Gas Spilling Out of Jeeps? Say It Isn't So

Consumers have been spouting off to federal safety regulators about problems with the fuel spout on their 2007-2008 Jeep Wranglers, and because of that, the agency says it thinks the problem is exaggerated.

The problem, according to more than 600 consumers, is that when the Wrangler is being refueled, fuel tends to spill out onto the ground and onto the car, not to mention onto the poor soul holding the hose.

But after more than seven months of testing, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) says it can't find the issue but it has, nevertheless, come up with what it thinks is a reasonable explanation.

Now read carefully.

NHTSA says there are so many complaints to NHTSA about the problem because there are so many complaints about the problem on the Internet.

Got that?

Just to be clear, here is what the NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation (ODI) had to say: "ODI suspects that the NHTSA safety complaints submitted by subject vehicles owners may have been influenced by Internet-related publicity both before and during this investigation."

So, in other words, consumers are complaining to Internet sites after gas spills out of their Jeep. Other Jeep owners see the complaints and then they gripe to NHTSA. Even though there's no problem.

Makes perfect sense really.

Chrysler has a slightly different explanation. It says the problem occurs when the plastic o-ring on the inlet check valve swells up because it has been exposed to fuel with an ethanol concentration higher than 10 percent.

In other words, the problem exists but it's because consumers are putting gas into their gas tank.

But despite explaining to its own satisfaction (and NHTSA's) that the problem is being blown out of proportion, Chrysler has agreed to initiate a lifetime warranty program to address the accidental fuel spillage issue in 135,000 2007-2008 Jeep Wrangler vehicles built from March 2007-March 2008.