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Ten-year recall limit could give Chrysler an out


A showdown looms over Chrysler Group defying the federal government's request that it recall 2.7 million Jeeps because of fires.

UPDATE: Chrysler wins cuts, recalls 1.56 million Jeeps

But the issue might largely be moot because there's a 10-year limit on recalls. "If Chrysler is really obstinate, it could invoke the 10-year statute of limitations," notes Clarence Ditlow, head of the Center for Auto Safety, an advocacy group.

Chrysler has been adamant that there is no defect in its 2002 through 2007 Jeep Liberty and 1993 through 2004 Grand Cherokee SUVs, and says it won't recall them.

Story: Shocker: Chrysler tells feds 'no' on recall

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, which says those models have too many deaths from fires when the Jeeps are hit from behind, has given the automaker a deadline of Tuesday to change its mind. The day doesn't end until midnight, though, so any word could come late.

If Chrysler formally refuses, it begins a process involving public hearings and additional investigation before NHTSA would then decide whether to ask the Justice Department to sue Chrysler to force a recall.

Working in Chrysler's favor: The longer it takes to declare there's a defect, either through NHTSA's processes or via a court ruling if NHTSA sues the car company, the more vehicles will fall outside the 10-year limit.

If there were a recall, however, it would difficult for Chrysler to justify to some owners that their Jeeps weren't going to be fixed free, while owners of apparently identical vehicles that happened to be a little newer were getting free safety modifications. The likely image backlash might be enough to include all the Jeeps in the free-fix category.

NHTSA's website, describing the recall process, says, "There is a limitation based on the age of the vehicle. In order to be eligible for a free remedy, the vehicle cannot be more than 10 years old on the date the defect or noncompliance is determined. Under the law, the age of the vehicle is calculated from the date of sale to the first purchaser."

What that means is that if there were a recall, Chrysler wouldn't have to recall most of the Grand Cherokees, maybe none, and only some of the Liberties.

The NHTSA website says that if you learn of a safety defect "on a vehicle older than 10 years, take the responsibility to have your car repaired at your own expense — and eliminate unnecessary safety risks."

Ditlow says three crash tests sponsored by the center in 2010 and 2011 suggest that if Chrysler would make three fairly modest changes, the risk of fuel leaks and fires in rear crashes would be cut dramatically at a cost of $300 million, by his calculations:

• Install steel skid plates on the 90% of the Jeeps that didn't have them as factory options. They are sold as protection from rocks during off-road driving. The plates would protect the rear-mounted gas tanks better if hit from behind, he says.

• Install longer fuel-filler hoses so they wouldn't pull off the tank as easily and create a leak when the tank is shoved forward in a rear crash.

• Install better check valves in the tanks. Those devices keep fuel and vapor from leaking from the tank. "A good check valve is $2. The hard part is how you get it into the tank," Ditlow acknowledges.

He says those are similar to steps Ford Motor took in the 1978 recall of 1970s Ford Pintos and Mercury Bobcats. Those also had rear-mounted fuel tanks alleged by the government to pose a fire danger.