Nearly every week, a vehicle manufacturer is in the news for a recall involving anywhere from hundreds to hundreds of thousands of vehicles. Every so often, a larger recall will be announced. In September, Nissan and Toyota recalled a combined 1.5 million vehicles. Nissan’s recall covered about 910,000 vehicles with accelerator sensor problems, and Toyota’s recall involved more than 700,000 vehicles with gearshift lever problems that could cause the vehicles to inadvertently roll away even while parked. This month, Chrysler is recalling nearly 1.2 million vehicles in three separate recalls due to “steering-system tie rods that may have been misaligned during assembly or steering-system service,” according to a release from the automaker.
Although the recall was issued for approximately 1.2 million vehicles, Chrysler says there is a possibility that approximately 726,000 of the affected vehicles will not require a fix. Chrysler needs to inspect each and every model that could have the issue.
One recall affects model years 2003 through 2008 Ram 2500 and 3500 trucks that may have misaligned tie-rods. The other recalls involve “Ram 2500 and 3500 trucks from the 2008 through 2012 model years, . . . 2008 Ram 1500 four-by-four mega cabs . . . [and] Ram 4500 and 5500 four-by-four chassis cabs from 2008 through 2012,” according to USA Today.
In total, Chrysler is aware of seven crashes and two injuries from the recalled vehicles. Chrysler has updated instructions for dealer technicians and upgraded the parts involved in the steering system to ensure the problem does not occur again. According to USA Today, Chrysler will notify owners of the vehicles about the recall in a letter next month. Repairs and inspections may begin in January. Interim repairs will occur in the meantime until all dealers receive necessary parts.