Chrysler Group is recalling 895,000 units of its Jeep Grand Cherokee and Dodge Durango models due to defects with the wiring of vanity mirror lights. The recall, which is limited to 2011-2014 editions of the two car models, is in response to three injuries that involved cars that had headliners and vanity mirror lights serviced. Chrysler Group insists that the issue does not affect vehicles that did not have headliners and vanity mirror lights serviced. Nonetheless, it is extending the recall to all the vehicles in the designated range just to be sure.
"In the interest of protecting our customers, this spacer will be installed in all vehicles within the range, regardless of whether or not the vanity mirror and/or headliner have been serviced," the company said in a press release.
According to Chrysler Group, all the vehicles involved in the recall will have the wiring of vanity mirror lights redirected. If left unattended, a car that had its vanity mirror lights and headliner serviced runs the risk of short circuits and even fires due to faulty wiring in the vehicle's sun visor.
The company said that the recall, and the subsequent upgrade, will be free of charge for all affected customers. Chrysler Group said that it will fix the issue by installing a spacer to prevent potential short circuits. The spacer is meant to keep wires in its proper places through the use wire guides.
A large majority of the vehicles affected by the recall were sold in the United States. Out of the total Jeep Grand Cherokee and Dodge Durango units affected by the campaign, 651,000 are in the US. The rest of the recalled vehicles are spread out between Canada (45,700 units) and Mexico (23,000 units) and outside the NAFTA region (175,000 units).
Chrysler Group recall continues a trend among the industry's top companies. So far this year, General Motors, Honda, Ford and Toyota have all conducted recalls recently. The most controversial was of that of GM. The company recalled around 30 million vehicles after it was revealed that faulty ignition switches caused the death of 13 people. The company was criticized for its inaction in spite of knowing about the defect for about a decade.
