NHTSA Complaint #761458 — 1997 DODGE AVENGER

A LEAKING HEAD GASKET WAS CONFIRMED BY OUR LOCAL DODGE DEALERSHIP, AT WHICH TIME THEY VOLUNTEERED INFORMATION THAT "INFERIOR" HEADGASKET MATERIAL HAD BEEN USED WHEN THE VEHICLE WAS MANUFACTURED. I ASKED IF IT HAD BEEN RECALLED AND WAS ADVISED THAT IT HAD NOT. I WAS INFORMED THAT THERE WAS NO OTHER RELIEF AVAILABLE, AS THE WARRANTY HAD LONG EXPIRED. I OBTAINED A QUOTE FOR REPAIRS FROM THE DEALERSHIP AND SEVERAL INDEPENDENT SHOPS. BECAUSE OF A SIGNIFICANT DIFFERENCE IN PRICE, THE VEHICLE WAS NOT REPAIRED AT THE DODGE DEALERSHIP. WHEN THE WORK WAS COMPLETED, I WAS INFORMED BY THE INDEPENDENT SHOP THAT THERE WAS NOTHING WE COULD HAVE DONE, IN DRIVING THE VEHICLE, TO CAUSE THE HEADGASKET TO FAIL. THEY FURTHER ADVISED THAT THE REPLACEMENT GASKET, WHICH WAS PURCHASED FROM DODGE, WAS TOTALLY REDESIGNED. ON MY RETURN HOME, I CALLED THE DAIMLER CHRYSLER CONSUMER HOT LINE. THEIR REPRESENTATIVE QUICKLY OFFERED TO REIMBURSE THE COST OF THE HEAD GASKET MATERIALS, BUT WOULD NOT REIMBURSE LABOR COSTS, AS THE REPAIRS HAD NOT BEEN PERFORMED AT ONE OF THEIR DEALERSHIPS. IT WAS OF NO CONCERN TO THEIR HOT LINE REPRESENTATIVE THAT ONE OF THEIR OWN DEALERSHIPS HAD ADVISED THAT NO RECOURSE WAS AVAILABLE TO US.*JB