Serious Safety Related Defect

[daveMT]

What is the name of your state? Ohio

I puchased a new Chrysler Town & Country in July of 2002. In Dec 02 the brakes developed a problem where over the course of a week or two the brake pedal gradually got so soft that it VERY easily went all the way to the floor and there was loss of braking power.

12/16/02 First trip back to the dealer. They replaced the master cylinder. At this point the van has 3700 miles on it.

Over the next two weeks I could feel the same symptoms gradually returning.

12/31/02 Second trip to dealer complaing about soft pedal. Dealer states brakes working normally at this time. Test driven twice - could not verify.- THIS REALLY WORRIES ME!

Over the course of the next week the problem became so bad I was afraid to drive the vehicle.

01/07/03 Third trip back to the dealer. Dealer says air in system, bleeds brake system, test drives and says brake pedal normal now.

Over the course of the next few weeks - GUESS WHAT??? All the way to the floor again.

01/28/03 Fourth trip to dealer. Service manager steps on the brake pedal and says "OH MY" and that maybe Chrysler sent them a defective master cylinder. I told him if I already have two then there must be 1000's out there. I didn't leave the vehilce with them. The van is now sitting in my driveway and my wife says she is afraid to ever drive it again! I AM TOO! Please don't think I'm just someone complaining about a spongy feel to the brake pedal. All three times this has happened you could literally press it 90% of the way to the floor with your index finger. ZERO braking action until the last 10%. It's a scary feeling. Especially after the second trip to the dealer when they assured me everything was fine.

It is my understanding that Ohio's lemon law allows one attempt to fix a serious safety defect. So my question is this. After risking our lives three times already do we let the dealer attempt another repair or do you think we have a good lemon law case?

 

[cirrus0306]

I would suggest taking it back to the dealership. It should be under warranty and not cost you. Doing this will provide a record to the manufacturer. If no one reports it, there is no way for a re-call to be established. There has to be a minimum number of complaints before they will act. There should also be something in your owners manual for you to file a report. If you don't get the response you want, you can file a claim w/ their arbitration committee. (also in manual) Be sure to know what you want tho, do you want the M/C fixed? It sounds to me like that is the problem. When brakes hit floor, thats usually it....Do you want to return the car? Do you want another car?

 

[daveMT]

Thank you cirrus0306 for responding.

Losing the brakes three times on a vehicle with less than 4000 miles on it is very hard to swallow. I realize our emotions are running very high right now but I DO NOT want to experience this a fourth time.

Maybe the service center just botched a simple repair job. Maybe it’s about feeling safe in a vehicle you worked hard and saved a lot of money for. Maybe the van is a lemon. I don’t know.

Here are the few things I do know. A replacement vehicle would be a satisfactory solution. The lemon law process would not be some thing I would look forward to. I would like to feel I am driving a safe vehicle. If I decide to take it back to the dealer and it is not the master cylinder (again) I don’t want to go through a process of elimination to find the problem. I am tired of driving 10 mph and trying to pick out a tree or decide which car in front of me to hit to stop my van when the brakes fail completely. I have to do SOMETHING with this expensive hunk of metal sitting in my driveway. You don’t want to be the person driving in front of me.

 

[cirrus0306]

Well, sorry to say, you will probably have a hard time trying to convince them to give you another car. Unless you trade it in, in which case you will probably be out a lot of money. The best I could suggest would be to look in your owners manual. There should be paperwork to file a complaint. I would still suggest you take it back to dealership. Take all the repair paperwork w/ you so they can see what has already been done. You are more likely to get the manufacturers attention than to get the dealership to do anything. You may also want to check if you can take it to a different mechanic, not the one where you have bought the car. The warranty should cover it as long as you go to a certified mechanic. (Check warranty to verify) Without continueing to try to repair it, There probably isn't a lot they will be willing to do. Look thru your manual to find out more options for arbitration.....Or paint a lemon on the side and park it in front of the dealership. They may do something then!

 

[daveMT]

I talked to the General Manager today at the dealership where I bought my van. He put me through to the service manager to discuss my situation. You would think I just found my new best friend. After telling me he used live in my neighborhood a long time ago and talking about that for five minutes I was able to switch the topic over to my problem. I asked him if he realized how serious this was and told him how upset my wife was about the whole deal. He suggested that I take her out to a nice restaurant and buy a good bottle of wine. He also told me they were having a problem with some of the parts they were receiving from their vendor.

I then called Chryslers toll free # but all I could get from them was a case # and the obligatory promise to look into the matter.

So come on people give me some Free Advice! You can even give me your 2 cents worth!

I really just want to know what some other people would do in the same situation. What the heck – just vote by posting a number.

1- Take it back to the dealer and hope they can fix it right this time
2- This isn’t even a lemon law case
3- You may have a case but I don’t think it is worth the hassle
4- This vehicle is a deathtrap! Get off your butt and find an attorney!
5- Shut up and go away!

Thank you - Your vote does matter!

Edit: Sorry Cirrus0306

6- Paint a lemon on it and park in front of the dealership

 

[cirrus0306]

1 AND 3. It is a lemon law case bcuz it poses a safety hazard, but even if you get atty, there is no guarentee you will get a new car/money back on the deal. They may just order them to fix the problem. The other thing to think about is this..... If you are having problems, other families are having problems. If there is a safety risk, the manufacturer needs to do a recall so no one gets hurt. If you don't keep reporting it, it won't get done.....I don't know the specific lemon law in your state, however where I live, if you fix the same problem 3x or more, you can file a case. That may be why they fix something different each time you have taken it in. They would have to replace the master cylinder 3x to have them replace the vehicle....P.S. tell the mechanic that you are taking your wife to dinner at his house in the van so you can use his car to stop your van.