NHTSA Complaint #10090461 — 2001 DODGE INTREPID

JULY, 2004, I WAS DRIVING MY 2001 DODGE INTREPID WHEN I MADE A LEFT TURN AND THE STEERING LOCKED UP, THE WHEEL WOULD NOT TURN BACK TO THE RIGHT. IT HAPPENED TWICE AS I TURNED INTO INTERSECTIONS SAME DAY. HAD THERE BEEN A VEHICLE IN THE OPPOSITE LANE, I WOULD HAVE HAD NO RECOURSE BUT TO CRASH IN TO IT. LUCKILY, THERE WAS NO CAR IN THE INSIDE LANE! THIS WAS A SUNDAY..TOOK CAR TO DODGE REPAIR SHOP EARLY MONDAY MORNING AND WAS TOLD IT WAS THE BUSHINGS. 4 DAYS LATER, WAS TOLD AFTER THE BUSHINGS WERE PUT IN, IT DID NOT CORRECT THE PROBLEM...THAT IT WAS NEEDING A NEW RACK! THE BUSHING REPAIR WAS $426.46. THE REPAIRMAN TOLD ME THAT IN HIS OPINION, A RACK SHOULD NOT HAVE TO BE REPLACED IN A VEHICLE WITH LESS THAN 50,000 MILES AS WAS THE CASE IN MY VEHICLE. I CALLED CHRYSLER AND THEY REFUSED TO DO ANYTHING. THE DODGE REPAIR MAN EVEN CALLED THEM AND THEY REFUSED HIM, BECAUSE IN MY FRUSTRATION AFTER THEY DECLINED MY REQUEST I HAD USED THE WORD "[XXX]" AND "[XXX]" IN THE CONVERSATION. WHICH IS BESIDE THE POINT, AS THIS IS A SAFETY ISSUE...WHICH COULD HAVE CAUSED ME A SERIOUS OR FATAL ACCIDENT! MY CAR WAS FINALLY REPAIRED AFTER BEING IN THE SHOP 3 WEEKS (THIS IS MY ONLY VEHICLE AS I AM A SINGLE PARENT HOUSEHOLD) AND I WAS CHARGED A TOTAL OF $823.48 FOR THE BUSHINGS AND A REBUILT RACK! SHIELDS MOTORS IN CHANUTE MAY STILL HAVE THE OLD PART, I AM UNSURE. HOWEVER, I FEEL THAT CHRYSLER SHOULD BE RECALLING THEIR VEHICLES AFTER RESEARCHING AND FINDING SEVERAL OTHER SITUATIONS WHERE THE STEERING HAS CAUSED ACCIDENTS, ETC. *JB INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6). *TR