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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 He says Fiat Chrysler refused to make the repairs on the vehicle, saying the lifetime warranty was revoked because the vehicle had not undergone a powertrain inspection under the inspection clause of the warranty.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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574 thoughts onFiat Chrysler Class Action Says Lifetime Warranty Is Unfair
I was informed yesterday, April 3, 2024, via 800 Chrysler Customer Service number, that they cancelled my lifetime power train warranty on my 2009 Dodge Journey because I neglected to have proper inspections. I have solid proof that inspections were completed in both 2019 and 2022. Due to a failed transmission that they are now not covering, I have had to get rid of my vehicle. The 2022 inspection was accepted by Chrysler, they say they have no proof of the 2019. I have the paperwork showing the inspection. This is a completely unfair action.
2014 Ram 2500, went in for a bad fuel pump. Got that swapped out under warranty. Mechanic took it for a test drive, found Cylinder 8 wasn’t firing. They brought it back into the shop and found that the Lifter Bearrings that ride the cam shaft had seized, which is common in the 392 motor. The lifter wasn’t rolling over, but gouging into the cam shaft. The engine has a known Idle condition, where the oil pump doesn’t have enough pressure at idle to lubricate those bearings. At or about 75,000 miles, it cause the lifters to, not Lift anymore. Dealer took it apart and found this very condition. Dealer got approval for new Cam Shafts and Lifters, rebuild it. Dealer gets it rebuilt, go for a test drive, “It runs really really rough and all the lights on the dash are stuck On.” So the dealer gets a new mechanic to look at it, now Cylinder 7 & 8 are out and the heads are warped on those pistons. So I got a call this morning, they’re going to replace the engine and BUY ME OUT OF MY WARRANTY? I told them No. I didn’t force you guys to sell me a Lifetime Bumper to Bumper warranty only to have you pull it out from under me now that I’ve got some Serious issues with it. I’m waiting to hear back, supposedly they’re replacing the engine, which I’m sure isn’t a New Crate motor, probably a rebuilt one. So Net-Net, I get a new engine, in a truck that now will have a lot of issues, plus a check for the warranty I paid for, which doesn’t make sense, You Took My Money When I Bought It!!!! Pony Up What You Warrantied CHRYSLER/DODGE/RAM, LIFETIME means LIFETIME!!!!
I have a 2007 Jeep Commander that I purchased with a Lifetime PowerTrain warranty and have take twice a year since to a Jeep Dealership for inspection and service. It has been in the Service dept. most recently for 4 months now as it needs a new engine which they say no longer has the parts available for. The Dealership Service Dept. will not seek out after-market parts and offered me the Kelly Blue Book value, saying they negotiated this with FCA, however FCA originally said they have no record. For the the last 2 months I have been dealing with a Repurchase Coordinator who demanded a set of documentation, refused to provide their Privacy Policy and has now gone silent. FCA / Stellaris / Mopar must honor the signed lifetime warranty per the Mangnuson Moss Warranty Act. How can I get a response from them?
I just came back from the dealer. I had my daytime LED running light housing go bad. WhenI purchased the vehicle I was told very specifically that if that item ever goes bad that under the warranty it will be covered. I had my local dealership take a look today and they’re being told by Chrysler that it is not covered. They said that the contract has changed since I signed it. How exactly does that work? How can Chrysler just change the contract? They want $1,800 to fix the light. This is nonsense.
Brought my 2008 Town and country in dealer for suspension repairs. I purchased lifetime warranty when I bought vehicle.They had vehicle for over 3 weeks while Chrysler reviewed claim. They denied claim even though warranty covers all parts that needs to be replaced. They say repairs cost more than car worth. Can’t find that stipulation in warranty and if that is true then why call it a lifetime warranty if they can refuse work because the value of car isn’t worth cost of repairs all cars lose value so if you maintain car your warranty will still be voided no matter the age of vehicle. So it is not a lifetime warranty.
I have a 2007 chrysler 300 touring. Dealer says they no longer make the cyclinder heads for my car and will not use an after market only if I pay for it and then it would cancel my lifetime warranty. Why did chrysler stop making parts for years 2006-2009 that have the life time warranty and now they will not warrant them. I fought with chrysler and won the power train warranty and got it reinstated. Now for work on the engine they say after market parts I have to buy and then it will no long have the lifetime warranty I purchased in 2007.
We still have our 2009 van and have had a motor put in they refused to pay. Any of it please include or name hydersandra@yahoo.com
MY WIFES. JEEP HAS BEEN DISQUALIFIED FROM THE LIFE TIME WARRENTY, AND WE THOUGHT WE HAD JOINED THE SUIT YEARS AGO. WE NEVER HEARD FROM ANY ONE, JUST WONDERING WHAT IS GOING ON.
I was just told that the lifetime warranty would not cover exhaust manifolds due to corrosion. Even the dealership stated they did not understand the rational simply because the car was almost twenty years old and the manifolds are made of metal. Any metal that old that is subject to heat will corrode given time.
My wife and I bought a new 2009 dodge Challenger to help Chrysler out since it was a bad year for sales and the reason why we bought one was for the lifetime warning the dealership and salesman told us to always bring it there and they would always take care of it for us in 2019 they failed to do the powertrain inspection which I feel is unneeded anyway because if you do a powertrain inspection and the engine shot you’re gonna fix it anyway correct because you have a lifetime warranty We faithfully took it there 2 times a year for inspection and oil changes and the multi point inspection and also the recalls we have every receipt so I took it in for state inspection. The service writer said it needs rotors I said, why don’t you check to see if it’s covered under the warranty he came out and said you no longer have a warranty $2500 wasted on a lifetime warranty and now they’re saying because they didn’t do a powertrain inspection yet. The car was in there at the time when it should’ve been done they wanna blame us not only that Covid was going on and they wouldn’t get us in at the dealership because they didn’t have any help and now they’re saying it’s our fault. Yes we want to join on the class action lawsuit