NHTSA Complaint #10995835 — 2007 DODGE CALIBER

2007 DODGE CALIBER FRONT ENGINE CRADLE UNDERCARRIAGE CROSSMEMBER SUBFRAME IS A KNOWN ISSUE BUT INSTEAD OF DOING A RECALL, CHRYSLER/DODGE RELEASED AN EXTENDED WARRANTY FOR THE ITEM. MY SAFETY COMPLAINT IS WHEN I TOOK THE CAR FOR SERVICE BASED ON FRONT END NOISE I FOUND OUT THE FRAME HAD BEEN DANGEROUSLY RUSTED. THE MECHANIC (H&J AUTO REPAIR MILTON, WI), WOULD NOT LET ME DRIVE THE CAR HOME. MY 20 YEAR OLD SON HAD BEEN DRIVING THE CAR FOR THE LAST YEAR AND A HALF AND DRIVES 30 MILES TO AND FROM WORK 3-5 DAYS A WEEK DEPENDING ON HIS SCHEDULE. THE FRAME COULD HAVE LITERALLY BROKE IN HALF WHILE HE WAS DRIVING IT ON A MAJOR HIGHWAY. I BOUGHT THE CAR USED FROM JACK WOLF CHEVROLET IN 2009 AND SEEMED TO BE A PRETTY GOOD CAR EVEN THOUGH THE MODEL HAS SOME DOCUMENTED ISSUES WITH THE FRONT SUSPENSION. MY COMPLAINT IS TWOFOLD. FIRST, I WOULD HAVE EXPECTED CHRYSLER/DODGE TO DO A BETTER JOB OF ALERTING THE PUBLIC ABOUT THE FRAME ISSUE. SECOND, IT SHOULD HAVE BEEN A RECALL DUE TO THE RISK OF POSSIBLE LOSS OF LIFE. THESE CARS ARE STILL BEING RESOLD AND MANY ARE STILL ON THE ROAD. IT'S LIKELY I WILL FIX THE CAR AT MY OWN EXPENSE AS LONG AS IT WILL BE SAFE TO DRIVE. I DIDN'T THINK TO TAKE A PICTURE FRIDAY WHEN IT WAS DIAGNOSED. THERE ARE MANY EXAMPLES AND DISCUSSIONS ON THE TOPIC IN THE CALIBER DISCUSSION GROUPS AND OTHER WEB BLOGS.