Investigations
| NHTSA ID | Manufacturer | Date open | Date close | Subject | Recall campaign | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| SEAT BELTS | ||||||
| PE96008 | CHRYSLER GROUP LLC | 01/25/1996 | 06/28/1996 | SAFETY BLT LATCH OPERATION | ||
| There is no summary currently available | ||||||
| SEAT BELTS - INTEGRATED CHILD SEAT | ||||||
| SQ96016 | CHRYSLER GROUP LLC | 09/18/1996 | 02/04/1997 | INTEGRATED CHILD SEAT BELT LOCKUP | ||
| Odi continues to receive complaints alleging latching/retractor mechanism problems.chrysler's assessment of the problem indicates that owners of the vehicles are not adhering to the cleaning requirements for the seat.the seat appears to malfunction if crumbs of food or beverage residue accumulates on the latching tongue in thewell located between the child's legs.odi has 19 complaints of retract lockup.seven of these complaints report cutting the straps to remove the child.two of the seven consumers allege the child was choking.chrysler reports 60 owner/field reports which indicated 19 harnesses were cut to remove the children.additional information is needed to fully assess the safety consequence of the alleged defect and to evaluate the chrysler corporation's rational for not conducting a safety recall campaign. | ||||||
Consumer Complaints
| Fail date | miles | occurences | Purchase date |
|---|---|---|---|
| SEAT BELTS | |||
| 02/28/2005 | 87000 | 1 | |
| Owner was driving at approximately 55 mph and was rear ended. upon impact, the seat belts failed to restrain the driver and the front passenger. the belt loosened. since the seat belts loosened on the first impact, the occupants had no protection after that and were thrown all over the cab of the van. *bf | |||
| 04/08/2003 | 1000 | 8 | 07/14/1995 |
| Seat belts come unbuckled for no apparent reason. front and rear seat belts have become locked and would not release when the release button was pressed. at least one of the seat belts were replaced while the van was under warranty for these problems. it has required several pushes of the button and pushing and pulling on the lap/shoulder belt before the belt releases from the part of the belt with the button. this has occurred in our 1995 dodge caravan which we bought new. we also bought a new 2002 dodge grand caravan which has the same generation 3 seat belts in the back seats and they also have come unbuckled without notice. my neighbor has a 1996 dodge dakota which he bought new and argued with the dealer until they replaced all the seat belts because their children kept coming unbuckled and jeff (the truck owner) became trapped in the driver's seat and had to have the seat belt cut to free him. the incident dates have not been recorded but the most recent time with the 1995 caravan was this month april 2003. also the seats are unsafe throughout the 1995 caravan. on 2/6/98 my wife and i were rear ended in the 1995 caravan by a 1990 mercury sable. we were nearly stopped while waiting for the van in front of us to make a left turn. the person behind us was not watching and she rear ended us at approximately. 40-45 mph. this accident was witnessed by the state highway patrol man. the person behind us was watching instead of watching where she was going. i was nearly paralyzed because the built in head rest is not high enough. i am 6'1 and my wife is 5'2. my wife was not badly injured. as for myself, the disc at c5-6 was completely blown apart and compressed my spinal cord in half. i now have a bone graft and a steel plate fusing my neck. the rear seats are completely unacceptable! *jb | |||
| SEAT BELTS - FRONT - ANCHORAGE | |||
| 06/13/2002 | 1 | 01/01/2098 | |
| Seat belt attachment bolt at driver's side shoulder was over tightened at the factory and may fail upon impact. the severly srtipped bolt was removed during side window replacement. *ak | |||
| 03/01/2001 | |||
| I'm filling out this report not to complain about an incident but to prevent future ones. i've read and seen on television (primetime, abc news) the reports about the safety concerns of gen 3 seatbelts that have been installed in some dodge vehicles. as an owner of a dodge caravan (that has gen 3 seatbelts) and more importantly as a mother of an infant, i would like to see these seatbelts recalled and replaced by the manufacturer. i would like to see the safer gen 4 seatbelts installed in all the vehicles they were originally placed in. thank you.*ak | |||
| 09/26/1999 | |||
| Driver's side restraint collapsed onto the passenger's compartment. the dealer will be notified. *ak | |||
| 06/01/1997 | 11/05/1994 | ||
| Driver's side seat belt failed. | |||
| Vehicle was in 12 o' clock crash at 40 to 45mph and both airbags did not deploy. also, the seat belt snapped loose. *ak | |||
| Owner states while driving the seat belt attachment from the middle seat area that hooks into the floor will come out. she notes that vehicle has the same problems as well as the others, faulty spring clip. *ak | |||
| Vehicle's seat belt spring clip comes undone and falls off while in use or comes unhooked while trying to hook. *ak | |||
| 05/14/1996 | 4 | ||
| Seat belt failed to restrain child safety seat, leaving child unsecured. *sd | |||
| SEAT BELTS - FRONT - BUCKLE ASSEMBLY | |||
| 09/23/1999 | 0 | ||
| Rear seat safety belt buckle came loose. there was no seatbelt support. *ak | |||
| 11/15/1996 | |||
| If the sheath around around seat belt female latch becomes dislodged from its correct location where it guides the male end of the latch into the female end, a gap appears between the female latch and the sheath that surrounds the latch. | |||
| 09/15/1996 | 3 | 05/01/1995 | |
| Seat belt buckle design allows male end of buckle to accidentally be inserted into an area next to the lock instead of the lock, causing buckle to jam.. | |||
| SEAT BELTS - FRONT - RETRACTOR | |||
| 2 | |||
| After air bag recall was performed, the warning chime sounded as the dome lights came on. consumer felt defect is related to recall work performed. while driving at night, and using the multipurpose switch to go from bright high beam to normal headlights, the headlights suddenly went dark. the seat belt retractor failed. *tt *nlm | |||
| 03/18/1999 | 1 | 03/01/1995 | |
| Our family is a second generation consumer of the chrysler coporation's products. this vehicle has proven such a lemon, we really doubt that we will ever buy another chrylser/dodge product. within a month of our purchase, we had a recall on the liftgate latch, that was fixed. we are currently having our transmission inspected by a licensed chrysler dealer, and will submit to the corporation. we have had the seat belts not retract on the driver's and passengers side for years, which catch in the doors constantly. the power windows in the rear had a motor go out, the universal joint fell off while the car was sitting in the drive, and the most ungodly act was when someone was closing the sliding passenger door, and it totally slid off the car. luckily, no one was injured. the airconditioning was about 2 years old when it died, and the company replaced that underwarranty, along with the universal joint. the sliding door cost us a fortune, and the company only gave us $122.00. i wish that i could turn back the hands of time, and have bought the windstar instead of this esxpensive lemon. | |||
| 11/01/1996 | 1 | 10/23/1996 | |
| Seatbelt releases during travel. | |||
| SEAT BELTS - FRONT - WARNING LIGHT/DEVICES | |||
| The seat belt warning light stays on because there is a wire that goes to the rear windshield wiper motor which comes on when the wiper motor is inoperative. dealer has seen vehicle. *ak | |||