Chrysler cars acting like Christine

Your analogy with Chrysler and someone named Christine makes no sense at all. Please explain. Chrysler identified a problem and is fixing it. So what.

'Christine' refers to a horror movie about a car (a Plymouth Fury, IIRC) that would start up on its own and run amok killing people and wreaking all sorts of havoc.

Christine is a movie about a "haunted" car.

...and this is nothing new. Fords have supposedly been doing the same thing for years.

That's not what it said ! Did you even bother to read it ??

The article states:

"In a limited number of cases, long-term wear on the shift assembly can erode the height of the shift blocker, creating the potential that the vehicle could shift out of park without the key in the ignition," Chrysler said in a statement.

Even with that explanation the analogy still makes no sense. Chrysler identified mechanical problems with certain of its cars and is now going to pay to fix them. Big deal. Car makers fix cars under recall all the time. The only alternative would be to revert to earlier practice of treating out-of-warranty problems as being the responsibility of the customer. I'm guessing you would not want that.

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Mike, that's exactly what the article says. Perhaps you need to re-read the article more carefully.

The article reads, "....the vehicle could shift out of park..."

I wrote the cars "can shift out of park on their own." By the way, "can shift out of park on their own" is an exact quote from a newscaster on the corporate-friendly, conservative Fox News channel.

Mike, please read more carefully next time you inappropriately criticize a poster in this newsgroup.

May I ask why this is crossposted to a Toyota newsgroup along with 1 or 2 others but not to rec.autos.makers.Chrysler? I am subscribed to the Chrysler newsgroup and I don't see this there.

And those two statements are NOT equal.

Sit in your car. Do not insert the key. Try and shift out of park - it ain't happening. The defective cars may eventually allow shifting out of park without the key, allowing someone to put the car into neutral and "steal" it, or allowing an unattended child to accidentally knock it out of park. There is no "on it's own" implied by the articles statement.

I thought it sounded like a pretty good comnparison, lighten up people. We don't have to be serious all the time AND it brought up a recall that people should be aware of.

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Noozer, like Mike, you need to read more carefully also.

The cars can, indeed, shift "out of park /on their own/" if you believe in the accuracy of the Fox News Channel's reporting.

Have you forgotten already the statement that the cars / "can shift out of park on their own" / is an exact quote from Fox News?

Sloppy reading on your part.

In addition to Fox News, I've read reports of this story from *3* separate news agencies: Reuters, the Associated Press, and AFP. None of those agencies mention what you suggest. You wrote [QUOTE]:

"The defective cars may eventually allow shifting out of park without the key, allowing someone to put the car into neutral and 'steal' it, or allowing an unattended child to accidentally knock it out of park."

Where did you read that? Please provide the source. You obviously pulled it out of a hat, adding your own extraneous material without it being independently

*corroborated*.

Fox News said the vehicles /"can shift out of park on their own"/, not that a child can /"accidentally knock it out of park,"/ like you volunteered without a valid news source.

Please learn to read more carefully. I would imagine you are not an attorney or a doctor [chuckle] ;-)

And just where did you state that in your original posting. It sounds like YOU are just embelishing (sp?) the story to fit your need. I simply explained how *I* interpreted the original posting.

...and no, I didn't follow the link. I had no reason to.

Quote -----------

Chrysler is recalling over half-a-million vehicles because they can shift out of park on their own - L.O.L.

Here's the story:

Chrysler recalls 576,000 trucks on faulty gearshift

Chrysler LLC will voluntarily recall more than 576,000 trucks, vans and sports utility vehicles because of a faulty gearshift, the automaker said Friday.

"In a limited number of cases, long-term wear on the shift assembly can erode the height of the shift blocker, creating the potential that the vehicle could shift out of park without the key in the ignition," Chrysler said in a statement.

"Nine incidents involving injuries have been identified in connection with this issue. No fatalities have been reported."

A Chrysler spokesman said none of the injuries was life-threatening and "most involved cuts and bruises."

The recall affects 2001 and 2002 model years of the Dodge Durango suv, the Dodge Dakota pickup truck and the Dodge Ram van as well as 2002 models of the Dodge Ram pickup truck. ========

Next recall you hear about will be cars starting on their own.

He read it the same place you read it. He was interpreting the facts for you since you are obviously not aware of the mechanics involved. According to the statement from Chrysler it is not the parking pawl that is defective. What they said was defective is the mechanism that prevents shifting the lever without the key in the ignition. Anyone who was around

40 years ago knows that all cars used to be like that. Nevertheless back in those days even with millions of cars that were capable of shifting without a key they didn't "shift on their own". And today cars still don't shift on their own even if it does have a defect that allows it to be shifted.

-jim

Well, Jim, if you are correct (and that's a big "if"), then your dispute lies with the reporter on Fox News television who reported

*nation-wide* to hundreds of thousands of viewers that the vehicles [QUOTE] "can shift out of park on their own." [END QUOTE].

Your statement quoted at the top of this message contradicts the statement made by the professional Fox News journalist who has editors writing and double-checking his copy.

I'm placing my bets on Fox News--and I'm not even a conservative :-)

Jim, let me make one other point, if I may.

Cars can shift out of park /on their own/ . I remember when I was a student at MU, a neighbor's parked car was rear-ended by another parked car that was parked behind it. Nobody was in either car. They were both just sitting alongside the curb. So cars, indeed, "can shift out of park on their own," just as the Fox journalist reported.

No dispute with FOX. They intend to provide entertainment in the hopes that advertisers will pay them for attracting viewers seeking to be entertained. Obviously, if their news reporting was a dry technical explanation of the facts it would not be a very successful strategy for anyone with those intentions.

You are free to believe whatever you want.

-jim

Yes, that can happen if the car is on a hill and the parking pawl fails. But as I explained in my previous post the recall is not because the parking pawl is defective. Now you can't seriously believe that a FOX news reporter is going to try to explain those sort of technical details to the type of morons like yourself that they know are watching their show.

-jim

I see you snipped out the part I quoted so I will repost it all.

That's not what it said ! Did you even bother to read it ??

The article states:

"In a limited number of cases, long-term wear on the shift assembly can erode the height of the shift blocker, creating the potential that the vehicle could shift out of park without the key in the ignition," Chrysler said in a statement.

Now, the part I am reading states "the vehicle could shift out of park without the key in the ignition."

I still don't see were it states that the vehicle will shift out of park on it's own. It states a problem with the ignition/shifter interlock failing allowing the vehicle to be shifted out of park WITHOUT the key in the ignition, that's all. It dosen't say it will shift out of park on it's own. Nice try though.

And today cars still don't shift on their own even if it does have a defect that allows it to be shifted.

________________________________________________

"Built_Well" wrote:

.. your dispute lies with the reporter on Fox News TV who reported to hundreds of thousands of viewers nation-wide that the vehicles "CAN SHIFT OUT OF PARK ON THEIR OWN" You are contradicting a professional Fox News journalist who has editors double-checking his copy. ________________________________________________

Fox News would never embellish a boring story about a parking pawl recall by adding dramatic spin to scare people into thinking their car is going to unexpectedly jump into gear. The "professional Fox News journalist" must have had some secret source for his conclusion, allowing him to broadcast his warning to hundreds of thousands of viewers nation-wide.

If it's on Fox News, it must be true.

Rodan.

Reason to set parking brake.