NHTSA Complaint #10538210 — 2007 DODGE CALIBER

I OWN A 2007 DODGE CALIBER SXT. BACK IN MARCH OF THIS YEAR, THE DRIVER'S SIDE HEADLIGHT WENT OUT. AFTER REPLACING THE BULB, IT STILL DID NOT WORK. I LOOKED ONLINE FOR SOME POTENTIAL ENLIGHTENMENT AS TO WHY AND FOUND A MULTITUDE OF MESSAGE BOARDS AND CONSUMER WEBSITES STATING THIS IS A COMMON PROBLEM WITH THE 2007 DODGE CALIBERS. IT STARTS WITH LOSING A HEADLIGHT AND THEN ESCALATES TO LOSS OF POWER TO THE HEADLIGHTS, BLINKERS, HAZARD LIGHTS, WINDSHIELD WIPERS, AND SOMETIMES THE HEATING/COOLING SYSTEM AND/OR RADIO. INITIALLY, IN MARCH, I HADN'T EXPERIENCED THAT YET. TODAY, I WAS DRIVING THROUGH A CITY AT APPROXIMATELY 30MPH WHEN I WENT TO TAKE A TURN AND NOTICED MY RIGHT BLINKER WASN'T WORKING, SO I TRIED THE BLINKER FOR THE LEFT. THAT TOO WAS NOT WORKING. NEITHER WERE MY HAZARD LIGHTS OR WINDSHIELD WIPERS. I WAS FAR FROM HOME AND AFRAID TO SHUT THE CAR OFF, FOR FEAR IT WOULD NOT RESTART SO I KEPT DRIVING HOME CAUTIOUSLY, TRYING NOT TO CHANGE LANES. IT BEGAN POURING RAIN AND I WAS ON THE HIGHWAY. I HAD NO HEADLIGHTS, NO WIPERS, AND NO BLINKERS OR HAZARDS TO SIGNAL I WAS GOING OVER INTO THE BREAKDOWN LANE. ONCE IN THE BREAKDOWN LANE, I WAS NOT EASILY VISIBLE TO THE OTHER CARS SPEEDING BY BECAUSE OF THE AMOUNT OF RAIN AND THE FACT THAT I HAD NO HAZARD LIGHTS TO RELY ON. I COULD EASILY HAVE BEEN HIT OR HIT SOMEONE ELSE WHILE TRYING TO NAVIGATE THROUGH THE RAIN TO SAFETY WITH NO WORKING BLINKERS, HAZARDS, HEADLIGHTS, OR WIPERS! THE WORST PART IS, THIS IS A STARTLINGLY COMMON ISSUE WITH THE YEAR, MAKE, AND MODEL AND DODGE IS NOT OFFERING A RECALL FOR THIS ISSUE WITH THE TIPM (TOTALLY INTEGRATED POWER MODULE), WHERE THE PROBLEM IS STEMMING FROM. THE DEALERSHIP WANTS TO CHARGE ME $99 FOR DIAGNOSTICS AND THEN OVER $1,000 FOR A NEW TIPM. I WANT TO START A CLASS ACTION LAWSUIT TO GET DODGE TO RECALL ALL OF THE VEHICLES HAVING THESE SAFETY ISSUES CAUSED BY THE TIPM FAILURE!!!! *JS