NHTSA Complaint #10970540 — 1992 DUTCHMEN TRAILER

REFRIGERATOR GAS VALVE MALFUNCTION RECALL:. WHEN WE PARKED OUR TRAILER WE HAD AN UNUSABLE FRIDGE, DUE TO THE GAS LEAK OF THE VALVE UNDER THE NORCOLD 462 MODEL FRIDGE. WE DIDN'T KNOW THERE WAS A RECALL, AND MEANT TO FIX IT, BUT DID NOT. WHILE THE TRAILER WAS PARKED AT THE HOUSE, WE DIDN'T NEED THE FRIDGE, AND THE COOLING UNIT WENT BAD. AS I'VE STARTED TO GET IT WORKING AGAIN, I'VE ENCOUNTERED THE GAS LEAK CAUSING EXPLOSIONS AND ALSO REALIZED THE COOLING UNIT IS BAD. AS I'VE TRIED TO GET THE GAS VALVE REPLACED, I AM UNABLE TO BECAUSE THEY DON'T SUPPORT THAT FRIDGE MODEL ANYMORE. THEY WON'T TAKE THE FRIDGE BACK BECAUSE THE COOLING UNIT DOESN'T WORK. I COULD REPAIR THE COOLING UNIT WHICH COSTS $900, BUT THE GAS VALVE WOULD STILL BE LEAKING AND EXPLODING. THEY WILL NOT RECALL THE UNIT AT THAT TIME EITHER BECAUSE IT WOULD BE CONSIDERED "MODIFIED." SO BECAUSE NORCOLD HAS NO REPLACEMENT PART, NEITHER WILL THEY HONOR A RECALL, I'M FORCED TO PURCHASE A NEW FRIDGE FOR $1700 ROUGHLY, INSTEAD OF BEING ABLE TO REPAIR MY CURRENT ONE. MY CALL TO GAIL, THEIR RECALL MANAGER, ON 4/4/17: GAIL STATES THAT THERE'S NOTHING THEY CAN DO EXCEPT GIVE ME A $200 DISCOUNT ON A NEW FRIDGE IF I SEND THEM A RECEIPT FOR MY PURCHASE OF THAT. IS NORCOLD REALLY FREE OF LIABILITY HERE? OR SHOULD THIS RECALL COVER THIS?