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Short Summary
Jeep and parent company Stellantis are facing two separate, verifiable legal matters in 2026: a consumer class action over Jeep 4xe plug-in hybrid battery fires (Humphreys v. FCA US, LLC) and a supplier lawsuit, Stellantis v. ZF Chassis Modules, that halted Jeep Cherokee production. This article lays out the confirmed case numbers, recall figures, and current status of both, plus what affected owners can do next. It also addresses a related search trend, “Collins Brothers Jeep lawsuit,” for which no filed case currently exists.
The Jeep lawsuit making headlines in 2026 is not one case but two, and they are unrelated. A consumer class action, Humphreys v. FCA US, LLC, accuses Stellantis's FCA US subsidiary of selling Jeep Wrangler 4xe and Grand Cherokee 4xe hybrids with a fire-prone battery defect that three recalls have not fixed. Separately, Stellantis itself sued a parts supplier in March 2026 after a payment dispute shut down the Mexican factory that builds the new Jeep Cherokee.
What Is the Jeep Lawsuit in 2026 About?
There are two active, court-confirmed pieces of Jeep litigation as of mid-2026. The first is a product defect class action over high-voltage batteries in Jeep 4xe plug-in hybrids, filed by owners in Utah federal court. The second is a commercial lawsuit Stellantis filed against its own supplier, ZF Chassis Modules, in Michigan federal court, after a pricing dispute stopped Jeep Cherokee assembly. Neither case is a criminal matter, and neither has produced a final court judgment or settlement figure as of this writing.
A separate, similarly worded class action naming Stellantis N.V. and FCA US, LLC was reportedly filed on March 4, 2026, in a New York federal court, also concerning Jeep Wrangler 4xe and Grand Cherokee 4xe vehicles. A specific docket number for that filing was not available in the court records and legal-news sources reviewed for this article; it will be added here once confirmed.
Jeep 4xe Battery Fire Class Action: The Case Details
Case: Lisa Humphreys and Jaron Humphreys v. FCA US, LLC and Doug Smith Autoplex, Inc.
Court: U.S. District Court for the District of Utah.
Docket number: Court filings indexed by Justia list the case as No. 1:2026cv00008. The legal-news outlet Top Class Actions separately reported the number as 2:26-cv-00053. Both point to the same underlying dispute (Humphreys v. FCA US and Doug Smith Autoplex); the discrepancy in docket formatting has not been independently resolved as of publication, so both citations are provided here.
Filed: January 21, 2026.
Presiding judge: U.S. District Judge Robert J. Shelby.
Plaintiffs: Lisa and Jaron Humphreys of Utah, owners of a 2023 Jeep Wrangler Unlimited Sahara 4xe.
Plaintiffs' counsel: David S. Head of Head Law, PLLC, and Raphael Janove of Janove PLLC.
Proposed class: Purchasers and lessees of 2020-2025 Jeep Wrangler 4xe and 2022-2026 Jeep Grand Cherokee 4xe plug-in hybrids.
Legal claims: Violations of the Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act, breach of express and implied warranty, unjust enrichment, and violations of the Utah Consumer Sales Practices Act.
Relief sought: Class certification, damages, fees and costs, and a jury trial. The complaint does not specify a dollar figure, and none should be assumed until a settlement or verdict is reached.
According to the complaint, the plaintiffs do not allege their own vehicle caught fire. Their claim rests on the inconvenience and diminished value caused by recall instructions telling them not to charge the battery and not to park near structures until a repair is developed.
On April 21, 2026, Judge Shelby issued an order granting a motion to change venue, denying a separate venue motion, dismissing a motion to compel arbitration, and granting a motion to sever the claims. The practical effect: claims against FCA US, LLC were severed and transferred to the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan, while the claims against the Utah dealership, Doug Smith Autoplex, Inc., remain in the District of Utah. Plaintiffs were directed to file an amended complaint limited to the Doug Smith Autoplex claims within 14 days of the order.
What Caused the Jeep 4xe Battery Recalls?
The class action follows a string of federal safety recalls covering the same high-voltage battery packs. Chrysler (FCA US, LLC) has told regulators the defect involves “separator damage” inside battery cells supplied by Samsung SDI, which can combine with other internal factors to cause thermal runaway and fire, even when a vehicle is parked and powered off.
| NHTSA Campaign | Year Issued | Units Affected | Scope |
| 23V-787 | 2023 | 32,125 vehicles | Jeep Wrangler 4xe, high-voltage battery pack fire risk |
| 24V-720 | 2024 | 154,032 vehicles | Expanded to Wrangler 4xe and Grand Cherokee 4xe; software and battery pack replacement |
| 25V-741 | 2025 (report dated Oct. 30, 2025) | 320,065 vehicles (228,221 Wranglers, 91,844 Grand Cherokees) | Nearly all model-year 2020-2025 Wrangler 4xe and 2022-2026 Grand Cherokee 4xe units; remedy undeveloped at time of filing |
| 25V-766 | 2025 (report dated Nov. 6, 2025) | 112,859 vehicles | Separate engine-fire recall covering 2024-2025 Wrangler 4xe and 2023-2025 Grand Cherokee 4xe |
As of the October 30, 2025 report tied to recall 25V-741, FCA told NHTSA it was aware of 19 fire reports and one injury connected to the issue, and that a permanent remedy was still under development. Interim notification letters were mailed to owners beginning December 2, 2025, and affected VINs became searchable on NHTSA.gov starting November 6, 2025. Near the end of 2025, Stellantis stopped selling new Wrangler 4xe and Grand Cherokee 4xe plug-in hybrids while the defect remained unresolved.
Jeep Cherokee Production Lawsuit: Stellantis v. ZF Chassis Modules
Case: Stellantis (through its FCA US, LLC subsidiary) v. ZF Chassis Modules Inc., a joint venture between ZF and Foxconn also referred to in reporting as ZF Foxconn Chassis Modules.
Court: U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan.
Filed: March 25, 2026.
Docket number: Not identified in the court dockets and news coverage reviewed for this article. This section will be updated if a public docket number is confirmed.
According to the complaint and contemporaneous reporting by the Wall Street Journal and Automotive News, Stellantis alleges that ZF Chassis Modules demanded a one-time $70 million cash payment plus additional price increases beyond the parties' existing supply contract, after Stellantis had already paid the supplier more than $26 million and agreed to price increases in December 2025 to keep parts flowing. Stellantis characterized the demand as an attempt to “extort” the automaker.
When the supplier stopped shipping suspension modules, Stellantis's Toluca, Mexico, assembly plant, which builds the Jeep Compass, Jeep Cherokee, Wagoneer S, and Jeep Recon EV, shut down starting March 14, 2026. The lawsuit further alleges the supplier threatened to halt shipments to a second plant in Windsor, Ontario, which builds the Chrysler Pacifica and Dodge Charger and employs roughly 5,500 workers.
On March 29, 2026, a Michigan federal judge granted Stellantis's request for a temporary restraining order compelling the supplier to resume shipments; a Mexican court issued a related order around the same time, allowing the Toluca plant to reopen. Stellantis told the Wall Street Journal it does not prefer litigation to resolve supplier disputes but would “take appropriate steps to protect the integrity of our manufacturing operations and ensure fair business practices.”
The timing was notable because the redesigned, sixth-generation Jeep Cherokee (internally coded KM), including a new hybrid version, had only just relaunched. The first Toluca-built unit rolled off the line on February 9, 2026, following a $1.6 billion plant investment Stellantis announced in 2024, and the nameplate had been out of production for roughly three years before that. Trade press reported that the roughly two-week shutdown contributed to several weeks of delivery delays and left dealers with less than a month's normal Cherokee inventory.
Other Jeep Litigation: The Death Wobble Settlement (Resolved, Not Active)
Readers researching Jeep defect lawsuits will also encounter the so-called “death wobble” litigation, which is a closed, previously resolved matter and is not part of the active 2026 4xe or Cherokee cases. It is included here for context, as the brief requests.
Case: Martinez v. FCA US, LLC (later consolidated with a related case, Reynolds, et al. v. FCA US, LLC).
Original filing: March 6, 2020, in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California; transferred to the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan, Case No. 4:20-cv-11164.
Presiding judge: U.S. District Judge Mark A. Goldsmith.
Allegation: A defective front suspension steering damper on solid front axles caused violent steering-wheel shaking, or “death wobble,” on certain Jeep Wrangler and Gladiator models at highway speed.
Class covered: Approximately 1.1 million purchasers and lessees of model-year 2018-2020 Jeep Wrangler and model-year 2020 Jeep Gladiator vehicles.
Settlement: Preliminary approval October 26, 2022; final approval order issued June 2023. FCA US, LLC agreed to roughly $30 million in benefits, primarily an extended warranty covering steering-damper failures for eight years or 90,000 miles, plus reimbursement for owners who had already paid for repairs. FCA did not admit wrongdoing.
For reference, FCA had earlier told its dealer network, in a June 2019 customer satisfaction notification (CSN V41), that roughly 192,000 vehicles were affected by the underlying issue. This case is fully resolved and is not an open lawsuit as of 2026.
Who May Be Affected by the Current Jeep Lawsuits?
You may be affected by the 4xe battery class action if you currently own or lease a 2020-2025 Jeep Wrangler 4xe or a 2022-2026 Jeep Grand Cherokee 4xe, particularly if you received a recall notice (Chrysler recall number 68C, NHTSA campaign 25V-741) instructing you not to charge the vehicle or park it near structures.
You may be affected by the Cherokee production dispute indirectly, as a customer, if you ordered a 2026 Jeep Cherokee or Cherokee Hybrid and experienced a delivery delay tied to the Toluca plant shutdown between mid-March and late March 2026. That dispute is a business-to-business contract case; it does not, by itself, give individual buyers a legal claim against Stellantis or the supplier.
What to Do If You Believe You're Affected
The following is general information, not personalized legal advice. If you believe your situation involves a legal claim, consult a licensed attorney in your state.
1. Check your vehicle's recall status. Enter your 17-digit VIN at NHTSA.gov or Chrysler's recall site to confirm whether your Wrangler 4xe or Grand Cherokee 4xe is included in campaigns 23V-787, 24V-720, 25V-741, or 25V-766.
2. Follow the recall safety instructions. If your vehicle is under an active fire-risk recall, park outside and away from structures and do not charge the battery until a remedy is completed, per FCA's guidance to NHTSA.
3. Keep documentation. Save recall letters, repair orders, rental car and towing receipts, and any correspondence with a dealership, since the Humphreys complaint cites these categories of out-of-pocket costs.
4. Understand that joining a class action is usually automatic. In most U.S. class actions, proposed class members do not need to sign up when a case is filed; you would typically be notified later if a class is certified and a settlement or judgment is reached.
5. Watch for official case updates. Case status can be tracked through PACER, Justia's docket pages, or legal-news outlets such as Top Class Actions and ClassAction.org, which publish primary-source filings.
6. Talk to an attorney if you have an individual claim. This is especially relevant if your vehicle actually caught fire, since the current class claims focus on inconvenience and diminished value rather than injury or property damage.
Is There a Collins Brothers Jeep Lawsuit?
Because search interest sometimes links unrelated “Jeep lawsuit” queries to specific dealerships, it's worth addressing directly: no filed lawsuit, class action, regulatory action, or court settlement involving Collins Bros Jeep, the independent classic-Jeep dealership in Wylie, Texas, was identified in court records, Better Business Bureau filings, or news coverage reviewed for this article. What does exist are older, informal customer complaints about pricing and repair quality posted on consumer-complaint sites, which are not lawsuits and have not been adjudicated. Collins Bros Jeep is an independent dealer and is not affiliated with Stellantis manufacturing, the 4xe battery recalls, or the Cherokee production dispute described above.
Current Status: Jeep Lawsuit Updates as of July 2026
As of this writing, dated July 17, 2026:
• The Humphreys 4xe battery class action is in its early procedural stage. FCA US, LLC's portion of the case was transferred to the Eastern District of Michigan by an April 21, 2026 venue order; no class has been certified and no trial date has been set.
• The parallel New York class action referenced in early 2026 coverage has not been independently confirmed with a docket number as of this article's publication.
• A permanent remedy for the 25V-741 battery recall had not been publicly finalized in the sources reviewed; owners should rely on official NHTSA and Chrysler recall notices for the latest repair timeline rather than this article.
• The Stellantis v. ZF Chassis Modules supplier dispute resulted in a temporary restraining order on March 29, 2026, and Toluca plant production resumed shortly after. Later trade-press reporting described the matter as effectively resolved through the court order, though a public record of a final judgment or settlement was not identified.
• No lawsuit, settlement, or court case involving Collins Brothers Jeep of Wylie, Texas, has been identified as of this writing.
This is a developing area. Exact figures for any eventual settlement, class size, or damages award have not been publicly disclosed, and this article will not speculate on them.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the Jeep 4xe battery lawsuit about?
The Jeep 4xe battery lawsuit, formally Humphreys v. FCA US, LLC, is a proposed class action filed January 21, 2026, in the U.S. District Court for the District of Utah. It alleges Jeep Wrangler 4xe and Grand Cherokee 4xe plug-in hybrids have a high-voltage battery defect that can cause fires, and that three recalls since 2023 have not permanently fixed the problem.
Can you join the Jeep 4xe class action?
If you own or leased an eligible 2020-2025 Jeep Wrangler 4xe or 2022-2026 Jeep Grand Cherokee 4xe, you may already be a proposed class member without taking any action. Formal claim processes typically open only after a class is certified and a settlement or judgment is reached, which had not occurred as of mid-2026.
What Jeep models are covered by the current recalls?
NHTSA campaign 25V-741 covers 320,065 vehicles: 2020-2025 Jeep Wrangler 4xe (228,221 units) and 2022-2026 Jeep Grand Cherokee 4xe (91,844 units). Earlier, narrower recalls, 23V-787 and 24V-720, covered subsets of the same vehicle lines in 2023 and 2024.
Is the Jeep Cherokee production lawsuit related to a vehicle defect?
No. Stellantis v. ZF Chassis Modules is a commercial contract dispute over supplier pricing, not a consumer safety or defect claim. It is unrelated to the 4xe battery litigation and does not involve allegations that the Jeep Cherokee itself is unsafe.
Has Jeep settled a defect class action before?
Yes. FCA US, LLC settled the “death wobble” steering defect class action covering roughly 1.1 million 2018-2020 Wrangler and 2020 Gladiator owners, with final court approval in June 2023 and about $30 million in warranty and reimbursement benefits. That case is closed and is separate from the 2026 4xe and Cherokee matters.
Is there a Collins Brothers Jeep lawsuit in 2026?
Based on available court records, BBB filings, and news coverage, no lawsuit, class action, or settlement involving the Wylie, Texas, dealership Collins Bros Jeep has been filed or reported as of this writing.
Where can I check if my Jeep is under an active recall?
Enter your 17-digit VIN at NHTSA.gov's recall lookup tool, or contact Chrysler customer service at 800-853-1403 and reference recall number 68C for the 4xe battery campaign.
Key Takeaways
• There are two separate, verifiable Jeep/Stellantis legal matters active in 2026: the Humphreys 4xe battery class action and the Stellantis v. ZF Chassis Modules supplier lawsuit tied to Cherokee production.
• The 4xe battery class action (D. Utah; FCA US claims transferred to E.D. Michigan on April 21, 2026) targets 2020-2025 Wrangler 4xe and 2022-2026 Grand Cherokee 4xe owners and follows three NHTSA recalls covering up to 320,065 vehicles.
• The Cherokee production dispute is a $70 million supplier payment fight, not a vehicle defect claim; a March 29, 2026 court order got the Toluca, Mexico plant running again after roughly two weeks offline.
• The earlier Jeep Wrangler/Gladiator “death wobble” class action is fully settled (final approval June 2023, about $30 million in benefits) and is not part of the current litigation.
• No filed lawsuit against the Collins Bros Jeep dealership in Wylie, Texas, was found in the sources reviewed for this article, despite related search interest.
• Neither active case has produced a certified class, settlement amount, or trial date as of this writing; treat any specific dollar-figure claims you see elsewhere with caution until confirmed in court filings.
Editor's note: This article distinguishes confirmed, sourced facts (filed complaints, recall numbers, court orders) from unverified or unconfirmed details, which are labeled as such throughout. It does not constitute legal advice. If you believe you have a legal claim related to any matter described here, consult a licensed attorney in your jurisdiction.