Class Action Lawsuit Against Fiat Chrysler Claims Lifetime Warranty Is Unfair

UPDATE: On December 15, 2020, a federal judge refused to dismiss a class action lawsuit accusing automaker Fiat and Chrysler of violating a lifetime warranty it offers to consumers.

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Vehicle owners have filed a class action lawsuit against Fiat Chrysler, claiming the automaker is breaching its lifetime warranty.

The plaintiffs, who include 27 drivers from 22 states, allege that Fiat Chrysler is breaching its lifetime warranty on 2006 through 2009 model year Chrysler, Dodge and Jeep vehicles sold and delivered on or after July 26, 2007.

One of the plaintiffs in the Fiat Chrysler class action lawsuit is Michigan resident Paul Grundy. Grundy says he purchased a new 2009 Dodge Journey that Fiat Chrysler said came with a lifetime warranty.

In December 2019, Grundy alleges that he took his vehicle to the dealership to diagnose and repair the vehicle’s engine components. He claims that Fiat Chrysler refused to perform the repairs on the vehicle, claiming that the lifetime warranty was revoked because the vehicle had not undergone a powertrain inspection under the warranty inspection clause.

As a result of Fiat Chrysler’s failure to fulfill its obligations under the lifetime warranty, Grundy says it suffered economic damages, which include the cost of parts and labor to repair its vehicle.

In their lifetime warranty class action lawsuit, the plaintiffs claim that Fiat Chrysler fails to honor its lifetime warranty because of a warranty provision requiring their vehicles to undergo a “powertrain inspection” within 60 days following each fifth anniversary of their date of entry into service.

Additionally, vehicle owners claim that Fiat Chrysler has completely abdicated its obligations to repair the vehicles by “revoking” lifetime warranties. Thus, the plaintiffs claim that in the future, they will have to incur additional expenses to repair the powertrain components of their vehicles.

The drivers claim that they were never reasonably informed of the existence of the inspection clause in the lifetime warranty when they purchased their vehicle and that the start-up clause is unfair.

In July 2007, Fiat Chrysler announced it would begin offering a lifetime warranty on 88 percent of its fleet models, the plaintiffs claim.

Between 2007 and 2009, drivers say Fiat Chrysler sold hundreds of thousands of vehicles by offering these lifetime warranties to vehicle owners.

“Overwhelmed by the financial promises made by the lifetime warranty offer, FCA is now routinely voiding the lifetime warranty because vehicle owners were unaware that they needed to have their powertrain inspected within this arbitrarily narrow window,” it says. Fiat Chrysler Lifetime Warranty Class Action Lawsuit.

The plaintiffs claim that they were not informed of the specific terms of the lifetime warranty, including the inspection clause. They claim that the terms of the lifetime warranty were excluded from the warranty manuals provided to all purchasers of 2006-2009 model year vehicles.

The terms of the inspection clause were included in the 2009-class vehicles, but they are in small print and indistinguishable from the surrounding text, the drivers say. The inspection clause, they say, is atypical, serves no commercial purpose and is one-sided.

The lifetime warranty was the alleged class members’ primary consideration when they purchased the vehicles, and Fiat Chrysler allegedly knew this.

The plaintiffs claim that Fiat Chrysler induced them to purchase their vehicles by promising them a lifetime warranty and then failed to inform them of the terms and conditions that would void the warranty.

The questions of law and fact in this class action include: 1) whether Fiat Chrysler violated the terms of the lifetime warranty by denying warranty claims; 2) whether the plaintiffs received reasonable notice of the inspection clause; 3) if the inspection clause is unacceptable; 4) and whether class members are entitled to equitable, statutory or injunctive relief.

The drivers claim that, as part of the purchase of their vehicles, Fiat Chrysler expressly guaranteed that the group’s vehicles were covered by the lifetime warranty.

As part of the warranty, Fiat Chrysler has promised to cover the cost of all parts needed to repair the powertrain of its vehicles deemed defective.

“FCA violated the lifetime warranty by refusing to cover the cost of repairing defects in workmanship and/or materials in the parts and components of the powertrain of the vehicles covered by the action,” continues the class action relating to the limited warranty of FiatChrysler.

As a result of Fiat Chrysler’s breach of contract, the plaintiffs claim to have suffered damages in an amount to be proven at trial, which will include all compensatory damages as well as incidental and consequential damages.

Do you own a Fiat Chrysler vehicle that has had its lifetime warranty declared null and void? Leave a message in the comments section below.

The plaintiffs are represented by E. Powell Miller, Sharon Almonrode, Emily E. Hughes, Dennis A. Lienhardt and William Kalas of Miller Law Firm PC and Richard D. McCune, David C. Wright, Steven A. Haskins and Mark I. Richards of McCune Wright Arevalo LLP.

THE Fiat Chrysler Lifetime Warranty Class Action Lawsuit East Grundy et al. vs. FCA US LLCCase No. 2:20-cv-11231, in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan.