— Chrysler Town & Country fires are under investigation after three minivan owners complained about electrical fires at the charge hubs.
The 2014 Town & Country minivan charge hubs are mounted in the trim panels on the driver's side of the minivans between the second- and third-row seats.
The charge hubs are power and communication ports for the entertainment systems and personal devices in about 150,000 model year 2014 Chrysler Town & Country minivans.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) says the fire reports indicate the charge hubs were involved and may be the cause of the fires, but the purpose of the investigation is to confirm the true source of the problems.
According to NHTSA, these are the three fire reports that caused the 2014 Chrysler Town & Country investigation.
"The contact stated that while driving, a noise occurred that was coming through the vehicle vent driver side front door and smoke was coming through the vent switch. The contact also stated that on the driver side by the third-row seat the cigarette power supply caught on fire. The contact coasted to the side of the road and took a beach towel to smother the fire for it not to spread and burn his left hand but did not seek medical attention."
"Middle media control panel shorted and caught fire. Burned all the wires behind that panel. Happened during driving just after startup."
"Vehicle caught fire in the rear along the second row of seating by the usb outlets/power inverter. The vehicle started smoking and then sparks flew out of the outlets. There were no cords plugged in and the seats were folded down. After turning the vehicle off, it then caught fire. The vehicle was running and the smoking occurred at a stop light. After the light changed from red to green, I parked the vehicle away from traffic and turned off the engine once sparks emitted from the outlet."
The Chrysler minivan investigation will seek to determine if safety defects exist and if the vehicles should be recalled and repaired.
CarComplaints.com will update this page when results of the investigation are released.
