1999 Dodge Ram 1500 4x4 Quad Cab on 2040-cars

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Ford, Chrysler and Mazda expand scope of Takata airbag recalls

The scope of the Takata airbag inflator recall is ballooning once again across the United States. Where Honda has elected to take its driver-side airbag campaign nationwide, Chrysler Group and Ford have now announced expanded regional actions to cover some passenger-side airbag inflators. Mazda is adding more regions, as well. For Chrysler Group, the campaign covers the inflators on 149,150 examples of the 2003-model-year Ram 1500, 2500 and 3500 pickups. The recall is limited to vehicles sold or ever registered in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Louisiana, Mississippi, Texas and the territories of American Samoa, Guam, Puerto Rico, Saipan, and the Virgin Islands. The company will begin notifying affected customers on January 19. According to Chrysler's announcement of the action, the passenger side inflators in these trucks "are of a type that is not used in any of the other vehicles affected by Chrysler Group's regional field action." The automaker says that it's not aware of any actual failures or accidents in these pickups and even claims there are no "observed failures in laboratory testing of its airbag modules." The company is continuing to study the problem, though. Ford is taking a similar step by issuing a recall of inflators for 38,500 examples of the 2004-2005 Ranger and 2005-2006 Ford GT. The campaign only affects vehicles originally sold or ever registered in Florida, Hawaii, Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands. Certain zip codes of Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, Texas, Guam, Saipan and American Samoa are also covered. There's already precedent for passenger-side airbags to be covered under the Takata inflator recall. When many automakers announced campaigns in June, BMW, Chrysler, Ford, Honda, Mazda, Nissan and Toyota all included that side in some of their repairs. Subaru subsequently did, as well. In addition, Mazda is expanding the scope of its recall to add Florida, Puerto Rico, Hawaii, Saipan, Guam, American Samoa, US Virgin Islands, Georgia, Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas to the affected areas. The company estimates that it has a total of 86,773 vehicles in need of repair. Mazda is also teaming with Toyota to begin independent testing of the Takata inflators. Scroll down to read all of the automakers' announcements of these newly expanded recalls. Statement: Air-Bag Inflators December 3, 2014 , Auburn Hills, Mich.

Chrysler Recalls Over 566,000 Trucks, SUVs

Fiat Chrysler is recalling more than 566,000 trucks and SUVs in two recalls for malfunctioning fuel heaters that can cause fires and a software glitch can disable the electronic stability control. The recalls bring the newly merged company's total for the year to 6.4 million vehicles worldwide and 5.1 million in the U.S. as it continues to struggle with reliability problems. It was not immediately clear whether those totals were annual records. On Tuesday, its longtime quality chief abruptly left after Fiat Chrysler performed poorly in Consumer Reports magazine's annual reliability rankings. The largest of two recalls announced Wednesday covers almost 382,000 Ram 2500 and 3500 pickups and Ram 4500 and 5500 chassis cabs from 2010 through 2014. In trucks with 6.7-Liter Cummins diesel engines, corrosion on a fuel heater terminal could cause overheating, fuel leaks and fires. Chrysler is not aware of any fires or injuries. Owners could be warned by an odor of diesel fuel. Customers will be notified by letters starting in December. Dealers will install upgraded terminals and fuel heater housings could be replaced. The second recall covers more than 184,000 Jeep Grand Cherokee and Dodge Durango SUVs from 2014. A debris cover over a circuit board in the steering column control module can disrupt communications and disable the stability control. The problem was discovered when dealers started getting reports from customers that electronic stability control warning lights were coming on. Fiat Chrysler says it knows of no crashes or injuries caused by the problem. Technicians will upgrade software to fix the SUVs, and customers will be notified in December. Fiat Chrysler has issued 33 global recalls and 27 in the U.S. so far this year. Doug Betts, its longtime quality chief, left the company to pursue other options after Consumer Reports' survey-based rankings this year showed four FiatChrysler brands at the bottom of its list. Dodge, Ram, Jeep and Fiat performed worst of 28 brands ranked by the magazine. Company spokesman Eric Mayne said Fiat Chrysler's recalls average fewer than 200,000 vehicles each, below the industry average of 301,000. That means the company is responding quickly to problems, he said, adding that eight of its 27 U.S. recalls were announced before the company received any consumer complaints. Chrysler is not alone with a high number of recalls so far this year.

2021 Dodge Durango gets upgraded interior and new R/T Tow N Go package

The addition of a 710-horsepower Hellcat edition is surely the biggest headline-grabbing announcement for the 2021 Dodge Durango lineup. But the truth is that’s an extremely limited model. Dodge will sell many times more non-Hellcat Durangos for the 2021 model year, and there are some interesting improvements and additions worth talking about for those lesser models. The 2021 Durango gets some fairly mild exterior updates, including a new front end that features a grille thatÂ’s canted forward in a way that mimics the Charger Widebody sedan. The updated fascia is flanked by slim LED headlamps and topped by a newly sculpted hood with scoops and extractors on some models and sharp-edged bulges on others. SRT models get a new chin spoiler, and all models gain a rear spoiler atop the back hatch. More important than the exterior changes are the sweeping upgrades to the DurangoÂ’s interior. The heavily redesigned cockpit gains a redesigned instrument panel, center console and front door panels. Everything is canted slightly toward the driver, including the 10.1-inch touchscreen (an 8.4-inch is standard on SXT and GT) in the console, which runs DodgeÂ’s latest Uconnect 5 software. Apple CarPlay and Android Auto standard across the range, and wireless charging comes on any Durango equipped with the larger infotainment screen. In addition to the styling updates, Dodge has added a new Tow N Go package for the Durango R/T. This model gets some of the upgrades of the SRT models, including exterior fender flares, SRT-edition 20-inch wheels shod in Pirelli Scorpion Zero all-season tires, an SRT-tuned exhaust, active noise cancelation, electronic limited slip differential, active damping suspension and Brembo brakes. The 5.7-liter Hemi maintains the same 360-horsepower and 390-pound-foot of torque as the regular R/T, but the suspension upgrades allow it to boost its tow rating from 7,400 pounds to an SRT-matching 8,700 pounds. It also has a top-speed boost to 145 miles per hour, not that anyone will want to push it that far. We have a feeling the R/T with the Tow N Go package may prove to be a sweet spot in the Durango lineup, offering the looks of an SRT with legitimate performance and utility upgrades baked in for good measure. Check it out in our image gallery up above in red, and be sure to scroll through the more luxurious white Durango in Citadel trim, which includes shots of the new interior, below. Related Video: