Dodge Dart Class Action Says Manual Transmissions are Defective

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A pair of plaintiffs have brought forth a lawsuit against the manufacturer of Dodge Dart vehicles, alleging the Fiat C635 manual transmission in model years 2013 to 2016 contain a design defect that violates consumer protection laws.

Plaintiffs Carlos Victorino and Adam Tavitian filed the proposed class action lawsuit in California federal court after both men say they experienced problems with the clutch and transmission in their respective vehicles.

The plaintiffs claim that the alleged defect in the manual transmissions of the vehicles contain “a design defect that causes, among other problems, the clutch pedal to lose pressure, stick to the floor, and failed to engage/disengage gears.”

The complaint continues, “As a result, the vehicles equipped with the Manual Transmission experience stalling, failure to accelerate, and premature failure of the transmission’s components, including but not limited to, the clutch master cylinder and reservoir hose, clutch slave cylinder and release bearing, clutch disc, pressure plate, and flywheel.”

According to the proposed class action lawsuit, car manufacturer FCA US LLC has issued Technical Service Bulletins, customer satisfaction campaigns and STAR cases to address owner complaints surrounding the transmission defect however “these efforts have been entirely inadequate in remedying the Transmission Defect,” the plaintiffs argue.

Instead of redesigning the defective components to adequately address the defects in the Dodge Dart vehicles, the plaintiffs claim that FCA has used the same “defective components” in its repairs.

The plaintiffs also state that FCA has refused to pay for the repairs linked to the “collateral damage” that results from the alleged transmission defect. These include “the recurring replacement of the clutch slave cylinder and release bearing, clutch disc and pressure plate, and flywheel.”

The plaintiffs allege in their complaint that the transmission defect poses an unreasonable safety hazard to drivers by hindering their ability to shift gears or properly use the clutch, which causes the vehicle to be unable to accelerate or decelerate when the vehicle is in motion.

“As an example, these conditions make it difficult to maintain appropriate speeds, safely change lanes or merge into traffic because the Plaintiffs and Class Members’ vehicles have lost power and failed to accelerate when they attempted to change lanes and/or merge onto the highway,” Victorino and Tativian state.

In the proposed class action lawsuit, the plaintiffs also contend that FCA had exclusive knowledge of the transmission defect and actively concealed it.

The plaintiffs are seeking to represent a nationwide Class of owners and lessees of 2013 to 2016 Dodge Dart vehicles with manual transmissions. They are also seeking to represent a California subclass, an implied warranty subclass and a CLRA subclass.

Victorino and Tavitian have brought forth five counts against FCA including violations of California’s Consumers Legal Remedies Act, violations of Unfair Competition Law, Breach of Implied Warranty pursuant to Song-Beverly, Breach of Implied Warranty pursuant to the Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act and unjust enrichment.

On behalf of themselves and the proposed Class and subclasses, the plaintiffs are seeking injunctive and declaratory relief, compensatory, exemplatory and statutory damages, all remedies available under the Song-Beverly Act and Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act, disgorgement of profits or full restitution, attorneys’ fees and costs, pre-and post-judgment interest, leave to amend the Complaint, and other relief as deemed appropriate.

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

The Dodge Manual Transmission Class Action Lawsuit is Carlos Victorino & Adam Tavitian v. FCA US LLC, Case No. 3:16-cv-01617, in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California.

UPDATE: On June 14, 2017, in an order rejecting Fiat Chrysler’s motion to dismiss, a federal judge allowed the plaintiffs five days to amend their complaint to include more information about the alleged defect.

UPDATE 2: On Feb. 27, 2018, a federal judge determined that the plaintiffs sufficiently showed that there is reason to suspect the Dodge Dart’s clutch is defective. The case will move forward, with some revisions to the drivers’ claims about the nature of the alleged defect.

UPDATE 3: On June 1, 2018, a class action lawsuit alleging that Dodge Dart vehicles contain an unresolved manual transmission clutch defect may not be certified because the proposed Class is not specific enough and the plaintiffs have not properly analyzed the damages, according to a California federal judge.