— A Land Rover Range Rover fire lawsuit alleges defects in the vehicle caused more than $7 million in damages.
Georgia plaintiffs Brett and Joy Mitchell purchased the 2017 Range Rover new in November 2017.
According to the lawsuit, seven years later on December 24, 2024, the couple and their five children, ages 12 to 21, lost their Glynn County, Georgia, home and property due to a fire inside their 2017 Land Rover Range Rover.
The vehicle was parked in the carport connected to the home, and the fire was allegedly caused by the factory-sealed infotainment master controller, or IMC.
According to the Land Rover fire lawsuit:
"The IMC, which is an encased box located underneath the driver’s seat of the Vehicle, governs multiple navigation and entertainment features, including touchscreen navigation, media streaming and Bluetooth. Due to a malfunctioning subcomponent inside the IMC, the IMC overheated, leading to the subsequent thermal ignition of nearby materials."
The IMC also remains "on" all the time and constantly supplied with electrical current supplied by the quiescent current. The components were purportedly defective when the plaintiffs first purchased the Range Rover.
According to the lawsuit, the plaintiffs know the fire originated from the infotainment master controller because they apparently hired their own engineer who determined the IMC was the cause.
However, the lawsuit doesn't say if engineers or investigators from Land Rover reached the same conclusion.
The lawsuit says the family had to flee the home as the fire spread from the Range Rover and engulfed their home.
Each family member says they still suffer physical and emotional distress, psychological trauma, and the lawsuit alleges each family member except one has been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
The plaintiffs complain they lost the contents inside their home at a value of more than $1,280,000. They also say they paid more than $75,000 to clear their property of debris.
"The estimated total economic loss sustained by the Mitchells due to the fire is greater than $7,105,000." — Land Rover Range Rover fire lawsuit
The Land Rover fire lawsuit was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Georgia: Mitchell, et al, v. Jaguar Land Rover Limited, et al.
