Recall Alert: 2011 Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep Vehicles

Chrysler is recalling some 11,351 model year 2011 vehicles to inspect and potentially repair a steering column pivot rivet. An incorrectly installed or missing rivet could compromise the integrity of the steering column in the event of a crash.  Under such circumstances, the effectiveness of the frontal impact safety system would be reduced, heightening the chance of injury.

Models affected by this recall are as follows:

The recall is expected to begin later this month, and owners will be contacted via U.S. Mail. Dealers will inspect the steering column to verify that the rivets are present and properly aligned, and will repair as necessary. Owners of the above vehicles can reach Chrysler’s customer service hotline at (800) 853-1403, or they can contact the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s Vehicle Safety Hotline at (888) 327-4236.

[NHTSA]

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Group calls ’93-’04 Jeep Grand Cherokee “most dangerous vehicle,” demands fuel tank recall

Fuel tanks mounted between the rear axle and the rear bumper on the first two generations of Jeep’s Grand Cherokee are cause for concern, says the Center for Automotive Safety.

“For the Center for Auto Safety, this is the most dangerous vehicle on the road today and we want it recalled,” said Clarence Ditlow, executive director of the advocacy organization, in an interview with ABC News.

The safety watchdog group is putting pressure on the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and Chrysler to recall about 2.2 million Jeeps, some of which are almost 20 years old, over fears that the tanks could rupture and leak fuel in a rear impact. Those Grand Cherokees had a composite fuel tank located just behind the rear bumper. Some Grand Cherokees were equipped with steel skid plates, but most had little shielding.

The first generation Grand Cherokee, which went on sale in 1992, and the second generation model, which went on sale in 1998, are both the targets of the Center for Auto Safety’s investigation.

When the Grand Cherokee was redesigned for its third generation in 2005, Chrysler moved the fuel tank ahead of the rear axle. The fourth generation 2011 model continues this placement for its tank.

“You can have the tank itself rupture, you can have the filler hoses pull off as they did in some of our crash tests, and it’s just a terrible design,” Ditlow said.

The Center for Auto Safety says it has turned over its own crash test results to the government, which is now investigating the Grand Cherokees.

Chrysler, meanwhile, says that the watchdog group’s testing was “three times as severe” as NHTSA’s government standard. Furthermore, Chrysler says that “rear impacts resulting in a fire are extremely rare… [and] occur no more often in 1993-2004 Jeep Grand Cherokee vehicles than in peer vehicles.”

References
1.’Safety advocates demand…’ view

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Alert: Some Rental Cars Not Up To Snuff On Safety, Recall Fixes

Car owners who always make safety a priority when shopping for a new vehicle don't always think about it when selecting a rental car at the airport.

Why the disconnect? It's often a matter of cost, and those on basic business trips sometimes aren't able to expense anything more than the economy option. Most rental vehicles, also, are newer; and there's an assumption (sometimes wrong) that newer is safer.

In fact, vehicles in rental fleets, according to the AAA, are less likely to get the latest safety-tech features than personal vehicles. Just a year or two ago, a wide range of vehicles—small cars especially—didn't come with standard electronic stability control (ESC), or even anti-lock brakes. And there are still a few base models in fleets that don't have ESC.

Crash-test ratings might be lower-than-typical for rental cars as well. According to an analysis from USA Today, more than 95 percent of 167 different models in rental fleets come with 'good' ratings from the IIHS in frontal crashes, which are the most common type in fatal accidents. In current rental fleets, USA Today found one 2010-model vehicle and six 2011-model vehicles with 'poor' side-impact ratings, though: the 2010 Chrysler PT Cruiser, the 2011 Chevrolet Colorado Crew Cab, the 2011 Kia Rio, the 2011 GMC Canyon, the 2011 Hyundai Accent, the 2011 Jeep Wrangler (2-door), and the 2011 Volkswagen New Beetle.

USA Today also found two 2011 models—the 2011 Cadillac STS, some 2011 Lexus HS 250h models, the 2010 Chrysler PR Cruiser, the 2010 Infiniti M35, and the 2010 Hummer H3—that are rated poor in the Institute's seat-based rear-impact tests.

Roof strength was particularly a weakness. Almost 40 percent of the rental vehicles that had been rated by the IIHS did not have 'good' ratings in the roof category, which measures occupant protection in the event of a rollover.

And if you think that you can reliably go by the model's safety ratings, according to the federal government or the IIHS, that's not completely true. In 2009, the Kansas City Star found that, to save money, Enterprise Rent-A-Car had deleted side airbags from 2006-2008 Chevrolet Impalas for its fleet. Because the Impala came with standard side airbags, renters (and some of those who bought the used rental cars from the fleet) could have wrongly assumed the vehicles were equipped with the important safety feature.

Though Enterprise broke the public trust, they did promptly offer to buy back those that had already been sold as used cars, and they haven't yet been found to have broken any law.

This year there's also been significant controversy over rental-car companies' responsibility to get recalled vehicles fixed—and whether they can keep them on the road if they are under a safety-related recall and haven't yet been fixed. According to a NHTSA study, Hertz Rent-a-Car fixed just 34 percent of its recalled vehicles within 90 days, while Avis and Budget fixed 53 percent and Enterprise fixed 65 percent within that period.

There have been exceptions, in a few cases of wider public unease. In the midst of the Toyota recall worries last year, Hertz, for instance, said that it would remove Toyotas from the fleet until repaired.

Yet, in browsing the sites of major rental companies, we didn't see safety features, or safety records, indicated in descriptions of vehicles. And in other cases, it was improperly or vaguely indicated with language like 'dual air bags.' Dual front airbags have been required on all new vehicles, by the way, for more than a decade.

Go here for some tips on how to choose a safe rental car, and let us know what you think. Are the rental cars missing out on a reason to get more people to upgrade? Would you be likely to change upgrade or change vehicles if the models' safety ratings were openly displayed?

[USA Today, LA Times]

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