Dusevic & Garcha has filed the within proposed multi-jurisdictional class proceeding which involves allegation that 2014-2020 Jeep Grand Cherokee, 2021-2023 Jeep Wrangler and Gladiator, 2014-2020 and 2022-2023 and Dodge Ram 1500 diesel vehicles designed, manufactured, assembled, tested, marketed, distributed, supplied, leased and/or sold by the Defendants, FCA CANADA INC. and FCA US LLC, in Canada equipped with a 3.0L EcoDiesel engine with a defective high-pressure fuel injection pump incompatible with the lubricity of North American diesel fuel. The fuel pump has a fragile and unstable design, which causes metal parts to rub against each other such that the friction generates metal shavings that contaminate the fuel system, leading to catastrophic engine failure, all of which poses a real and substantial danger of harm or injury to vehicle occupants and damage to the vehicle’s fuel system and components. The Defendants,’ FCA CANADA INC.’s and FCA US LLC’s, recall remedy is inadequate to fix the Fuel Pump Defect and fails to fully reimburse putative Class Members of all out-of-pocket repair costs, including catastrophic failure and replacement of fuel system, engine component parts and/or the engine itself. The recall remedy did not remove the Fuel Pump Defect in the Affected Class Vehicles.

The Defendant, FCA CANADA INC. and FCA US LLC, promote their EcoDiesel technology as the best of both worlds: a “green” alternative to gasoline with reduced emissions coupled with diesel’s benefits of greater torque, power, and fuel efficiency. The Defendants, FCA CANADA INC. and FCA US LLC, then charge a premium for these EcoDiesel vehicles, selling them for thousands of dollars more than the cost of comparable gasoline vehicles. However, the Defendants, FCA CANADA INC. and FCA US LLC, were aware that Bosch’s CP4 fuel pump design has never been compatible with North American diesel fuel standards. The CP4 fuel pump’s fragile design is not built to withstand North American diesel fuel specifications in terms of lubrication or water content. The CP4 fuel pump uses the fuel itself for lubrication, and the design of the pump requires a cam and two pumping cylinders with individual rollers designed to seamlessly roll together without skipping, sliding, sticking, or wearing in order for it to operate effectively. If the fuel used with the CP4 fuel pump is not sufficiently lubricious—which most North American diesel is not—the cam and rollers wear against each other and generate tiny metal shavings that disperse throughout the high-pressure fuel injection system.

The release of these metal shavings into the fuel system is catastrophic, as it causes the fuel injectors to become blocked and leads to an entire shutdown of the engine. Repair costs for a catastrophic failure are at least $10,000 and are time-intensive; however, any such repair is futile because it will not actually fix the issue so long as the vehicle is being filled with North American diesel fuel. Further, after a CP4 fuel pump failure occurs the Defendants’, FCA CANADA INC.’s and FCA US LLC’s, recall remedy is to simply replace the CP4 fuel pump with another defective CP4 fuel pump with the same basic fragile design with the same propensity for failure in the future. The recall remedy is an inadequate fix and does not remedy the Fuel Pump Defect or fully reimburse the Plaintiff and putative class members for damages in the form of out-of-pocket costs of repair, including catastrophic failure and replacement of fuel system, engine component parts and/or the engine itself. The recall remedy does not remove the Fuel Pump Defect or reimburse the Plaintiff and putative Class Members of all out-of-pocket costs of repair.

Catastrophic failure can occur as early as kilometer one, as the fuel injection disintegration process begins at the very first fill of the fuel tank and start of the engine, with fuel pump components beginning to deteriorate and dispersing metal shavings throughout the internal engine components and fuel supply system. Further, catastrophic failure often causes the vehicle to shut off while in motion and renders it unable to be restarted, because the vehicle’s fuel injection system and engine component parts have been completely contaminated with metal shards. The sudden and unexpected shutoff of the vehicle’s engine while it is in motion (and subsequent inability to restart the vehicle) poses a real and substantial danger to drivers and vehicle occupants of the Affected Class Vehicles.

Even short of catastrophic failure, the fragile fuel pump design can lead to fuel pump component wear that will damage the fuel injectors, or cause them to inject fuel at times and rates which causes significant damage to the component parts of the vehicle’s engine. There are numerous ways in which the defective fuel pump can damage the engine and related components, including: (1) over-fueling, which decreases fuel economy; (2) broken injector tips; (3) fuel spray hitting the cylinder wall, causing dilution of the lube oil, which damages the engine; (4) over-heating of cylinders causing wear damage to the cylinders; (5) melted or twisted pistons; (6) damaged exhaust valves; (7) damaged turbochargers; (8) hydraulic lock; (9) damaged cylinder heads; (10) damaged exhaust manifolds; and (11) damage and/or loss of emission control (including increases in NOx, particulates, and carbon dioxide).

The Defendants’, FCA CANADA INC.’s and FCA US LLC’s, frequent company line is to blame catastrophic failures on “contaminated fuel,” which is not covered under warranty because it is “not caused by” the Defendants, FCA CANADA INC. and/or FCA US LLC. The Defendants’, FCA CANADA INC.’s and FCA US LLC’s, reliance on the “poor fuel quality” defense is problematic, however, because it is basically impossible for consumers to determine the quality of their fuel when they fill up at the pump—and one “bad” fueling can lead to catastrophic failure. Consumers have no way to assess the quality of the fuel they purchase or to confirm if a fuel complies with the applicable regulatory requirements.

The Fuel Pump Defect is especially impactful on consumers as the Affected Class Vehicles range in price from approximately $50,000 to $100,000. Diesel vehicle owners pay a premium for their vehicles because diesel engines are traditionally expected to last for a range of 800,000–1,300,000 kilometers.

The decision to use the CP4 fuel pump in the Affected Class Vehicles is particularly egregious here because the defective design of the fuel pump has been known for many years by the automotive industry—dating back at least a decade. Well before the Defendants, FCA, CANADA INC. and FCA US LLC, chose to use the CP4 fuel pump, the issue of North American diesel fuel consistency and lubrication was well-known throughout the automobile manufacturing industry, but nonetheless was totally disregarded in the respective design, manufacture, marketing, and sales and/or leases of the Affected Class Vehicles. The Defendants, FCA CANADA INC. and FCA US LLC, as well as other automotive manufacturers, such as Ford and General Motors, had industry-wide experience with catastrophic fuel injection pump failures when cleaner diesel standards were first implemented in the 1990s. By 2002, the Truck & Engine Manufacturers Association (“EMA”)—of which the Defendants, FCA CANADA INC. and/or FCA US LLC, are standing members—acknowledged that the lower lubricity of North American diesel could cause catastrophic failure in high-pressure fuel injection system components that are made to European diesel specifications (which require more lubricious fuel).

The Defendants, FCA CANADA INC. and/ FCA US LLC, were fully aware of the defective fuel pump based on similar litigation against the Defendant, FCA US LLC, in the United States related to the same fuel pump in 2014-present FCA EcoDiesel pickup trucks. Notwithstanding such notice, the Defendants, FCA CANADA INC. and FCA US LLC, continued to develop, manufacture, and sell the Affected Class Vehicles with the defective fuel pump, knowing the huge expense that consumers would have to incur to repair and replace the defective CP4 fuel pump.

As a result of this alleged misconduct, the Plaintiff and putative class members were harmed and suffered actual damages. The Plaintiff and putative class members did not receive the benefit of their bargain; rather, they purchased and/or leased vehicles that are of a lesser standard, grade and quality than represented, and they did not receive vehicles that met ordinary and reasonable consumer expectations regarding safe and reliable operation. Purchasers and/or lessees of the Affected Class Vehicles paid more, either through a higher purchase price or lease payments, than they would have had the Fuel Pump Defect been disclosed. The Plaintiff and putative class members were deprived of having a safe, defect-free fuel pump installed in their vehicles, and the Defendants, FCA CANADA INC. and FCA US LLC, have unjustly benefitted from the higher price paid by consumers for such diesel vehicles.

The Plaintiff and putative class members also suffered damages in the form of out-of-pocket costs of repair, including catastrophic failure and replacement of fuel system or engine component parts, decreased performance of the Affected Class Vehicles, diminished value of the Affected Class Vehicles and increased fuel costs.

No reasonable consumer would have purchased and/or leased an Affected Class Vehicle had the Defendants, FCA CANADA INC. and FCA US LLC, made full disclosure of the Fuel Pump Defect, or would have paid a lesser price.

The Plaintiff and putative class members expected that the Defendants, FCA CANADA INC. and FCA US LLC, would disclose material facts about the durability, fuel economy, and longevity of their Affected Class Vehicles and the existence of any defect that will result in expensive and non-ordinary repairs. The Defendants, FCA CANADA INC. and FCA US LLC, failed to do so.

The Plaintiff seeks relief for all other owners and/or lessees of the Affected Class Vehicles equipped with the 3.0L EcoDiesel engine with the defective CP4 fuel pump, including, inter alia, recovery of damages and/or repair under provincial consumer protection legislation, breach of express warranty, breach of implied warranty of merchantability and reimbursement of all expenses associated with the repair and/or recall of the Fuel Pump Defect in the Affected Class Vehicles.