NHTSA Complaint #10160303 — 2003 CHRYSLER TOWN AND COUNTRY

ON 6/14/2006, WE WERE DRIVING OUR 2003 CHRYSLER TOWN & COUNTRY ON A 4 LANE HIGHWAY WHEN WE EXPERIENCED AN ENGINE KNOCK AND LOSS OF POWER. LUCKILY, WE WERE ABLE TO SAFELY GET THE VEHICLE OFF THE ROADWAY. UPON CHECKING THE OIL, IT WAS FOUND TO BE "FULL" AND TRANSPARENT ON THE DIPSTICK. SUBSEQUENTLY, THE VEHICLE WAS TOWED TO A CHRYSLER 5 STAR DEALER WHERE DIAGNOSTICS WERE PERFORMED. THE VEHICLE HAS APPROXIMATELY 50,000 MILES ON THE ORIGINAL ENGINE AND IS COVERED BY THE MANUFACTURERS 7 YEAR, 70000 MILE POWER TRAIN WARRANTY. THE DEALERSHIP DETERMINED THAT THE ENGINE FAILED "DUE TO LACK OF MAINTENANCE", WITH A BUILDUP OF SLUDGE IN THE ENGINE. WE WERE BEWILDERED BY THIS PRONOUNCEMENT, AS WE HAD ALWAYS DONE ALL SCHEDULED PREVENTATIVE MAINTENANCE ON THIS VEHICLE. WE ASKED THAT THE OIL PAN NOT BE DUMPED AND THAT A SAMPLE OF OIL BE TESTED, AS THE LAST OIL CHANGE WAS WITHIN THE LAST 250 MILES AND THEY WERE CLAIMING THAT THE "OIL WAS FILTHY". WE WERE TOLD THAT WE WOULD NEED TO PROVIDE THE DEALER WITH 5 DOCUMENTED OIL CHANGES, AND WE TOLD THEM THAT WOULDN'T BE A PROBLEM. WE WERE ABLE TO FAX TO THEM WITHIN 28 HOURS, THE 5 DOCUMENTED OIL CHANGES THEY REQUESTED, AND ALSO LET THEM KNOW THAT MORE WOULD BE FORTHCOMING. BEFORE THE ADDITIONAL DOCUMENTATION WAS PROVIDED TO THE DEALER, OUR WARRANTY CLAIM WAS DENIED ON 6/16/2006. WE AGAIN EXPLAINED THAT MORE DOCUMENTATION OF FURTHER OIL CHANGES WAS FORTHCOMING AND WE WERE VERY CONCERNED THAT THIS CLAIM WAS BEING DENIED. ADDITIONAL DOCUMENTATION WAS FAXED TO THE DEALER VERIFYING OIL CHANGES ROUGHLY EVERY 3000 MILES. WE HAVE PROOF OF 17 DOCUMENTED OIL CHANGES IN 50,000 MILES - MORE THAN REQUIRED. AGAIN, OUR WARRANTY CLAIM HAS BEEN DENIED. CHRYSLER HAS A HISTORY OF ENGINES FAILING AT ROUGHLY THE SAME MILEAGE, BLAMING THE CONSUMER FOR "LACK OF MAINTENANCE" AND THEN DENYING THE WARRANTY CLAIMS DESPITE PROOF OF MAINTENANCE. SOMETHING CATASTROPHIC HAPPENED TO THIS ENGINE, AND IT HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH MAINTENANCE. *NM