- Owners are suing Jeep, claiming underhood fires are lowering their vehicles’ value.
- They argue they wouldn’t have purchased their Jeeps had they known about the issue.
- The NHTSA is investigating approximately 781,000 Jeeps for potential fire risks.
Car fires are scary enough after a crash, now imagine your parked vehicle going up in flames hours later. That’s the issue some 2021-2023 Jeep Wrangler and Gladiator owners are reporting, prompting a National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) investigation into 781,459 vehicles. While regulators work to determine whether a defect is to blame, some owners aren’t waiting around and are instead suing Jeep.
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Specifically, the lawsuit alleges four key violations: breach of implied warranty, violation of the Illinois consumer fraud act, unjust enrichment, and violation of the Magnuson-Moss warranty act. The plaintiffs point out that the Office of Defects Investigation (ODI) has linked at least one death to these vehicle fires.
Fires, Lawsuits, and a $60,000 Bill
They also cite examples of vehicles in the affected population catching on fire seemingly randomly. In at least one case, one car allegedly caught fire some six hours after the owner parked it and turned it off. The Jeep burned to the ground in that case, the plaintiffs claim.
The lawsuit mentions several other examples of fires under the hood, including one that sounds even wilder:
“In the early afternoon hours of July 5, 2024, our 2022 Jeep Gladiator Rubicon with only 18,000 miles spontaneously combusted in our driveway after being parked there for just under 24 hours. While working in the yard, my husband noticed thick black smoke coming from the engine.
“The smoke quickly turned into flames, then rapidly intensified as it spread throughout the engine, cabin and then ultimately the entire jeep. The Jeep was a total and complete loss with Jeep claiming no responsibility whatsoever. We have over $60,000 in damages to our home, driveway, landscaping and soil (PFAS) from the fire, NOT including the Jeep itself.”
That’s a pretty nasty situation to be in. Understandably, owners believe that their vehicles now have a lower market value “because of the stigma of the Fire Defect.” It argues that they’ve all suffered quantifiable economic losses. That particular line might be tough to prove, but that’ll be up to the lawyers in the case.
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Notably, this isn’t the only class action lawsuit against Jeep for the same issue. In January, owners in Michigan launched a very similar legal action. Interestingly, it also includes 2024 Wranglers and 2022-2024 Grand Cherokees. Nevertheless, if the NHTSA does come to a conclusion on its investigation, it could play a role on the outcome of those lawsuits.
