I first reported this back in october 1997. I had left my jeep grand cherokee in park with the engine running in front of a convenience store. I went inside for approximately 1 minute and upon exiting saw my jeep moving in reverse out of the parking lot headed for a 4 lane highway. I ran after my car to stop it and upon opening the driver's side door was hit by it and thrown head first into the pavement. The car then crossed 2 lanes of traffic and hit a vehicle stopped at a stop light. Damage was done to both vehicles. I had a large hemotoma on my head and extensive neck bruising and a herniated disc in my neck. Jeep was contacted and they sent an engineer to look at the car but couldn't find anything wrong with it. Allstate sent an engineer as well. This was a leased vehicle and is probably being driven by someone else as I type this. I find it amusing that 4 years later - this is all coming out when I was probably one of the first to have this happen to them.
1997 Jeep Grand Cherokee transmission complaints
Page 6 of 10: complaints 131 to 160 of 253, newest first, as owners wrote them.
Pe01-021, engine running and gearshift in park position , when suddendly gearshift popped out of park and went into reverse, causing vehicle to roll backwards and in a circle running into tree. Consumer went to vehicle, and noticed gear shift was still in reverse.*ak
Vehicle was put into park, driver was out of car with door open, vehicle started to move backwards, was able to get back in car - gear was now in reverse. No injuries, no damage. First time this happened driver was in car with gear in park, idling, car went into reverse. But driver questioned whether he might have just had it in reverse . . . So ignored it.
Jump to reverse in park.
Vehicle was in park & slipped into reverse by itself with engine running & no one inside. The vehicle crashed into the side of our garage. We contacted the dealer because the car was only 2 months old & they told us it was a driver error.
Transmission gets stuck in 4th gear.
While inside of vehicle with engine on and parking pawl in park it could jump and move to reverse. This problem had happened three times without a prior warning.
While vehicle was in park position it jumped from park to reverse, causing vehicle to hit another vehicle, damage was estimated at four thousand dollars.*ak consumer tried to jump in vehicle, but was knocked down, consumers foot was caught in the door and was almost run over by jeep.
Pe01-021; vehicle was running in park position when it started to move in reverse. Consumer tried to get back into vehicle, when wheel caught left foot, dragging consumer about 6 feet and pinning her under the wheel. Vehicle was not inspected for cause.*ak
After just starting engine and partially stepping out of vehicle it suddenly moved backwards in reverse. Emergency brake was on, and he was able to throw gear into neutral, preventing any damage. This was the only occurance of this problem. *ak
Vehicle was parked , emergency brake not applied, and vehicle suddenly went backward, trailer was attached to vehicle, it jack knifed and stopped vehicle. Damage unknown. No injuries.
Owner put vehicle in park mode and went to mailbox. Car remained in park mode for a time, but then threw itself into reverse mode. Unoccupied vehicle backed into the street from the owner's driveway and circled back into the neighbor's yard. It traveled a long way across the neighbor's yard and did not stop until it struck a tree, resulting in over $3,100 damage to the car in the tailgate region. After reporting incident to manufacturer they sent a response letter that said to turn it into owner's insurance because driver did not deploy the emergency brake, turn off engine and take out keys.
Vehicle jumped out of park and backed up toward a building. I was out of the vehicle and when I tried to stop it by putting my foot on the brake, I slipped and the vehicle ran over my foot and broke it. It continued to crash into a retail store.
When put into "park" vehicle rolled down incline.
Car was put in park and as I started to exit car it started to roll. I was able to then stop car and prevent any damage or injury.
Vehicle parked at bottom of driveway with ignition running.vehicle jumped out of park and into reverse causing vehicle to back up hill. Jumped in vehicle stopping it before going into ditch across the street.
While parked with transmission selector in park the vehicle jumped into reverse and backed into a tree on my lot at home.
My wife drove up to and opened a gate. She drove through the gate. On the other side, she stopped the car, placed it in park, left the driver's door open, the SUV started in reverse toward a building. The driver's side door was sprung and damaged from hitting the gatepost. My wife was able to catch up with the vehicle, get in and put it in park and stop the vehicle before it hit the building. The door sustained $ 1876 damage and we have been surcharged on our insurance since the occurrence. We feel it was the manufacturer's defect, not ours.
Vehicle jumped out of park while idling and rolled backwards 25 yards through a parking lot. Vehicle crashed into a tree, stopping vehicle. *ak
Transmission locked in park, only way to get it out was to press hard on gas pedal, this caused vehicle to dash forward, consumer felt this was very unsafe because consumer didn'y know when it was going to dash forward. *ak
Upon coming to a stop and shifting into park, I took my foot off the brake and the car went into reverse. I put my foot back on the brake but was unable to shift back into park or any other gear. I turned off the vehicle and had it towed to the dealer. The dealer found that the sfifter cable had detached on its own. The dealer reattached the cable and found that a new one was not required.
Problem seemed to be with the shift linkage to the transmission. Keys would also not come out of the car because I could not get it in "park". After putting significant pressure on the shifter, vehicle did go into park and then was "ok". I did call a local dealer who seemed to be familiar with the problem and recommended the "heavy pressure" fix.
I put the jeep in park at a valet parking area in new brunswick, nj. My wife and I exited the jeep. While I was receiving my ticket, the jeep began rolling backwards. I was able to get back into the jeep and hit the brakes inches before hitting the car behind. I wrote the incident off to human error. The jeep was definetely in reverse when I re-entered. I am not sure if this is related to the current findings but thought I should report it.
While the vehicle was in park, it jumped into reverse and rolled down the driveway, causing 4,000 in damages and also consumer was injuried.
Began rear end "roar" at 30k miles, "repaired" x 2, replaced at 43k., chrysler covered half of repair. Now failed again at 80k. Chrysler says, "too bad, your problem, not ours." seems like the rear end of a $35,000 car should last longer than 30k miles. Daimler-chrysler takes our tax dollars for the big bailout then tells its customers to drop dead.
Pulling out of parking space, I thought I had a flat. I left car idling, in park, and got out to look at back tire. Driver side looked ok, I then went around back to look at passenger side and car started rolling in reverse. Open driver door knocked me down and ran over heel of shoe, couldn't catch car to stop it and it hit 2 parked cars in lot.
Vehicle went into reverse while traveling 40 MPH causing rollover and ejection of three passengers.
When shifted the transmission has a 5 sec lag time to shifting. If the jeep has been parked for more than 2 days the time is more than 20sec. Transmission has also been in "d" but actually it was in "2".
Prior to recall, consumer had front brakes and rotors replaced and is now seeking reimbursement.
Vehicle was parked with ignition running. Vehicle jumped out of park into reverse, and hit a fense/pole before coming to a stop. *ak
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