Subject: (fwd) Re: Anti-Lock Brake Failures

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From: david_price@quickmail.llnl.gov (David E. Price)
Newsgroups: rec.autos.makers.chrysler
Subject: Re: Anti-Lock Brake Failures
Date: Fri, 05 Jan 1996 14:00:27 -0800
Organization: Hazards Control - Safety Analysis Group - LLNL
Lines: 53
Message-ID: 
References: <4cd6ss$hvf@portal.gmu.edu> <4ciko4$fsf@newsbf02.news.aol.com>
NNTP-Posting-Host: dprice.llnl.gov

In article <4ciko4$fsf@newsbf02.news.aol.com>, noskralc@aol.com (Noskralc)
wrote:

snip
 
> The net result is that I have shelled out close to $2,000 (including
> parts, labor, and diagnostic charges) and I am left with a system that
> doesn't work properly.  My conclusion is that the diagnostic system is as
> flawed as the brake system.  Meanwhile, Chrysler as been shamelessly and
> completely non-responsive to my complaints to their so-called 'customer
> relations' department.

There are other alternatives.

Gather all the documentation you can from previous repairs to your
vehicle.  Then gather all the information you can from the Internet
(Charlene Blake, who posts to this group, is a gold mine of information -
Thanks Charlene).  File a complaint with the National Highway Traffic
Safety Administration in the US at (800) 424-9393 or with Transport Canada
at (800) 333-0510.  In addition, info can be reported and obtained from
the Center for Auto Safety in Washington, DC (202) 328-7700.  Currently,
the NHTSA and Transport Canada are investigating the ABS failures due to
increasing owner complaints.  

Next, contact the local zone customer service rep and tell him/her all the
facts.  Be *polite* and non-confrontational (after all, you want something
from him/her).  Just remember that not all Chrysler employees agree with
Chrysler's corporate actions and attitudes concerning ABS repairs.  Ask
for any help he/she can give you.  However, you will probably will have to
take a hard line concerning your determination to inform local Chrysler
customers of the ABS problems and share your Internet gained information
with them if you have to pay for these ABS design defect repairs yourself.


I first had ABS trouble lights at 43,000 miles.  I immediately took my van
to a Chrysler dealer for service.  They assured me that the trouble lights
were from a slow brake fluid leak.  When the lights kept coming on, I took
it to another dealer who told me the same thing.

2 years and almost 50,000 miles later, my ABS failed.  The Chrysler
customer service rep in Chrysler headquarters was worse than useless. 
However, the local zone customer service rep authorized my repairs at no
expense to me.  I subsequently had two more failures, and the same rep
authorized repairs at Chrysler's expense each time.

The same rep offered and then renegged on a buyback offer, so I dumped my
Caravan (at a big loss), bought a Nissan, and joined the class-action suit
against Chrysler.  I recommend you do the same.

-- 
dvprice@aol.com

Microsoft Network is prohibited from redistributing this work in any form, in whole or in part.  Copyright, David E. Price, 1996.