Chrysler Pacifica dies by itself nearly causing wreck...w/in

[Rhode Island Red]

Had a friend driving his Brand New Chrysler Pacifica and only a month of owning it the car nearly caused a potential fatal accident.

My friend was driving straight and was coming up to a turn in the road. Suddenly! the Instrument display goes black and he loses all power and the capability to brake or steer He quickly puts the car into neutral and tries to start the engine. The car starts in time for hime to brake and turn hard only to come within a 1/4 inch of falling into a ditch and causing a roll-over

First thing he does is call his dealer, the dealer says do NOT drive it. So he cally Chryslers for a tow truck as the car is under warrantee and gets a free tow to his dealership and says they'll be there in no more than 20 minutes. 20 minutes goes by and he gets a call stating in an automated voice that please wait the truck is on its way... 2 hours go by until the tow truck gets there.

When they get to the dealership. A few minutes go by and magically the dealers says it's ok to drive it now... The service dept gave NO explanation of what went wrong or how it was fixed when asked to do so. The tow truck operator still their comes up to my friend and asks to be paid $44 for the tow. My friend states it is covered under the Chrysler warrantee (and he bought their best extended as well) .

Obviously miffed because he gets the run around. The guy goes back te the Manager. Now the manager relents after several minutes and agrees to pay the tow-truck operator.

On his way out, along with the mechanic (before getting the rental - they gave him the SMALLEST rental they had - he had to fight for a Mazda who's locks are broken). My friend asks the dealership manager has he seen any other problems like what he experienced witht he car dying all by itself with no warning.. the manager states "Rest assured we have never seen a problem like this in as long as we have sold pacifica's"

The tow-truck driver was overhearing the conversation, and upset that the dealrship tried to shaft him on the towing fee, says to the Dealership manager "That's a load of SH**! I have towed several Pacifica's in here for the VERY SAME REASON" (along with several new Jeeps)

Now my friend is driving a crappy rental Mazda with broken locks (they gave him the car knowing the locks were broken) the Pacifica at a dealership where they will probably do nothing and try to state it is normal ... (sounds like a lemon-law fight to me)

Does anyone out there know of what would cause this to happen?
The dealership is trying their best to do nothing and the problem nearly caused a horrible accident... what can he do?

[fastTa]

There are numerous consumer protection laws that empower a new car buyer to start a Lemon Lawsuit or another litigation process. In many states you do not even need a lawyer to begin the Lemon Law process. Do a search for the Lemon Law in your particular state(I'm assuming Rhode Island) to get the specifics as to how to begin the process.

Suffice it to say, based upon your descrption of what happened, I would venture to say that he is qualified to receive a correctly working new replacement or a 100% refund of the total contract price.

If it were me, I would only pursue the dealership and/or manufacturer(Chrysler) first, and utilize the Lemon Law as a last resort. The dealership and/or Chrysler are more than capable, and by the sounds of it required, of giving him a good vehicle or a refund.

Go straight to the dealership manager and tactfully demand the he be treated fairly and that he is shown respect.

http://www.lemonauto.com/lemon_laws/text_ri.htm

http://www.dr.bbb.org/autoline/kiall...hodeIsland.pdf

[Steel2686]

My brother is the parts dept. manager at a Chrysler/Jeep/GMC/KIA dealer in my town. I'll ask him if this has been an issue at his dealership, and if so, what they are doing about it for their customers.

[wolfdogs]

go to NHTSA's site and report this now.

[Craig 94 TA GT]

Why am I not surprised at Chrysler's inferior quality and actions. I heard DC's QC is absolutely terrible. I'm glad your friend is OK.

[Rhode Island Red]

Update:

I gave him Wolfmans' advice about filing with NHTSA . He got the car back (He lives in Orlando -he appreciates the lemon-law links though ) they checked ALL the filters, all the fluids, and the PCM threw no codes nothing for the dealership to go on .

Some more background information: Apparently the car was sold to him with a Drivers front fender that vibrated horribly (It was loose from the factory) of 45+ MPH. He took the car in to the dealership 4 times until they got it fixed (His theory is that they smashed a wire or something and are keeping mum about it). After they fixed the loose fender, he had the problem.