2004 jeep grand cherokee gas tank heat shield

In November, NHTSA sent a letter to Chrysler ordering a faster recall. When asked why NHTSA and Chrysler would agree to the recall and to that specific fix, Claybrooke responded, 'beats me.'Ĭhrysler declined to comment on camera but in a statement said the 'installation of a hitch assembly is the agreed-upon action.' And that 'it provides incremental benefit in low to medium-speed impacts.' 'A tow package does not protect the tank,' Castaing said.

But safety experts and victims' lawyers say the fix is inadequate, pointing to a deposition with Chrysler engineer François Castaing, the so-called father of the Jeep, two years before the recall. She said that meant putting a tow hitch on the 1.5 million affected vehicles as part of a voluntary safety recall. They knew that they had a problem and so they wanted to do the cheapest thing that they could do.'

'It was a deal, the deal was that Chrysler had refused, refused, refused to ever do a recall of these vehicles. 'This was a deal that was cut between the NHTSA administrator and the secretary of transportation and Chrysler,' former NHTSA administrator Joan Claybrooke said.

In a recent deposition, exclusively obtained by CBS News, Marchionne said, 'We ultimately resolved the issue.after that meeting.' Strickland wrote, 'The meeting would only be with the secretary and I, no other staff, as Sergio wanted.' CBS News obtained emails between Strickland and a Chrysler executive.

2004 jeep grand cherokee gas tank heat shield