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Safety is the Issue!

 

We are an average American family fighting against one of the big Automobile Corporations on issues of mechanical failures of their product and the resulting issue is safety

 


This is a follow up of the steps I have taken regarding my son's 1994 Chrysler LHS. The car has malfunctioned twice. The first malfunction occurred on Dec. 15, 1996 and again on Oct. 15, 1997. The second malfunction occurred after one week of having the car back from the dealership. As of this date, Jan. 18, 1999, this car remains on the lot at the Grindstaff Dealership.


In Nov. 1998, I contacted the law firm of Coggins-Harman and Hewitt. I spoke to John Harman in records to the safety issues and malfunctions of this 1994 Chrysler LHS. I sent to Mr. Harman letters and full documentation of the many steps I have taken to get Chrysler Corp. to take this issue of safety seriously.


On Dec. 10, 1998, 1 received a letter from Mr. John Harman of Washington DC as to our legal rights. LEGAL ACTION WILL BE BROUGHT AGAINST DAIMLER-CHRYSLER CORPORATION IN OUR STATE OF TENNESSEE.


On Dec. 3, 1998, I wrote a letter to Ms. Susan Cischke of Safety and Compliance of Daimler-Chrysler. I had originally, written Ms. Cischke on June 26, 1998. Her assistant, Mr. Debenders, contacted me by telephone to say that their records indicated that nothing, was found to be wrong with our vehicle. The intent of my Dec. 3 letter to Ms. Cischke was to request of Daimler-Chrysler a written statement attesting that nothing was wrong with our LHS. Upon receipt of this letter, we would pick up the LHS from the Grindstaff Dealership knowing that the safety and lives of Chrysler customers are of no concern to Daimler-Chrysler. As of this date, Jan 18, 1999, there has been no response to my request.


I also wrote a letter to Mr. Schrempp, CEO of Daimler-Chrysler, Stuttgart, Germany. I enclosed a three-page document of all steps I have taken regarding this matter. I received a reply on Nov. 10, 1998, from Mr. Salisch and Mr. Paitian. Their letter stated, " we have been asked to deal with it". They indicated that they would send my correspondence to Daimler-Chrysler in Michigan, but the decision was not to merge the marketing systems of the two brands.

On Dec. 4, 1998 I received a brief letter from Roberta S. Abbott of Daimler-Chrysler in Michigan. She was responding to the letter and three-page documentation she received from Stuttgart, Germany. The paragraph of Ms. Abbott's letter reads as follows, " We have thoroughly reviewed your correspondence and our entire file on this matter. Your concerns are understandable. We apologize but there is nothing further we can do to more fully address these issues".

On Dec. 9, 1998 I sent a letter to Mr. Alberto Jimenez, Chief, US Dept. of Transportation and Safety, Washington DC. I enclosed a copy of my letter to Ms. Cischke plus others for its review. I also inquired about the front-end suspension problems that his agency was investigating.

On Jan. 14, 1999, 1 received a reply from Mr. Jimenez with the requested information. I called his office and left a message for him to return my phone call. I called a second time and left another message. He did not return either phone call. I will be mailing to Mr. Jimenez letter and documentation for his review.


On Dec. 9, 1998, I sent letter and documentation to a newspaper for their review of our concerns about safety issues that were not being addressed by Chrysler Corporation. I received a reply on Jan. 10, 1999. They requested additional information and documentation for their review. I have also sent documentation for review to numerous TV stations. I have not yet received any reply.

In December I spoke to Mr. Bill Snodgrass, Assistant to US Congressman William Jenkins. I discussed with him the issue of safety that Daimler-Chrysler has continued to ignore. I informed him that we had obtained legal counsel and that we would be taking legal action. His reply was that we had been more than patient and must do what is right.


On Dec. 30, 1998, I mailed a letter to Mr. Robert Eaton, CEO of Daimler-Chrysler Corporation. My last paragraph to Mr. Eaton was as follows, "As I have stated before, this car is a safety hazard and should be taken out of circulation. We have obtained legal counsel on an issue of safety as well as representation of any accident or malfunction that should occur. Mr. Eaton, please do what is right. Safety first and profits second. I look forward to you reply".
My certified letters have never reached Mr. Eaton. Instead customer relations answer them.

On Jan. 15, 1999, I received a telephone call from Mr. Marino of Daimler Chrysler in Michigan. He asked me if I had written a letter to Mr. Eaton. I replied, "yes, I did". He said, "This is in regard to your Chrysler LHS.' We have reviewed all your correspondence and Daimler-Chrysler does not plan to do anything. Our inspectors found nothing wrong with your car." I replied that a mechanic had never inspected the LHS, only Chrysler appointed men using a checklist provided by Chrysler. The Chrysler appointed inspectors have never driven the car. I also mentioned to him about two other problems and a recall for fuel injection problems. His reply was, "Mrs. Paul, I am not going to discuss anything with you. Our position remains the same. Goodbye, Mrs. Paul, goodbye." I told Mr. Marino that I would not give up and they would hear from my attorney.

I have written Mr. Schrempp, CEO of Daimler-Chrysler, Stuttgart, Germany, stating my position and enclosed documentation as to why we are bringing legal action against Daimler-Chrysler. I have also asked Mr. Schrempp to share this information with Mr. Eaton in Michigan. It is unfortunate that customer service doesn't provide as the name states. With safety being such a serious issue, should customer service be allowed to handle these problems? Customer service should provide better service and deliver letters to whom they are addressed.

A few weeks later Mr. Davis received another call from them informing him that a representative from Chrysler would come and inspect the vehicle. I again made a request to be present at the inspection and again I was never notified. Upon the arrival of the representative from Chrysler, he had Mr. Davis put the car on a lift. They identified severed wires on the wiring harness. This information was to be sent to the Safety Division for a computer simulation test. The representative also took the car for a short test drive. Mr. Davis is still awaiting, the results of the findings from the computer simulation test.


I received a second call from Mr. DeBenders who stated once again that nothing was found to be wrong with the car. I indicated to him that this was a matter of safety and that we were afraid to drive the car. I told him that a mechanic had never performed a full inspection. Chrysler appointed men had performed the two inspections that had been done using only a checklist provided by Chrysler. They also looked under the hood and manually shifted the gears. Mr. DeBenders again stated that their inspection had found nothing wrong with the car, I offered to fly Mr. DeBenders to Tennessee and let him drive the car back to Michigan. I told him that this particular Chrysler LHS as a safety hazard and should be taken out of circulation. I also stated that I knew of the numerous reports about recalls of four Chrysler cars, one of them being, the 1994 LHS. Neither my son, owner of the vehicle, nor the Grindstaff dealer had ever received any notification about these recalls. Mr. DeBenders concluded that Chrysler had no responsibility since their inspections had found nothing wrong with the car.
After my conversation with Mr. DeBenders, I spoke to Mr. Davis. He asked me if I would like for him to test drive the car. I told him that I would appreciate it. I have included a copy of the notarized statement of my authorization for Mr. Davis to drive our car and that I knew it was a safety hazard. Upon driving the car, Mr. Davis found the engine to hesitate and have problems when shifting gears. He spoke with Mr. DeBenders about these problems. Mr. DeBenders asked that a monitor be attached to the vehicle to see if the computer could identify a malfunction.


The following week Mr. DeBenders contacted Mr. Snodgrass. He told him that their inspections found nothing to be wrong with our vehicle. Mr. Snodgrass in turn called me to let me know of their conversation. I told him he needed to check with Mr. Davis about the problems that were told to W. DeBenders the previous week. A few days later, Mr. DeBenders called me once again to tell me that their inspections found nothing to be wrong with our 1994 Chrysler LHS. I indicated to him that I knew of the conversations he had with Mr. Davis and Mr. Snodgrass. I stated to him that a full inspection of neither the car nor the transmission had ever been done. I also told him that Chrysler had never addressed any of our other questions. I emphasized to Mr. DeBenders our fear of driving such an unsafe car and that our health problems did not permit this kind of stress. Mr. DeBenders concluded our conversation by telling, me that he would contact me before September 3, 1998. As of this date, October 21, 1998, 1 have not heard from Mr. DeBenders and the car still remains on the Grindstaff dealership lot.


With almost two years passed since the first malfunction of our 1994 Chrysler LHS, Chrysler Corporation has yet to address the issue of safety. By ignoring- the serious malfunctions of this car and not addressing the issue of safety, we have no choice but to pursue legal action against Chrysler Corporation.
We feel that the public should be aware of these problems. We will contact TV stations and newspapers. and have a petition signed by other displeased Chrysler customers. With safety being the issue, we feel that we shouldn't have to take legal action. Chrysler Corporation should do what is fair and take the 1994 Chrysler LHS, Vin# 2C3ED56FERH280555, out of circulation.
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