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The Chrysler Group LLC, which is now known as FCA US LLC, was hit with an amended class action lawsuit in a New Jersey federal court, alleging that the 2014 Jeep Cherokees have defective transmissions that are wrought with problems.
Plaintiff Stacy Oquendo, who lives in New Jersey, says in her Jeep Cherokee class action lawsuit filed on Aug. 6 that she purchased her Jeep Cherokee in April 2014, which she has since had “repeated problems” with.
“The repair history reflects complaints of the transmission not shifting properly, and other transmission problems,” the class action lawsuit says.
Because of the transmission problems she claims her Jeep Cherokee has faced, Oquendo says that “she has lost the use of her vehicle for repair, the value of the vehicle is diminished because of its frequent and persistent problems, and the vehicle poses safety concerns to the driver and occupants.”
The New Jersey woman claims that her Jeep Cherokee has faced an “abnormal” amount of “transmission, problems, malfunction, and failure.”
And she claims that she’s not the only 2014 Jeep Cherokee owner that has had these types of problems. Oquendo cites various publications that have reported on the transmission problems occurring in other 2014 Jeep Cherokees as well.
The Jeep Cherokee class action lawsuit cited Car and Driver as one such publication that has cited similar transmission problems: “At least 12 out of 30 complaints submitted thus far to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration cite poor shift quality, including transmissions that held gears for too long or suddenly shifted into neutral.”
The industry magazine says that “Chrysler delayed the Cherokee’s launch last fall by several weeks to make last-minute fixes to the new transmission and then released two technical service bulletins,” which included “an entire step-by-step process to recalibrate the adaptive software to better match the owner’s driving style.”
These fixes, Car and Driver explains, are “supposed to smooth out shifts from first to second and second to third.”
The publication added that in its “reviews of a four-cylinder and various V-6 Cherokees, we noticed erratic behavior from the nine-speed. It would deliver crisp, well-timed shifts on some occasions, yet on others would respond with slurred and delayed changes.”
Oquendo says that the problems described by Car and Driver are the problems that both she and other potential Class Members have experienced.
However, the Jeep Cherokee class action says that instead of acknowledging “the problem Chrysler has proceeded to deny and/or conceal the problem and directed its dealers to provide deceptive, false, or misleading explanations for the failure to provide warranty coverage and reimbursement.”
The New Jersey woman is charging Chrysler with breach of express warranty, breach of implied warranty of merchantability, fraud, violating the Consumer Fraud Act, and violating the Magnuson-Moss Act.
Oquendo is looking to represent a class of 2014 Jeep Cherokee owners who purchased their vehicles in New Jersey, New York, Delaware and Connecticut, have experienced transmission problems with their vehicles, have had to pay for rental vehicles during repairs, and have also been hurt because of the loss of use and diminished value of their vehicles.
The Jeep Cherokee class action lawsuit was first filed in in a New Jersey state court in May, but Chrysler had the Jeep Cherokee class action lawsuit transferred to the federal court because there were cross-state issues.
Oquendo is represented by Howard A. Gutman of the Law Office of Howard A. Gutman.
Chrysler is represented by Thomas R. Curtin of Graham Curtin PA.
The Jeep Cherokee Class Action Lawsuit is Oquendo v. Chrysler Group LLC, Case No. 3:15-cv-05056 in the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey.
UPDATE: The Jeep Cherokee Transmission Class Action Lawsuit was dismissed on May 2, 2016.
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158 thoughts onChrysler Hit With Jeep Cherokee Class Action Over Transmission Problems
Funny how all these people are experiencing the same issues or damn near close and nothing is done about it. My 14 Cherokee has been in the shop for transmission issues 3 times and counting. This last time they replaced torque converter , solenoid pack, and some front end stuff my car was making strange squeaky noises turning the steering wheel.
It is not that nothing is done about it. Lots of things are being tried. What is disturbing is that nothing so far seems to be a permanent and universal fix. They are definitely trying to cure the problem, which is a good thing, since they’ve used the same transmission in the new Jeep Renegade and Fiat 500X stablemates, as well as Dodge Dart and Chrysler 200. The transmission is also in use by Honda (Pilot, MDX) and others including Mini and Rover. The only car that I have heard of using this unit that does not have complaints is the Land Rover Evoque. Is that because they have better programming, or are there just so few units out in the field that it doesn’t get internet attention?
2014 Cherokee in Medina Auto Mall going on 3rd transmission just hit 10k , miles
2014 Cherokee, just over 17,500 miles. About to get third transmission. I have heard nothing about whether ZF (transmission designer) or Fiat Chrysler (owner of Jeep, Chrysler and Dodge, all of whom use this transmission) have actually figured out what to change in the transmission. I have a Limited model with every option known to mankind. I really think the car is the best thing on the market except . . . for a transmission that seems to only last between 2,000 and 15,000 miles if you’re lucky. Unlike some people on this forum, my car is on lease, so I have the option in about 16 months to just hand it back. I would push Chrysler for a new car, except I have no idea if they have any handle on the problem or not. I can see why they don’t want to talk about this in public, but that does nothing to reassure all of us who are stuck with a turkey. The fact that they are silent makes me think it is still, sadly, a work in progress. Like many others I have not only had a transmission replaced once (and now, about to be twice,) but also have had a steady stream of updates. I appreciate that Chrysler is trying very hard at this point to deliver customer satisfaction, but that can be hard to do when you live under constant threat of having your vehicle melt down unpredictably, and most frightening of all, while in the middle of screaming traffic on a freeway. OUCH!
I’m having the same problem with the shifting, I almost hit a car twice because the car just took off. I had to slam on the brakes. I’m going to take it for the first time this week I hope they can fix the problem. I don’t want to end up hitting someone in front of me, that would be scary. I’m in California, anyone else with this problem in California?
My daughters 2015 Jeep Limited did not stop when she braked. U were lucky this time. She found herself rolling down a steep Bay area hill!! Put on your emergency brake. It is a failed transmission.
Date Complaint Filed: 11/09/2015
Date of Incident: 11/05/2015
Component(s): UNKNOWN OR OTHER
NHTSA ID Number: 10789426
Consumer Location: RENO, NV
All Products Associated with this Complaint close
Vehicle MakeModelModel Year(s)
JEEPGRAND CHEROKEE2014
Details close
help
0 Available Documents
Crash:No Fire:No Number of Injuries:0 Number of Deaths:0
Manufacturer: Chrysler (FCA US LLC)
Vehicle Identification No. (VIN): ******…
SUMMARY:
LESS THAN 32,000 MILES ON 2014 GRAND CHEROKEE, GETTING OFF FREEWAY ON SHARP TURN EXIT, THERE WAS A THUNK AND OUR BODIES LURCHED FORWARD AS VEHICLE DROPPED INTO 1ST GEAR. PULLED OVER, CHECK ENGINE LIGHT ON BUT NOT BLINKING SO IGNORED AS DEALERSHIP SERVICE REPRESENTATIVE THAT NOT CRITICAL IF NOT BLINKING. WE WERE ABLE TO MOVE, BUT TRANSMISSION SLIPPED UNTIL REACHED 20 MPH AND RAN OK UNTIL WE WERE HOME ABOUT 1/2 MILE AWAY. WE THEN TESTED THE SHIFTING AND VEHICLE WOULD NOT GO INTO REVERSE. NEXT MORNING, THE CAR WOULD NOT MOVE AT ALL IN ANY GEAR. HAD IT TOWED TO DEALERSHIP. THE SERVICE REP CALLED THE NEXT MORNING INDICATING THAT THE TRANSMISSION FAILED AND THEY NEEDED TO ORDER A NEW ONE TO REPLACE IT. AWAITING NEW TRANSMISSION.
I would be happy to speak with anyone (973-598-1980) who is having problems with their Chrysler transmission.
Multiple problems and repairs, including transmission problems, on 2015 Jeep Cherokee/Subn. Wish to join class action lawsuit
We bought a 2014 Jeep Cherokee in the end of June 2015 in Toms River, NJ. we are the second owner and it had 27,000 miles on it when it was purchased. We moved to Florida shortly after. one year and 3 days after we bought it, the engine failed and was replaced down here. shortly after followed a new transmission, radiator, ac compressor, and all were under 36,000 mile warranty. now just out of the warranty, the transmission (even though brand new just over a 1 month) has never shifted properly and its now out of commission yet again with the check engine light on it. not drivable and totally out of options. I need help. please tell me if I have a case to at least get the pay off for what I owe on it so I can get a different car. started in the shop July 2016 and has been in and out of it at least 6 times for 2 weeks at a time sometimes. drive it for a week in September. Thank you.
i would love to be part of a class action law suit. I have the 2014 Cherekee and every time i would take it in for the transmision there was always an up date. this time no up date but i called Chrysler and finyley someone is listening. My car has been in the shop for about 3 weeks. We are waiting for a better trans. lol..
Anyone knows how did this end? I live in Mexico and I own a Cherokee, experiencing the same issues. I´m already in a case against Chrysler/Jeep. But a lot of ppl wants to join as well.
Mine is a 1998 and first it would slip gears. Then it would not go further than second gear. Now only reverse. Does this sound like it was recalled and the previous owner didn’t have it looked at?
Date Reported
FEBRUARY 01, 2015
NHTSA Reference
#10057686
TSB Reference
#SB-21-001-15
Description: CHRYSLER/JEEP: TSB CONTAINS AN OWNER NOTIFICATION LETTER. SELECT DOCUMENT SEARCH BUTTON BELOW. TO PREVENT C-CLUTCH SNAP FROM DISLODGING, A NEW SOFTWARE ENHANCEMENT IS RELEASED TO CHANGE THE CHARACTERISTICS OF CLUTCH APPLICATION BY REPROG
So Chrysler changed the shifting on my Cherokee so an internal part does not fail
The defective part is still in side the transmission they just bypassed the problem.
Now the question is will it still fail?
Chrysler closed my engineering case with no repair or even a time frame of a program update.
Looks like l get to live with a transmission that starts out on 3rd gear at 5 mph then slams into a lower gear making the tires squeal.
It’s like l have a stall converter.
Must be a new feature that they don’t tell you about when you buy a Chrysler product
It’s going to be a fun winter.
I have a 2014 Jeep Cerokee that has been in for software updates. And I am still experiencing problems, just the other day changing lanes on the highway the vehicle wouldn’t accelerate. Frustrating