NHTSA Complaint #11291913 — 2011 DODGE GRAND CARAVAN

THE FUEL PUMP RELAY ON THE TOTALLY INTEGRATED POWER MODULE (TIPM) ON MY 2011 DODGE GRAND CARAVAN IS OPERATING INTERMITTENTLY WHICH IS CAUSING ENGINE STALLS AND HARD STARTS. AFTER RESEARCHING THE PROBLEM, I FOUND THAT THERE IS ALREADY A RECALL (SAFETY RECALL R09 / NHTSA 15V-115) FOR THE SAME ISSUE FOR OTHER DODGE AND JEEP VEHICLES EQUIPPED WITH THE SAME ENGINE & TIPMS. TROUBLESHOOTING HAS VERIFIED THAT THE FUEL PUMP RELAY IS INDEED THE ISSUE. AN ATTEMPTING TO PURCHASE THE RELAY KIT CBWPR091AA SPECIFIED IN THE RECALL FROM MY LOCAL DODGE DEALER IN CONWAY ARKANSAS FAILED. THEY TELL ME THEY CAN'T SELL ME THE PART BECAUSE THE RECALL DOES NOT COVER MY VEHICLE AND THAT I WOULD HAVE TO BRING THE VEHICLE IN FOR A $1000+ TIPMS BOARD REPLACEMENT. DODGE IS EXTORTING EXORBITANT AMOUNTS FROM THEIR CUSTOMERS FOR EXPENSIVE REPAIRS THAT COULD BE DONE AT A TINY FRACTION OF THE COST IF CUSTOMERS WERE ALLOWED TO PURCHASE THAT SIMPLE RELAY KIT. MEANWHILE I'M HAVING TO OPERATE AN UNSAFE VEHICLE UNTIL I FIND ANOTHER SOURCE TO OBTAIN THE SPECIFIED PART IN THE RECALL. THIS MODEL VEHICLE SHOULD ALSO BE PART OF THAT SAFETY RECALL AND DODGE/CHRYSLER SHOULD BE INVESTIGATED FOR PUTTING THEIR CUSTOMERS AT RISK AS A RESULT OF THEIR UNETHICAL BUSINESS PRACTICES.