2002 CHRYSLER PT CRUISER — Complaint #874961
Open-data reference.
NHTSA Complaint about EXTERIOR LIGHTING:FOG LIGHTS:SWITCH filed August 19, 2011
NHTSA complaint #874961 (ODI reference 10420714) concerns a 2002 CHRYSLER PT CRUISER and was filed on August 19, 2011. The owner reports the failure occurred on July 1, 2011. The vehicle had 103,000 miles on the odometer at the time of the incident. The report was geocoded to Tennessee based on the filer's self-reported location. The affected component is categorized as exterior lighting:fog lights:switch, one of NHTSA's standardized taxonomy codes used to group defect patterns across make, model, and year.
The filer flagged the following severity indicators: crash: no, fire: no, injuries: 0, fatalities: 0. No crash, fire, or fatality was associated with this report, which places it in the early-warning stream rather than the priority-review stream. Because a VIN was supplied, this complaint is tied to a specific vehicle and not just a model-year cohort.
Individual complaints are consumer-submitted and unverified by NHTSA engineers — the agency's role at this stage is to collect, index, and make them searchable. What matters for federal action is the pattern: when many owners of the same CHRYSLER PT CRUISER cohort independently describe similar exterior lighting:fog lights:switch failures, defect investigators have grounds to open a PE and request manufacturer data. Related filings for the same vehicle and component appear below, and the detail page for the full 2002 CHRYSLER PT CRUISER shows the complete component-level complaint distribution alongside any active investigations or recalls.
Complaint Description
TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2002 CHRYSLER PT CRUISER. THE CONTACT STATED THE FOG LAMPS WOULD REMAINED ON AFTER THE VEHICLE WAS TURNED OFF. THE CONTACT HAD TO REMOVED THE FUSE IN ORDER TO TURN THE FOG LAMPS OFF. THE VEHICLE WAS TAKEN TO A LOCAL MECHANIC WHO DIAGNOSED THAT THE SWITCH THAT OPERATED THE EXTERNAL LIGHTS WAS DEFECTIVE AND NEEDED TO BE REPLACED. THE MANUFACTURER WAS MADE AWARE OF THE FAILURE BUT DID NOT OFFER ANY ASSISTANCE SINCE THE VEHICLE WAS NOT INCLUDED IN ANY OF THE RECALLS. THE VEHICLE WAS NOT REPAIRED. THE FAILURE AND CURRENT MILEAGE WAS 103,000.
Complaint Details
| NHTSA Complaint ID | 874961 |
| ODI Number | 10420714 |
| Date Filed | August 19, 2011 |
| Failure Date | July 1, 2011 |
| VIN | 3C8FY68B12T |
Similar EXTERIOR LIGHTING:FOG LIGHTS:SWITCH Complaints for 2002 CHRYSLER PT CRUISER
TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2002 CHRYSLER PT CRUISER. WHILE THE VEHICLE WAS PARKED THE FOG LIGHTS CAME ON AND CAUSED THE BATTERY TO FAIL. THE CONTROL SWITCH FOR THE FOG LIGHTS CONTINUED TO REMAIN ILLUMINA
THE PROBLEM I AM HAVING STARTED ABOUT 2 MONTHS AGO, WHEN MY BATTERY WAS SUDDENLY DRAINED AND I HAD NO IDEA WHY. I HAD TO BUY A NEW BATTERY, AND FOUND IT DRAINING AS WELL. I FINALLY DISCOVERED THAT M
FOG LIGHT SWITCH FAILURE, FOG LIGHTS STAY ON WHETHER THE SWITCH IS TURNED ON OR OFF. SMELL OF BURNING WIRES AFTER VEHICLE SITS FOR A COUPLE OF HOURS WITH THE LIGHTS ON. *AK
TL*THE CONTACT OWNS A 2002 CHRYSLER PT CRUISER. THE CONTACT STATED THAT THE FOG LIGHT SWITCH BECOMES STUCK AND RUNS DOWN HIS BATTERY. THE FAILURE HAS CAUSED THE VEHICLE NOT TO START DUE TO THE LOSS
TROUBLE WITH MULTIFUNCTION CONTROL SWITCH FOR PT CRUISER HEADLIGHTS. THE FOG LIGHTS ON THE PT CRUISER ILLUMINATED INTERMITTENTLY WITHOUT OPERATOR INTERFACE OR FAIL TO SHUT OFF WHEN MULTIFUNCTION SWITC
Source: NHTSA Vehicle Complaints Database. Component taxonomy and severity codes are standardized by NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation.
Read our methodology — how this data is sourced, computed, and verified.