Investigations


NHTSA IDManufacturerDate openDate closeSubjectRecall campaign
SEATS
DP03006CHRYSLER GROUP LLC09/23/200304/08/2004SEAT BACK FAILURE
 Odi has identified 30 incidents where it is alleged the seat back collapsed in a rear impact crash.these incidents are alleged to have contributed to 23 injuries and two deaths.the data presented to odi show that the seat back strength of the front seats comply with federal motor vehicle safety standard no. 207. seating system.according to daimlerchrylser the front seats were designed to collapse rearward in rear impact crashes as part of the energy absorptioncapabilities of the seating system to reduce the chance of serious injury to the occupant.rates of occurance were compared to peer vehicles, and it was shown that the performace of the subject vehicle was comparable to those vehicles.in view of the forgoing, it is unlikely that nhtsa would issue an order for the notification remedy of a safety defect in the subject vehicles as defined by the petitioner at the conclusion of the investigation requested in the petition.therfore, in view of the need to allocate and prioritize the nhtsa's limited resources to best accomplish the agency's mission, the petition is denied.for further details, refer to odi's response to the petition published in the federal register vol.69, no. 60 , dated march 29, 2004.
SEATS - FRONT ASSEMBLY - RECLINER
DP03006CHRYSLER GROUP LLC09/23/200304/08/2004SEAT BACK FAILURE
 Odi has identified 30 incidents where it is alleged the seat back collapsed in a rear impact crash.these incidents are alleged to have contributed to 23 injuries and two deaths.the data presented to odi show that the seat back strength of the front seats comply with federal motor vehicle safety standard no. 207. seating system.according to daimlerchrylser the front seats were designed to collapse rearward in rear impact crashes as part of the energy absorptioncapabilities of the seating system to reduce the chance of serious injury to the occupant.rates of occurance were compared to peer vehicles, and it was shown that the performace of the subject vehicle was comparable to those vehicles.in view of the forgoing, it is unlikely that nhtsa would issue an order for the notification remedy of a safety defect in the subject vehicles as defined by the petitioner at the conclusion of the investigation requested in the petition.therfore, in view of the need to allocate and prioritize the nhtsa's limited resources to best accomplish the agency's mission, the petition is denied.for further details, refer to odi's response to the petition published in the federal register vol.69, no. 60 , dated march 29, 2004.

Consumer Complaints


Fail datemilesoccurencesPurchase date
SEATS
07/01/200611200312/24/2004
 Seats will not recline nor flip forward. this has caused a back seat passenger to fall getting out of the 1997 dodge ram becoming injured. vehicle misses, stutters and engine pulses at 50 mph. has been doing this since first onwer. transmission rebuilt and still does it. dealer can not find problem after spending $900.00 on a tune-ep and diagnostics. check engine light stays on. doing since first owner. dealer checks, charged hundreds of dollars and within 8 hours of use light comes back on and stays light. occasionally it will blink then remain on. taken to dealer again and they stated this vehicle is sensitive even a gas cap not tight will trigger the check engine light. this light remains on, what is wrong with my engine - nothing! *nm
01/13/2002
 When driving driver's side seat collapsed to reclining position. consumer has contacted dealer; the dealer has replaced seat track and anchor to correct the problem. please provide any further details.*ak
03/15/20000
 While driving and stepping on the brakes the driver's seat will move forward. the same thing could happen when accelerating, but backward. *ak
SEATS - FRONT ASSEMBLY - HEAD RESTRAINT
12/29/2004149000209/28/1999
 My truck was at a stand still when i was rear-ended by another vehicle. at point of impact, both the driver and passenger side front seats broke and reclined to the rearward position. both can be put in the forward and back to the rearward position (totally reclined) by simply pushing it from front to back. the drivers side seat broke to the point that only a small part of the hinge on the right side of the seat remains to hold the backrest to the bottom of the seat. both seats failed to hold up to the impact! the consequence of the drivers side seat breaking is that my son, who was positioned behind the drivers seat, broke his jaw when he was thrown forward, after the seat had already broken to the rearward position. his face made contact with the headrest of the drivers side seat as it was laying in his lap. nothing has been done to correct the failure as of yet, as the claims adjuster has yet to inspect my truck. *ak
SEATS - FRONT ASSEMBLY - POWER ADJUST
05/24/2000109/27/1996
 An electrical short occurred underneath driver's seat, possibly due to motor burning up. caused an electrical fire directly beneath the driver's seat. consumer disconnected battery to stop the fire. *ak *ml