— A Jeep Renegade cooling fan lawsuit has been dismissed because Fiat Chrysler (FCA US) offered to replace the cooling fans for free or reimburse Renegade customers for engine cooling fan repairs.
According to the Renegade class action lawsuit, Chrysler contacted all owners of 2015-2017 Jeep Renegade and Ram ProMaster City vehicles as of July 5, 2019, regarding Customer Satisfaction Notification V54.
The judge found V54 offers an owner free “engine cooling fan replacement or reimbursement if that repair was already performed,” the same repairs the plaintiffs seek in the Jeep Renegade cooling fan lawsuit.
The three plaintiffs who sued purchased new Jeep Renegades with engine cooling fans allegedly at risk of overheating, resulting in smoke and fires.
The lawsuit says the radiator cooling fans are defective in all 2015-2017 Jeep Renegade and Ram ProMaster City vehicles which have an “internal mechanism prone to premature failure, which prevents the engine from properly cooling.”
According to the plaintiffs, their Jeep cooling fans wobbled and made abnormal noise, and one owner says smoke came from the Renegade engine.
The dealership allegedly said there were no replacement parts and nothing would be covered by warranty, so the plaintiff says he found a cooling fan online for $214.50 rather than wait and pay the $500 the dealership quoted.
Another plaintiff says the Renegade cooling fan made noise and wobbled, then the Jeep overheated and the check engine light illuminated. A dealer allegedly told him the repairs weren't covered by warranty, so the plaintiff paid $634.95 to replace the cooling fan so he could drive the Jeep.
The third plaintiff says his Renegade cooling fan malfunctioned and the dealership allegedly said the fan was backordered for three months. The lawsuit alleges the dealer also said nothing would be covered by the warranty.
According to the Renegade owner, he replaced the cooling fan himself for $125 rather than wait for the part to come into the dealership.
The class action lawsuit alleges replacement cooling fans should be covered by the warranty, but Renegade owners are stuck with paying between $500 to more than $600 of their own money for repairs.
FCA allegedly should have known the cooling fans were defective but ignored customer complaints about the Renegade and ProMaster City vehicles.
Motion to Dismiss The Jeep Renegade Cooling Fan Lawsuit
Chrysler argues its radiator cooling fan Customer Satisfaction Notification V54 rendered the class action lawsuit moot, and the judge agreed.
"Plaintiffs in the present matter have sustained no actual injury that can be redressed, as repairs have been made to the class vehicles for free. It follows that Plaintiffs likewise have no claim for punitive damages." - Judge Gershwin A. Drain
According to the judge, the plaintiffs cannot seek punitive damages without demonstrating they are entitled to damages for an actual injury.
FCA has repaired all Jeeps and Rams presented to dealerships and reimbursed all customers who presented receipts for radiator cooling fan repairs.
And according to the judge, Chrysler has only denied repairs or reimbursement to customers who have not presented their vehicles to dealers or owners who requested reimbursement without evidence they paid for the repairs.
"Defendant is unable to reimburse what cannot be verified, and cannot replace cooling fans in vehicles which have not been presented to a dealership." - Judge Drain
The Jeep Renegade cooling fan lawsuit was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan: Flores, et al., v. FCA US LLC.
