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IFFY BRAKES VEX CHRYSLER SOME OWNERS GET BUYOUT OFFERS; OTHERS GET $3,000
REPAIR BILLS
St. Louis Post Dispatch (SL) - Sunday, August 6, 1995
By: Robert Manor Of the Post-Dispatch Staff
Edition: FIVE STAR LIFT Section: NEWS Page: 01A
Word Count: 2,018
MEMO: NEEDING A BRAKE
TYPE: PROFILE CHRYSLER CORP. ANTI-LOCK BRAKE FAILURES
TEXT:
The anti-lock braking systems on many Chrysler Corp. minivans built in the
1990s have failed, prompting a federal investigation.
The National Highway Transportation Safety Administration and others
involved in auto safety have compiled nearly 2,000 reports of anti-lock
brake failure on Chrysler cars and minivans.
Not all failures are reported, and the total number is certain to be
much higher.
Although Chrysler has denied that its anti-lock brakes are unsafe, the
car maker has also said it does not know why so many are failing.
"We haven't been able to figure that out," said Lindsay Brooke, a
spokesman for Chrysler.
Some failures are disquieting but minor. For example, a warning light
that inexplicably flashes and a brake pedal that feels unusually soft.
Others are terrifying - total loss of braking without warning.
Most of the failures involve minivans, Chrysler's best-selling vehicle.
Safety-conscious drivers often order ABS as an option when buying minivans.
Chrysler would not disclose how many minivans and cars it sold with
anti-lock brakes between 1990 and this year, but the number runs into the
millions. Trade journals report that last year alone, Chrysler built more
than 1 million vehicles with anti-lock braking systems.
Often the brakes fail at low speed, perhaps explaining why no deaths
have been reported to the government. Fifty-five accidents and 29 injuries
are blamed on the defective braking, and the number is rising with time.
So many Chrysler ABS-equipped vehicles have failed that owners sometimes
wait for weeks to get repairs because replacement parts are on back-order,
dealerships have said.
Most are Chrysler minivans - the Dodge Caravan, Plymouth Voyager,
Chrysler Town & Country - built at the company's assembly plant in Fenton
and a plant in Canada.
Federal authorities are formally investigating braking problems in
1991-93 minivans, when 318,000 were sold with ABS.
ABS failures are also appearing among the hundreds of thousand of
minivans and other Chrysler vehicles for the 1994 and 1995 model years.
The company is using a different anti-lock braking system on the
vehicles it builds this year for the '96 model year.
Anti-lock brakes are intended to stop a vehicle from skidding on slick
surfaces by applying and releasing brakes many times a second. Working
properly, they provide near normal braking in situations where a car would
otherwise go out of control.
Internal Chrysler documents and minutes of a meeting with AlliedSignal,
the Chrysler supplier that builds the anti-lock braking system, show they
knew of an unusual number of ABS failures as early as 1992.
In that year the companies discussed ABS problems that included hard
braking and failure of the brakes to slow the car. One Chrysler executive
present said the malfunction was "characterized by many people as pedal to
the floor."
Government records show that when the pedal sinks to the floor, often
all braking ceases.
Many times, mechanics can find no reason for the malfunction because the
symptoms are intermittent and standard diagnostic techniques show nothing
out of the ordinary.
The Center for Auto Safety, an advocacy group, said Chrysler should
recall all ABS-equipped minivans and cars built over the last five years.
The center says consumers should not have to pay for repairs, which run as
high as $3,000.
Chrysler has quietly bought back several dozen ABS-equipped vehicles, in
some instances asking the owners to sign a pledge of secrecy and to never
disclose that a settlement was reached.
The Center for Auto Safety said this and Chrysler's policy of holding
repair costs to $600 for some - but not all - owners amount to a secret
warranty, an accusation the company denies.
Non-Stop Caravan
Jim Eickhorst's complaint is typical. His $25,000 Dodge Grand Caravan
with ABS won't always stop, and no one can tell him why.
"A dozen times I've had it fail on me in the last two years," Eickhorst
said. "It doesn't do it all the time, but when it does, it is terribly
frightening."
Eickhorst, of Chesterfield, recalls a brake failure in June that still
unnerves him.
"I had six kids in the car at the time," Eickhorst said. "We were going
to Six Flags. I was coming off the off-ramp and I hit the brakes, and there
was just nothing. I was pushing harder and harder. It felt like I wasn't
going to stop."
Eickhorst said a little braking finally kicked in, and he was eventually
able to stop the minivan without an accident. "This happens every 2,000 or
3,000 miles," he said. "You get this terrifying feeling in the pit of your
stomach."
Eickhorst has repeatedly taken his 1993 minivan to the dealer, who can
never find anything wrong.
Eickhorst is not alone.
An engineer with the National Highway Transportation Safety
Administration said "many of the reports of (failure) state that the brakes
failed completely or partially on several occasions, but then functioned
normally again and the dealer could not find a problem."
Even total replacement of the ABS components could not prevent the
brakes from failing again, the engineer said.
Barbara Sterling of west St. Louis County can testify to that.
Her 1990 Jeep Cherokee has repeatedly suffered brake and ABS failure
beginning at 1,700 miles. Service records at her dealership show that
although Chrysler recalled the Cherokee in 1991 and 1992 to fix its
anti-lock braking system, Sterling's Jeep has had ABS failures requiring
major repairs at 37,000 miles and again at 53,000 miles.
And her brakes still don't work, Sterling said.
A few weeks ago Sterling was driving in Ladue when she applied the
brakes.
"I pushed down, and the Jeep kept going," she said. "It started to
rumble and shimmy. I just kept pressing harder and harder."
Sterling said she narrowly missed striking a building before she was
able to stop.
Sterling said Chrysler, which paid for the earlier repairs, now refuses
to fix her Jeep for free. Her warranty has expired.
She said she has some financial difficulties, and can't afford the
$1,500 to $3,000 cost of repairs. So Sterling continues to drive the Jeep,
and her braking problems continue.
"It frightens me," she said.
Pedal To The Floor
The failing anti-lock brakes - known under the brandname Bendix 10 - are
built for Chrysler in a plant at St. Joseph, Mich., by AlliedSignal Corp.,
a large New Jersey-based manufacturer that sells $4.5 billion worth of auto
components a year.
On Nov. 12, 1992, seven AlliedSignal employees met with three Chrysler
representatives and discussed malfunctioning Bendix 10 anti-lock brakes.
Chrysler had by then twice recalled vehicles equipped with the Bendix
10, but failures were continuing.
Minutes of the meeting were provided to the Post-Dispatch by the Center
for Auto Safety. Chrysler does not dispute their accuracy.
According to the minutes, one Chrysler representative talked of "heavy
pedal effort during normal braking, float with high hard pedal and lack of
de-acceleration" and "also characterized by many people as pedal to the
floor."
A Chrysler executive is quoted as saying his company was "desperate for
a field fix," meaning a way to repair the ABS at dealerships, rather than
replacing the entire component. "Chrysler asked what we can do to fix these
problems," the minutes say.
The Bendix 10 continued to fail.
Last September, a Chrysler executive noted in a memo that "We have been
seeing an increase in customer calls related to replacing Bendix 10 ABS
hydraulic assemblies. Consequently, we have also seen an increase in parts
inquiries related to back ordered hydraulic unit(s)."
The Center for Auto Safety complained to government investigators that
Chrysler was failing to turn over evidence of problems with its anti-lock
brakes as the law requires. Chrysler later gave the minutes to the
government.
But heavy demand for replacement parts continues as the Bendix 10 units
fail.
St. Louis area Chrysler dealers have said some customers wait a week to
a month for repairs because the dealer cannot get parts.
At Lou Fusz Dodge, service manager Mike Meyer said delays in repairs are
common, and customers are often frustrated. "There should be something
easier," Meyer said.
AlliedSignal refused to comment on the issue. Chrysler spokesmen denied
that there is any delay in repairs and described the internal documents as
unimportant.
"We looked at it, and we assessed that the issue did not present a
safety risk to the vehicle," said Lindsay Brooke, the Chrysler spokesman.
Is Chrysler offering a secret warranty on cars and trucks it sold with
anti-lock brakes? Or is it simply offering to help some, but not all, of
its customers?
"We have tried to limit repair costs to $600 for the customer," Brooke
said.
Customers here and elsewhere disputed that. Confronted with their
complaints that they are paying as much as $3,000 for repairs, Brooke
changed his answer.
"I have to qualify that," he said. "We have got to look at these
complaints on a vehicle by vehicle basis. There is no secret warranty,
absolutely not."
Clarence Ditlow, head of the Center for Auto Safety, said: "It is clear
that there is a secret warranty here. There is no doubt about it." His
group has been pursuing the issue for months, collecting complaints from
owners.
"The average consumer who has the failure is going to endure a large
repair bill," Ditlow said.
"If they complain, (Chrysler) may limit it to $600," he said. "But if
you are real aggressive and say you are going to tell every family in your
vicinity about the problem and threaten to become an activist, then they
will buy the car back."
Secret warranties are legal in Missouri but not in several other states.
A spokesman for the California attorney general's office said it is
difficult to prove violations of that state's law barring secret
warranties. Repairing some cars at a discount but not others may be a
violation, he said, or it may not.
Although the evidence is anecdotal, Chrysler's offer to limit repair
costs to $600 apparently doesn't apply to everyone.
When the ABS failed on Marvin Kitchen's 1991 Chrysler Imperial last
month - he lost all braking and had to coast to a stop - the dealership
charged the St. Charles County man $1,150.
"The manager told me he knocked off $50 because of the aggravation,"
Kitchen said.
When the brakes failed on Leo Nelson's 1992 Plymouth Grand Voyager last
month, his dealer wanted to charge $1,000 for the repair. Nelson, of
Webster Groves, complained and said, "Chrysler said they would pay for the
parts if I paid for the labor." His repair cost: $400.
Then there are the people who really complain.
After Charlene Blake's ABS failed on her minivan, the Springfield, Va.
woman went on a campaign to organize others who have had the same
experience.
She circulated fliers describing Chrysler's braking troubles. She posted
messages on the Internet, and began a lively e-mail correspondence with
others whose brakes had failed. She wrote to government agencies and auto
safety activists and Chrysler executives.
And how did Chrysler respond to the very determined Blake?
"They have offered to buy back my vehicle," she said. "They will settle
with me if I sign an agreement that I tell no one that I settled. They
said, `we just don't want the media involved.' "
The agreement Chrysler wants Blake to sign says, in part:
"You agree that this settlement and its terms are confidential. You will
not tell anyone that Chrysler has repurchased the vehicle from you. You
will not disclose any part of this release agreement. If you do, Chrysler
may get a court order prohibiting you from making any further statements."
Blake hasn't decided whether to sign.
According to government records, Chrysler has repurchased 35 cars and
trucks. The terms of those repurchases could not be determined.
CAPTION:
PHOTO
Color photo by Jill DiPasquale/Post-Dispatch - Jim Eickhorst of
Chesterfield says the anti-lock braking system on his $25,000 Dodge Grand
Caravan has failed at least a dozen times. He says the dealer can't fix it.<
Copyright (c) 1995 The St. Louis Post-Dispatch
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