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Jeep - Unintended Acceleration

Vasanthi of San Jose, CA March 23, 2009

My wife pulled our 2004 V8 Jeep grand Cherokee, into the day care to pick up our toddler and put the gear in park after coming to a stop. The Jeep suddely accelerated and shot forward, with her foot tightly on the brake, and went over a concrete block, through a fence and into the yard on the other side. Just missed crashing into the house. She pressed the brake harder to make it stop but it accelerated and hit a tree before it stopped. We have had this jeep for over 5 year and is has been dealer serviced for the last 5 years.

The air bag never deployed and when we called the jeep service center in san jose, the service manager said that in the V8 the sensor is faulty and it sometimes accelerates when changing the gear to stop from neutral. If Chrysler/Jeep knew about this they why did they not recall and fix the sensor. .. What is Jeep waiting for????..

Property damage, Damage to vehicle and physical injury.

Cheryl of Ashland, MA February 2, 2009

My husband and I were hit from behind by an out of control 2004 Jeep Liberty yesterday. The Jeep was 2 cars behind us, swerved around one car at high speed and plowed into the back of our moving car at about 60 miles an hour. We were pushed by this car for 1 1/2 blocks, at which time it veered to the right, taking out a utility pole and only coming to a stop after it hit 3 cars in a used car dealership. The woman driving the Jeep stated that her brakes would not work and the car was clearly accelerating despite her attempts to stop.

My husband's 1999 Honda Civic will no doubt be totaled, as the entire back of the car is now missing. The Jeep looked as though it would be totaled, the utility company had to come out and shut the street and 3 cars in the used lot appeared damaged.

Cynthia of Warfordsburg, PA September 17, 2008

i have a question regarding the complaint from -----Mart of Oakdale PA (05/09/07) Jeep Commander: Stalling - The only reason my engine stalled on a few occasion was because my knee hit the key and turned off the engine.-----can you actually turn these vehicles off while they are still in gear????? my understanding is (and i think i've had this happen to me) - if you attempt to turn the key off without putting the vehicle in park - it won't turn off. am i incorrect?????

just a question.....

Cynthia of Chattanooga, TN September 12, 2008

My 2001 Jeep excellerates when stopping and has a slow take off when excerlating. I stopped at a traffic light when applying the brakes the Jeep excerlated. I had to again apply the brakes. I never know when it is going to stop. The transmission light has come on and a gas cap was relaplaced when this first happened but now the excellerations have started again. I am afraid to drive the car close to any other car because I don't know if the Jeep will just take off. Also, the Jeep stalls when taking off or excellarating.

Heather of Bexley, OH September 4, 2008

I have had my JEEP Commander brand new since 2006-there have been no other drivers beside me. I've had no previous accidents or problems for almost two years with this JEEP. This summer my husband was filing the JEEP with gas and a woman came flying across the parking lot into the back of the JEEP. The JEEP was obviously in park and turned off but the crash sent the car flying 50 feet forward and it was still rolling as my husband jumped in to stop it. My 4 year old daughter and dog were luckily okay and belted in still. The car was repaired and the woman who caused the accident cited. Since I had no other problems to this point I am not sure if what happened next was a result of the recent accident or an original mechanical malfunction of the JEEP. The one thing that is certain is that no one wants to write anything thing down about the JEEP lurching forward without warning. So, the story... Just a few days ago while I was in the bank parking lot I had a crazy accident. My JEEP, after backing up, suddenly surged forward right toward the curb and slammed the curb. It hit so hard and went so fast I thought I was going to crash right into the bank. A bank teller ran out horrified and my daughter was screaming. No one was hurt. Luckily no one was in front of the car or it would have killed them. The teller saw the car excellerate unbelievably fast and couldn't believe we were okay. I have never had anything happen like this and have been driving for 22 years. I am really afraid of the car.

W of New Haven, CT August 21, 2008

I have a 2004 Jeep Cherokee Special Edition with 50,000 miles. The other day, I was in Drive and stopped at a red light on a small incline. The light turned green, I stepped lightly on the gas pedal and my Jeep suddenly lurched BACKWARDS, I pressed on the brake, it continued to go backwards, I had to put the car in Park (while moving backwards) and turn off the engine. Luckily no one was behind me. Although the Jeep was in Drive it malfunctioned to Reverse and my brakes failed. It was very frightening and Ive since looked online for others who have had similar complaints and clearly, I am not the only one. Thanks everyone for posting, I thought I was losing my mind. Something needs to be done about this!

Suzanne F. Kaplan of Chester Springs, PA August 7, 2008

Jeep Accident as Result of Unintended Acceleration: On June 10, 2008, I drove up my driveway to put my 2004 Jeep Grand Cherokee Overland in the garage (I have been main driver since vehicle was purchased new and have put it in same bay of garage everyday since purchase; this is the seventh Jeep we have owned, so I am very familiar with driving Jeeps). Electricity was out from a storm so the automatic garage door opener did not operate. I parked in front of the bay, put the vehicle in park, turned off the engine and opened the garage door manually. I got back in the vehicle, started the engine, put car in drive and started slowly into the garage.

I wanted to reposition the car, so I applied the brakes and was about to put it in reverse when, suddenly, the engine revved and the car shot forward like a torpedo. I had my foot plastered on the brake but the car would not stop and plowed into a garden tractor at the back of the garage. I tried to put it in park to stop it, but with the engine still revving, the car shot backwards out of the garage, across 37 feet of driveway, climbed over a low stone wall and went another 2 feet before slamming into the fieldstone bay window of our house, finally stopping. All this happened within seconds. The brakes would not stop the car in either direction, and it accelerated at a frightening speed, under its own power.

My husband got in the vehicle to move it away from the house, using the emergency brake to stop it. He said the brakes were very spongy and close to the floor. The next morning, pedal pressure was better and by two days later, the pedal pressure had improved even more.

When the car shot forward, it totally destroyed a John Deere tractor, cracked the back cinder block wall of the garage in several places--both inside block and outside stucco, destroyed other property and caused over 2,000 in damages to another vehicle parked in the garage. When it crashed backwards, it bent the garage door channel, destroyed landscaping, hit the house so hard that it bowed the fieldstone front of the house, split drywall and bent it in, damaged studs, etc. The Jeep has been totaled by the insurance company. Other structural and property damages are still being computed but are well in excess of 20,000.

I had a sore neck and shoulder for about a week but physically am OK now. Emotionally, I was a wreck over the incident because I had no control over the car and did nothing to cause the accident. Repairs are going to cause extensive disruption since the damage is to my home office from which I work. I am concerned that these damages will cause our auto and homeowners premiums to rise when it was vehicle failure that caused the accident and Chrysler is not acknowleding any responsibility.

Andrea of Mt Holly Springs, PA July 14, 2008

I have a 2001 Jeep Cherokee that is taking all my money. At 90,000 miles the truck started surging at all speeds. I have replaced the spark plugs 2x, whole a/c system, transmission filter and fluid, fuel pump and filters, had a smoke test done looking for any possible vacuum or emission leak. I just don't understand how this is a common problem with Jeep and there is no recall for this. I read that someone has placed a sign in the window of there Jeep that reads (( lemon )). I get so angry when I keep getting screwed and there is nothing I can do about it. Well, I'm gonna put a lemon sign in my windows too............

Denise of Omaha, NE July 10, 2008

I own a 2007 Jeep Liberty. On July 8, 2008 I was stopped at a stop light, when all of a sudden my car accelerated, crashing into the car in front of me, pushing her around the corner. I had both feet planted on the breaks and the car would not stop for about a half a block. I had the vehicle towed into Baxter, because I wa afraid to drive it. They told me that they had to reprogram the electronic throttle control. I have pulled articles off of the internet, where there are numerous stories about this happening. The lst article was December 2007, that states the NHTSA identified no indication of a safety defect trend that could cause unintended acceleration in these vehicles. I have not gone back to pick the car up yet, but I would like to know if if anything at all is being done against Jeep, and if they are looking into the problem. Can they guarantee me that this will not happen again, and maybe kill me or someone else. If someone could just let me know if the NHTSA is going to look into this again or is currently looking into it I would appreciate it.

Jacob of Appleton, WI June 15, 2008

Today was the last straw. My manager was almost killed by a jeep surge as we call them at the car wash i work at called PDQ. I am 18 years old and almost witnessed the death of a manager. She was pulling a jeep off of our track and because we keep the cars in neutral as they are washed, put it into drive as usual and was suprised by a sudden surge. She avoided cars in our 2nd lane of cars (we have three) and pulled to the 3rd lane surging out of control out the garage door, over a large curb with grass, into a busy road, across the curb across the street ending up in the parking lot (about 150 yards for the building) before getting it to stop. At PDQ we take strong action to make sure we are safe when it comes to jeeps. We must call over the intercom when one is in the building and turn on the hazard lights before driving. Only managers are allowed to drive. This was not the only PDQ incident. In another WI store earlier this winter, a girl pulled the jeep off of the track and quickly shot over to the intended 3rd lane smashing into the car in front of her, totalling it, pushing it through the glass door out to the parking lot totally both cars and nearly NEARLY killing a young woman by a hair. Imagine the number of young teens that must witness near DEATH and INJURY experiances. Horrible. Today was the day i decide i need to do something about this. Jeep and Highway control say nothing is wrong and that is COMPLETELY WRONG. If other models were crashing into walls at local car washes (even though some accidents/driver related do happen) were other than jeeps? i may not question it so heavily. this needs to stop. if anyone can help, please contact me.

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