Cars and Drivers

Chrysler Recall Echoes GM Ignition Switch Issue

Jeep Cherokee
Source: courtesy of Chrysler Group
Chrysler issued two recall notices on Tuesday, one limited to older model Jeeps and the other for a variety of current model cars and pickups. In the recall of older model Jeeps, the issue is described in nearly identical terms to the ignition switch problem General Motors Co. (NYSE: GM) reported in February and that has affected millions of GM vehicles.

Chrysler said that it is aware of a single accident related to the ignition switch problem and no related injuries. The company said the number of “implicated” vehicles is 792,300 2005-2006 Jeep Commanders and 2005-2007 Jeep Grand Cherokee SUVs. The company said that a preliminary investigation “suggests an outside force, usually attributed to contact with the driver’s knee, may move ignition keys from the ‘on’ position … [and that] such an occurence may cause engine stall, reducing braking power and making steering more difficult. Safety features such as frontal airbags may also be disabled.”

Chrysler expects to identify the affected customers and advise them by mid-September when the customers may schedule service. As a precaution, owners of these vehicles “are advised to remove all items from their key rings, leaving only their ignition keys.” Sound familiar?

When GM finally admitted that it had an ignition switch problem it, too, tried to limit the number of vehicles it would have to fix at its own expense, but eventually recalled more than 5 million vehicles in three separate instances. Unless Chrysler can positively say which vehicles had the the problematic switch installed the company may be overly optimistic about how many vehicles it will have to recall. And given all the negative press that GM got about trying to minimize its costs at the expense of safety, Chrysler might want to rethink its position.

In a separate notice, Chrysler recalled a total of about 21,000 2014 Ram 1500 pickups, 2015 Jeep Cherokee SUVs, and 2015 Chrysler 200 sedans assembled within a 16-day period ending June 6, 2014. The vehicles may have been assembled with shocks and struts that do not meet the company’s quality standards. Chrysler said it is unaware of any injuries, complaints or crashes related to this issue.

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