Fiat Chrysler Automobiles announced this week that they would be recalling nearly 500,000 SUVs — including more than 350,000 in the U.S. — for a vanity mirror wire that could potentially overheat and increase risk for a fire.
The affected SUVs are model year 2011-2012 Jeep Grand Cherokees and Dodge Durangos made before Sept. 2, 2012. Those cars were the subject of an earlier recall that, if conducted improperly, could leave those cars more susceptible to a short circuit.
FCA said it was unaware of any injuries.
This year, FCA agreed to a fine and consent order with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, which placed an independent monitor to oversee how the company conducts recalls. Earlier this year, NHTSA announced that former Transportation Secretary Rodney Slater would monitor FCA’s future recalls.
They may send you a letter that there is a recall, but then you never get a notice that they have the parts to fix it. I have a year old recall on one of their products today with no clue when they will have parts to fix it.
The company isn’t going to contact you directly when parts are at a dealer. You need to contact a local dealer and schedule an appointment for the fix so they can obtain the parts if necessary.
That’s not necessarily true. My son’s Sonata is awaiting a second letter from Hyundai which will supposedly advise us on when he should bring it in for the crankshaft recall inspection.
The first letter simply said there could be a problem, and to stand by for further information. 470k engines are affected.
The letter said that they would notify me when parts would be available. I have called the dealer numerous times, they are clueless. My Ford and Acura have had recalls and they sent me a followup letter when parts came in.
I’ll bet Tony is longing for the days when he only had to worry about fixing Fiats…
I’m sure that appointing an independent monitor that completely understands how a corrupt government system works will greatly improve how the company conducts recalls.
Who’s running the betting pool on exactly when Slater will be appointed to the FCA’s Board of Directors?
“a vanity mirror wire that could potentially overheat and increase risk for a fire.”
Is this not emblematic of everything wrong with the electrical options race?
Fancy, cheap, safe; pick any two.
“a vanity mirror wire that could potentially overheat and increase risk for a fire.”
There is something about this sentence that just gives me douchechills.
Big Schwartz rings the bell once again.
No tidbits for us schmuck readers during your holidays?
Last year I did the P85D.
This year I did the P90D but I did so 2 months ago.
Somebody probably got promoted back in 2010 for saving 0.00173 cents per Jeep by specifying a smaller wire gauge for the vanity mirrors. Now just figure out what else they shaved costs off of that you don’t know about.
My thoughts exactly.
Yep. This is how my company operates now. I can’t stand it.
It’s a circuit routing concern, not a capacity problem.
Can you elaborate? I’m not an EE, but I took a few courses along the way. I’d have thought a lighting circuit would be all about the capacity, with little or no routing involved.
The wires can chaffe if they come out of place.
Thanks Danio. That wasn’t the kind of routing I was thinking of, but that makes sense. Still, you’d think a short in a wire to a vanity bulb wouldn’t start a fire, the fuse is too big?
Who was the genius that forgot to include a fuse in the vanity mirror circuit?
In this case, the wire IS the fuse.
It’s nice to see the GC in the photo taking the leap to it’s natural used environment a year or two early.
Hair-thin wires to cut cost, weight, and the need for a fuse–you’re a goddamned genius, Chrysler, nothing could go wrong except FIRE. Similar thinking leads to malfunctions anywhere a wire passes through a Journey’s tailgate.