'Urgent' safety recall leaves couple with dangerous Ram truck for nearly 2 years

When the recall notice came in the mail, Michele Ashenden and her husband Vittorio Pulcini knew it was serious.

The words "Urgent Vehicle Recall'' in red letters were sprawled at the top, along with a warning that a defec‐ tive fuel pump on their truck could lead to sudden loss of power and a crash.

Ashenden and Pulcini did‐ n't want to drive their 2016 Ram 1500 SLT after getting the recall notice, but had no choice. They needed the ve‐ hicle for work.

It soon became obvious the truck was too dangerous to be on the road, Pulcini says.

"It would just randomly shut off while driving, like, 100 per cent completely black. No power, no electron‐ ics, no hazards. Nothing," he said. "[I thought], 'Oh my God, this is totally danger‐ ous.'"

WATCH | Waiting mon‐ ths for repairs:

The automaker issued the recall in June 2022. After waiting almost two years for a permanent fix, the Mon‐ treal couple reached out to Go Public, overwhelmed with frustration amid mounting expenses.

"They indeed told us … that the repairs were not able to be done because the part doesn't exist," Ashenden said.

The automaker, Stellantis, manufactures and sells vehi‐ cles under 14 brands, includ‐ ing Chrysler, Dodge, Ram, Fi‐ at and Jeep.

An automobile consumer advocate says the time some companies take to fix defects is "outrageous" considering the safety of everyone on the road is at stake.

George Iny, who heads the Automobile Protection Association (APA), tells Go Public delayed fixes are "a big problem" in Canada.

He says some companies will issue a safety recall as re‐ quired by law then - as in this case - leave owners waiting far too long for the repair, because there are no man‐ dated deadlines on how long they can take to fix the de‐ fect.

"They issue the notice ar‐ guing that that makes them compliant with the law, but then they haven't put in the process for the repair yet. It's really unacceptable," he said.

It is estimated that as many as one in five vehicles in Canada has an unresolved safety recall, "endangering not only the occupants but also other road users," ac‐ cording to a June 2023 report by Transport Canada.

There are no publicly available numbers that show how many of those are be‐ cause automakers don't have a fix.

The recall that involves Ashenden and Pulcini's truck affects nearly 200,000 vehi‐ cles in Canada and the U.S., more than 55,000 of those are north of the border.

In a statement to Go Pub‐ lic, the automaker said, "such work cannot be rushed," and that, "this particular remedy features additional re‐ designed fuel-system compo‐

nents that required engineer‐ ing, validation, sourcing and service-procedure develop‐ ment."

Mixed messages, shift‐ ing blame

Ashenden and Pulcini needed a vehicle for their home renovation business. But after those breakdowns on the road, they decided us‐ ing the truck for work wasn't worth the risk. They got it towed to their local dealer‐ ship to await repairs.

Instead, they got mixed messages.

The dealership tried to re‐ pair the truck but couldn't saying the problem was pos‐ sibly linked to the recall, though they charged the cou‐ ple for the work anyway.

Later, a customer service representative from the au‐ tomaker told them the break‐ downs were related to the re‐ call, but this was eventually contradicted by a spokesper‐ son for Stellantis, which spoke on behalf of the deal‐ ership.

"That message was re‐ layed in error, for which we apologize," the spokesperson told Go Public. "Further diag‐ nosis is needed to confirm the vehicle's issues were re‐ lated to the recall."

The dealership also re‐ fused requests for a loaner vehicle, says the couple, so their expenses started adding up - reaching just over $8,500 for rental vehi‐ cles and the attempted re‐ pairs.

Stellantis refused to reim‐ burse the couple for the rental costs saying they had declined a second, tempo‐ rary fix that would have kept the truck on the road. The couple says that's not true.

However, after Go Public showed the company emails between the couple and the dealership, Stellantis shifted blame to the dealership.

WATCH | The recall and the runaround:

"A review of additional records make clear there was insufficient follow-up with this customer."

Other details, such as who said what about that offer is unclear, but the automaker now says it will review the couple's out-of-pocket ex‐ penses for "possible reim‐ bursement."

A permanent fix became available a month ago - too late for Ashenden and Pulci‐ ni.

The couple says they had grown tired of waiting and of the mounting costs, so they traded the truck in for anoth‐ er make and model at a dif‐ ferent dealership.

No real deadlines

There were a total of 794 ve‐ hicle safety recalls issued in 2021, affecting over four mil‐ lion vehicles and vehicle equipment, according to that Transport Canada report.

Adding to the problem is a hole in the rules that allows automakers to drag their heels on completing recalls, says Iny.

The Motor Vehicle Safety Act requires vehicle manufac‐ turers to provide Transport Canada with quarterly recall updates for two years after the notice is issued, but doesn't set a deadline on when all the fixes need to be completed.

"Transport Canada should be able to hold the manufac‐ turer accountable. There should be consequences," he said.

Even without mandated deadlines, Iny says automak‐ ers need to get recalls done in a reasonable amount of time or offer owners com‐ pensation while they wait.

"I think these would be good examples where those carmakers need to step it up. But the root of the problem here really goes to a recall which is, what is Transport Canada doing to ensure com‐ pliance?"

Transport Canada says each recall problem, and the timeline for its solution, are "unique" so manufacturers must "control the process to ensure vehicle safety."

The agency, in a state‐ ment to Go Public, says its approach is consistent with that of U.S. regulators.

But unlike their American counterpart, Transport Cana‐ da does not publicly disclose how much progress is being made by companies when correcting defects, some‐ thing Iny says they should be doing.

Ashenden and Pulcini agree that recall completion deadlines are needed so au‐ tomakers can be held re‐ sponsible for recalls that drag on.