A bad day for Chrysler owners: Company announces 3 recalls in one day

Posted in Car Accident on April 11, 2013

If you own any vehicle made by Chrysler, you need to check and see if yours is one of the nearly quarter million vehicles affected by recalls.

Chrysler has issued three recalls affecting more than 247,000 SUVs and cars for a variety of problems, including faulty gas tank hoses, broken drive shafts and air bag warning lights that illuminate when there is no problem.

The largest recall covers about 139,000 Chrysler 300, Dodge Charger and Dodge Challenger sedans from 2011 and 2012 model years. Faulty wiring can cause the air bag warning lights to illuminate. The company will fix the vehicles for free.

Chrysler is also recalling 78,500 two-wheel drive Jeep liberty and Dodge Nitro midsize SUVs from model years 2007 and 2008 because the drive shafts can break. Chrysler says a heat shield can drop and rub against the drive shaft, causing it to wear and break. If the shaft breaks, the SUVs will lose power and the side air bags can inflate. Dealers will install a bracket to hold the shield in place at no cost to owners.

The third recall affects about 30,000 Jeep Patriot and Jeep Compass four-wheel drive vehicles from the 2012 model year. A faulty hose inside the gas tank can cause them to run out of fuel and stall. Dealers will replace the hose free of charge.

It is not unusual for vehicles to be recalled. What is unusual is for one company to announce three recalls on the same day. It’s a good thing that Chrysler issued these recalls. However, automakers must continue to do more to ensure that issues like these are caught earlier, before innocent lives are put at risk.