2004 jeep grand cherokee fuel tank skid plate recall

While neither Chrysler nor NHTSA has given an estimated cost of a recall, the Center for Auto Safety says it could cost Chrysler no more than $300 million to install a 3 millimeter steel skid, a fuel tank check valve and better fuel filler hose and address the problem. 'It's still an uphill battle for Chrysler in the perception of quality and could set it back.' She said fighting the recall would have been 'a very risky gamble,' even if Chrysler had eventually been proven right. 'It strikes me that Chrysler underestimated the negative publicity they'd get out of fighting, and that they decided it was better off to go ahead and do the recall,' said Michelle Krebs, senior analyst at. Experts say the hearing would have caused Chrysler's reputation to take a hit, even if it had avoided the recall.

There would have been testimony from both car safety advocates who have pushed for the recall, as well as the parents of children who burned to death in fires.

If Chrysler had not agreed to act by the end of Tuesday, it faced the prospect of high-profile public hearings. Those with without any hitch will have one installed. Owners who have an after-market, non-Chrysler trailer hitch will have it replaced with a factory trailer hitch. The vehicles in this group that already have a factory-installed hitch will not have work done. They include the 1993 to 1998 Grand Cherokees, as well as the 2002 to 2007 Libertys. But vehicles from those model years without any hitch will not receive one.Ĭhrysler said it will do work on just under 1.6 million remaining of the vehicles. Related: GM recalling 194,000 SUVs due to fire riskĪbout 1.2 million Grand Cherokees from model years 1999 to 2004 will only be called in for inspection, and if they have an after-market hitch, it will be replaced with a factory hitch. And rather than place the steel plate over the plastic gas tank, as public interest groups like the Center for Auto Safety had called for, it will simply install a factory trailer hitch to provide some protection in the case of a low-speed, rear-end collision.

NHTSA says it will continue its investigation into this issue.Īccording to the agreement, Chrysler won't necessarily have to repair all 2.7 million Jeeps.

2004 jeep grand cherokee fuel tank skid plate recall