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A Copy Of The Parking Brake Recall?


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I emailed Jeep/Chrysler Customer Service with the following message.  I hope to hear from them soon...

 

To whom it may concern,

I have recently discovered that my 1986 Jeep Comanche MJ has a Safety Recall issued on it for parking brake failure. It specifies that the parking brake may release from a holding position, potentially allowing the vehicle to roll. Mine does this quite often, thus leading me to believe that I am affected and covered by this Safety Recall. I'd like to remedy this situation before any potential incident to my safety or others could occur. The NHTSA Campaign Number is: 86V147000. I am highly confident that based on my VIN and the symptoms my parking brake is exhibiting, that I am affected by this recall. Thank you in advance for your concern on this matter and I look forward to hearing from you.

Shawn

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You should hear back from them pretty quickly once your letter reaches the correct department. That might be the folks at Fiat now, though! ;)
 

 

Here's a page on Jeep's contact us page. http://www.jeep.com/webselfservice/jeep/index.html

 

 

Safety Recall - Safety recalls include any problem encountered with a Chrysler product related to the safe operation of the vehicle or the safety of the occupants. Chrysler will correct the problem, at no charge, even if the vehicle is out of warranty and you are not the original owner.

 

You bet they will correct the problem at no charge, but not because they are nice people - it's because they are required by law to do so! If you had a crash that resulted from a safety recall item, you would have recourse to the law to recover damages, so it is in their best interest to fix your truck and keep you happy.

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I got a reply quicker than I thought.  A disappointing one too:
 

Dear Shawn:

Thank you for contacting the Jeep Customer Assistance Center.

We fully appreciate your concern, particularly in view of the expense
and inconvenience involved, however, we are unable to accommodate your
request for recall consideration. The vehicle has exceeded the time
and/or mileage limitations of the warranty (or warranties) we offered on
the vehicle at the time it was purchased. Although we are unable to
provide a more favorable reply, we appreciate the opportunity to review
your request.

Thank you again for taking the time to communicate with us. We're sorry
we cannot provide a more favorable reply.

Sincerely,

Melissa

Customer Service Representative
Jeep Customer Assistance Center

 
I replied with the point about the ZJ's and WJ's gas tank recall and remedy. Also noting that they were past warranty and of age, but Chrysler fixed those under a Safety Recall. I also stated that there is no expiration date for a SR and that if she was unable to help me, then I would like to speak to someone higher that is able to help. Waiting to hear back...
 
Edit - This is what I had wrote back to her in response to the above:

Melissa,

Being a safety recall, isn't Chrysler responsible for repair, regardless of vehicle age and/or warranty period? When the Grand Cherokee ZJs and WJs were recalled for exploding gas tanks in rear end collisions, you all issued a statement that repairs would be made to those vehicles
despite age and warranties. Why is my case any different? It's a safety concern and thus should be taken as such. A safety recall on a vehicle
doesn't expire. If you are unable to help me, I will need to speak to someone higher up who can. Thank you.

-Shawn

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Offering to take it up the chain of command is the right approach I think. I'm pretty sure it is outside the job description of "Ms. Melissa, the Customer Service Representative" to be making declarations about safety recalls. ;) You need to be talking to the folks over at Regulatory Compliance.

 

If you fail to get resolution from them, then a letter to the NHTSA (National Highway Traffic Safety Administration) should get you right back on track again, pretty darn quick, too.

 

Make sure to keep copies of all correspondence to and from the people with whom you have contact.

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As an addendum to this sort of issue, it is never good to admit that you know you have a demonstrated problem with the item covered under a recall. Doing so shows that you have foreknowledge of the problem, and will undermine any position you have to recover damages that occur subsequently. The manufacturer's defense would be "why did you continue to rely on XXX when you already knew it was unreliable?"

 

If you had damages that occurred BEFORE you knew of the problem and contacted the manufacturer, that of course is another story. In that case, you should probably be contacting a lawyer and not the manufacturer. I'm fairly certain that their lawyers would like very much to talk to you before you talk to your own!   :rotf:

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Another issue you may run into... was the recall performed to begin with or did this vehicle slip through the cracks? If it can be found that the recall had already been performed I'm not sure what recourse you may have after that. Depends on how much chrysler wants to take care of you. If you post your VIN and milage or PM it to me I can try to see what if any info Chrysler has on your truck. Its pretty hit and miss for 86 and 87 models but sometimes you get lucky. If your truck is listed it may have original selling dealer info. If they are still around maybe they can dig through records and find some repair info for the recall. But assuming they are around, if they are anything like the dealers Ive worked for, those records get dumped after a while. But you never know, might be worth a try!

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Another issue you may run into... was the recall performed to begin with or did this vehicle slip through the cracks? If it can be found that the recall had already been performed I'm not sure what recourse you may have after that. Depends on how much chrysler wants to take care of you. If you post your VIN and milage or PM it to me I can try to see what if any info Chrysler has on your truck. Its pretty hit and miss for 86 and 87 models but sometimes you get lucky. If your truck is listed it may have original selling dealer info. If they are still around maybe they can dig through records and find some repair info for the recall. But assuming they are around, if they are anything like the dealers Ive worked for, those records get dumped after a while. But you never know, might be worth a try!

 

Yep - good point.

 

Once the recall correction has been applied, the manufacturer's liability has been satisfied... unless there was a safety recall of the original safety recall remediation! (Recalls are expensive, embarrassing, and damaging to the reputation of a manufacturer. Think how bad it would be to have to do it twice! However, I cannot think of any instance of a "recall of a recall".)

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Speaking of recalls of recalls... Jeep WJ Grand Cherokees with the heated leather seats had a recall of a recall. Ive done may of them that get their 3rd set of heated seat elements. If the customer could see what the underside of some of those seat covers look like, they would never drive their Jeep again! Or at least unplug the wires to the seat elements. There was even some that burned all the way through and zapped people in their butts. Those cases got new seat covers too.

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Another issue you may run into... was the recall performed to begin with or did this vehicle slip through the cracks? If it can be found that the recall had already been performed I'm not sure what recourse you may have after that. Depends on how much chrysler wants to take care of you. If you post your VIN and milage or PM it to me I can try to see what if any info Chrysler has on your truck. Its pretty hit and miss for 86 and 87 models but sometimes you get lucky. If your truck is listed it may have original selling dealer info. If they are still around maybe they can dig through records and find some repair info for the recall. But assuming they are around, if they are anything like the dealers Ive worked for, those records get dumped after a while. But you never know, might be worth a try!

 

1JTHX6519GT006499 and a little over 82k miles now.

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Yes, especially since "Melissa" seems unwilling to help as she said this:
 

Dear Shawn:

Thank you for contacting the Jeep Customer Assistance Center.

Thank you for your recent email, although it does not contain any
information that would cause a change in the previous decision. Your
request must again be respectfully declined.

Any future communication related to this issue will be retained in
corporate records.

If at some future date, we can be of assistance to you in some other
area, please let us know.

Thanks again for your email.

Sincerely,

Melissa

Customer Service Representative
Jeep Customer Assistance Center

 
So next question is, how the hell do I go above Melissa since she doesn't seem to care enough or didn't listen to my request to speak to someone higher? And what's this crap about "Any future communication related to this issue will be retained in corporate records."? Is that just a way of saying "eff you if you think you can undermine my authority"? This is why I pretty much hate Chrysler.

This is my reply:
 

Melissa,

I'm not sure if you read my request to speak to someone higher up in the chain of command or if you just ignored that part, but again, I would like to hear from someone from Regulatory Compliance or the like. This is a safety recall and from what I understand, it's unlawful to deny my request to have the work performed. I'm sure something can be done to rectify this issue. In the event that it can not, I will be contacting the NHTSA and take this further. Thank you for your time concerning this matter, but if you're unable to help me, please let me speak to someone who can.

Shawn

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Y'know, an unscrupulous person might park his '86 MJ on an incline and let the parking brake fail, then sue Chrysler for not only the damage resulting from the safety recall but also for denying remediation of that recall after it was twice requested! Just sayin'...  :rotf:

 

Seriously, you need to talk to the Regulatory Compliance people at Chrysler. They would be able to get you in touch with the right people who handle recalls.

 

You should write once more to "Ms. Melissa" (so desirous of preserving her anonymity that she does not give her last name!) just to make damn sure they have record of your correspondence. Make sure to append your two previous letters, and state plainly in the body of your letter that this is the third attempt to seek resolution.

 

This is all based on the assumption that this is indeed a safety recall. Considering the importance of the parking brake and the potential consequences of its failure, I don't see how it could be otherwise...

 

If it is too much of a headache to try to identify the proper entity after having been stonewalled by a Customer Service Representative, you could always just cut straight to NHTSA. Considering that they are bureaucrats, you should not expect too speedy a reply, though.

 

I used to have some contacts in regulatory compliance at Chrysler, but I let them lapse over the past 15 or so years. If I can remember one who could help you, I'll be sure to let you know.

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I recall a while back, maybe 2 yrs, a CC member wrote that he wrecked his MJ when he was 4 wheeling.  He set his park brake, got out of the truck to move something.  His brake gave and the truck roll down hill and struck a tree.  I think he said it was totalled.

 

I wonder if his was an '86?

 

 

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This wouldn't happen to be the fellow I need to get in touch with about my issue, would it?  http://media.chrysler.com/newsrelease.do;jsessionid=C9F940772EFC7479D1FA701CE59E5804?&id=8851&mid=361

 

I see the term "regulatory affairs" in his bio.  No direct contact info, but I figure I can probably decipher his email address based on the nomenclature of the two other emails provided (maybe <matt.liddane@chrysler.com>). 

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I don't know him, never heard of him  in fact. I see he is a V.P. though, so I think you need to contact someone lower on the totem pole (Manager or Director, no higher). Maybe you could find out some more info on the 2 guys on his page who do show contact info - at least they could point you to the right people.

 

Regulatory Affairs sounds like the right guys. Every few years those big corporations like to reorganize and change the organizational names around to keep everybody pretty well-confused. :yes:  

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Yea, that's what I was thinking...  I got this response from Mrs. Melissa.  Her tone has shifted a bit since her initial two responses.  Not sure if it's just to appease me or if they're actually taking me seriously now due to my persistence and my mention of contacting the NHTSA.  Anyway, here is her latest response:

 

Dear Shawn:

Thank you for contacting the Jeep Customer Assistance Center.

We are currently researching your inquiry to provide you with the most
precise response. Unfortunately, the cost of accuracy is time, but we
are doing our best to answer your questions as quickly as possible.

We apologize for any inconvenience this delay may cause you, and
sincerely thank you for your patience.

If you have further questions, please feel free to reply. You may also
call us on our toll-free number at 1-800-964-0600.

Thanks again for your email.

Sincerely,

Melissa

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ok I'll try again to post a reply. No offense ppl but this is why I don't visit much. Posts vanish, its hard for me to navigate around, etc.. Sure miss the old group on Y!

 

This repair seems to be hopeless so maybe a fabbed up XJ hand brake is in the works now.

 

here's the old 89 after mine let go and it ran into a tree...

 

 

 

ok now I've been told I can't post "that extension" here. SEE WHAT I MEAN??!! try this then....

 

 

geezus i miss the old MJ group

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One more thing.. I worked for Dodge years ago and they said once a recall, always a recall meaning it does not matter how many times a part fails it must be resolved. But times change. In my invisible post that doesnt seem to have appeared I thanked you all for the feedback. You're awesome.

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Sorry, I didn't mean to take over your post here. I have to thank you because until you made this post, I was unaware of this recall. I've continued to post here because I feel like the information will be helpful to other members who may be unaware or have had issues with a company like Chrysler playing hard ball. Anyway, here's your picture posted for others to see.

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Thanks bro. Unless I'm a daily participant like I was in the original MJ group which made me a mod there eventually, I'm nuthin more than a guest, sadly. I was a big part of that Y! list but this just aint my style. Me n Pete ran Moab and a trail here in CO back in '05 but I just don't have my nose buried into a computer these days. I know Jeeps bumper to bumper but still need some help from time to time. Glad to still see some of the original founders of the group here on Comanche Club.

 

Rick in CO

 

Sorry, I didn't mean to take over your post here. I have to thank you because until you made this post, I was unaware of this recall. I've continued to post here because I feel like the information will be helpful to other members who may be unaware or have had issues with a company like Chrysler playing hard ball. Anyway, here's your picture posted for others to see.

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BTW - the story to the pic is a sad one. I and two others were on a 4x4 trail here in CO and as a courteous Jeeper I had backed up off trail to let some other group pass. They screwed around in a drunken stupor for several minutes so I set the brake and went down to get them to hustle it along. Once them head-banger a-holes figured out how to put their Jap trash in gear and MOVE IT I went to get in and POP the parking brake let go. I ran along side for a good twenty feet trying to hop in to hit the brakes but CRASH it hit a tree and I collided with the drivers door and bent it forwards to the fender. No help from them just a lotta gawking and me and my group proceeded to the camp spot. I yanked what was left of the fan shroud out and bless that Jeeps little heart the radiator was intact even tho the AC was shoved up against it and the fan was hitting the fins. I repaired it myself and its on its way to becoming a show truck now but dang it all my Jeeps have taken damage like a B-17 Bomber on them trails and like those old Forts they brought me home everytime.

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For a long while, growing up, my parent's owned an 1989 Honda Accord. In the late 90's/early 2000's one of front seat belt buckles failed. Turns out, there was a recall to replace the front buckles. They took it to the dealer and got it done. 

But, as other people have said, a safety recall is a safety recall. 

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