That would be great , then I could sue Chrysler for the $1,500 new ignition I got stuck for....But , to get someone in court they have to be "served" w/a summons . Just how would you do that ????

 

I had my 05 topr repaired by the local dealer under thus warranty a few months ago. Since the repair I have been back 4 times for the rear window becoming unglued. Chysler finally decided to just replace the top so now im waiting for it to come in. Should be here friday.

 

proceed with caution with this vendor. They appear to get their data from CarHistory.us.org - which has a very extensive list of folks who complain that they are billed monthly for unrequested services.

 

I was not impressed with vehiclehistoryrecord.com...

 

Went to dealer today. Call Chrysler number before hand. Warranty lady said they replaced several. No problem so far. My is qualified from the state of origin perspective. I had a case number. I'll let you know how it turns out. So far so good.

 

Following Pearl's sage advice, I filed a complaint with NHSTA today, wording is at bottom if others want to adapt it and use it for their own complaints. If NHTSA gets a handful of these, perhaps they'll get off the dime and ask Chrysler to do what it should have done from the git-go. I also established a case number with Chrysler today and will call Chrysler Customer Care after Christmas.

Also, it is possible to repair the fallen glass -- but it's very hard to do and almost impossible without it looking like a mess. The trick is to use epoxy (NOT Gorilla glue that expands when setting) and know enough about the material to use it wisely and jerry-rig some sort of system to hold the glass in place while it sets up for a day or so -- even five-minute epoxy needs to cure for many hours to get to full strength.

Finally, just a word of advice along the same lines as what Pearl wrote: Everyone thinks getting one's way with the hardball approach is best, but it rarely works. Most of the folks one deals with on the phone have no policy roles but they CAN help you get to those who can help you. If you treat them badly, you can bet that that won't happen.

Anyhow, here's what I wrote in my NHTSA complaint, perhaps those who haven't filed will send one in that's similar. You have 1900 characters and this is almost exactly that amount.

Rear window failure -- adhesive fails & rear window falls out. The failure of any window is not normal "wear and tear." Many, many of these cars have experienced the same failure over the years and Chrysler finally -- after years of complaints -- issued a service bulletin #23-03511REVA in 2011 that, according to Chrysler, covers only vehicles delivered in nine southeastern states. It extends warranty coverage to ten years (which means Chrysler will replace the convertible tops under warranty). All these cars were built in Belgium.

Chrysler had trouble selling these vehicles so it auctioned some vehicles internally to its dealer network, who were then permitted to get whatever they could for brand new "used" cars. Mine went to a Dodge dealer in Farmville VA and was sold to me (via Ebay) with 3 miles on the odometer in mid-2007 or so. 33 mos. of "new car warranty" remained when I rec'd it here in Hawaii. When that warranty expired I purchased an extended "Platinum" warranty. The rear window fell out of the convertible top three months after the initial 36 month warranty had expired, the extended "Platinum" warranty wouldn't cover repairs. The car had approx. 8000 miles on it.

As noted before, Chrysler issued the service bulletin mentioned above in 2011 but arbitrarily excluded some vehicles despite the problem occurring in cars all over the nation. I guess that they thought that the problem would happen only in certain climes -- but there are more than nine U.S. states that get hot weather, e.g., Hawaii experiences hot sun year-round. And mine fell out despite very low mileage and the car being garaged when not in use.

I request NHTSA demand that Chrysler extend coverage to all vehicles that fit the criteria, not just those "delivered" in nine of fifty states. The failure of any window is not normal "wear and tear" no matter where it happens. Thanks.

Mele Kalikimaka and Hau'oli Makahiki Hou to all of you... and thanks for this great forum.

P.S. Can someone tell me where I can get a single 48" plastic zip-tie to check the slushbox tranny fluid level in my 2005 SRT roadster? Thanks!

 

Regular epoxy is the strongest and takes longer to cure.

These cars were built in Germany

[QUOTE=MRethman;773131]P.S. Can someone tell me where I can get a single 48" plastic zip-tie to check the slushbox tranny fluid level in my 2005 SRT roadster?[QUOTE=MRethman;773131]

I use a small diameter plastic tube that came with my oil topsider pump kit. The oil goes up the inside and is unaffected by touching the wall of the tranny oil filler tube, just wipe of the outside and you can see the level inside. Keep your finger on the end and it does not drain out.

 

Thanks for the info.

About your tranny, I have not tried this but maybe a plastic measuring tape might work.

Merry Christmas

 

This will work ....plus you can fish a 50 ft section of conduit. All for $6.99


Nylon Fish Tape - Save Big on this 50 Ft. Nylon Fish Tape

 

Not sure what kind of measuring tape would be stiff enough and yet narrow enough to fit.

 

I spoke to Matthew (ID # MH1376) at Chrysler Customer Care today, very nice chap, took down all my info and promised to send it upstairs for Chrysler to consider expanding the vehicles covered under this warranty extension. Disappointing, but it suggests that others with similar problems ought to register their complaints (nicely!) with Chrysler Customer Care as well as file a NHTSA complaint. If anyone has further suggestions regarding how to handle getting Chrysler to do what it ought to have done from the git-go, please share.

Thanks to all for the tips on measuring tranny fluid levels. The nylon fish tape from Harbor Freight will most assuredly work... good suggestion! No Harbor Freight in Hawaii, but I get to the mainland a lot.

Apparently the car was assembled in Germany, I don't know where I got Belgium from.

Regarding five-minute epoxy v. regular epoxy. The key to making this repair with the top still installed on the car, is to get the window reasonably "tacked" in place first and then add regular epoxy (float it in from the exterior (cover the areas underneath in case of dripping) after the window is tacked into place. Five minute epoxy is useful for the initial "tacking" but it to likes to run everywhere until 3-4 minutes into the mix at which time the smart guy mates both epoxy-coated surfaces and then stands there an holds them in place for the ten slowest minutes of his life... while hoping that what's been done is enough to tack the window in place so subsequent epoxy applications can be made. Slow-setting epoxy isn't realistic for the tacking part of my approach to this repair but is useful for the rest of the work....

Once tacked, I strongly suggest not being in a hurry; apply just a bit more epoxy around the outside rim of the window, add more then next day, etc. Using a syringe is the easiest way for me to do this, look on ebay or somewhere and buy 30-40 of them, you'll use them all the time for all sorts of tasks. (Epoxy will not go thru a needle tip... suggest opening of about 0.5-1mm as the most realistic caliber -- some cheap syringes can have their tips trimmed with a scissors to get to this size opening.)

This will produce a repair that's usable. It won't look as good as OEM, but it's not horrible. Also, once done, remember to re-check every now and then to add epoxy where and if needed. After taking all the time needed to do this, you really don't want the glass to completely fall out again just because you were too busy to check on it every now and then. Mine's remained in place for three years and running but I'd still like Chrysler to do the right thing and replace the whole top and window like they ought to have done from the git-go.

Otherwise, Chrysler will never get another penny from me, not that they care I suppose.

 

PLEASE; File a complaint @ FTC.gov because this IS an unfair business practice which has affected many, many people! Ask for an investigation on behalf of all of us. Chrysler has not & cannot justify their discrimination!

 

What should be clearly obvious to Anyone is: for any fixed vehicle window, ie. windshield, rear window, hard top OR convertible, to become detached, especially within the first ten years of it's lifespan, is simply
and totally unacceptable, period.

 

Ok I filed a complaint with FTC tonight!

I guess if we all made a complaint at same time we may get some attention

 

I've said it before, I"ll say it again - this B.S. about where the car was purchased is all the reason I need to NEVER buy anything from Chrysler.

 

Huge Thanks to all who keep up the "good fight" over the defective tops! Anyone who has paid out of pocket over this, deserves reimbursement or a new top installed, if they still need one. We have also written our Senators & Congressman requesting that they try to insure an investigation by the FTC & the
NHTSA. We included pertinent documents, but even just an e-mail thru their websites is very easy to do.
We asked that investigations take place on behalf of the many, many people affected by the obviously
unwarranted discrimination. Chrysler is most likely reading this too, so we will need all of the voices we can muster! Thanks to all for this terrific Forum!

 

It is the loss of new car buyers Chrysler worries about, buyers of second hand cars are of little concern. There is always someone to buy a second hand car, new car buyers are more discriminatory.

Personally I think that the failure of the rear glass is regrettable but after all this time not really covered by the warranties, if the paint fails a short while after its warranty you are probably out of luck, been there done that. What warranty exists is because of the 'good will' of Chrysler. They may regret doing it for anyone if it becomes a big liability to them. Chrysler probably blames Karmann who would blame the supplier who would blame the adhesive maker and so on down to the dismissal of some poor shmuck who stuck the labels on the cans of adhesive which probably kept falling of anyway.
The new Chrysler probably feels quite distanced from the problem. Paying for the repair to a car owned by its second, third or fourth owner is stretching the limits of goodwill in my mind.

If the glass is held only by adhesive then the chance of failure is good. Many adhesives do not hold up well to shear loads, the part slowly slides sideways, due to gravity in this case. The need is for a mechanically held support, relegating the adhesive to do a mostly water seal application.


Just my thoughts, but I have a coupe and have had no problems with the rear glass.

 

For those of you who have played with the epoxies and adhesives - would you have a recommendation for sealing around the glass while all is still intact as a reinforcement ? Something that could be easily applied as a small bead around the interior perimeter. Personally it wouldn't hurt my feelings to see the glass adhesion last the fabric life.

 

180 makes some good points about our tops, he is certainly one of the sharpest contributors to this forum. However; windows began falling out in '09, or sooner? The new Chrysler knew they had to do something, thus: TSB 23-035-11REV A, 10 yrs/100,000 mi., '05 models. In doing that, they should have covered All '05s and maybe original owners only, that would have made more sense. Our's is my wife's dream car and it had to be convertible. We bought it spanking new, 4/2005, top dollar. It took 8 years but it then fell out. We tried "nice" w/cust-asst. but their offer was over $1200 out of pocket. Not Fair! Wrote to corp. for info, twice, got NO response! Wanted to negotiate but got Slapped in the face! They wrote a Warranty Extension and they should have to honor it. My wife and I were TOTALLY disrespected and I'll never understand why???

 

Just wondering, don't windshields rely largely on adhesives? I think I've seen better convertible window designs, maybe BMW & Nissan Z. Wind pressure at speed must be considered while still on the drawing board.