Warranty Conference

Not all that exciting but necessary. Anybody going?

“CLEPA to hold warranty conference on 10 May

3rd May 2007

The 2007 Warranty Conference for members of the European automotive suppliers’ association CLEPA will be held in Brussels on 10 May. CLEPA is organising the conference to keep members up to date with the developments in warranty practices and to help them benefit from the work being carried out by its Warranty Working Group. The conference will include an overview of the latest EU position on the automotive industry and a review of European vehicle warranty trends.

Toyota’s Senior General Manager Quality, European Operations, and J. D. Powers and Associates Senior Director of European Operations, will be the keynote speakers.

CLEPA believes that everyone who is working with the customer needs to have a good understanding of this subject (including Sales and Marketing, Quality/Warranty and Legal departments).”

Chrysler Locks Not Working

I have a 2005 Town and Country, and the automatic locks seem to be possessed. From time to time the doors will not operate from the button on the driver-side door. Other times, when I hit the open button on the key transponder, the doors will unlock, then immediately go back to the locked position. I’ve even started the car to warm it up only to come out and have the doors locked on me! I’ve brought the car to a local dealer several times for this issue. I originally brought it to their attention before my factory warranty ran out. They could not find a problem, I called again when the same problem arose, and they told me that they would honor my request since it was made prior to the expiration of the warranty. They claimed they fixed the problem and “I’m on my own” if it happens again. Well, the issue is still not resolved. Do you know what could be causing these door lock issues? My wife had the car running one day, put the kids in the car and when she went to get in, found that the doors were locked! If you don’t know the cause, what would my course of action be with Chrysler? They must have my customer complaint on file?

Eric via e-mail

I am quite surprised you are having this problem. A search of the All Data information base showed the Chrysler has posted technical service bulletin No. 08-028-05 concerning this problem, which calls for a reprogramming of your car’s body control module. Call the dealer and ask to have this update performed. That is the first step. There are many other issues that could cause this problem, such as a switch or pinched wire harness – even a loose ground wire will cause similar problems. But they have to start somewhere, and this is where to begin.