NHTSA Complaint #10039091 — 2000 JEEP CHEROKEE

LAST AUG (2002) MY IGNITION SWITCH LOCKED UP (WOULD NOT TURN WITH KEY INSERTED). THIS STARTED OUT ONLY OCCURRING OCCASIONALLY. AFTER ABOUT 2 WEEKS IT LOCKED UP COMPLETELY AND I HAD A MECHANIC DISASSEMBLE THE SYSTEM SO I COULD DRIVE IT TO THE JEEP WARRANTY GARAGE IN SEOUL SOUTH KOREA. THEY REPLACED THE INNER IGNITION SWITCH BARREL. THE IGNITION SWITCH WORKED FINE UNTIL THIS YEAR (AUG 2003) WHEN THE EXACT SAME THING HAPPENED. NOW I'M WORKING WITH ANOTHER JEEP DEALERSHIP IN ICHEON SOUTH KOREA, TRYING TO GET THIS THING REPAIRED SO AS NOT TO RE-OCCUR. MY 3 YEAR WARRANTY RAN OUT 3 WEEKS AFTER THE SECOND MALFUNCTION AND SINCE THIS IS A RECURRING PROBLEM, I FEEL THAT THE MANUFACTURE SHOULD SUPPLY AN ENTIRE NEW IGNITION SWITCH AND ASSOCIATED COMPONENTS TO COMPLETELY REBUILD THE INNER BARREL, OUTER CASE THAT HOLDS THE BARREL, SWITCHES AND LOCKS FOR ANTI-THEFT COMPONENTS AND ANY OTHER LINKED HARDWARE. I PURCHASED THIS VEHICLE IN VIRGINIA AND WAS SUBSEQUENTLY STATIONED IN KOREA AND SHIPPED THE VEHICLE HERE AT THAT TIME. *JB