Consumer Complaint Detail

CHRYSLER / SEBRING / 2001

Recalls
0 Injured
Investigations
0 Death
Complaints
No Fire
Components - Details
NHTSA Complaint Number: 005052234 Incident Date: Dec, 28 2005
Consumer's City: HILLIARD Consumer's State: OH
Vehicle Transmission Type: AUTO Manufacturers Name: Chrysler (FCA US, LLC)
Model Name: SEBRING Model Year: 2001
Vehicle Involved in a Crash: No Component's Description: Suspension:front:control arm:upper arm
Vehicle Involved in a Fire: No Persons Injured: 0
Vehicle's VIN#: 1C3AL56U81N Date added to File: May, 23 2021
Date Complaint Received: Jan, 08 2006 Complaint Type: IVOQ
Incident Reported To Police: No Purchase Date: Oct, 31 2001
Was Original Owner: No Anti-lock Brakes: Yes
Number of Cylinders: 6 Date of Manufacturer: -
Was Vehicle Towed: - Description of the Complaints: While driving in rush hour traffic on a busy interstate, the right front ball joint failed catastrophically and the front end began to shake violently. fortunately i was able to stop quickly and pull into the median. i had the car at the dealership only 2 months prior with "popping" noises in the front suspension. the service department performed an inspection and said "all front end components tight and sound /no failures detected". less than 2,000 miles later, the ball joint failed! what is even more concerning is that the same exact symptoms were experienced 2 years ago and many components of the front suspension (including both ball joints) were replaced. the first occurrence of this problem was at 37,000 miles and cost me $598.66 (since the warranty only covered to 36,000 miles - ironic, huh?). the most recent failure occurred at 63,000 miles and cost me $693.06. upon driving the car into the garage after being towed, the service manager said that the ball joint popped completely out of it's joint and showed me that the tire was only barely hanging on. he also said i was "lucky" that i hadn't went 20 more feet on the freeway because the tire would have fallen off and there would have been much more damage and possibly injury. the dealership made the repairs but would not cover any of the expenses. the dealership also would not accept responsibility or refund the cost for the faulty inspection that was performed 2 months prior to the catastrophic failure of the ball joint. *jb