Important Class Action Settlement Limits the Rights of 2014 and 2015 Jeep Cherokee, 2015 Jeep Renegade, and 2015 Chrysler 200 Owners

FCA US LLC (“FCA”) has reached a settlement of a class action lawsuit pertaining to defective transmissions in 2014 and 2015 Jeep Cherokee, 2015 Jeep Renegade, and 2015 Chrysler 200 vehicles. (Granillo, et al. v. FCA US LLC, et al., (Case No. 3:16-cv-00153). The settlement significantly limits the rights of California consumers. While California’s lemon law provides that defective vehicles should be repurchased or replaced, meaning the consumer gets their money back minus a mileage offset and offsets for any accessories, the Granillo class action limits the lemon law remedies available to consumers. Instead of Jeep and Chrysler consumers having their defective vehicles bought back, the settlement proposes to pay consumers a minuscule cash payment. If problems persist, consumers’ rights to make future lemon law claims are drastically limited by the class action settlement.

The proposed class action settlement is particularly harmful for owners of 2014 and 2015 Jeep and Chrysler vehicles who own or lease vehicles that suffer from this transmission defect but may not yet know it. The class action settlement provides consumers only until January 2, 2019 to opt out of the class action settlement. If consumers take no action or fail to opt out, their lemon law rights will be impacted by the class action settlement. Transmission defects in 2014 and 2015 Jeep Cherokees, 2015 Jeep Renegades, and 2015 Chrysler 200 owners are well known. Consumers who have tried to have these defects fixed have had the powertrain control module and transmission control modules updated, but these repairs do not fix the defect. Class Members of the proposed FCA transmission defect settlement include current owners and lessees of vehicles manufactured by FCA equipped with the nine-speed ZF 9HP automatic transmission.

Consumers must opt out here of the settlement by January 2, 2019, (click here for instructions how to opt out) otherwise they cannot bring a lemon law claim at a later date related to these specific issues. Contact our office immediately to discuss your options.

Lemon Law Aid is a California consumer protection firm dedicated to protecting the lemon law rights of California consumers. If you have a 2014 or 2015 Jeep Cherokee, a 2015 Jeep Renegade, or a 2015 Chrysler 200, contact our office immediately below for a free consultation.