IN 2006, ODI INVESTIGATED (EA06-003) CORROSION RELATED FAILURES OF THE FRAME RAIL-MOUNTED FRONT AIR BAG CRASH SENSORS IN MODEL YEAR (MY) 2005-2006 CHRYSLER MINIVANS (DODGE CARAVAN AND GRAND CARAVAN, AND CHRYSLER TOWN AND COUNTRY). CHRYSLER INITIALLY PRODUCED SUBJECT VEHICLES CONTAINING CRASH SENSORS WITH BRASS BUSHINGS AND THEN AT A LATER DATE CHANGED TO STEEL BUSHINGS.

ODI HAS RECEIVED REPORTS THAT THE EITHER THE LEFT OR THE RIGHT REAR QUARTER PANEL GLASS FALLS OFF THE VEHICLE. SOME REPORTS INDICATE THAT THE GLASS FELL OFF THE VEHICLE WHILE IN MOTION AND STRUCK A FOLLOWING VEHICLE. IN SOME CASES DAMAGE TO THE FOLLOWING VEHICLE WAS REPORTED.

ON FEBRUARY 27, 2006 RQ06-002 WAS OPENED IN RESPONSE TO 60 COMPLAINTS OF ENGINE STALL, MOSTLY DURING LEFT-HAND TURNS, IN MODEL YEAR (MY) 2004 TO 2006 CHRYSLER PACIFICA VEHICLES THAT WERE OUTSIDE THE SCOPE OF RECALL 04V-113. IN MARCH 2004, DAIMLERCHRYSLER INITIATED RECALL 04V-113 ON 34,561 MY 2004 PACIFICA VEHICLES TO CORRECT A CONDITION THAT COULD RESULT IN ENGINE STALL WHILE MAKING A LEFT-HAND TURN AFTER A COLD-START.

ON JULY 3, 2007, DAIMLERCHRYSLER CORPORATION (DCC) SUBMITTED A DEFECT INFORMATION REPORT TO NHTSA DESCRIBING A DEFECT THAT COULD RESULT IN ENGINE STALL WHILE DRIVING IN APPROXIMATELY 80,894 MODEL YEAR (MY) 2007 JEEP WRANGLER AND DODGE NITRO VEHICLES MANUFACTURED BETWEEN JANUARY 30, 2006 AND JANUARY 22, 2007

THIS INVESTIGATION WAS OPENED ON NOVEMBER 21, 2006 BASED ON TWO OWNER REPORTS AND ONE E-MAIL REPORT ALLEGING AN INTERIOR FIRE IN THE PASSENGER SIDE AREA OF THE DASH PANEL. DAIMLERCHRYSLER (DCC) HAS IDENTIFIED A DEFECT IN THE BLOWER MOTOR OF THE HVAC SYSTEM IN THE SUBJECT VEHICLES AND IN CERTAIN 2007 MODEL YEAR LIBERTY VEHICLES. THE DEFECT REPORT STATES,

ODI HAS RECEIVED 76 VEHICLE OWNER COMPLAINTS ALLEGING INCIDENTS OF ENGINE STALL WHILE DRIVING IN MODEL YEAR (MY) 2006 THROUGH 2007 JEEP COMMANDER VEHICLES (SUBJECT VEHICLES). SOME OF THE COMPLAINTS REPORTED ONE OR MORE INCIDENTS OF ENGINE STALL WITH A SIMULTANEOUS LOSS OF SOME OR ALL LIGHTING SYSTEMS, INCLUDING HEADLAMPS. TWO ENGINE STALLS RESULTED IN A VEHICLE CRASH.

ODI'S INVESTIGATION IDENTIFIED NO ISSUES IN THE DESIGN, MANUFACTURING PROCESS, OR QUALITY CONTROL PROCESS OF THE SIDE CURTAIN AIR BAGS USED IN THE DODGE DURANGO VEHICLES. THERE HAVE BEEN NO REPORTED FIELD INCIDENTS OF SIDE CURTAIN AIR BAG FAILURES SIMILAR TO THE FAILURES THAT OCCURRED DURING THE NHTSA RESEARCH TESTING OF THE DURANGO AIR BAGS.

COMPLAINANTS ALLEGE THAT A FIRE ERUPTED UNDER THE HOOD, NEAR THE FRONT OF THE VEHICLE. IN CHRYSLER'S RESPONSE TO ODI'S NOVEMBER 2, 2007 INFORMATION REQUEST, CHRYSLER ASSERTS THAT THE ALLEGED DEFECT OCCURS ONLY IN THE 4.0L ENGINES AND THE CONSUMER WILL EXPERIENCE A LOSS OF POWER STEERING FLUID OR A NOISY POWER STEERING PUMP BEFORE SEEING ANY EVIDENCE OF SMOKE OR FIRE.

ON JULY 7, 2009, CHRYSLER NOTIFIED NHTSA THAT CERTAIN AFTERMARKET MOPAR TOW BAR ASSEMBLIES IT SOLD FOR USE WITH 2007 AND 2008 JEEP WRANGLERS CAN FAIL UNDER CERTAIN DRIVING CONDITIONS. THIS CAN RESULT IN THE TOWED VEHICLE SEPARATING FROM THE TOWING VEHICLE, POSSIBLY RESULTING IN A CRASH.

IN A NOVEMBER 5, 2008 LETTER, CHRYSLER SUBMITTED A DEFECT INFORMATION REPORT DESCRIBING A DEFECT CONDITION THAT COULD RESULT IN PRNDL MISALIGNMENT (I.E., INCORRECT GEAR INDICATION) IN APPROXIMATELY 20,300 MODEL YEAR (MY) 2006 THROUGH 2009 DODGE CHARGER AND MAGNUM

Kisaan Howard (age 15)Renee Howard (Mother)Wildwood, NJAs a 2-year-old, Kisaan Howard’s neck was broken during an accident when sheslipped out of her seatbelt; she needs round the clock care.In 1996, Renee, her husband and then two year-old Kisaan, riding in their Jeep Grand Cherokee, were hit head on.

 

Shaun Nicolas Doss (age 8) Robert Doss (father) Gilbert, AZ As a 6-year-old, Shaun Nicolas Doss became severely injured and is now paraplegicwhen his seatbelt failed during an accident.On May 15, 2007, 6-year-old Shaun Doss was riding in the third-row passenger seat of his family’s Dodge Durango, along with his father Robert and three siblings, when another vehicle ran a red light, “T-boning” the Doss’s Durango at the driver’s side rearwheel. Because the seat belts in the Doss’s Durango had not been properly affixed to the vehicle’s frame, they did not function properly upon impact.

 

 

Kimberly Young Dionne Sales (niece and attorney)Rose Young (mother and caretaker)Oakland, CA Kimberly Young’s neck was broken, rendering her quadriplegic, when the roof ofher Jeep Grand Cherokee caved in during an accident.On August 29, 2008, 44-year-old Kimberly Young was driving her mother’s 2004 Jeep Grand Cherokee with her daughter, Keyona Chester, when the vehicle was involved in an accident and rolled over.

Marie P. Wilkinson, Warren, OH

On March 23, 2006, after spending the day, as she often did, with her daughter and grandchild looking at prospective pre-schools, beloved grandmother, mother, and friend, 64 year old Marie P. Wilkinson drove a Chrysler-manufactured 1995 Plymouth Neon back to her home. Upon nearing her home, she drove slowly onto its flat entrance and stopped to get her mail. She then placed the vehicle into what she reasonably believed was to be “park” and likely believing that the vehicle was in “park,” exited the vehicle with the engine running to retrieve her mail. After a brief delay, the vehicle suddenly self-shifted into powered reverse, knocking Ms. Wilkinson to the ground. The vehicle then ran over her head, inflicting fatal head and neck injuries.

 

In the fall of 2007, Farbod Nourian was in his senior year at UCLA, studying history, and planning to apply to law school. But that November he was seriously injured, when the 1996 Jeep Grand Cherokee he had just exited slipped, without warning from park to reverse. Nourian was walking behind the vehicle to get into the passenger’s seat, when he noticed the Jeep start to move backwards, he turned and was caught by the door. He grabbed onto the door, but when the vehicle hit a wall, it knocked him to the concrete, rupturing three disks and crushing his vertebrae. He now suffers from chronic pain and gastrointestinal distress. According to his doctors, he faces a lifetime of pain that will only get worse as he ages.

 

On August 4, 2007, Dzemila Heco was stopped at a light on Center road in Essex, Vermont when she was rear-ended. Although Heco was wearing her seat belt, the 2000 Dodge Neon’s restraint system failed. The force of the crash threw Heco into the rear seat and broke her spine, leaving her a quadriplegic. Before the crash, Heco had just completed her training as a dental assistant, and was ready to embark on a new career. Today, the 46-year-old woman is totally dependent on Medicaid and her younger son, who serves as her primary caretaker.

 

CHRYSLER AND GM BANKRUPTCIES: WIPING OUT THE

RIGHTS OF CATASTROPHICALLY-INJURED VICTIMS

WHAT IT MEANS FOR CONSUMERS

According to the Chrysler bankruptcy plan, families driving any Chrysler now on the road (more than 10 million vehicles), whose occupants are severely injured in a collision or otherwise because the car was not made safely, will have no recourse against the company. The GM bankruptcy proposes the same thing (more than 30 million vehicles).*

 

 

MEDIA ADVISORY

CHRYSLER VICTIMS APPEAL TO NEW CHRYSLER CEO, SEEK MEETING

--Victims from 3 States Schedule News Conference Monday at Chrysler's Headquarters Prior to Board of Directors Meeting; Victims Will Attempt to Hand-Deliver a Letter to Chrysler/Fiat CEO  Board of Director, Sergio Marchionne and newly formed Board of Directors, seeking a meeting--

WHO:  Christina and Brian Catalano of St. Clair Shores, MI, whose mother was killed by a runaway Chrysler minivan; Jeremy Warriner of  Indianapolis, IN, whose legs were so badly burned by a fire in a Chrysler vehicle that they had to be amputated; and Patrick James of Knoxville, TN, whose daughter was killed in a Chrysler van that flipped over. A representative from the Center for Justice and Democracy. More family members, friends and supporters.