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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.
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51 thoughts onDodge Dart Class Action Says Manual Transmissions are Defective
We have a 2013 Dodge Dart. Around 100K miles. I’m still making payments on it since I got it in 2015 at 31K miles. We had to replace the turbo, catalytic convertor. The dealership got it to pass inspection but lights came back on the next day. It is skipping and we can’t drive it. Any advice on what I can do. I am sick of paying for a car I can’t drive.
I contacted a lawyer to see if they could help me try to get something done with my car. After sending them all my records of the times it has been in the shop she said i had a good case to fie for breach of warranty. My car along with 2 other Dodge Darts are at the same dealership and have been since May because Chrysler does not have a remedy for the transmission issue. I have had a new engine new turbo the transmission has been fixed numerous times had a new radiator new starter and several other things. I think Chrysler knows they have a problem but so many people just dont want the hassle of filing anything so they just get rid of the car or park it. Im from Oklahoma where it is hard to lemon law any vehicle but i just want something done i cant even take it back to the dealership i got it from to trade it in for something dependable because the owner of the dealership said hes tired of Chrysler not backing their vehicles and he has 3 Dodge Darts just sitting there because they dont have a remedy this time and dont even know when one will be available but yet im sure expected to make my car payment and insurance every month. FCA offered me 4000 for breach of warranty which doesnt even cover the payments from the times its been in shop so i denied the offer and am trying to figure out what to do next. So many Dodge Dart owners are going through the same thing and we all have the same exact problems so why cant we get a worldwide class action lawsuit and demand they take them off the road once and for all. these cars are dangerous to drive they have recalled the transmission several times with the same problem but Chrysler just rewords the issue different each time to save their own ass and the reason they dont have a remedy this time for the transmission is because they know it will just do the same thing again because its a faulty transmission and will never be right. Can anyone help me do something about this.
I am a retired mechanic.I help people fix there car that don’t have much money. A friend of mine asked me to look at his nieces 2016 dodge dart, needs clutch he said.When I started on it, I took a big cover off the bottom of the car. My first thought is ‘how does this motor stay cool’. I got the clutch out, the disk just flaked apart. That’s from too much heat. when I started looking for a clutch online, I read all these complaints on dodge dart clutch. Everything I see looks heat related. when you enclose a motor ,and there’s no air flow, things get ruined.
Purchased a 2014 Dodge Dart in October 2014, it is May 2019 and my Dart is in the shop. The clutch pedal stuck to the floor while I was driving 70MPH on a busy freeway. Still waiting for the dealership to call me back with the estimate.
I have 2105 manual Gt style and this just happened to me. 47000 miles bought brand new in 2015 and damaged a wheel clutch stuck and shifts self into neutral. Gonna cost $4600 RIDICULOUS
They will push you to the end of the warranty holding you car for 30 days at a time playing the time game. Putting in the same defective parts then nickel and dime you its the seals no it’s the master cylinder $250 please. No it’s the way you drive although you been driving a stick for 20 years this particular one is your fault. It will be 1900$. Oh all the hydraulic fluid drained out oh the mopar two year warranty on parts and labor does not apply. How are they getting away with this? It is criminal. If we did this we would be in jail what the hell?
Currently fighting these exact issues. First repair of space cyclinder failed. My car is now sitting at Performace Dodge in Grove City, OHIO with Dodge refusing to fix the issue after our mechanic told us it was a known issue. They want 3k to fix it. Now they say I need a new clutch assembly, flywheel, bearings and slave cylinder. Car has 65k miles on it. I am beyond furious. So lucky it happened both times without my kids in the car.
I got my 2016 dodge dart brand new from the dealership. At 45,856 my clutch became stuck to the floor making the vehicle unable to drive. I paid almost 1800 at a Chrysler, Jeep, Dodge, Ram dealership and less than 1,500 miles later my clutch is stuck to the ground again. My family and I was stranded for 2 hours as we waited for help. I’m still trying to figure out what I paid 1800 for.
I have a Dodge dart Rallye 2016 model and ever since I bought it which was Feb of 2020 and haven’t got to drive it but about 3 to 4 months. So first the e brake stopped working then it started to roll away after putting it in 1st gear. Then I started having trouble with the transmission. I had to replace the throw out cable so I’m thinking why not go ahead a replace the clutch to save me some headache in the future. The mechanic gets in there and we’ll be said the flywheel clutch slave cylinder and throw out cable which is attached to the slave cylinder and I don’t know about anyone else but I couldn’t find just the throw out bearing. Of course the bearing is only covered for 10,000 miles and the slave is under the power train warranty I believe. Not only did all that need replaced the starter also. Took me a year to get this car back because of COVID and other things come up or we’re more important. Get it back the tranny is still messed up only reverse 1st and 2nd work. So I start working on it myself to save money which I didn’t get far. Shifter cables aren’t working right bushings I believe and a awful burning smell. Battery keeps dying. Accelerator sensor, wheel speed sensor and lateral acceleration sensor is bad. Abs light is on along with the check engine light of course. (Been on) My trunk pops open on it’s own. It just does crazy shit. So once again it’s parked with no way around. I paid 10,600 for this car cash money and it’s a POS. When it runs it ran like a beast but that was only a few months. I get it started a few days a go and it sounds like there’s a cylinder gone out. Oh the back up camera was one of the first things that messed up too. Flickers on and off upside down. Dodge won’t help called them several times. Can’t even get an e mail back from them. Mopar doesn’t seem to give a damn and the dealership won’t do anything either so here I am stuck 10,668 to be exact negative in my pocket and no car. So 10668 for car, 2200 for transmission repair work. A year without it and still doesn’t run. Ive lost work I’ve lost friends because I actually thought someone was messing my car up on purpose because it just kept on and on.
I’m having the same problem with the same car! Wow!
I too have had to replace my entire clutch at 16000 miles that was last month. Now it’s currently not starting at all. I bought it in 2016 brand new.
Today is July 2 2018, I just bought a 2014 dodge and am at 29440 miles on it I have had this car for 1.5 months and this clutch issue has happened to me now four times. I am taking it into a dodge dealership the 10th to see wth. I have a 22 month old and a dog that drives with me daily. I have a 47 minute drive daily and I am on a twisty turny road and use my clutch!!!!! It has been happening more and more and I’m starting to become terrified to drive it!
We bought a 2016 Dodge Dart in October 2018. Todsy is February 7th 2019. The clutch went out and the car only had 39,000 miles on it. 1400.00+ to repair it.
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Same I bought 2016 in August 2018 1 yr later I’m having to replace my clutch. Only I’m getting a story saying my 2016 clutch isn’t the same as 13 to 15 models. That mine has double flywheels. Was told my total for parts and labor would be 2.3k