1999 Chrysler 300M: ball joint or control arm failure

Filed May 15, 2008 · Steering · 110,751 miles · IL

1. Started with clunks and awkward noises in the front of the car. Steering wheel began to have loose play. Front suspension was checked an never found a problem. 2. One night turned left and car wanted to turn right. While normal driving the car would pull left and right. Countless amount of events were I almost crashed. 3. Rack and pinion was replaced along with tie rods. Old parts are available if requested.

Filed Jun 22, 2006 · Suspension · 77,000 miles · OH

My problem is with my 1999 chrysler 300m. This is my wife's primary source of transportation. She is a stay at home mother. The vehicle has relatively low miles, 77k because the vehicle is driven little and only for errands and short trips with our (2) small children. The vehicle is stored in a garage. Our experience was upon returning home 6/17, we turned onto a residential street approx. 1/4 mile from our house. We heard a loud noise. We got out of the car to find the entire passenger side wheel assembly detached from the vehicle. The chrysler service technician has since told us the failure was the front ball joint breaking in turn snapping off the spindle and bending the strut and front fender. He told us " we don't even stock these parts because they never go bad." and " this shouldn't have happened." my concern is that this happened at a low speed. 15-20 MPH. At high speeds, it seems certain to me serious damage and bodily injury could occur. Chrysler has offered no compensation or explanation for this problem. I was rebuffed to even get information for a possible recurrence on the driver side. Can you tell me if this vehicle is safe? Chrysler did tell me part of the reason they rejected responsibility was because the car had multiple owners and the previous one may have mis-handled the vehicle. We know the previous owner. It was my father-in-law. He enjoyed the car so much he leased another one. This car has regular maintenance checkups. Nothing in my service manual indicates there may be a failure of this magnitude at this point in the vehicles life. I'm reporting this to the federal safety agency so there is a formal record on file in the event there is a catastrophic accident again. I feel blessed to have been on a surface street as the entire family was in the car. The bill for this repair is excessive. The chrysler 300m, to my knowledge was chrysler's most expensive vehicle in 1999.

Filed Jun 14, 2005 · Suspension · TX

Dt: consumer states that the front end rattles, she got into an unrelated accident. But when she took the vehicle to be repaired the mechanic told her she had a problem with the front end ball joint. Vibration occurs more on the driver's side, but both need to be replaced.

Filed Nov 15, 2004 · Steering · 40,000 miles · IL

Inner tie rod bolt kept coming off. Consumer took the vehicle to an after market repair shop because the warranty on this vehicle was no longer in effect, and the chrysler manufacturer refused to do anything to assist the consumer. *ak

Filed Aug 9, 2004 · Steering · 86,584 miles · CA

1999 chrysler 300m with approximately 86,000 miles on it requires replacement of entire rack and pinion steering system and inner tie rods. I note on other internet sites that this might be a design defect for this car platform.

Filed Jun 2, 2003 · Steering · WI

On 9/16/2002 tie rods had to be replaced. Also, rack and pinion had to be replaced.vehicle is currently at dealership.

Filed Apr 15, 2003 · Suspension · MI

While driving the consumer heard a rattling noise coming from the rear of the vehicle. The vehicle was taken to the dealer who stated that the lower control arm was torn in two.

Filed Jun 3, 2002 · Steering · TN

The steering was very loose and dealer fixed tie rods as possible cause, but the problem continued and rack and pinion steering was replaced twice.