NHTSA Complaint #10220747 — 2001 DODGE DURANGO

MY 2001 DODGE DURANGO STARTED HAVING PROBLEMS WITH INTERIOR LIGHTS, DASH LIGHTS, INTERMITTENT WIPERS, DOOR LOCKS NOT OPERATING, THE 4-WHEEL DRIVE LIGHT ON, AND HEADLIGHTS NOT WORKING. CHECKED ALL FUSES AND ALL WERE GOOD. DISCONNECTED/RECONNECTED BATTERY AND ALL RETURNED TO NORMAL. TWO DAYS LATER, WHILE MY 16 Y/O SON WAS DRIVING THE VEHICLE, THE INTERIOR AND DASH LIGHTS (LATER TO LEARN THE HEADLIGHTS) WERE FLICKERING ON AND OFF. I TOOK IT FOR A TEST RIDE AND ALL SEEMED NORMAL FOR FIRST FEW MILES, WHEN SUDDENLY THE DASH LIGHTS AND HEADLIGHTS STARTED TO FLICKER RAPIDLY. A FEW SECONDS LATER THE HEADLIGHTS WENT OUT COMPLETELY FOR APPROXIMATELY 5-7 SECONDS AND CAME BACK ON. THE HEADLIGHTS WENT OUT AGAIN AS I WAS PULLING OFF THE ROAD FOR APPROXIMATELY 7-10 SECONDS WITH INTERMITTENT INTERIOR DASH LIGHTS FLICKERING. I TURNED THE VEHICLE OFF, REMOVED THE NEGATIVE BATTERY TERMINAL FOR APPROXIMATELY 3 MINUTES AND AGAIN ALL RETURNED TO "NORMAL". THIS 'DEFECT' IS WELL KNOWN ON THE INTERNET WITH THE CAUSE BEING THE CENTRAL TIMER MODULE (CTM) AND ALL LOCAL DODGE DEALERS I CONTACTED ARE WELL AWARE OF THE CAUSE AND THE FIX (AVG. COST FROM LOCAL DEALERS $690.00) YET THERE IS NO RECALL FOR THIS ANOMALY. WHY? HEADLIGHTS TURNING OFF WHILE DRIVING'AM I THE ONLY PERSON WHO SEES A SAFETY PROBLEM HERE? ALSO, ACCORDING TO THE PEOPLE AT CHRYSLER'S 1-800 CUSTOMER SERVICE CENTER, THIS IS ONLY AFFECTING A SMALL NUMBER OF VEHICLES. SO WHAT. MY THOUGHTS ARE: ONE VEHICLE IS ENOUGH, AND IF THIS IS REALLY A TRUE STATEMENT FROM CHRYSLER, IT SHOULDN'T COST THE CORPORATION THAT MUCH TO FIX THOSE 'FEW' VEHICLES. MY CONCERN CONTINUES WITH THE BELIEF THAT BOTH CHRYSLER AND THE NHTSA KNOW ABOUT THIS FAILURE - WHICH IS OBVIOUSLY A SAFETY ISSUE - AND NEITHER HAVE TAKEN ANY POSITIVE ACTION FOR AN IMMEDIATE RECALL. THIS SITUATION ALSO LEAVES ME WITH ONE HAUNTING QUESTION: DOES IT REALLY TAKE A DEATH BEFORE ANYONE TAKES ACTION??? BTW: WHAT DOES THE 'S' IN NHTSA STAND FOR AGAIN? *TR