WHILE TRAVELING AT HIGHWAY SPEED THE ELECTRONIC THROTTLE CONTROL SYSTEM OF THE VEHICLE COMPLETELY FAILED PLACING THE VEHICLE INTO LIMP MODE AS INDICATED BY THE FLASHING WARNING LIGHTS AND THE DASHBOARD DISPLAY READING "ESP DISABLED". THE VEHICLE REDUCED SPEED DRASTICALLY WITHOUT DRIVER INPUT TO DO SO. WERE IT NOT FOR THE AWARENESS AND CAPABILITY OF THE DRIVER FOLLOWING THE VEHICLE, THIS DRASTIC REDUCTION IN SPEED WOULD HAVE CAUSED A VEHICULAR COLLISION ON AN INCREDIBLY BUSY MAIN THOROUGHFARE. THE AFFECTED VEHICLE SUFFERED A COMPLETE LOSS OF THROTTLE CONTROL AND THE ENGINE STAYED AT APPROXIMATELY 2000 RPM'S REGARDLESS OF DRIVER INPUT TO THE THROTTLE PEDAL. MAXIMUM SPEED DROPPED TO NO MORE THAN 15 MPH. STOPPING THE VEHICLE COMPLETELY AT TRAFFIC CONTROL DEVICES WAS DIFFICULT DUE TO THE CONSTANT HIGH RPM THE ENGINE WAS MAINTAINING. THE VEHICLE WAS TAKEN TO THE SERVICE DEPARTMENT OF THE NEAREST JEEP/CHRYSTLER/DODGE DEALERSHIP WHERE IT WAS TROUBLESHOT. THE ELECTRONIC THROTTLE BODY WAS REPLACED CONSEQUENT OF THE DIAGNOSTIC CHECK RAN ON THE VEHICLE. THE NEXT 30 MILES DRIVEN IN VEHICLE WERE UNEVENTFUL. THE NEXT DAY THE EXACT SAME MALFUNTION OCCURED AGAIN, ALBEIT ON A NOT SO BUSY ROAD (THANKFULLY). CONVERSATIONS WITH THE SERVICE DEPARTMENT REVEAL NO CONFIDENCE INSPIRING TROUBLE SHOOTING AND/OR REPAIR PROCEDURE FOR WHAT IS APPARENTLY A KNOWN PROBLEM FOR MANY PRODUCTS ACROSS THE CORPORATE LINE, SPANNING MANY MODEL YEAS AND GENERATIONS. BASICALLY, IT WAS STATED THAT THEY ARE AWARE OF THE ISSUE BUT ARE UNSURE OF WHAT CAUSES IT OR HOW TO REMEDY THE MALFUNCTION. THE VEHICLE IS NOW PARKED USELESS IN OWNERS DRIVEWAY UNTIL A SOLUTION IS FOUND AND THE VEHICLE CAN BE SAFELY DRIVEN AGAIN. *TR
2012
ENGINE
APRIL 5, 2013, LESS THAN A YEAR (PURCHASED - 2012 JEEP GRANDE CHEROKEE LAREDO) THE CHECK ENGINE LIGHT WENT ON, TOOK VEHICLE TO SERVICE DEPARTMENT, AND INFORMED MY SERVICE PROVIDER (JEEP DEALERSHIP) THERE IS A "PROBLEM" WITH THE CYLINDER HEAD. VERY DISTURBING BECAUSE THE VEHICLE WAS PURCHASED BRAND NEW, LESS THAN 10K MILES AND ALREADY A MAJOR PART MUST BE REPLACED ON A "BRAND NEW" VEHICLE. I AM INFORMED THAT IS NOT A COMMON, AND THERE ARE SEVERAL OTHER OWNERS WITH THE SAME PROBLEM "CHECK ENGINE LIGHT ON". REPAIR TOOK MORE THAN THREE DAYS, BECAUSE THE ENTIRE ENGINE MUST BE TAKEN OUT TO REPLACE THESE TWO CYLINDERS. VERY ALARMING AND VERY CONCERNED FOR THE FUTURE OF THIS VEHICLE, WHAT ELSE COULD POSSIBLY GO WRONG NEXT? TWO MONTHS LATER, DRIVER SIDE SEAT MUST BE REPLACED DUE TO CRACKS IN THE "LEATHER". TWO MONTHS AFTER, BRAKES ARE MAKING STRANGE NOISES, ACCELERATION VERY SLOW, STALLS, MUST PRESS VERY HARD ON GAS PEDAL FOR VEHICLE TO PICK UP SPEED, VERY FRIGHTENING ESPECIALLY WHEN ENTERING THE FREEWAY. DOOR PANELS APPEARS LOOSE, THE DOORS (3) WILL NOT STAY OPEN, REQUIRES EXTRA PUSH AND HOLD BEFORE IT STAYS OPEN BY ITSELF. TO CLOSE THE DOOR I MUST LITERALLY SLAM THE DOOR, OTHERWISE NOT SHUT, VERY DISTURBING BECAUSE MY CHILDRENS SIT BACK THERE. HOPEFULLY THIS IS MY LAST ENCOUNTER THE CAMERAS (BACK) OF VEHICLE FLASH ON AND OFF, I AM VERY CONCERN ESPECIALLY WHEN THE POSITION OF THE DRIVER SEAT MAKES LOOKING BACK VERY DIFFICULT, THE CAMERA CANNOT BE FUNCTIONING INEFFICIENTLY. THE VEHICLE HAS A 3/YEAR OR 36,000 MILE WARRANTY AND WITH THE AMOUNT OF ISSUES I HAVE ENCOUNTERED I DO NOT FIND THAT TO BE SUFFICIENT OR EVEN UTTERLY APPROPRIATE. I PURCHASED A BRAND NEW VEHICLE NOT A USED. IF THERE WERE NO WARRANTIES I COULD NOT IMAGINED PAYING OUT OF POCKET THOUSANDS OF DOLLARS ON REPAIRS. *TR