U.S. Opens Safety Review of Chryslers

Concern over the safety of ignition switches is spreading beyond General Motors cars, reported The New York Times.

Federal regulators disclosed on Wednesday that they were conducting a review of all the major automakers for ignition-switch problems similar to the safety defect that G.M. has linked to at least 13 deaths.

The review, by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, has turned up potential problems in at least one company so far. The agency announced that it had opened investigations into about 1.2 million Chrysler vehicles over concern that jostling the ignition key could accidentally cut power in a moving car and disable the air bags — a flaw strikingly similar to the one that has thrown G.M. into turmoil and forced it to recall millions of small cars.

In a statement, the safety agency said the Chrysler inquiries were part of new “broader efforts” to evaluate problems with ignition systems and failure of air bags to deploy in crashes. Toward that end, the agency said it “examined all major manufacturers’ air bag deployment strategies as they relate to switch position.”

A spokeswoman did not immediately respond when asked whether the industrywide review was finished, but the statement said the agency “will continue to refine its knowledge of these systems.”

The G.M. ignition-switch defect has brought scathing public criticism, a half-dozen investigations and scores of lawsuits, in part because the company acknowledges it waited more than a decade to recall the vehicles even though the problem was known and studied internally for years.

As the Chrysler ignition issues were being made public on Wednesday, G.M.’s chief executive, Mary T. Barra, was testifying before a congressional committee investigating the company’s handling of the issue, her third appearance before lawmakers on the matter this spring.

Contacted after N.H.T.S.A.’s announcement, Honda, Ford, Nissan and Toyota said they continuously monitor consumer complaints and warranty issues, but had not paid any special attention to ignition issues as a result of G.M.’s problems. Hyundai and Volkswagen did not immediately respond to messages.

A review of complaints filed to the N.H.T.S.A. by drivers of cars made in the last 10 years showed that reports of stalls of moving cars related to ignition-switch problems were not limited to vehicles made by G.M. and Chrysler; such complaints existed for a variety of vehicles.

One filed in June 2005 about a 2004 Toyota Solara indicated that the car repeatedly shut off “while driving 25 mph, 55 mph, 65 mph, and other speeds.” The driver brought the car to several dealers near Deforest, Wis., according to the complaint. None could duplicate or fix the problem.

Another driver of a 2004 Honda Accord wrote in July 2004, alarmed that the car had shut off on an expressway in Yardley, Pa., while going 65 miles an hour. After coasting to the side of the road, “I was able to start the car up and then realized that the ignition key had slipped forward into the off position while I was driving,” the driver wrote.

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Alec Gutierrez, a senior analyst at Kelley Blue Book, the car valuation firm, said taking a close look at ignition issues industrywide might be a prudent move.

“I think it’s something that might be worth looking at from our perspective,” he said. In many thousands of test drives of brand-new vehicles, Mr. Gutierrez said he had never experienced an ignition cutting out. But he said it was worth investigating whether problems are likely to develop in older cars and whether most companies use similar switch designs.

The Chrysler investigations cover certain model years of Jeep Commanders and Grand Cherokees; Grand Caravan and Town and Country minivans; and Journey sport-utility vehicles. In 2011, Chrysler recalled a small portion of those cars for ignition stall-outs — 196,000 model year 2010 Grand Caravans, Journeys and Town and Country minivans, as well as 12,700 Volkswagen Routans that were built by Chrysler.

But the safety agency said it was looking at whether to expand that recall. Regulators said they had received 23 complaints about ignition-key problems from owners of models that were not recalled, as well as a few from people who said they had the recall repairs made, but the problem occurred again.

N.H.T.S.A. is also investigating whether Chrysler should be required to recall about 525,000 Jeep Commanders from the 2006 and 2007 model years, and Jeep Grand Cherokees from the 2005 and 2006 model years, according to a report published Wednesday on the agency’s website.

The agency said it had received at least 32 complaints, stretching back six years, from Jeep owners who say that the driver’s knee hit the ignition-key chain.

At least one of those complaints goes back to 2008, but the agency did not open an investigation until Wednesday.

“This causes the engine to shut off, affects power steering and brakes and may potentially result in the vehicle’s air bags not deploying during a frontal crash,” the report said. Regulators said there was one crash and no injuries associated with the problem.

“This has happened four times now,” wrote one owner in a complaint filed in June 2008. “I was driving my 1-year-old son to the babysitter’s house. My knee bumped the key as I was approaching a turn, shutting off the vehicle/power steering.”

“Luckily I slammed the brakes and stopped just in time,” the owner said.

Chrysler said it was cooperating with regulators. “Chrysler Group is awaiting additional information from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration,” the company said in an email.

Some drivers who wrote in to the safety agency’s website noted the placement of the ignition. For example, the driver of a 2005 Saab in South Euclid, Ohio, said that the ignition’s position, on the console between the driver and passenger seat, left it vulnerable to being jostled. “At over 60 mph,” the driver wrote, “the ignition has been accidentally turned off. This causes an immediate loss of power steering and power brakes, making the car very difficult to steer and stop.”

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The ignition key, the owner continued, “is not protected nor locked in any way to safeguard bumping the key and turning off the ignition. My local dealer has no parts or repair to correct the problem and Saab USA does not acknowledge that a problem exists.”

Ignition systems that use a key to turn the vehicle on are fairly simple, well-understood systems, said Anna G. Stefanopoulou, a professor of mechanical engineering and director of the Automotive Research Center at the University of Michigan.

The problem, she said, is that carmakers have added more features that need electric power, like power assist on the steering and deploying air bags.

But these ignition systems have been so tried-and-true that automakers have not developed backup systems to provide power should the engine be accidentally turned off, she said in a telephone interview. Such systems, she added, are very expensive and typically found only in the aerospace industry.

“This is a particularly unique situation because a lot of the electrical systems are based on the assumption that you will have the electricity,” she said.