Chronicle article, "Technical Service Bulletins Explained."īut this Edmunds article, "How Can a Technical Service Bulletin Help Me?" states that if there is a TSB for your particular problem, and it's verifiable by the dealer, then the repair is free to cars within the warranty period. NPR's Car Talk show duo, Tom Magliozzi and brother Ray Magliozzi (also known as "Click and Clack"), describe TSBs, saying, "They really just contain advice from the company to the mechanics who fix their cars," in this S.F. This can also enhance the quality of the maintenance since it tends to be supported by repair history and high-level diagnostic procedure decisions. Some benefits of an automotive TSB are that by widely circulating among dealership service departments and mechanics an engineering-level description and solution for a problem common to type, year, make or model of car, a well-managed TSB process can save technicians troubleshooting time provide organized, itemized repair procedures and standardize the repair process. However, the circulation of the bulletin amongst dealerships and manufacturers. The difference is that manufacturers are not required to make the repair at no cost for a problem documented in a TSB. When the vehicle's manufacturer issues a recall, they require the dealership to perform the repair and will reimburse them for it. While a recall concerns a safety issue which must be fixed, a Technical Service Bulletin just identifies a common issue and documents a solution. Nor is there a requirement to carry out the TSB repairs with no or reduced charges to the owner, since the manufacturer does not explicitly require the repair to be performed and does not reimburse the dealership for repairs. Search vehicle recall information by VIN or sign in to your Mopar account to see recall information related to your Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep, or Ram vehicle. However, dealers are usually not obliged to call in cars for which TSBs for repairs have been issued. The ensuing recall maintenance/repair work is usually done at no charge to the car owner, regardless of the car's warranty status. Because certain problems may have more than one cause and there is sometimes more than one way to fix a problem, there may be more than one TSB for the same problem.Ī major difference between a product recall and a TSB in the automotive industry is that a recall usually evolves out of safety issues at the behest of an organization such as the US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). Follow the tabs above to obtain the latest recall information, to report a. While sometimes written by engineers employed by OEMs, the majority are authored by the first automotive technician to come up with a repair procedure. To provide better service in alerting the American people to unsafe, hazardous or defective products, six federal agencies with vastly different jurisdictions have joined together to create - a 'one stop shop' for U.S. TSBs can range from vehicle-specific to covering entire product lines and break down the specified repair into a step-by-step process. Technical Service Bulletins, or TSBs, document recommended procedures for repairing vehicles, issued by a vehicle manufacturer when there are several occurrences of an unanticipated problem.