Lemon Law for California

Build Dates : December 19, 2007 - March 12, 2008

NHTSA CAMPAIGN ID Number : 08V295000

Date Owner’s Notified: 20080721
Date Received by ODI: 20080702
Date Added to Databse: 20080708

Manufacturer’s Involved: CHRYSLER LLC
Manufacturer’s Responsible for the Recall: CHRYSLER LLC
Manufacturer Campaign Number: H23

Component: POWER TRAIN:AXLE HUBS
Potential Number Of Units Affected : 509

Summary: 

Chrysler is recalling 5,509 MY 2008 300, Dodge Magnum, and charger vehicles. The torque retention crimp feature was missed during the manufacture of one lot of rear axle hub nuts. This could cause the nuts to loosen and allow the halfshaft to disengage from the wheel hub.

Consequence: 

Tis could cause the vehicle to lose power and result in a crash without warning.

Remedy: 

Dealers will replace the rear axle hub nuts. The Chrysler recall began on July 21, 2008.  

The laws governing responsibility for defective motor vehicles and what must be proven in court to establish liability vary from state to state. In most states, the parties who may held liable include:

The vehicle manufacturer 

The manufacturer of defective component parts such as tires, hoses etc. 

The dealer, if the vehicle was purchased from a dealer 

Several different reasons exist for holding a party liable for harm caused by a motor vehicle defect. The three most common legal theories for finding someone liable are breach of warranty, negligence, and strict liability. An experienced products liability attorney can advise you about the rules that apply in your state to your situation involving a defective motor vehicle. 

A manufacturer or vehicle dealer, but not an individual who is not in the vehicle sales business, may be liable for breach of express or implied warranty if the vehicle is not fit or safe to be operated as intended. A breach of warranty may occur if there was an error in the design of the vehicle, if a particular vehicle was put together poorly, or if the components installed on the vehicle did not perform properly. However, it is possible for a seller and buyer to disclaim all warranties during a vehicle sales transaction. Your attorney can review all of the documents signed at the sale of your vehicle and all of the surrounding circumstances to determine if there is an express or implied warranty in effect.

A manufacturer or a dealer may be held liable for negligence if the vehicle was not manufactured according to specifications, if it contained a design defect, or if the installed components were inadequate. Negligence may also apply if a vehicle was marketed improperly, such as if a vehicle is shown in advertisements driving at a higher rate of speed than is safe for that vehicle.

Strict liability does not require an injured party to show that the manufacturer or seller of a product was negligent. The injured party needs to show only that the product was unsafe.

A rollaway vehicle accident due to the absence of an interlock device or its failure is one of the most preventable accidents that can occur. And yet for years— despite the fact that automakers themselves and others had been developing such devices for a very long time, and the fact that they could be installed at fairly low expense—the industry maintained that brake-shift interlock devices would do nothing to prevent rollaway accidents.

Tragically, most of these rollaway accidents involve children playing inside the vehicle and then accidentally or intentionally moving the gear shift. This allows parked vehicles to begin rolling downhill and leaves the panicked children inside (and usually not wearing their seatbelts) extremely vulnerable to the traffic and other obstacles in their path. In such cases, the unnecessary and wrongful death of a child has been a common result.

Chrysler and Dodge Minivans, either of which could be shifted without pressing the vehicle’s brake at the same time, were among the worst culprits for years. But even though interlock devices have now become standard in most vehicles, not all of them work as they should.

In these cases, unsuspecting drivers can be victimized by false computer readings, transmission defects, and ‘rooster cone’ problems that lead them to believe their vehicle is locked in park when in actuality, it is not.