NHTSA Complaint #10917356 — 2011 DODGE GRAND CARAVAN

MY VAN DOES NOT ALWAYS START.--WHEN PARKED IN DRIVEWAY OR PARKING LOT; NO DIFFERENCE IF FLAT OR HILL OR ANYTHING. SOME DAYS IT STARTS WITH OUT ANY PROBLEMS, OTHER DAYS IT WILL NOT START EVER--IT MIGHT START AT 8AM, NOT AT 11AM, BUT WORK FOR A WEEK...NO PATTERN. I HAVE HAD IT TO THE SHOW 3 TIMES IN THE LAST 3 MONTHS--EACH TIME IT STAYED FOR MORE THAN 3 DAYS. THEY THOUGHT BATTERY; BOUGHT A NEW BATTERY. NEXT DAY, NO START. ONLY WARNING LIGHT WAS KEY BATTERY LOW--SO THEY CHANGED THAT (EVEN THOUGH I HAD ALREADY DONE THAT). NEXT DAY, NO START AND SAME LOW KEY BAT WARNING. THEN IT WOULD BE FINE FOR A FEW DAYS... AND AGAIN RANDOM START OR NO STARTS. THE LAST TIME THE RED "ELECTRONIC THROTTLE CONTROL" LIGHT WAS ON--IT SHUTS OFF AFTER A FEW SECONDS. SOMETIMES, WHEN IT DOESN'T WANT TO, BUT THEN DOES START, IT ACTS LIKE IT WANTS TO SHUT DOWN WHILE I AM DRIVING. IT WILL SPUTTER AND SEEM LIKE IT WANTS TO SHUT OFF. THE FOLKS AT THE GARAGE ARE COMPLETELY PERPLEXED BY THIS AND HAVE OFFERED TO COME TO MY HOUSE/WORK THE NEXT TIME TO SEE IT BC IT DOESN'T ALWAYS DO IT FOR THEM--WE THINK BECAUSE IF I JUMP IT, IT DOES A TEMPORARY FIX. BUT, THEY ALSO WARN BASED ON OVER CHARGING/SHOCKING A GOOD BATTERY. ANYTHING WE GOOGLE SAYS TO BE CAREFUL DRIVING AND GET TO SHOP... WELL SHOP CAN'T FIGURE IT OUT. I HAVE HEARD ABOUT A FEW RECALLS FOR IGNITION AND KEYS, AND I HAVE A CALL IN TO THE DEALERSHIP ABOUT THIS. I AM WORRIED THAT I WILL BE STUCK OUT WITH MY KIDS; END UP CRASHING WITH MY KIDS; OR WITH THE BAD WEATHER COMING, WE WILL HAVE EITHER OF THEM HAPPEN AND BE STUCK IN THE SNOW. *TR