On 3/15/2015 at 5:30 PM, I was parking in the Charles River Shopping Center lot (Bellingham, MA). While coasting into the parking place, my foot on the brake and approaching a complete stop, my 2014 Jeep Wrangler Unlimited Sahara suddenly surged forward with tremendous force striking the car that was parked in the space directly in front of mine. The car, a VW Jetta, was pushed several feet back by the impact and my Jeep came to rest with its front end on the Jetta’s hood. As my Jeep had risen up onto the front of the Jetta, it also impacted the car parked to the Jetta’s right causing damage to it as well.
Fortunately, while I was holding on for dear life to the steering wheel of my out of control Jeep, my passenger had the presence of mind to first engage the emergency brake and then proceed to push the gear shift lever into the park position. I’m not sure what would have occurred if not for her quick thinking, but I believe it was her timely actions that brought this terror to an end for us.
With my Jeep finally stopped, I backed it up and off the Jetta. My passenger then called the police who arrived shortly after. We explained what had happened and the police advised that although fully drivable, that I not drive my car and to have it towed from the location. I most definitely agreed as I in no way intended to get back behind the wheel of my Jeep.
But wait, there’s more! Back during the first few weeks of my ownership of this Jeep, I was traveling in normal traffic on 2/4/2014 at 1:45 PM in Dedham, MA. The truck in front of me stopped at a red light. I applied my brakes and came to a complete stop with room to spare between the two vehicles. Suddenly my Jeep surged forward as I retained my foot firmly depressing the brake. My Jeep impacted the truck in front of me once and then proceeded to strike twice more forcing the truck forward each time. My Jeep finally decelerated after the third impact.
I drove the Jeep directly to the dealership. While driving there, proceeding very cautiously because of the scare I’d just received with the sudden acceleration, I noticed that when I accelerated, the Jeep did seem to rev excessively. The tachometer registered up to 5000 rpms when shifting. I had not been aware of the tachometer registering that high on a regular basis previously, but thought I might be overly critical at the time because of what had just occurred. Once at the dealership I described the situation and they advised that what I needed to do was to contact Chrysler directly. Upon doing this, Chrysler sequestered the Jeep there for several weeks. They finally had it inspected by an agent of their choosing -- totally unwitnessed by anyone else -- and declared that there was no problem with the vehicle.
All of this got me thinking and I remembered that even the first night I brought the new Jeep home and parked it in my driveway, when placing it in park, the engine had seemed to rev prior to me turning the key to the off position. I believe this actually happened several times during the shut-off process prior to the initial incident. I just hadn’t really given it much thought until the first accident occurred.
Another anomaly which has intermittently occurred between the first and second incident is that the Seatbelt alert light and sound indicator has come on without reason when I am the only occupant in the car and my seatbelt is firmly in fastened. To the best of my knowledge, this has happened when I have applied the brake and eventually has turned back off. But with the other equipment malfunctions I’ve incurred, I felt the need to make mention of all that I’ve encountered to date.
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
On 3/15/2015 at 5:30 PM, I was parking in the Charles River Shopping Center lot (Bellingham, MA). While coasting into the parking place, my foot on the brake and approaching a complete stop, my 2014 Jeep Wrangler Unlimited Sahara suddenly surged forward with tremendous force striking the car that was parked in the space directly in front of mine. The car, a VW Jetta, was pushed several feet back by the impact and my Jeep came to rest with its front end on the Jetta’s hood. As my Jeep had risen up onto the front of the Jetta, it also impacted the car parked to the Jetta’s right causing damage to it as well.
Fortunately, while I was holding on for dear life to the steering wheel of my out of control Jeep, my passenger had the presence of mind to first engage the emergency brake and then proceed to push the gear shift lever into the park position. I’m not sure what would have occurred if not for her quick thinking, but I believe it was her timely actions that brought this terror to an end for us.
With my Jeep finally stopped, I backed it up and off the Jetta. My passenger then called the police who arrived shortly after. We explained what had happened and the police advised that although fully drivable, that I not drive my car and to have it towed from the location. I most definitely agreed as I in no way intended to get back behind the wheel of my Jeep.
But wait, there’s more! Back during the first few weeks of my ownership of this Jeep, I was traveling in normal traffic on 2/4/2014 at 1:45 PM in Dedham, MA. The truck in front of me stopped at a red light. I applied my brakes and came to a complete stop with room to spare between the two vehicles. Suddenly my Jeep surged forward as I retained my foot firmly depressing the brake. My Jeep impacted the truck in front of me once and then proceeded to strike twice more forcing the truck forward each time. My Jeep finally decelerated after the third impact.
I drove the Jeep directly to the dealership. While driving there, proceeding very cautiously because of the scare I’d just received with the sudden acceleration, I noticed that when I accelerated, the Jeep did seem to rev excessively. The tachometer registered up to 5000 rpms when shifting. I had not been aware of the tachometer registering that high on a regular basis previously, but thought I might be overly critical at the time because of what had just occurred. Once at the dealership I described the situation and they advised that what I needed to do was to contact Chrysler directly. Upon doing this, Chrysler sequestered the Jeep there for several weeks. They finally had it inspected by an agent of their choosing -- totally unwitnessed by anyone else -- and declared that there was no problem with the vehicle.
All of this got me thinking and I remembered that even the first night I brought the new Jeep home and parked it in my driveway, when placing it in park, the engine had seemed to rev prior to me turning the key to the off position. I believe this actually happened several times during the shut-off process prior to the initial incident. I just hadn’t really given it much thought until the first accident occurred.
Another anomaly which has intermittently occurred between the first and second incident is that the Seatbelt alert light and sound indicator has come on without reason when I am the only occupant in the car and my seatbelt is firmly in fastened. To the best of my knowledge, this has happened when I have applied the brake and eventually has turned back off. But with the other equipment malfunctions I’ve incurred, I felt the need to make mention of all that I’ve encountered to date.
- Terri L., Woonsocket, RI, US