I stopped for a left turn at a 4 way intersection, in order to let the upcoming traffic pass. When it was clear, I started to turn left and slightly uphill. All of a sudden, the engine revved into the highs and with a loud noise, the car accelerated. I immediately hit the brake, but the car kept on accelerating so strongly that it was overturning to the left and while I was still on the brakes, it then accelerated into the door of a car, which was waiting at the red light and was actually standing 180 degrees towards my left, behind me when I started. The door of this car was turned significantly inwards where the front of my car hit. The other car was even pushed all the way to the curb until my car finally came to a stop. All this while I was standing on the brake. Fortunately, nobody was hurt. Although I had 2 witnesses, who testified the unusual acceleration and behavior of my car, I have been charged for this accident with significant damage on the other car, which turned out to be a total. My car was about 2 months old at this time, but I have been a secure driver with numerous models for more than 20 years. My long experience also includes driving a 10 ton utility truck in the military and I have never had anything similar happen. I asked my 5-star dealership to check into the electronics and the board computer. They said that they didn't find anything, so I had no case. However, I read about similar events and one in particular most recently, which provided a link to this complaint form. I didn't report this earlier, because I didn't know about this complaint possibility back then. However, the official documents are still available. Thank you. Jm . Nm
2001 Jeep Grand Cherokee acceleration complaints
Page 2 of 2: complaints 11 to 32 of 32, newest first, as owners wrote them.
My vehicle, jeep grand cherokee 2001 limited addition with around 47,000 miles on the odometer performed satisfactorily until this morning when my wife was returning from the usual drop-off of my son to the preschool. As she was waiting for the garage door of the apartment complex where we live while her foot was on the brake, the car suddenly shot up and crashed through the garage door and came to complete stop 20 feet from the gate. This horrifying experience, fortunately, did not cause any physical injury to my wife and my 15 months daughter secured in the back seat. Luckily, there was no incoming car nor people injured. However, we are afraid that the vehicle which sustained major damages to the body will not provide any more peace of mind. It is definitively a wake-up call for us to search a more safe vehicle for my family.
Accelerated out of control in reverse. Couldn't stop the vehicle.
Dt*: the contact stated while parked in the driveway, the vehicle was placed in reverse and suddenly lurched backwards crashing into the garage. The contact attempted to apply brake pressure, but the vehicle was stopped by the garage and its contents. No one was injured, but there was moderate damage to the vehicle and garage. The police were not notified. The vehicle was not seen by a dealer.
While driving on the highway driver engaged the cruise control at 60 MPH. Vehicle continued to accelerate. Then, driver applied the brakes to disengage the cruise control, and vehicle continued to accelerate. Driver hit the off button on the cruise control and vehicle failed to disengage. Currently, vehicle was up to 80 MPH and continued to accelerate. Driver put the vehicle in neutral and the rpms went up to 6,000. Vehicle continued to accelerate. Driver put vehicle back in drive and applied the brakes and vehicle slowed down to 30 MPH. That was when driver was able to put the vehicle back into neutral and turned vehicle off. When driver got out of the vehicle all 4 brake pads were on fire, and the rotors were glowing orange.
I have a 2001 jeep grand cherokee limited. In march of this year, while on the expressway, my cruise control caused my vehicle to accelerate and would not turn off even by hitting the break and pushing the off button numerous times. I was only able to stop the vehicle by putting the gear in nuetral and turning it off. I contacted the dealership who talked my through how to loosen a cable in the engine which apparently caused the cruise/accelerator to stick. I immediately took the vehicle into the dealership and even on my way there, the car would accelerate on it's own, without the cruise control being turned on. The dealership kept my car for the day and when they returned, they stated that they had repaired the problem. Two months later, I was leaving my parking space at work and my vehicle began to accelerate on it's own. I struck the break but the rear of the vehicle began to spin in circles and forced my vehicle to strike three other vehicle. Jeep conducted an investigation and they sent me a letter stating that they could not find a problem with the vehicle. I just wanted to send you this complaint to let you know that their findings were false and poorly researched. I have pictures of the tire marks and there is no way that this accident could have occurred other than by I high acceleration and my foot being on the break.
When pressing the accelerator, the car would not move forward, then suddenly it would lurch forward. Almost had accident when trying to pull out into traffic. When the car was stopped, it would idle, then suddenly jerk forward. Took to dealer for repair. They stated that it was a solenoid and that they are seeing this with grand cherokees that have over 50,000 miles. Very costly repair on a car that is 2 years old!!!
January I went to apply my brakes at a stop sign and it lunged forward. Shocked I slammed my foot on the brake harder and it lunged a second time hitting a car coming down the side street. Thursday when I went to apply my brakes the car shook so hard I could barely keep my hands on the steering wheel. This has happened once before and the dealership replaced them the first time, they won't do it this time. I have had my jeep 2 years and this is the third set of brakes. They told me to expect to change brakes and or pads every 15,000 miles? There fore wracking another bill of over $800.
Loosing approximately 1 gallon of antifreeze per 1000 miles. Dealer repairs number of times starting from purchase at 19,000 miles (was told to ay $268 by customer service to replace radiator when finally diagnosed at 40,000 miles to get vehicle back even though it was under warranty and vehicle is still losing same amount of coolant)/ low oil pressure was finally corrected by replacing undersized cam...didn't replace lifters, etc... Incorrect procedure because they wear together/ A/C and cruise fixed by zip tying a large vacuum resevoir bottle to A/C line/transmission shift poorly. Ph **dimsii ivoq entry posted after 12/12/02 cut over to artemis**768322
This same situation has happened four times. Engine light did not appear until the 4th incident. Each time I had been driving for about an hour with the air conditioner on. I missed a turn, stopped, put the car in reverse, stopped and then put it in drive. However, the car engine just raced and when I put the pedal to the floor, the car would only go about 35 MPH. I've almost been killed several times. The original dealership (joe jacoby) could not identify the problem and now refuses to return my calls. I'm now driving another hour further away (2 hours from home) to a dealership that is aware of the problem. This is the 2nd time I've had it in...last time I paid $700 for service. If I don't get this fixed soon, eventually somene will hit me as I pull out at 35 MPH onto a 65 MPH highway. Unfortunately I think my pretty SUV is a lemon.
Coming to a stop, foot on brake. Felt power surge. Slamed on brakes , put jeep in neutral.
Onsumer's foot was on brake when vehicle lurched in reverse. Dealer will be notified.
Brakes vibrate and do not slow vehicle adequately. When slowing transmission downshifts into low gear and vehicle accelerates and lurches forward. To compensate for this sudden acceleration additional pressure on the brake pedal is required to avoid loosing control. This is unsafe and will cause an accident if not addressed properly.
On several occasions prior to accident, always under five miles an hour, I would step n the brake and the car wanted to keep going. On the occasion of the accident, I applied both feet to the brakes and the vehicle did not stop and hit a chain link fence. An invsestigator from chrysler check the vehicle on 8/29/01 and indicated that the only thing that could have happened is that the accelerator pedal sits high than the brake pedal and I hit both at the same time. My foot is not wide enough to hit both at the same time. In a previous incident, I was in park , put the vehicle into reverse and it lerched backward. The investigator could only duplicate the situation by putting his foot on both the brack and accelerator at the same time. This vehicle is unsafe and I am afraid to drive it.
Consumer states when he stepped on the brake to shift into reverse the motor began to roar and the vehicle lurched backward no matter how hard the brake was pressed, consumer immediately pulled the shift downward and the vehicle lurched foward with the motor still roaring and his foot still pressing on the brake, after traveling about twenty feet the motor reverted to idle.
I purchased/ leased a jeep grand cherokee 3/24/01. The day after I drove it off the lot, I noticed a problem with the transmission. The transmission, when down-shifting from 2nd to 1st gear shifted very, very hard- so hard that there was a loud thumping/banging noise that was quite audible and distracting, and also this abnormal shifting caused the car to lurch forward. I immediately called the dealer to express my concern over a new vehicle with such a rough transmission. I was assured by the service dept. That all the new electronic transmissions started off rough the 1st thousand miles, and that it needed to break in. I gave them the benefit of the doubt, although I was very skeptical; never in my life having experienced such a horribly rough transmission- esp. On a brand new vehicle. After 1000 miles, there was no improvement, and I took the vehicle in to be evaluated. I was assured by the mechanic that all the grand cherokees transmissions are like this- it's a build up of the hydrolic fluids or something. I once again believed them (not really) and went on my way. The vehicle continued to do this, the sound getting very loud and quite startling at times while in traffic. It also is quite embarassing with passengers in the car who also have become quite startled by the loudness and sheer force of the lurching. I took my vehicle in a second time for evaluation only to be told, nothing was wrong. It is my feeling that this is a severe defect of some sort. In all my years of driving, I have never experienced such problems- except maybe from a manual transmission that bucked. I am planning to take my car in yet a third time and demand the problem be resolved, or I will be invoking my rights under the lemon laws. In light of the recent problems with grand cherokees, and their shifting into gear while idling, I cannot say that I am surprised. My vehicle also when shifted into reverse, sometimes makes a very loud clunking, rough shift. Please advise.
This will be the third time in 30 days I have brought my car in for repair on the transmission. The engine light comes on and the outside temp. Gauge says it's 125 degrees outside when it is 84 degrees. I press my foot on the pedal and it hesitates and slowly drives until the gear kicks in and then jumps forward. First they thought it was the transmission colnoid, then they thought it was the module unit now they say it's electrical. When pressing the brake, I feel a clicking on my foot that happens frequently then goes away. The dealership where it's being serviced is not sure what the problem is and it's taking a very long time to rectify the situation. I am a previous grand cherokee owner and had consistant problems with the rotors and that one. I am now unsure of my safety and the reliability of this vehicle. I have already consulted an attorney and can only hope that it doesn't need to come to that. What can I do to rectify this situation ?
At approx. 50 MPH a "whining" sound starts in rear of auto. As speed increases, the sound intensifies. Take foot totally off accelerator and it stops.....picks up again when accelerator is depressed. Dealer says it is common in new all-time 4wd transmission. Very loud.
At 67 MPH with speed control on, jeep accelerated at max. Speed. Had to apply brake to disengage control at 80 MPH. Speed control buttons would not work. Had to stop and put jeep in park to turn off speed control. Speed control buttons failed to work when returned to drive. Later that day, speed control worked normal.
With cruise control on and going up a hill there is hesitation, and then vehicle slams into a lower gear. Slam is so bad that passengers are startled. Took to dealer, and they said they don't know what to do about this problem.*ak consumer was told by dealership that this is normal.
We were exiting a car wash.the transmissiom was in neutral, the engine was idling and my foot was on the break pedal.I put the transmission into drive with my foot still on the brake pedal and the car leaped ahead at full throttle all 4 wheels peeling rubber. The brakes did not work and putting the transmission into low had no effect on the engine.we were within 50 feet of a busy state highway and directly across the road from a gas station. In order to not go onto or across the highway I cut the wheels sharply to the left going through ayard, just missing a tree and telephone poll. The car is now sliding sideways and hit the side of the parking lot next to the car wash causing both wheels and tires on the passenger side to be severly damaged and the car to do a 180 degree slide. This all transpired in about 4-5 seconds and at this point I was able to turn off the ignition and the car came to a halt. I reported this to chrysler, through my dealer. My dealer was very helpful and felt that this car should not be on the highway.chrysler felt that it is a problem between my insurance company and myself. There is no way that I can ever feel safe in this vehicle again and I fear for the safety of my family and anyone who might be in the way of this vehicle if this ever happens again.
When shifting from park to drive throttle suddenly opened wide, causing vehicle to pull off at top speed. Vehicle hit a building. Dealer has been contacted.
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