My van is an evil monster
Yesterday's quick call to make arrangements to have my van repaired turned into an all day ordeal. Talk to this person at the insurance company, try to figure out why they won't pay to fix the fonk up in my cruise control - only the resulting damage. Call the dealership to find out about having it fixed there and then going in for body work because that's what the insurance company guy recommends. Only that guy tells me to call the manufacturer once I explain to him what happened. So I dig up the number for Chrysler customer service, which is awesome btw...on the surface. I called them, talked to a really nice lady, find out that the part that runs the cruise control is covered by a lifetime warranty and I think, Cool! Save me money anywhere. I need it. But I hang up from talking to her and hours later I'm feeling the adverse effects of customer service.
Turns out that my "Lifetime warranty" part is actually a part that's been recalled. So I don't understand why I'm having to let my van sit in the drive with NO work being done to it so that an inspector that their legal department is going to send, can check it out. I'm not sure why this can't be taken care of at a dealership. But then again, I don't know why the dude at the dealership didn't tell me about the recall. Maybe the inspector guy is going to come down and do something to the car since the recall was issued only for cars that have under 70,000 miles. Like the only important people in the world drive new, low mileage vehicles. Mine IS low mileage...just over 70,000 miles. And why did the lady call it a lifetime warranty when it's a recall. And if it's a lifetime warranty why does the recall limit the mileage? And why won't they let me take it to the dealership for repairs?
So I'm checking out this recall information and I started searching for other recall stuff because I've not received any notification on this particular recall. What I've found is frightening. The NHTSA has information on investigations of several major safety issues that are apparently common in my van. The leaking rear window (this one isn't safety related but it was there and since my carpet is mildewed it's a PIMA), side doors that don't open, seatbelts that come unlatched on their own during sudden stops (or otherwise just riding down the road), electrical problems, ABS brake system troubles, high oil usage (Chrysler has issued "normal" oil usage ratings of 1 quart of oil for every 750 miles. What?) and these are the things wrong with my very own car. These are the things so dang expensive to fix that it's the very reason I haven't got rid of it yet. I hadn't realized about the seatbelt unlocking thing. We've actually been blaming that on Emily. Now I feel bad AND I'm a little bit pissed. I thought my car was safe for hauling my kids in. It isn't like I'm rough on a car either. Sure it stays messy and I don't get time to keep it washed regularly, but on average, I put 10,000 miles a year on it. I keep up with the scheduled maintenance, keep the oil changed, and I don't drive like an idiot.
Even more scary are some of the problems under investigation that I haven't experienced trouble with yet. The rear window is known to "fall out" on occasion. The rear door latch fails in crashes, the seats sometimes release from the floor and occasionally the seatbelt anchors will too. Then there's that fuel system problem that's caused the deaths of 5 people due to fires. The real pisser was finding out that most cars come equipped with this thing called a Brake Shift Interlock that won't allow the car to be put in gear when the keys are in the ignition unless the brakes are depressed. Several women have been hit by their vans when their children have knocked them out of gear (6, I guess, if you count me) and a $9.00 part would keep that from happening...does keep that from happening in a large number of other makes of cars. There are the electrical problems that can cause the driver's side air bag to deploy when the vans are cranked, or they can not deploy at all. And of course, there are the ever-horrible transmissions. I've replaced mine once already and fully expect to have to again just because 2 transmissions in one of these vans in a 5 or 6 year period is not uncommon. In fact, every person I know that's had one of these vans for that period of time has put at least two transmissions in them. And speaking of transmissions, I should also add to that problem list the special type of transmission fluid that's required to keep that piece of shit transmission running is so highly flammable, vans have burst into flames after making the drive from people's homes to shopping centers. Now that's worrysome.
So I'm disgusted and I'm worried that now I'm going to be stuck forever with a car I'm never going to feel my kids are safe in.
Yesterday's quick call to make arrangements to have my van repaired turned into an all day ordeal. Talk to this person at the insurance company, try to figure out why they won't pay to fix the fonk up in my cruise control - only the resulting damage. Call the dealership to find out about having it fixed there and then going in for body work because that's what the insurance company guy recommends. Only that guy tells me to call the manufacturer once I explain to him what happened. So I dig up the number for Chrysler customer service, which is awesome btw...on the surface. I called them, talked to a really nice lady, find out that the part that runs the cruise control is covered by a lifetime warranty and I think, Cool! Save me money anywhere. I need it. But I hang up from talking to her and hours later I'm feeling the adverse effects of customer service.
Turns out that my "Lifetime warranty" part is actually a part that's been recalled. So I don't understand why I'm having to let my van sit in the drive with NO work being done to it so that an inspector that their legal department is going to send, can check it out. I'm not sure why this can't be taken care of at a dealership. But then again, I don't know why the dude at the dealership didn't tell me about the recall. Maybe the inspector guy is going to come down and do something to the car since the recall was issued only for cars that have under 70,000 miles. Like the only important people in the world drive new, low mileage vehicles. Mine IS low mileage...just over 70,000 miles. And why did the lady call it a lifetime warranty when it's a recall. And if it's a lifetime warranty why does the recall limit the mileage? And why won't they let me take it to the dealership for repairs?
So I'm checking out this recall information and I started searching for other recall stuff because I've not received any notification on this particular recall. What I've found is frightening. The NHTSA has information on investigations of several major safety issues that are apparently common in my van. The leaking rear window (this one isn't safety related but it was there and since my carpet is mildewed it's a PIMA), side doors that don't open, seatbelts that come unlatched on their own during sudden stops (or otherwise just riding down the road), electrical problems, ABS brake system troubles, high oil usage (Chrysler has issued "normal" oil usage ratings of 1 quart of oil for every 750 miles. What?) and these are the things wrong with my very own car. These are the things so dang expensive to fix that it's the very reason I haven't got rid of it yet. I hadn't realized about the seatbelt unlocking thing. We've actually been blaming that on Emily. Now I feel bad AND I'm a little bit pissed. I thought my car was safe for hauling my kids in. It isn't like I'm rough on a car either. Sure it stays messy and I don't get time to keep it washed regularly, but on average, I put 10,000 miles a year on it. I keep up with the scheduled maintenance, keep the oil changed, and I don't drive like an idiot.
Even more scary are some of the problems under investigation that I haven't experienced trouble with yet. The rear window is known to "fall out" on occasion. The rear door latch fails in crashes, the seats sometimes release from the floor and occasionally the seatbelt anchors will too. Then there's that fuel system problem that's caused the deaths of 5 people due to fires. The real pisser was finding out that most cars come equipped with this thing called a Brake Shift Interlock that won't allow the car to be put in gear when the keys are in the ignition unless the brakes are depressed. Several women have been hit by their vans when their children have knocked them out of gear (6, I guess, if you count me) and a $9.00 part would keep that from happening...does keep that from happening in a large number of other makes of cars. There are the electrical problems that can cause the driver's side air bag to deploy when the vans are cranked, or they can not deploy at all. And of course, there are the ever-horrible transmissions. I've replaced mine once already and fully expect to have to again just because 2 transmissions in one of these vans in a 5 or 6 year period is not uncommon. In fact, every person I know that's had one of these vans for that period of time has put at least two transmissions in them. And speaking of transmissions, I should also add to that problem list the special type of transmission fluid that's required to keep that piece of shit transmission running is so highly flammable, vans have burst into flames after making the drive from people's homes to shopping centers. Now that's worrysome.
So I'm disgusted and I'm worried that now I'm going to be stuck forever with a car I'm never going to feel my kids are safe in.
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