Let the Payments Begin: Court OKs FCA Diesel Emissions Settlement
A federal district court in California today gave final approval to Fiat Chrysler Automobiles’ settlement with regulators and consumers over diesel emissions cheating allegations involving about 104,000 model-year 2014-16 Jeep Grand Cherokee SUVs and Ram 1500 pickup trucks with FCA’s 3.0-liter EcoDiesel engine.
Related: Jeep, Ram Diesel Emissions Scandal: What Owners Need to Know
Final approval tees up the process for owners and lessees to begin to make claims for payments. The settlement, reached in January, totals some $800 million, with about $307 million going to compensate affected owners and lessees, as well as former owners and lessees, as a settlement of class-action claims. That includes payments of up to $3,075 for current owners and $990 to current lessees. FCA also will provide those vehicles with extended warranties. Former owners and former lessees can get up to $990.
The remaining money will go to settle claims by federal emissions regulators, the Justice Department, California emissions regulators and the 50 state attorneys general.
FCA maintains that there was no intentional wrongdoing on its part for the emission violations and noted in a statement: “The settlements contain no findings of wrongdoing, nor admission of any wrongdoing, by FCA U.S.”
FCA will update the engine control software in the vehicles to bring them into compliance, and a vehicle must be updated before compensation is paid. FCA’s has said that the software update will not “affect average fuel economy, drivability, durability, engine noise, vibration or other driving characteristics of the vehicles.”
More From Cars.com:
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- 2020 Jeep Gladiator: 5 Things We Learned on Our First Drive
- 2019 Ram 1500 eTorque: Guts, Glory, Energy Efficiency
With the approval, the affected owners and lessees will have until Feb. 3, 2021, to make claims for payments, and the deadline to get the software updated by an FCA dealer is May 3, 2021.
The claims deadline for former owners and lessees is Aug. 1, 2019. More information for owners and former owners is available at ecodieselsettlement.comor by phone at 833-280-4748. You can also find out more with our “What Owners Need to Know” explainer here on Cars.com.
German supplier Robert Bosch, which provided the emissions-control software for the FCA vehicles, also reached an agreement to settle claims.
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