $259.99, and by December 2012 he noticed the battery life starting to die.

When Meyers complained to Garmin’s customer service, he was allegedly told that the company would not replace the Garmin Nuvi battery, despite the product being under warranty.  The “overhaul” cost, as he was told, would be $120 in order to replace the battery.  Meyers claims that the typical lifetime of the battery is four years under typical use, but his and other customers’ products had lasted only a fraction of that time.

Meyers is accusing Garmin of making the battery replacement process too difficult without damaging the GPS navigation device, which voids the warranty.  Along with Meyers, thousands of Nuvi customers have complained to Garmin about the battery failure, but were met with the same result.

Garmin tried to have these allegations dismissed by arguing that Meyers had purchased his device through an authorized dealer in another state, and therefore is not responsible for the specific consequences of this transaction.  U.S. District Judge Carlos Muguia disagreed with this assessment, ruling that the transaction was of a consumer-from-buyer nature, making the company liable for any faults of the product.  The only victory Garmin had in this argument was that the judge dismissed the claim for the company to replace the batteries.

In his Jan. 23 order, Judge Muguia stated that Garmin’s argument about the plaintiff being in a different state was irrelevant for a variety of reasons.  First, Garmin was the supplier of this product, which automatically enforces consumer transactions regardless of state lines.  Second, the fact that the plaintiff resides in Illinois instead of Kansas, where the company is located, is not a prerequisite for filing the KCPA claim because the plaintiff purchased the product off the company’s website.

Because the Garmin dealer had been approved by the website, the purchase of the GPS device is considered under Kansas law, and is subject to both an expressed or implied warranty claim, the judge ruled.  This means that even if the product was not directly purchased from a store location, if it was still sold through an authorized dealer the company is liable because it is considered a valid transaction.

Meyers is represented by James P. Frickleton and Edward D. Robertson Jr. of Bartimus Frickleton Robertson & Gorny PC and by Bryan L. Clobes, Anthony F. Fata and Daniel O. Herrera of Cafferty Clobes Meriwether & Sprengel LLP.

This Garmin Nuvi GPS Battery Class Action Lawsuit is Meyers v. Garmin International Inc., et al., Case No. 2:13-cv-02416 in the United States District Court of Kansas.

UPDATE: On Mar. 30, 2016, a federal judge granted dismissal of a proposed Garmin class action lawsuit.