The federal government has fined Fiat Chrysler $105 million for its failure to address vehicle defects and active recalls, and perhaps they’ve concluded that customers will respond to a cash incentive, not a cash punishment. Taking a break from desperately hugging General Motors, today the automaker announced an offer: car owners get $100 if they bring their vehicle in for repair, and an extra $1,000 or $2,000 trade-in incentive to buy a new car instead.
The company hopes that offering money or trade-in incentives encourages people who own affected cars to bring their vehicles in for replacement. If the owners traded in recalled Jeep Grand Cherokees from the ’90s or Jeep Libertys from the ’00s for brand-new vehicles, the company certainly wouldn’t complain.
Part of the company’s punishment from NHTSA was for not making needed parts for the repairs available: if they’re bribing people to come in and get their cars fixed, the parts must be available now.
To find out whether your vehicle is eligible for the program, grab your VIN and check the Fiat Chrysler site, or check NHTSA’s site, safercar.gov. Remember that if you’ve bought a used car recently, even if it was sold to you as “Certified,” check with the NHTSA database and with the manufacturer to make sure there aren’t any active recalls.
Fiat Chrysler offers $100 debit cards to owners of recalled U.S. vehicles [Reuters]
by Laura Northrup via Consumerist
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