Just an update to all, at the dealer now and they are replacing both plastic side-shields (no cost to me). If the parts break again then I guess I had nothing to lose other than an hour or so of my time. Thanks guys.
Thanks for the feedback guys. I was getting out of my car at 5pm today and guess what... the driver side-shield cracked in half. Now I'm 1 week into ownership of the vehicle and have 2 broken side-shields. I just don't understand how 5 years into manufacturing basically the same vehicle this issue has not been identified/corrected at the plant level. One would think Chrysler would test seats for ingress/egress durability as well as other "life-cycle" type testing to vett these issues out. Im 5' 10" and weigh 175 pounds so its not like I'm a super big guy or anything. Other than this issue I have been totally content with the car thus far.. good thing I have a place to vent for now. The wife just gets more upset about it than I.