Legal Question in Consumer Law in Pennsylvania

Help me out with this one if you can. I used to own a 2004 Chrysler 300M. A few

months back my transmission kicks into limp-in mode which is what happens when the computer detects something is wrong and basically limits the cars performance I took it to a dealership who told me that I needed to replace the entire transmission a repair that was in excess of 5k because of the Autostick feature.I was almost finished paying thecar off and had less than that to pay on the note. I was encouraged to just trade the car in, being as though the repairs were so costly that it was not economically smart to pay that type of repair cost. Now everything else was 100 percent on the car... Interior, exterior, engine performance and suddenly the transmission goes with no mistreatment or neglect. I mean I have all sorts of maintenance records on the car. Now this week Chrysler sends out a recall notice on my car stating that there is a fatal flaw in the transmission sensors that causes it to go into limp-in mode and this repair would be fixed free of charge at any dealer. I have since traded in my 300 following the advice of a Chrysler Dealer and predatory tactics of the service staff who were probaly aware that there was a sensor malfunction and told me that I needed an entire transmission. I took a big hit on the value of my car and rolled fake inequity into my new vehicle. My guess is that they instantly took my trade which they gave me something like 3500 for and replaced the sensor and sold it for 11-15k which was the blue book msrp when I traded it. I know that this is immoral but were their tactics illegal? Is there any compensation that I should seek? If so from whom? The Dealer? Bankrupted Chrysler?


Asked on 9/27/09, 10:28 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys
Greg Artim Morrow & Artim, P.C.

What a horrible situation, I do feel for you. If there is a claim, and that's a big if, I think it would be against the dealer only. I don't see Chrysler's involvement in a potential claim whatsoever. The big question for you is whether the dealer knew of the recall notice, or knew that it was going to come out. REALLY tough to prove that. I think that may be an internal Chrysler question, as in, do they let their dealers know before a recall is issued and if so, how long in advance? Was there a TSB issued for the transmission before the recall? That is something that you may want to examine as well.

If you have a case, it would be a tough one. That being said, if you succeed I think it would be well worth it, in terms of satisfaction and compensation to you.

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Answered on 10/02/09, 11:08 pm


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