In a win for big business enthusiasts everywhere, Dodge — and its parent company, Stellantis — defeated a consumer fraud and false advertising lawsuit brought about by 2021 Durango SRT Hellcat owners. They claimed that their “limited edition” SUVs lost value when the automaker spun up production two years later to make more vehicles.
Owners in the proposed class action suit said they shelled out premium prices, as high as $114,225, based on the promise by the automaker that it would end production after building 3,000 units in 2021, according to Reuters. These Durango Hellcatists said they felt “shock and anger” when Dodge brought the 710-horsepower Durango Hellcat back from the dead in 2023, which they (correctly) felt reduced its exclusivity and dropped their cars’ resale value. The ruling by the judge can be summarized as “too bad, so sad.”
Okay, that’s not exactly what she told plaintiffs in California, Florida, Illinois, New Jersey, New York, Texas and Virginia, but that’s sort of the gist. In actuality, U.S. District Judge Jennifer Hall in Wilmington, Delaware, said she found no proof that Fiat Chrysler intended to renege on its promise, or that its statement amounted to an express warranty, Reuters reports.
She went on to say that the automaker didn’t violate any state consumer fraud laws “where the alleged ‘misrepresentation’ pertained to intended future conduct and was true when made.” Basically, she’s saying Dodge and Stellantis didn’t promise — in a legal sense — not to make more of these cars. So, while it can maybe be looked at as a crappy thing for the automaker to do to these owners, in the eyes of the law they don’t have any legal recourse.
Cries from hell
Let this be a reminder to you all: buying a car as an investment is almost always a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad idea. There’s no way to know where the market is headed, and there are virtually no brand-new cars that are going to appreciate right out of the box — especially from a volume automaker like Dodge. Even if the automaker were to stick to 3,000 units of the 2021 Durango Hellcat, it’s unlikely that it would have held its $114,225 MSRP for very long.
The best course of action for these folks is to just enjoy their Durango Hellcats. The worst-case scenario is that they have an all-wheel-drive, six-passenger SUV with a supercharged 6.2-liter V8 under the hood, pumping out 710 hp and 645 pound-feet of torque. It’ll do 0-60 in about 3.5 seconds and dispatch the quarter mile in about 11-and-a-half. If that isn’t enough to make you happy, I don’t know what is.
Sure, owners have taken a bit of a bath on depreciation. Right now, AutoTrader shows there are 26 2021 Durango SRT Hellcats for sale in the U.S. with a clean title and no accidents. They range in price from somewhere in the mid-50-thousand-dollar range for high-mile examples to the mid-90s for examples with very low miles. I know these aren’t the prices folks were looking for, but just find an open road and hit the gas. You’ll feel better.
