EPA Recommends Chrysler Be Fined for Warranty Abuse

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency proposed a $660,000 penalty against the Chrysler Corp. today for denying Chrysler car owners warranty coverage for repairs to emission-control parts.

The EPA said it verified 66 cases in which Chrysler refused to provide warranty coverage for replacement, repair and adjustment of carburetors, fuel injectors and other parts essential to meeting federal emission standards.

The federal Clean Air Act requires auto makers to pay the cost of repairs to any parts necessary for a car to pass emissions tests. Warranty coverage for those parts is required for the first two years or 24,000 miles.

Federal law requires five-year or 50,000-mile warranty coverage for primary emissions-control parts, such as the catalytic converter.