— Jeep Compass oil consumption issues have caused a class action lawsuit that alleges the following models equipped with 2.4L Tigershark engines consume excessive quantities of engine oil.
- 2015-2016 Chrysler 200
- 2013-2016 Dodge Dart
- 2016-2020 Fiat 500X
- 2017-2020 Fiat Toro
- 2014-2020 Jeep Cherokee
- 2015-2020 Jeep Renegade
- 2015-2020 Ram ProMaster City
- 2017-2020 Jeep Compass
Owners and lessees allegedly must face extremely low engine oil levels followed by damaged and stalled engines.
Plaintiff Thomas Weiner says he was driving to work in his 2018 Jeep Compass in September 2019 and tried to make a right turn while traveling less than 25 mph. The Jeep Compass emergency brake allegedly engaged and the Tigershark engine stalled.
The plaintiff says he drifted to the side of the road to avoid a crash and noticed a warning that the engine oil was critically low.
The oil consumption lawsuit alleges the plaintiff was able to restart the Compass, but that afternoon the engine stalled again and there was no oil pressure warning light that illuminated.
The plaintiff took the Compass to the dealership and learned the Jeep stalled because it was 2.5 quarts low on oil. The technician refilled the oil and told the plaintiff to return the Compass back to the dealership in 1,000 miles for testing.
The plaintiff says even though the Jeep Compass was still under warranty, he was charged $48 to begin the oil consumption test. The lawsuit says the plaintiff returned the Compass to the dealer before the Jeep traveled 1,000 since the oil was refilled, but the dealership allegedly said 2 quarts of oil had been burned.
The Compass owner was told to return to the dealer in 1,000 miles because the Compass was allegedly chewing through a quart of oil every 500 miles.
A third trip to the dealer allegedly showed low oil levels but no repairs were performed.
A fourth dealer visit in December 2019 also allegedly showed problems with the oil level, but no repairs were performed.
A fifth dealer visit led to another oil consumption test which showed the Compass was consuming a quart of oil every 1,000 miles. However, no repairs were performed.
The sixth dealer visit in February 2020 allegedly showed damage to the Tigershark engine which required replacement of the Compass engine.
The plaintiff says his Jeep Compass oil consumption problems caused him to overpay for his vehicle and continuously buy oil to prevent the Tigershark engine from burning up.
The class action says all Fiat Chrysler (FCA US) customers with Tigershark engines must do the same things just to drive vehicles allegedly worth less than they should be.
"Thus, absent prior warning, no prospective car buyer expects the car they purchase to require engine oil replenishment every several hundred miles, or even every thousand miles, and no prospective car buyer expects that they will need to check their new vehicle’s engine oil before each time they pull out of their driveway." - Oil consumption class action lawsuit
The lawsuit further alleges the oil pressure warning lights fail to warn drivers when oil levels are too low, leaving drivers guessing about what is happening with their Chrysler vehicles.
The Chrysler/Jeep oil consumption lawsuit was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan: Weiner, et al., v. FCA US LLC.
The plaintiff is represented by Hagens Berman Sobol Shapiro LLP, The Miller Law Firm, and the McGuire Law, P.C.
