Defogger Heater problems of the 2003 Mitsubishi Outlander

I am highly upset about our 2003 Mitsubishi Outlander. We take very good care of our car. The heater knob was hard to turn from hot to cold and eventually broke. I went in to viva Mitsubishi and the informed me that there was a defect on the Outlanders and lancers. They have not recalled the cars to fix this problem. They also informed that it would cost $1300 to fix it. We don't have the money to fix it. I have to little boys and it gets cold here and my boys have to freeze. Also, when we need to defrost the windows, we can't change the temp and it doesn't work. This is a huge safety hazard for us. I can't believe Mitsubishi is willing to put our lives, even children's lives, in danger all because they won't recall this part.