2012 Chrysler 200 — Should You Buy One?

The engine cluster is the biggest in the record, and what owners describe is the car shutting off with no warning at 45 mph, at red lights, entering a highway — sometimes repeatedly, and often with a dealer unable to find a cause. Many of these trace to the Totally Integrated Power Module, which controls the fuel pump relay; others are a cam or crank sensor, a failed alternator, or the 2.4L four-cylinder burning oil and fouling plugs. Separately, recall 11V487 covers cars built August 31 to September 13, 2011: a connecting rod can fail and seize the engine, and the remedy is a new engine. Run the VIN, then ask for the build date on the door-jamb sticker. On the test drive, idle the car for ten minutes with the A/C on and watch for a stumble.

Repair cost: $0 with the recall — verify it was performed; $150–$600 for a cam or crank sensor; $2,500–$5,000 for an engine — around 87% of what this car is typically worth

Source: NHTSA complaints filed under the engine (162); 4 NHTSA recall campaigns on this model year.

The electrical cluster is 140 complaints and reads like a single part failing in a dozen ways: wipers that run with the key out or stop mid-sweep on the freeway in rain, headlights that go dark at night, the horn honking on its own, gauges fluctuating, the engine dying in traffic, then a no-start the next morning. This is the Totally Integrated Power Module — the fuse box under the hood that Chrysler built into the 2011–2013 cars — and its failing fuel pump relay is the most common cause of the stalls above. Recall 13V282 reflashes the TIPM on cars built June 28, 2011 to December 13, 2012, but that flash addresses the active head restraints, not the relay. At the car: cycle the wipers and lights through every position, twice. Any hesitation or self-starting is the module.

Repair cost: $900–$1,800 for a TIPM; $0 with the recall — verify it was performed — about 31% of what this car is typically worth

Source: NHTSA complaints filed under electrics and electronics (140); 4 NHTSA recall campaigns on this model year.

Recall 16V668 covers every 2011–2014 Chrysler 200: the Occupant Restraint Control module may short circuit, which switches off the frontal airbags, side airbags and seat belt pretensioners. The airbag light coming on and staying on is the symptom. Parts were slow to arrive — most of the 136 airbag complaints on this year are owners waiting months for the fix — and 20 of them report a crash. A second recall, 17V640, replaces the same controller on 2012–2013 cars so the active headrests deploy in a rear-end hit. Both are free; both must show closed on the NHTSA VIN lookup before you pay. An airbag light on the dash on a car with the recall done means a separate fault, and dealers charge to chase it.

Repair cost: $0 with the recall — verify it was performed; $300–$1,200 for a sensor or module fault outside the recall

Source: NHTSA complaints filed under airbags (136), seat belts (71); 4 NHTSA recall campaigns on this model year.