Horn Assembly problems of the 2014 Chrysler Town & Country

Air bag light came on after 22000 miles. Horn also quit working. Took to dealer and was told clock spring was broken. They want $800 for repair. Other years had this same recall.

I am writing today regarding what appears to be a very serious safety concern regarding my 2014 Chrysler Town & Country. Last Monday (may 15, 2017) I was driving and realized that none of the steering wheel controls on my vehicle were working. It became scarily apparent when I went to honk my horn and nothing happened. The condition also affected all the other controls on the steering wheel, including the driver information center that provides me information on all the vital statistics of the vehicle. I use this information daily to verify that my vehicle is well maintained and functioning properly. Without it, I do not know if there are concerns about my vehicle's road worthiness. Lacking just these two items (not to mention losing the other controls on the steering wheel) caused me serious concern about the safety of my vehicle. The cause of the problem was not the horn. Rather, I was told, the horn is wired through the cruise control switch and that switch had failed. After agreeing to have that repair done, I waited for the work to be completed so I could safely drive my vehicle again. But that was not the case. A couple hours later, I received another call from the dealership stating that it wasn't the cruise control switch, but rather, I was told, the failure was due to a clock spring that fed power to the cruise control switch that provided power to activate the horn and all the other controls that are not working on the steering wheel. And by the way, the manufacturer will not cover any of the costs of this safety repair. This sounded strange to me. How could something as important and simple as a horn be so complex and convoluted? why would an automobile manufacturer design such a simple and important safety feature in such a way that even their own technicians cannot accurately determine a diagnosis on their initial in-depth evaluation?.

While out of town (200 miles from home) and stopping for a break, I exited the car. I retrieved some personal belongings and accidentally put my hand on the door lock switch. While closing the door, I noticed that the key fob was still on the console, but it was too late to stop the door from closing. Despite statements in the manual that with a keyless ignition system, it was not supposed to be possible to lock the door with the fob inside, the doors remained locked. The horn did not beep and the doors did not unlock in accordance with the manual. Eventually, I located the Chrysler service number through google on my cell phone and called for assistance. Chrysler called for a service truck to see whether it was possible to gain entry into the car. After about an hour from locking the door, a service truck arrived and the operator was able to unlock the door. If I had not had a cell phone, there would have been no way to either search or make a "help" call. More importantly, had our grandchildren been with us, they would have been locked in a relatively hot, vehicle and we would have had to break a window so they could escape. The person on the Chrysler line seemed to have no interest in the problem other than to call a service truck. This is not the first time I've had a problem with the electrical door locking system. Previously, I'd made 3 complaints to the dealer regarding a failure of the driver sliding door to lock. I even sent the dealer a video of the door lock failing to properly operate (I still have the video and emails to the dealer). Chrysler should be required to warn all purchasers that their system, on occasion, does not prevent the doors from locking while the fob remains in the car. They should also be required to inform all owners of any Smart phone application which would unlock the doors.