Pacifica

Make
Chrysler
Segment
Van

The General Motors ignition switch recall debacle will come to an end one day, but the scars of the affair will be felt for years to come. But it may not be just GM that'll suffer. Chrysler has just announced that it too will recall some 696,000 minivans and SUVs globally due to ignition keys that could potentially move to the "off" position. Like the GM cars, this could result in stalling and airbag deployment failure in a front-end collision. Which can never be good.

Chrysler has informed the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) it intends to expand a 2011 recall that affects the 2009 Dodge Journey and 2008-2009 Dodge Grand Caravan and Chrysler Town and Country due to "inadvertent ignition key rotation from the run position to the accessory position." All told, a total of 525,000 vehicles are affected in the US alone. Fortunately, there haven't been any reported deaths or injuries related to this defect, but Chrysler did say that it received 32 customer complaints and 465 warranty claims. It also received reports of two rear-end collisions as a result of this issue.

The NHTSA wants Chrysler to replace all of those ignition switches outright, but the automaker believes the problem can be permanently fixed by adding a detent ring to the existing switch to make it stiffer. We'll know soon enough whether this is the appropriate solution.