Investigations
| NHTSA ID | Manufacturer | Date open | Date close | Subject | Recall campaign | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL | ||||||
| DP06002 | CHRYSLER GROUP LLC | 07/13/2006 | 01/03/2007 | PETITION RE: UNINTENDED ACCELERATION | ||
| Odi received a petition requesting a defect investigation concerning unintended acceleration in the 2006 jeep commander stemming from a fatal incident that occurred in delaware in december 2005.after a careful review of the circumstances surrounding this incident, odi finds no evidence to indicate the influence of a manufacturing defect.likewise, no similar complaints concerning this model exist in the odi complaint database.accordingly, the petition is denied.odi reserves the right to revisit this issue in the future should circumstances warrant. | ||||||
Consumer Complaints
| Fail date | miles | occurences | Purchase date |
|---|---|---|---|
| VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL | |||
| 10/28/2012 | 72000 | ||
| Tl* the contact owns a 2006 jeep commander. the contact stated that while driving approximately 55 mph, the vehicle decelerated independently and would not respond to acceleration attempts. the contact also stated that the check engine light illuminated. additionally, while stopped, the vehicle erroneously surged forward. the failure occurred intermittently at different speeds. the manufacturer was made aware of the failure. the vehicle was not repaired. the approximate failure mileage was 72,000. | |||
| 10/28/2012 | 72000 | ||
| Tl- the contact owns a 2006 jeep commander. the contact stated that while driving approximately 55 mph, the vehicle decelerated independently and would not respond to acceleration attempts. the contact also stated that the check engine light illuminated. additionally, while stopped, the vehicle erroneously surged forward. the failure occurred intermittently at different speeds. the manufacturer was made aware of the failure. the vehicle was not repaired. the approximate failure mileage was 72,000. mah | |||
| 10/28/2012 | 72000 | ||
| Tl- the contact owns a 2006 jeep commander. the contact stated that while driving approximately 55 mph the vehicle decelerated on its own and would not respond when depressing the accelerator pedal. additionally, while stopped at a stop sign the vehicle surged forward. the failure occurred intermittently at different speeds. the check engine light illuminated on the instrument panel. the manufacturer was made aware of the failure. the vehicle was not repaired. the approximate failure mileage was 72,000. da | |||
| 08/12/2011 | 87147 | ||
| Tl- the contact owns a 2006 jeep commander limited. the contact was driving 65 mph when the engine stalled. the throttle control and traction warning lights illuminated during the failure. the vehicle was taken to the dealer where they confirmed that the throttle body needed to be replaced along with updates that needed to be performed on the computer. the manufacturer was contacted but the vehicle was not repaired. the failure mileage was 87,147 and the current mileage was 90,000. kmj | |||
| 08/12/2011 | 87147 | ||
| Tl- the contact owns a 2006 jeep commander limited. the contact was driving 65 mph when the engine stalled. the throttle control and traction warning lights illuminated during the failure. the vehicle was taken to the dealer and they confirmed the throttle body needed to be replaced along with updates performed. the manufacturer was contacted. the vehicle was not repaired. the failure mileage was 87,147 and the current mileage was 90,000. rds | |||
| 07/02/2010 | |||
| Traction kicks on while accessing highway causing vehicle to feel as though it will stall and wont allow for acceleration. we have to turn off traction as fast as possible for acceleration to work. extremely dangerous when pulling out in front of traffic. | |||
| 06/06/2011 | 64000 | ||
| 2006 jeep commander. on a recent trip 6-6-11. wife was driving. attempted to set (set) cruise control. experienced runaway throttle wide open. nearly rearended cars. it continues to do this. i contacted jeep and reported the experience and have setup a service appointment. jeep claims no recalls. strins on the internet would indicate it is not an isolated incident. | |||
| 01/19/2011 | 90000 | ||
| Tl - the contact owns a 2006 jeep commander . the contact stated that while driving 65 mph on the highway the vehicle started accelataring up to 90mph although he was pressing the brakes. the contact stated that he was able to stop the vehicle by switching gears to park. the vehicle was not taken to a dealer. the manufacturer was not contacted. the failure and current mileage were 90,000. pm | |||
| 11/10/2008 | 67000 | ||
| Had cruise control set to 65 mph on the freeway. out of nowhere the car began accelartaing on its own to reaching speeds of 85 mph. if cruise control is turned on now it accelerates on its own and i ma not able to control the speed at all. have taken car to dealership but they say nothing is wrong. front windshield leaks and lets in too much air. i should not have to pay for repairs since it is a defect. driver side window doees not go down. now rear passenger side window is starting to get stuck. have replaced driver side switch and the problem still exists. front passenger window goes down but the driver side which has controls to all the windows does not work for any of the windows. my car accelarates on its own on a daily basis. it can go from 35 mph to uncontrollable speeds. taken to dealership several times but they never find the problems. dealership cant even figure out what is wrong with the electrical windows | |||
| 07/10/2009 | 50000 | ||
| Acceleration does not stop when cruise control is engaged; accelerates past requested speed as if gas pedal is stuck. contacted local mechanic, explained problem, they said it sounded as if it were a safety issue and would not touch it. contacted chrysler, basically told me there was no recall, sorry, and to have it looked at by a jeep dealership. began researching online, has happened to several people across the country with 2006 jeep commanders around the same mileage. one owner commented that he invested $600 in parts that were not the problem to begin with, there are no codes for this issue. finally, the people working on it decided it was the powertrain control module and that seemed to fix the problem. | |||
| 03/21/2010 | 46624 | ||
| The cruise control has a mind of its own to give you the best idea of what i'm talking about. it consistantly speeds up to 20mph over what i intend it to be set at. for example, if i set it at 40mph it will speed up to 60mph instantly on its own. 1. there were no events leading up to this 2. it happens everytime the cruise control is set to any speed. the vehicle fails to maintian the set cruise speed by speeding up on its own. the most likely consequence will be a rear end collision with the car in front of me. 3. the dealer is being contacted today for report and possibility of repair. | |||
| 12/23/2009 | 27350 | 1 | |
| Cruise control sometimes accelerates severely. *tr | |||
| 11/10/2006 | 19000 | ||
| Tl*the contact owns a 2006 jeep commander. when the contact attempted to start the vehicle, it began vibrating and making a loud grinding noise. the vehicle failed to start. once it finally restarted, all of the electrical components failed. the vehicle accelerated automatically and crashed into a pole. the contact was uninjured. the vehicle was unable to be driven away from the scene and was towed to the dealer. the dealer stated that the entire computer system failed, including the clock, heating and cooling system, speedometer, and all other electrical components of the vehicle. on a separate occasion, the emissions warning indicator illuminated. the dealer stated that they did not know why the emissions indicator illuminated and they replaced the ignition switch. the vin was unknown. the failure mileage was 19,000 and current mileage was 27,500. | |||
| 07/10/2008 | 15771 | 1 | |
| Jan. 1., 07--replace windshield; at 20,853 mi. rotors warped, needed to be resurfaced; 25,000 air only works on high and low--resistor motor ordered; 30,500, front and rear rotors warped, resurfaced; 32,000 car won't start--nothing found; 36,063, car started, then shut off and would not restart; security control module replaced; 39049, car would not start--towed to dealer replaced immobolizer control module; resistor blower motor finally replaced; resurfaced both front and rear rotors again; 48,010 car won't start; starter replaced starter; resistor blower motor again faulty, replaced motor, resistor and wiring; 50,831won't start again, towed to dealer, battery dead due to unfounded short, cause unknown, installed new battery; 58,0573 won't start, no crank, battery dead would not charge--suspected radio was the culprit replaced battery and radio; 61,5932 towed to dealer will not start battery voltage low checked all charging systems, replaced battery again; 61,700 car would not start--towed to dealer where it remains. i have a car that i owe 18k on that i cannot trade in because of this history it is only worth 8k. throughout ownership i have had intermittent stalling, constant hesitation in acceleration. additionally, the rear seat belt has let go and caused my son to hit his face on the back seat. problems with seat belt latch sliding so that belt will not hook. cannot see when backing up when my 5 kids are in the car. tire pressure light comes on often, as does the air bag light. exterior headlights are tilted so that they look like highbeams. this car is a danger. *tr | |||
| 10/18/2007 | 16500 | 2 | 10/30/2006 |
| Tl*the contact owns a 2006 jeep commander. while driving 40 mph, the engine revved on its own and the vehicle accelerated to approximately 50-60 mph. the contact applied the brakes and turned off the engine. the contact shifted into park and restarted the vehicle. the engine immediately revved up again. the contact attempted to place the vehicle in gear, but when the shift lever reached reverse, the vehicle jerked backwards and struck another vehicle. a police report was filed. the contact spoke with daimler chrysler and they stated that they would conduct an investigation. the current and failure mileages were 16,500. | |||
| 07/17/2007 | 7 | ||
| Vehicle shut off. this always happened while slowing. it has normally been when slowing into a slight turn the speed dropped, and then trying to accelerate into the turn. once or twice when just coming to a start/stop. haven't taken it to the dealer yet. thought i would check online to see if anyone else was having this problem. and here i am. *ak | |||
| 05/13/2007 | 18145 | 1 | 12/30/2005 |
| Sudden acceleration - car wash. attendant entered vehicle at end of jax car wash in rochester hills, michigan. i personally observed event - when driver put vehicle in gear in suddenly violently accelerated. the quick reaction of the jax driver prevented a major accident. he nearly missed a vehicle in front of the car wash being dried off by other employees and several employees by the dry towel containers - managing to go between them. he ended up running over a sidewalk curb, but managed to get it into neutral and shut the engine off before entering the main highway. the violent acceleration i observed was just short of a miracle that he managed to avoid personnel, vehicles, and to stop the vehicle before it entered the highway. after shutting it down for several minutes, the vehicle was restarted and performed normally. this vehicle had been through this car wash previously with no acceleration problem. it had just turned over 18,000 miles and had never had this happen previously. this is an extremely dangerous situation.*ak | |||
| 08/07/2006 | 3 | 12/30/2005 | |
| I purchased 2006 jeep commander dec '06. had continuous issues w/the performance -service dept can't fix the problem. approx three months after purchase, i was pulling off from a parking space -car cut off completely. i assumed that i hit the gear or didn't have completely engaged. b/c a new car, i thought it was strange but not a real issue. in aug '06, taking my car in for routine service, backing up in the dealership lot & the car cut off completely. added the request to have the issue checked. i explained this wasn't the 1st time the car cut off and there must be a problem. was told that nothing found. in sept '06, i was driving to work in stop & go traffic - my car cut off completely. i was able to apply the hazard lights to warn other drivers. i was able to start the car and took it into the dealership for service. i explained that this was the 3rd time that the car completely shut off, and something needed to be done. i was told that they could not replicate the situation and was asked to pick up my car. i told the service advisor that i was not picking up my car until something was done. my car cuts off while driving! that is not safe. i can't wait until i am in a tragic accident to say see, it happened again. the service department reported that they contacted the star hotline and replaced the pcm and installed a control program. i have continued to experience stalling and hesitation while driving but the car has not completely shut off. i have no confidence in accelerating to merge into traffic, nor pass other vehicles. i feel totally vulnerable that the commander will shut off while driving. during my last scheduled maintenance 1/31/07, i informed the service advisor that i am still experiencing hesitation/stalling. they did not find anything. i have been advised to set up a time to leave my vehicle for overnight road test. *nm | |||
| 07/23/2006 | 1000 | 4 | 07/02/2006 |
| 1st occurrence of the stalling/dying: 7/23/06. vehicle was moving at a slow speed making a right hand turn. the vehicle lost power (no response when pushing on the gas pedal and the power steering also failed). driver had to put the vehicle into park from drive, turn the key to the off position and then back to the start position. the 2nd occurrence was on 8/9/06 12:30 pm. at a stoplight on a hill waiting to turn left. the light turned, the car in front of her accelerated and when driver took her foot off of the brake to apply the gas and the car began to roll backwards. after this occurrence, driver called the dealership and spoke with a svc advisor. driver described the symptoms and they said they had heard of this happening on some other commanders and that they knew the part that typically fixed it. driver made appt to bring in for service. vehicle dropped off 8/10/06. call from svc dept. 8/11/2006 and stated tech tested found a bad map sensor. they replaced the sensor and said the problem should be resolved. the 3rd occurrence happened on 8/15/06 7:40 am. driver was stopped waiting for traffic to clear to make a right turn onto highway 212 from 222nd drive. at this point, driver called dealership and asked to speak with a service adviser and said she would be bringing the vehicle back in as it wasn't fixed. the 4th occurrence happened 8/15/06 5:50 pm while the vehicle was in motion on highway 217 driving to the northwest jeep dealership. driver was in slow rush hour traffic- 5-10 ph. depressed the gas pedal to accelerate to keep up with traffic and the car just continued to coast with no acceleration. she had to put the vehicle in park, turn the key to the off position, start the car again and then stop on the highway to put car back into drive. *nm | |||
| 08/01/2006 | 3 | 06/29/2006 | |
| Dt*: the contact stated the vehicle stalled on three occasions. all incidents occurred during acceleration while traveling 35 mph. there were no warnings prior to the incidents and the vehicle had no problems restarting. the dealer could not duplicate or resolve the problem. *ak | |||
| 12/02/2005 | 4700 | 1 | 10/22/2005 |
| Petition for the continuation of a defect investigation into unintended acceleration of the 2006 jeep commander vehicle, her mother was killed while operating her 2006 jeep commander. *ts *nm | |||
| 12/02/2005 | 4700 | 1 | 10/22/2005 |
| On december 2, 2005, my mother was killed in an automobile accident in stanton, delaware. she was operating my 2006 jeep commander, and the incident was caused by unintended acceleration. the delaware state police contacted the office of defect investigation as part of their investigation. the delaware state police have recently advised me that the office of defect investigation is closing this inquiry. further, the delaware state police have advised me to contact you because i disagree and respectfully request and petition that the office of defect investigation go forward with and aggressively pursue this investigation. *jb | |||
| 04/24/2006 | 5000 | 1 | 12/23/2005 |
| Well ... ?you're never going to believe to this? about 20 minutes ago i was driving sheri and myself back home from an appointment and went to pull out of a tee junction-, rossway road and the road was wet, i dabbed the throttle and pulled out gently, unfortunately a cadillac came over the brow of the hill traveling fast and stamped on the gas to accelerate out of the way- nope he refused to move, i had my foot on the gas, flat to the floor- zero just min power, after what seemed like 1 | |||
| VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL - CRUISE CONTROL | |||
| 06/02/2006 | 5000 | 1 | |
| At different times, i and a friend driving my jeep 2006 5.7l hemi commander have accidentally shut off the vehicle while driving on a highway doing 65mph while in cruise control. how this happens is like this. depending on how you sit, when you engage the cruise control, you remove your foot from the accelerator which brings your knee up rather close to the key ignition. if you have anything attached to your key chain such as other keys that dangle down, then all it takes is for you to move your knee to the right thereby knocking the key chain with the dangling keys which will in turn move the key in the ignition to the off position, basically shutting off the engine while you are doing 65mph on the highway. when this happens, you probably wouldn't realize that this is what just took place because you're too busy being a little freaked out about having just lost all engine power but the electrical still works. this has happened 3 times. *tr | |||