NHTSA Complaint #11435073 — 2006 CHRYSLER PACIFICA

A few weeks ago we took our car to a mechanic to have the brakes worked on as a part of routine maintenance. When we picked it up, he noted that when he had it up on the lift, he saw that the engine cradle was very badly rusted. He said that we shouldn't drive it anymore because of the risks involved. I tried to crawl under the car when we got home (there isn't a ton of clearance) but I saw what he was talking about. At that point we looked online and found hundreds and hundreds of similar experiences and complaints. We were left dumbfounded at the risks this introduces...thinking about what would happen if this mechanic hadn't noticed the issue and we'd been driving down the interstate with our kids when the thing decided to give way. And the fact that the manufacturer knows of this issue and has done nothing is beyond disgusting. Fortunately we found out from the mechanic, not from the engine falling out. Even still, this means that we're left with a worthless car. While our car is abandoned in the driveway hoping for Chrysler to right their wrong, we still see lots of similar vehicles on the road. I'm guessing that their owners don't know that they're driving death traps either. We had a 2008 Tacoma with similar frame rust issues and Toyota recalled it almost a decade after it was manufactured, and replaced the entire frame. Chrysler should have to do the same to repair their shoddy and negligent design, or at least compensate us for the complete loss of value so that we can have some money to put towards its replacement. I also think that this issue needs to be publicly noted for all similar model years. We'd purchased this from a Chrysler dealership, and had checked the Carfax and Consumer Reports before purchasing this vehicle, and none of them noted these issues even though the vehicle was a few years old at the time. Vehicle has been repaired.*JB