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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
I have a 2013 aero turbo limited and it goes into “limp” mode if, I believe it’s over 90 degrees. I’m not sure of it but reading all these comments it’s sounds just like what my car is doing now. I couldn’t even accelerate up into my drive way. I can only drive 2 miles then it shuts down. Maybe overheating the transmission? Thinking that I let it set for like 30 min to try again to get home and it was fine. Until I got to my drive way. 2nd gear is the kicker like all the other owners said. Pls help.
I have a 2013 dodge dart yes six speed manual transmission my second gear has went out and it took it in for a recall that I had a knock in it and they said there’s nothing wrong with it I’m not able to drive it now because the second Gear is gone so I had to take it off the road and it is parked in my yard right now
I have a 2015 six speed also that has done the exact same thing. I replaced the clutch, dual mass fly wheel which is very expensive and not less than a year later is now sitting at the shop again because second gear failed to properly engage making me have to skip second to drive it and with in a week the whole clutch has gone out completely again. The vehicle doesn’t even have 80k yet. So now I’m paying for a car that doesn’t work and can’t buy anything else because I still owe on the dart and cannot afford to replace the clutch and transmission again or buy another vehicle because I’m paying for one that’s defective. Fca is bunch of scum bags. Go back to making your foreign junk in your own country Or fix the problem. I’m a mechanic and is is completely unreasonable that these cars clutch and transmission fail so early and that quickly after being replaced once already.
Hey bro, Did you delete the clutch delay valve that those FIAT clowns installed on these cars? That’s what’s burning out clutches so fast. Mine is a 13 Ralleye, 134,600 kms, I’m in Canada, and this will be the second clutch this car has to have put in. The original owner had a LUK clutch assembly and flywheel installed. I got my delete kit for the delay valve and a new shift rod tensioner strut to fix the first and second gear engagement. The parts are from Deyemme racing or if Missouri.
I have replaced the entire clutch system three times. This is literally insanity. No matter how many times I fix it the same thing breaks repeatedly. Bad design. I’ve bought many dishes over the years and after this I will never give them my money again.
My 2013 Dodge Dart Manual Aero Turbo is now in the shop for the 4th time over the same issues all within a matter of months. Aug 2020, tensioner for the stick shift. Nov/Dec 2020, Clutch Disk Assembly etc. Arpil 2021, Transmission and Clutch Assembly etc. June, 2021, same stuff.
I bought a 2014 Dodge Dart everything that I’m reading is going wrong with my car well they the guy that sold it to me I think they worked at the dealership and they knew that this is bad I use my car for my job I’ve been stranded right now I am homeless. Does anybody know what I have to do to get them to take this car get me a rental car and and fix everything that’s wrong with it because I have read and read and read and I’m I’m not going to fix anymore I’m not going to pay any more on this car what lawyer can I get to or what can I do
ADD ME PLZ
Purchased a 2016 Dodge Dart for my son. We had it for 3 weeks and the clutch became stuck to the floor and we’re told it will be around $1200 to replace the entire clutch system which leaked its fluid.
I have 2016 Dodge dart slave cylinder been replaced 3 times. I was accused by the dealership of not being able to drive it on multiple occasions. Mu advice to everyone here is never but a dodge. They build poor quality cars.
We had a 2014vdodge dart and had to replace clutch twice it failed twice and they said it was our fault normal wear and tear and in both cases just miles out of the 13000 warranty on both we paid 2400 twice for dodge to repair it for it to start again.
My 2014 Dart with 52k miles also needs a clutch & flywheel. $2400 plus more parts may be damaged. I gather that repairing it will not stop it from breaking down again and again. Dodge has replied to my emails continually pointing the finger at me and telling me to be professional and that this repair IS NORMAL WEAR & TEAR MAINTENANCE!!!! So are we all just losing money and our vehicle? I’m not sure I can even sell it as is broken down because it’s such a lemon.
Any solutions yet?