Jeep Grand Cherokee, Liberty to Cost $151M, Conclude by Early 2015

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Earlier this month, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration gave Chrysler until July 16 to explain why it's been so slow to produce the parts to recall for the 1993-98 Grand Cherokee and 2002-07 Liberty. Chrysler has since responded to NHTSA's questions, and it released a nine-page document laying out the details of this recall. Throughout all of the information in this document, the most important is the fact that the trailer hitches will be able to have all the expected vehicles recalled by early next year, instead of 2018 as NHTSA originally projected. This is due to Chrysler finding more suppliers to help build the parts, but it also says that not all vehicles will require the repair or come in for the recall in the first place (such as vehicles that are no longer in operation). Of the 1.5 million Jeeps listed in the recall notice, Chrysler only expects about 848,000 (268,772 Grand Cherokees and 579,455 Libertys) will come in for the repair. Even if all recalled vehicles did come in for the repair, Chrysler says that it will produce as many as it needs to in order to ensure its vehicles are safe and, at the latest, it would be able complete the recall by March 2016. The trailer hitch is designed to better protect the partially exposed fuel tank that has the ability to rupture in the event of a serious rear-end collision. Originally, Chrysler refused to recall the vehicles because they passed crash standards when the vehicles were new. Chrysler and NHTSA eventually compromised to come up with the recall, which was issued in June 2013. By the end of the recall campaign, Chrysler thinks that it will end up costing about $151 million. Click here to read Chrysler's entire response to NHTSA for yourself, and if you're an owner of a 1993-98 Grand Cherokee and 2002-07 Liberty and you still have questions, you can Chrysler at 1-800-247-9753 or NHTSA either via its Vehicle Safety Hotline at 1-888-327-4236 (TTY 1-800-424-9153) or by going to www.safercar.gov.