NHTSA Complaint #11715513 — 2023 DODGE HORNET

Discontinued vehicle model still under active bumper to bumper warranty (thru 10/26); has faulty rear defroster/heated side mirrors that the "remedy" handed down to me was to "drive more" in an effort to charge battery to a threshold that allows said necessary safety feature to operate. If charge falls beneath 65% the vehicle terminates functionality of deemed "non-essential" operations to maintain major functions. Problem is, this feature is not optional. It needs to be available on demand AT ALL TIMES. Especially in the midst of a brutal upstate NY winter where the windows are quintessentially frosted over EVERY morning. There is but one mention of rear defroster operation in the 2023 Dodge Hornet owner manual on page 47. There is ZERO mention of driving X amount of miles or X amount of time to maintain functionality of the rear defroster/heated side mirrors. Devoid of this information in the manual, my expectation is for the company to find a remedy as I have owned many vehicles in my life and never have I ever had this sort of selective operation issue for a SAFETY feature. These vehicles rely on an Intelligent Battery Sensor to dictate to the car what the state of charge is for the battery. My battery was replaced by the dealer I bought this from in May '25 (have paperwork to prove) and the readings per the local dealer I had looking into this on two occasions this month were in the 60-65% range for battery capacity. No way a battery this young has been drained by a third of it's potential already. And if so, something larger is amiss that needs to be diagnosed and remediated PERMANENTLY. Me "driving more" is not a solution. Especially since it makes me incur unnecessary miles and expend more on gas which I will absolutely not do. Bringing this to light before warranty expiration later this year. The company is seemingly trying to do anything and everything to not put money into vehicles that are discontinued. Factory warranty ends 10/26.