Dodge Dart Class Action Lawsuit Alleges Defective Transmissions

Chrysler was hit with a class action lawsuit by a California couple over the Dodge Dart, alleging that the vehicle was made with a faulty transmission that makes it potentially unsafe.

Plaintiffs Joshua and Marta Hardt of Huntington Beach, California purchased a Dodge Dart on Sept. 29, 2012 from a local Chrysler/Dodge dealer.

The Dodge Dart the Hardts purchased came with a manual transmission, which comes with a driver-controlled clutch.

These work by the driver “pressing and releasing a foot pedal, the driver engages and disengages the engine from the transmission, allowing the vehicle to travel smoothly while the driver manually changes gears.”

However, in April, the Hardts began to notice that there was a defect in the transmission, which included “the vehicle backfiring and turning off at a stoplight and then failing to start again.”

The Hardts took the Dodge Dart to an authorized Chrysler dealer to be repaired but “the service advisor was unable to detect any fault codes and stated that the condition was not present when inspected,” according to the Dodge Dart class action lawsuit.

“The service advisor also indicated that they were unable to replicate the problem,” the Hardts explain. “The vehicle was returned to the plaintiffs after one week.”

On May 13, the Hardts contacted the Chrysler dealer’s service department again to say that “when Mr. Hardt attempted to start the vehicle and pressed down on the clutch pedal, the clutch fell to the floor.”

They brought the vehicle back to be looked at by service department, but “the service advisor later informed plaintiffs that no problem could be found with the clutch, that no repairs were performed or recommended at the time, and that plaintiffs could pick up their vehicle.”

However, when Mr. Hardt came to pick up his car at the dealership the next morning, both the “Check Engine” and “Oil Change Due” lights were on, and he left the Dodge Dart at the dealership to have these issues looked at.

When he came back that evening to pick up the vehicle the “Oil Change Due” light was still on and there was “an alignment issue that surfaced while they were driving back home,” they claim in the Dodge Dart class action lawsuit.

Mrs. Hardt talked to the service department manager on May 16 about all the problems they had experienced with their Dodge Dart.

On May 19, the service advisor claims that “the dealership contacted Chrysler STAR, Chrysler’s engineer/technical team, which had indicated that the clutch master cylinder and the clutch slave cylinder needed to be replaced.”

The Hardts vehicle was repaired and returned to them on May 29.

However, the California couple claim in their Dodge Dart class action lawsuit that “despite repair attempts by Chrysler and its dealers, plaintiffs continue to experience the Transmission Defect, including, but not limited to grinding, harsh engagement, and premature internal wear.”

The Hardts allege that they were sold the Dodge Dart with “manufacturing defects that cause, among other problems, the clutch pedal to ‘go soft’ and remain depressed to the floor; the transmission to fail to engage or disengage; the gear shift to burn out; the clutch and transmission to burn out; and stalling and/or failure to accelerate or decelerate.”

They allege that the defect causes a safety hazard.

The Hardts also claim in their Dodge Dart class action lawsuit that Chrysler “knew or should have known that the Class Vehicles and Manual Transmission contained one or more design and/or manufacturing defects.” They also allege that “Chrysler has actively concealed the transmission defect.”

The same problem allegedly exists in some of the Dodge Journeys and Fiat C635s, which were made with the same transmissions.

The Chrysler class action lawsuit is for those who leased or purchased 2013 and 2014 Dodge Darts with a manual transmission.

The plaintiffs are represented by Jordan L. Lurie, Robert Friedl, Tarek H. Zohdy and Cody R. Padgett of Capstone Law APC.

Counsel information for Chrysler is not yet available.

The Dodge Dart Class Action Lawsuit is Hardt et al v. Chrysler Group LLC, Case No. 8:14-cv-01375, in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California.