I began leasing this vehicle in May 2015, it drove great in the test drive, which was very flat with no hills. I live in a very hilly area and frequently drive down steep declines. The day I took it home I noticed the RPM spike when I drove downhill. I thought it was strange and over the next few days this got worse, with the car hitting over 5,000 RPM while traveling downhill with the brake applied. I took the car to the dealership and they did not tell me whether this was a serious issue or if it was abnormal. They did reset the software and I noticed the issue got a bit better but it still spiked to 3,000-4,000 RPM when going downhill. Some people suggested it may be shifting into a lower gear to apply engine braking when going downhill but I was never able to verify this, and it felt like the car wanted to accelerate though I had my foot on the brake. I dealt with this and accepted it as normal for almost three years though it made me nervous. I recently was able to trade it in and purchase a 2018 Cherokee (hoping they resolved the trans failure issues that plagued the earlier models) and my new Cherokee doesn't do this at all, with the RPM remaining between 1,000-2,000 RPM when traveling down the same hills and it doesn't feel like it is trying to accelerate. I'm curious as to whether anyone else experienced this issue and what it means.

The transmission shifts rough in the lower 3 gears. The dealerships shop manager told us there is not a fix for it. There are software upgrades but they do not fix the problem. I have had one upgrade but it did nothing. The shop manager told me the newest upgrade makes the transmission shift from 1st to 3rd, skipping 2nd. He also told me a replacement transmission would make it worse.

1st Gear: The drivetrain engagement from a stop is … interesting. Some owners say it feels like it can take a full second from the moment they step on the gas to when the car actually starts moving. And once it does start moving, it’s a coin flip if you’re going to steadily get up to speed or squeal some tires.

2nd Gear: One of the most common complaints is how the 9-speed hangs out in 2nd gear far too long.

3rd Gear: When the transmission finally shifts into 3rd gear it can be an aggressive, lurching transition. Going from 2nd to 3rd gear is a great way to feel what whiplash feels like, without the inconvenience of having to get into an accident.

Transmission had to be replaced shy of 5,000 miles. After replacement, I have continued to have the following issues.

1. Car never downshifts from 3rd to 2nd. It will downshift to 3rd and then will go into 1st when the car stops.

2. On downshift from 5th to 4th at 26mph, RPM’s spike and car surges forward for a second or two until gear is engaged. Has almost caused wrecks in the rain and snow.

3. When coming to a rolling stop, the cause pauses and will not accelerate when getting back into the gas because the car is in 3rd gear and not in 2nd as it should be. I have almost been rear ended numerous times.

Chrysler refuses to acknowledge these as a safety hazard and instead sticks to their story of that is a normal characteristic. I asked if the transmission was working as intended, why have they released so many software updates to fix the many bugs associated with their transmission. They declined to answer. I sincerely wish someone would hold them accountable.

When coming to a stop and giving it gas the engine's rpm goes as high as 6000 rpm and slowly rolls into the intersection or on the ramp to interstate. You are a sitting duck for 4 or 5 seconds before the transmission kicks in and squeals the tires and throws your head back. A few times its taken longer. My wife was almost ran over by a semi just two weeks ago. She was at a stop sign that intersects an off ramp. The off ramp traffic does not have to stop so if you get a break in the off ramp traffic you need to get out there quick in rush hour traffic. She had a break in traffic and pressed the gas pedal and the engines rpm climbed but the Jeep was moving 2 mph or a slow walk if you were on foot. The engine kept running fast but wasn't moving. She looks to her left at the oncoming traffic coming off the interstate and an 18 wheeler swerved to miss her. It finally took off with squalling tires. When she got home she was crying from her brush with death. She doesn't trust this vehicle at all. You never know when it will happen next. The Jeep is at the dealership now for the 3rd time and has been there for 4 days so they can experience the problem by driving it to lunch and back. They called today and said it never acted up for them when they made a test drive. Here is what they told me that was a remedy to the problem quote the service technician "When you start the vehicle push the button on the dash that releases the extra feature that shuts down your engine when you are at a stop light for an extended amount of time." Sure....turn off a feature I paid extra for? When I return the rental and pick up my Jeep Cherokee tomorrow I am demanding their instructions to be put in writing and have the Service Manager sign it.

To be continued.....

I bought my car brand new in January of 2015. I have had 3 issues with the car and each is progressively worse than the last. First my front passenger seat broke. The back of the seat broke where it connects to the bottom of the seat. This took Jeep about 2 to 3 months to fix because they kept ordering the incorrect part. This happened within 6 months of owning the car. The second issue I had was my entire center counsel area and the radio electrical system failed one day. It took about 5 minutes to get it all up and running again.

The third issue I have had so far is my Malfunction Indicator light came on about 2 weeks ago. I took the car into jeep and they stated that the computer system was outdated which caused the issue. My car is still not shifting properly and the RPMS are still too high. The car does not drive the same since I took it to get fixed when the light came on.

Transmission worked great for over a year. Went in for routine service and was told the electronics needed flashing. Had it performed and ever since, the transmission has acted up. Upshifts take longer with more revs. Hangs in 2nd or 3rd when decelerating down a hill and revs excessively. Sport mode worked fine until the fix, and is now useless! Engine revs to almost its limit with each shift If never did that before the fix.

Went back to dealer, where the service rep drove the vehicle with me in it. He drove more aggressively than the vehicle had ever been driven! Said it was "within normal limits" for the transmission.

Took it to a separate dealer who "reset" the software. Only moderately better in standard mode, and the same thing in Sport mode.

Mileage has dropped at least 2 mpg - probably due to the more aggressive shifting.

Not happy with it. Going back to the dealer where I bought it and going to test drive a comparable new vehicle to see how similar or different it is. If different, I will demand escalation within FCA, but given the extent of the problem, not sure there will be any resolution.

This is the 5th Jeep I have owned - all the others were Grand Cherokees and all were flawless! Bought this one to save on gas, and feeling disappointed now!

Update from Nov 3, 2016: Went back to dealer this week. Drove a new 2017 Cherokee for comparison. It shifts at lower RPM's than mine, but the Sport mode acts the same! Was told this is what it's supposed to do - to hold the gear to practically red line. It seems to be getting better on mpg the more I drive, but need to drive a few hundred miles for it to properly "learn" my driving habits. Guess it's also doing what it's supposed to in terms of downhill, where it revs and stays in that gear for engine braking.

If it acts up any more I am to bring it in. FCA should be clearer on what to expect when they do these upgrades!!

In January bought a new 2015 Jeep Cherokee. Had first really noticed the acceleration when breaking/lifting foot off the break around 1000 miles which was end of March/Early April. I thought "I've never had a new car, maybe this is the new technology, just ride it out."

Continued to notice it happen and sometimes it was much rougher than other times. Have also now had my car shut off/idle when going in reverse as well as not accelerate when pressing on the gas. At this point, living in a city and driving in the 25-45mph range more often than not, it happens quite a bit. I no longer feel safe and have finally brought it up to the Dealer to be "serviced".

We will see how round 1 goes.

violent frwd lunge/surge, rpm spike, slow transmission response

Bought '15 jeep Trailhawk brand new April 2015 now have about 23,600. This past Saturday while driving in traffic in 30 mph zone with periodic traffic light stops. As I was driving I pushed the gas to slightly accelerate and received no response. A couple of seconds later I applied the brakes heading towards traffic light and the jeep suddenly accelerated violently, the rpms spiked, lunged forward I slammed on brakes but the jeep continued to surge/lunge forward into the car in front of me and pushed it from a stop. I finally had to slam the jeep into park to stop it. But it was too late the damage was already done.

I was just glad that no one in car in front was seriouly injured. A couple were taken to hospital for precaution I hope they are okay. It was very embarrassing to go through this accident and dealing with the investigation afterword knowing that it was not my fault. Yes I was the operator but I was being overpowerered by the jeep. I am experienced driver and have driven a couple hundred thousand miles last several year and never experienced a scary issue like this. To make things worse, I felt humiliated during and after the police gave me sobriety test. I aced it no prob I was totally sober, but felt like a criminal being watched by public while getting sobriety test.

And my jeep is messed up from accident. Is this thing trying to kill me? Does jeep/chrysler even care? What to do help?

I feel like this is constant and getting worse. RPMs spike always between 22-26 mph. I complained about this when I first purchased my vehicle in 2015. I brought it into the dealer and they said since there was no warning light there was no fix. Now at 20k miles, it is still happening between 22-26mph, but it also happens at 2,8,10,30,35,40,45,50,55. The biggest problem is at 22 though. I am putting in complaints now because I have had enough after almost hitting someone crossing the train tracks the other day because it lunged so much!

While driving between 12-20 mph or 30-25 mph the vehicle's rpm's would increase to 3000 and the car would lunge forward. You would move forward in your seat. You could even have your foot off the gas and it would do this. Service Dept did Flash PCM and Flash TCM. Several trips to the dealer's service dept - they could never duplicate. Never received a warning light.

111815 - Second trip back to the dealer's service dept on this problem - service dept said the vehicle has adaptive learning and I really needed to get to 5000 miles and it would probably correct itself.

020916 - Vehicle had 5493 miles and still doing the same thing. Back to the dealer - they could not duplicate. Flash PCM again.

021516 - Took vehicle in again for same problem - rpm's increasing and vehicle lunges forward. I suggested to leave it there for a several days and they could test drive and hopefully figure out the problem and fix it. After 5 days in the shop - it was never driven by the service manager, a technician or hooked up to diagnostics - only driven by the dealerships "driver". After voicing my displeasure - the service manager drove and could not duplicate. He ordered a flight record (black box) from Chrysler. I was given a 2016 Jeep Cherokee to drive and during the 8 days I had that one (it had 1100 miles on it) I did not experience any problems with that vehicle.

022216 - After picking up the vehicle from it's 021516 drop off and they could not duplicate - within 10 minutes - I noted rpm's increasing and vehicle lunging forward 3 times.

030416 - Flight recorder (black box) was installed. I was supposed to press the button every time it experienced an issue. Took back to the dealership's service dept on 031116 and they were able to extract recordings for 3 of the 4 modules it looks for. After that was reset, took it out and recorded more information. Took back to dealership's service dept on Saturday. Service Manager suggested we open a Chrysler Customer Care case and he would open one up on the Technical side to work toward a solution. At this point, I felt the vehicle was unsafe to drive. I was given a 2016 Jeep Cherokee to drive (3100 miles on this one) and that one had the same rpm acceleration and lunging transmission issues as mine. Took that one back and asked for different vehicle to drive since I could potentially have the same problem with this one as my own vehicle.

032216 - Information was received from Chrysler, who claimed all of the problems were within normal parameters. Technical Case side was closing their case. Customer Care side let me move to work with the Chrysler Buy Back Dept, but they didn't feel there was a case for it. I noted to the Customer Care Case side that the Technical side was only focusing on the one issue and not addressing all issues with the vehicle. I was very frustrated at this point.

032416 - 5997 miles and 10 months old - Ended up having the dealership buy back the vehicle - which was a less than satisfying transaction to say the least. Dealership Owner was unknowledgable of the transmission problems, and at times untruthful and extremely unreasonable. Overall, I was continually feeling more and more unsafe while driving this vehicle as more things were going wrong with it. Yet, Chrysler felt transmission was within normal parameters. Unreal.

All issues with this vehicle: Rpm's increasing and vehicle lunges forward between 12-20 mph and 30-35 RPM's increase to 4000 while driving 44 mph - foot not on the gas, even braking did not lower rpm's. RPM's would fluctuate between 3000-4000 and you would close in on the vehicle ahead of you and have a hard time slowing down Transmission to reverse - when putting vehicle in reverse - vehicle would beep Transmission to reverse - transmission would not engage and move backwards Transmission in reverse - transmission was in reverse and I was attempting to park - vehicle just stopped. Nothing blocking the tires - did not touch the curb Transmission in drive - after driving 100-200 feet the vehicle's transmission would stop completely, rpm's increase and lunge the vehicle forward Transmission in drive - transmission would not engage and move forward at all. Placed back in park, then in drive again and the transmission would engage and move forward

I purchased my 2015 Cherokee 10 months ago and has less than 8000 miles but as time has passed the shifting of gears is getting worse. If you let of the gas at 30mph when the car gets to 27mph it accelerates and you can see the rpm increase. When you brake and get to around 20mph the car does the same thing. I have had numerous occasions of almost getting an accident because of this when braking. Its also very dangerous to be going into a turn and the car start to go faster and I don't feel like I have control over the vehicle.

During the first oil change I was advised the dealership of the concern and they said you just have to get used to driving a jeep as they run rough compared to cars. I took my Jeep to the dealership 11/5/2015 since I complained again and now they do agree "something" is wrong with it but they don't know what due to its not giving them a code. I was given a rental car on 11/6/2015. On 11/10/2015 I was advised I needed a new transmission, the part was being ordered and should be ready in a few days.

On 11/13/2015 I called to be advised a part was missing and it would not be ready until 11/16/2015. I called 11/16/2015 to see if it would be ready for me to pick up by 3pm and was told it would not be ready until 5pm, I told them I would pick up the Jeep the next day. Today 11/17/2015 my husband went to drop of the rental to pick up our Jeep and now it will not start, my husband was told they have no idea what is wrong but they will call later.

My husband picked up the Jeep that day and now its having issues when almost coming to a stop. I sent an email to Chysler who had someone assigned to my case and offer to contact the dealership to get me an appointment which is not until 11/24/2015. In the meantime my husband does not want me driving it for safety concerns. At this point I do not feel safe having this vehicle and feel Chrysler should buy it back as now my resale value will decrease since it will show a transmission replacement at less than 8000 miles.

RPMs are increasing when coasting (no brake/no gas) on straight roadway. Coasting from 40mph downward, the RPMs increase at 35 to 34mph and again at 28 to 27mph.

Also, while traveling downhill (examples at 45mph and 35 mph), while coasting, the transmission does not shift into a gear where it automatically starts slowing down the Jeep; the RPMs shoot up to 3,000 or 4,000 RPMs.

Update from Nov 17, 2015: Took Jeep to my local dealership yesterday and took service manager for a drive to show the fluctuation of RPMs while coasting at these speeds on a leveled roadway. Service Manager claims this is normal as for the transmission is switching from gears.

I'm quite confused since this hasn't happened in the past 17,000 prior to the dealership having my Jeep for a week due to the jerking issue I'm having when I stop. (SMH)