Chrysler guilty of morally bankrupt ploy

Neil Mizen, Las Vegas

Wednesday, Aug. 5, 2009 | 2:05 a.m.

The American public should be made fully aware of one consequence of the bankruptcies filed by the automotive manufacturers.

Chrysler, for one, has taken the position that it no longer has any responsibility regarding any vehicle built under its old name. The bankruptcy, Chrysler claims, has wiped away all current, pending and future claims against vehicles manufactured by the “old Chrysler.”

Simply stated, that means victims of defect-related crashes can get lost. Chrysler no longer has, it claims, any responsibility to compensate victims injured because of possibly derelict engineering or manufacturing practices.

Dealers who sell Chryslers should be obligated to affix a warning sticker to every “old Chrysler” they sell. Otherwise, they will be misrepresenting their product by not mentioning this important condition.

General Motors tried to get under this same atrocious umbrella but didn’t quite make it. GM agreed to accept liability for any vehicle built under its old name, but current and pending claims are wiped off the table.

Let us, the buying public, demand that the new companies do something to compensate victims of defects. Rep. Andre Carson, D-Ind., has taken a good first step. He has introduced the Jeremy Warriner Consumer Protection Act, named after a man who lost both legs and suffered severe burns in a vehicle fire he alleges was sparked by a faulty brake fluid container in his 2005 Jeep Wrangler. The bill would require GM and Chrysler to cover claims made against them for products produced by their earlier companies.