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The transmission found in Jeep Cherokee vehicles is defective and increases the risk for accident and injury, according to a class action lawsuit recently filed by a disgruntled consumer.
Plaintiff Lisa Cummings filed the Jeep class action lawsuit against FCA US LLC over claims that the 9-speed transmission found in the 2016 Jeep Cherokee is defective and consistently fails to shift into the desired gear.
Cummings says she purchased a 2016 Jeep Cherokee in January 2016, believing that the vehicle was “safe and reliable and, therefore, a good value.”
However, she allegedly soon began experiencing problems related to the 9-speed transmission installed in the vehicle. Cummings claims that the vehicle fails to reliably switch gears or stay in the desired gear. For example, it reportedly takes more than a minute for the vehicle to shift from reverse to drive.
In multiple instances, Cummings’ vehicle suddenly accelerated or decelerated due to the alleged transmission issue. During one dramatic instance, Cummings says she was driving down the freeway with her grandchildren at a speed of around 70 miles per hour. The vehicle suddenly downshifted and decelerated to a speed of around 25 miles per hour.
A semi-truck which was driving behind Cummings nearly hit her vehicle as a result of the alleged transmission failure. Cummings says she now feels unsafe driving her Jeep Cherokee and does not use the vehicle on the highway.
Due to the faulty transmission and dangerous defect, Cummings returned to the dealership and told the employees about her vehicle problems. The dealership allegedly flashed her vehicle and told her it would not be a problem anymore.
However, the Jeep Cherokee class action lawsuit claims the problem persisted. Cummings reportedly returned to the dealership eight times between January 2016 and January 2018 in an attempt to fix the issue. However, the dealership allegedly failed to acknowledge the transmission issue and did not fix the dangerous problem.
The Jeep Cherokee transmission class action claims that FCA knew or should have known that their 9-speed transmission found in Jeep Cherokee vehicles was defective, but concealed the dangers in order to entice consumers to purchase their vehicles.
“The existence of the Defect is a material fact that a reasonable consumer would consider when deciding whether to purchase or lease a Class Vehicle,” the Jeep Cherokee class action claims. “Had Plaintiff and Class Members known that the Class Vehicles were equipped with defective transmissions they would not have purchased or leased them or would have paid less for them.”
A settlement has been reached over similar allegations regarding Fiat Chrysler vehicles. The settlement was proposed in February after almost three years of litigation. Should the settlement be approved, it will provide an extended warranty, cash payment of up to $2,000, or a trade-in voucher for up to $4,000.
Cummings seeks to represent a Class of consumers who purchased or leased a 2016 Jeep Cherokee equipped with the 9-Speed Transmission. She also seeks to represent a subclass of the same consumers who live in New York or purchased their vehicle in New York.
The Jeep Cherokee class action lawsuit seeks compensatory damages, treble damages, statutory damages, punitive damages, restitution, disgorgement, court costs, and attorneys’ fees.
Cummings is represented by Todd S. Garber and D. Greg Blankinship of Finkelstein Blankinshp Frei-Pearson & Garber LLP.
The Jeep Cherokee Transmission Defect Class Action Lawsuit is Cummings v. FCA US LLC, Case No. 5:18-cv-01072-GTS-TWD, in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of New York.
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207 thoughts onJeep Cherokee Class Action Lawsuit Alleges Transmission Defect
2016 jeep cherokee limited. Wrecked twice. First time went from park into gear. Hit my mother’s Mercedes. 2nd wreck 2months later loss all power on highway totalling my car. The recall fix didn’t work . Luckily no one died
I have a 2015 Jeep Grand Cherokee that I bought new. Soon after purchase I reported transmission issues and the dealership blew me off. I started having transmission issues in October 2023. They told me it was the transfer case. They ordered a new transfer case and it was bad,so they had to order another one. within a month of having it replaced I started having issues again. Since the transfer case was under warranty I took it to the dealership and they said I needed a new transmission. It never ends. I live on disability and this has broke me. When I first reported this issue they never told me about defective transmissions and have hidden that fact till this day. If there is a class action lawsuit I want in.
I have a 2018 jeep grand cherokee that has a conductor plate problem with shifting to the proper gear and thevpart is out of stock and not expected to be available any time soon.
I own a 2016 Jeep Cherokee Latitude and am now experiencing a transmission issue. The car is inoperable at the current moment.
I have a 2017 Jeep Grand Cherokee with 33,421 original miles on it. It suddenly wouldn’t go into park. I turned off the engine but because the car wasn’t in park the lights or radio wouldn’t turn off. I took it to the dealer and they are charging me $11,820.00 to replace the transmission. They said they don’t rebuild these transmissions. They also told me there was metal shavings / parts in the shifter stopping it from going into park as well as metal shavings in the fluid. If this isn’t a defect I don’t know what is considered a defect. I thought the dealer was ripping me off so I called some other dealers and was told t COULD POSSIBLY cost that much.
Our 2016 Jeep Cherokee Latitude has the same transmission issues. Dealer denies issues and other mechanics won’t or can’t fix it. My wife refuses to drive it as she feels unsafe.
I have a 2014 Jeep Cherokee Limited that I bought brand new. PTU failed at 79K miles in December 2022. Not covered under warranty or any of the recalls. I have been experiencing the 9 speed shifting issues since original purchase. This is an early failure and due to poor design.
I have 2014 that has had transmission problems since the first year I got it. Has been to dealership several times and has costed me thousands.
Hello, what is the status of this lawsuit? I have a 2016 Jeep Cherokee that I bought “new” in late 2017 that in the last year has started to exhibit the transmission problems with high revs, late shifting, “bucking”. Dealership says they can find nothing wrong. I think this is all parties “playing dumb” from manufacturer down to dealership service departments, and this truly is a safety issue that shouldn’t be offloaded on customers.
I have a 2016 latitude with less than 50,000 miles and my Jeep is in the garage now for a new transmission and flex pipe.
My Jeep doesn’t shift properly, bucks and hesitates, stalled in the middle of an intersection, has no power, etc. Each time I took my Jeep to the dealership I was told no problems were found. They are told to not find problems I’m sure.
76 years In Business for Jeep and they still don’t care about their customers and can’t get things right.
I have a 2015 Jeep Cherokee and just had to replace the Power Train Driveline Differential Unit – there is a recall for the 2014 – 2017 with 67,248 vehicles affected. I checked my VIN# for the recall and was told that I’m not a part of it. How can I not be? My car has been serviced several times and now I’m having to replace the PTU. $5,000
I have the same issue. A 2015 Jeep Cherokee with 58,000 miles. It drove fine for 6 months and now it’s sitting in my driveway because I cant afford to fix the PTU. They did have a recall and updated some software but that just made it so the emergency brake engages when the vehicle is in park. I don’t understand why the recall was not to replace the faulty PTU and just to be a fix so it doesn’t roll away. I was driving when it went. The car went from 65 mph to just revving with no power. It was very scary and could have been deadly. I then had to drive the remainder of the way home in light snow in rear wheel drive because there was no power going to the front wheels.
I have a 2015 Jeep grand Cherokee limited vin shows 6 recalls I cannot afford the upkeep with all the issues along with the payments I cannot keep this vehicle. The dealership sold the vehicle without fixing the recalls. I have taken my keep to the dealership several times because of lights coming on but nothing was done. I had no idea about the issues when buying I just called because I want to trade because of all of the problems and they offered no options