NHTSA Complaint #11364243 — 2011 DODGE DURANGO

I HAD A FUEL PUMP RELAY REPLACED IN 2015, AND HAVE HAD A LOT OF SMALL PROBLEMS WITH THE ELECTRICAL SYSTEM OVER THE YEARS. ONCE THE VEHICLE PASSED 80,000 MILES THIS YEAR ALL KINDS OF THINGS STARTED HAPPENING. THE COOLING SYSTEM WENT HAYWIRE AND MY AUTO REPAIR SHOP HAD TO REPLACE THE RADIATOR. I'VE BEEN EXPERIENCING PROBLEMS WITH MY VEHICLE HESITATING TO START LIKE IT IS NOT GETTING FUEL, AND HAVE TROUBLE ACCELERATING SO I CANNOT PULL OUT IN HEAVY TRAFFIC UNLESS THERE IS A GOOD BREAK WHICH IS ABSOLUTELY RIDICULOUS HAVING A HEMI V8 ENGINE! I'VE BEEN TOWED TWICE THIS YEAR WHEN THE VEHICLE WOULD NOT START AT ALL BUT THEN IT ENDED UP STARTING WHEN IT GOT TO MY AUTO REPAIR SHOP OR THE DEALER. I WAS NOT ONLY EMBARRASSED BUT WASTED TIME AND MONEY. MY MECHANIC DID A LOT OF DIAGNOSTICS AND RULED OUT EVERYTHING EXCEPT THE FUEL PUMP RELAY. I DID SOME RESEARCH AND LEARNED ABOUT THE RECALL SO I WENT TO THE DEALER AND ASKED THEM TO APPLY THE FIX. THEY HASSLED ME AND SAID THEY 'CAN NOT TRUST YOUR MECHANICS' AND MADE ME PAY FOR DIAGNOSTICS AND SAID THERE WAS NO FIX FOR THE RECALL. THEY ENDED UP FINDING ANOTHER PROBLEM BASICALLY TELLING ME MY MECHANICS WERE WRONG AND CHARGED ME OVER $800 FOR A NEW PCM. THEY DID INSTALL A NEW FUEL PUMP RELAY AT MY INSISTENCE EVEN THOUGH IT WAS THE ORIGINAL PART AND NOT A FIXED PART. IT RESOLVED THE STARTING ISSUE AND I STOPPED GETTING ANY WARNING LIGHTS. THE VEHICLE STILL DIDN'T ACCELERATE OR HANDLE PROPERLY AND NOT EVEN FOUR MONTHS LATER AND THE SAME PROBLEM IS HAPPENING AGAIN! THE FUEL PUMP RELAY IS OBVIOUSLY FAILING AGAIN AND I AM NOT CONFIDENT THE PCM HAD A PROBLEM IF I'M STILL GETTING THE SAME ISSUES. COULD IT BE THE TIPM I KEEP READING ABOUT? THE DEALER DIDN'T MENTION THAT. I'M AFRAID I AM GOING TO BE STRANDED WITH CHILDREN OR WORSE THAT THE VEHICLE IS GOING TO CUT OUT WHILE MOVING IN TRAFFIC!! THIS IS AN EXTREMELY UNREASONABLE SAFETY RISK! (RECALL RELATED INCIDENT) TS