NHTSA Complaint #10200218 — 2005 CHRYSLER PACIFICA

WE PURCHASED OUR 2005 CHRYSLER PACIFICA ON JUNE 24, 2005: 10 STALLING EPISODES TO DATE. 1ST & 2ND STALLING EVENTS OCCURRED WITHIN 6 WEEKS OF PURCHASE; BOTH INVOLVING SLOW-SPEED LEFT-HAND TURNS. CAR COMPLETELY STALLED - NO ABILITY TO STEER. ONCE IN PARK, PAC ABLE TO START. TOOK CAR BACK TO DEALER WHERE, AFTER 1 DAY'S WORTH OF INVESTIGATION, TECHNICIANS SAID THEY COULD NOT REPLICATE PROBLEM & SINCE NO DIAGNOSTIC CODES APPEARED, THERE WAS NOTHING TO FIX. I GOOGLED "CHRYSLER PACIFICA STALLS" & FOUND 100S OF SIMILAR COMPLAINTS FOR BOTH 2004 & 2005 MODELS. I PRINTED EXAMPLES & HEADED TO DEALER. AFTER CONFRONTING TECHNICIANS WITH THE COMPLAINTS THEY ADMITTED THEY HAD SEEN SEVERAL OTHER PACS FOR THE SAME STALLING PROBLEM. IN FACT, TECHNICIANS HAD REPLACED IAC MOTOR ON OTHER PACS THEY HAD SERVICED FOR STALLING PROBLEM - SAME REMEDY SUGGESTED IN GOOGLED COMPLAINTS BUT NOT OFFERED TO ME. DEALERSHIP REPLACED IAC MOTOR FOR FREE. DUE TO GENERAL CONCERN ABOUT APPARENT DANGEROUS NATURE OF ALL PACS & OUTRAGE OVER DECEPTIVE SERVICE AT DEALER, I COMPLAINED TO CHRYSLER CORP. GOT A FEEBLE CORPORATE RESPONSE ABOUT "MY DISSATISFACTION WITH MY SERVICE NEEDS." CHRYSLER NEVER EVEN MENTIONED STALLING PROBLEM. IAC FIX SEEMED TO WORK UNTIL 1.5 MONTHS AGO WHEN PAC STALLED AGAIN. I DECIDED IT WAS TIME TO RESPOND TO THE RECALL INVOLVING THE PCM REPROGRAMMING & HEADED BACK TO DEALER. 3 WEEKS AFTER PCM FIX, CAR IS STALLING EVERY TIME I SLOW DOWN, WHETHER TURNING OR NOT. PAC IS CURRENTLY AT DEALER. TECHNICIANS REFUSE TO DEAL WITH THIS AS A MECHANICAL PROBLEM WITH PAC MODEL - OBVIOUSLY GIVEN NO DIRECTION FROM CHRYSLER CORP TO DO SO. DEALER SAYS WE ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR PAYING FOR ANYTHING THEY DO TO FIX PROBLEM - TOTALLY ABSURD SINCE NOTHING THEY HAVE DONE TO DATE HAS FIXED PROBLEM. BOTTOM LINE: PAC MODELS ARE EXPERIENCING SYSTEMATIC ENGINE FAILURES=TOTALLY UNSAFE CARS. HOPE NHTSA INVESTIGATES PROBLEM & FORCES CHRYSLER TO OFFER CUSTOMERS REAL SOLUTIONS TO POTENTIALLY FATAL FLAW. *TR