NHTSA Complaint #10144927 — 2003 JEEP LAREDO

I HAVE A 2003 JEEP GRAND CHEROKEE AND AM HAVING PERIODIC UNINTENDED ACCELERATIONS... NO ACCIDENTS, BUT CLOSE... AND I HAVE VERIFIED IN EACH CASE THAT MY FOOT WAS NOWHERE NEAR THE ACCELERATOR AND FIRMLY ON THE BRAKE PEDAL ONLY... THE PERIOD BETWEEN EPISODES IS SHORTENING, THERE WAS PROBABLY A YEAR BETWEEN THE FIRST AND SECOND, AND ONLY 3 WEEKS BETWEEN OCCURANCE 4 AND 5... (THE LAST TIME IS NOTED AS THE INCIDENT DATE) INTERESTINGLY YESTERDAY THE ENGINE WARNING LIGHT CAME ON AND I HAD A LOCAL DODGE MECHANIC LOOK AT THE VEHICLE, HE NOTED THAT THE COMPUTER CODE INDICATED THE TPS WAS FAILING..SINCE THE JEEP DEALER WAS CLOSED, I ASKED HIM IF IT WAS SAFE TO DRIVE, AND HE WARNED ME TO BRAKE WELL IN ADVANCE OF ANY INTENDED STOP AS THE SENSOR MIGHT NOT READ CORRECTLY AND WOULD TRY TO OVERCOME THE BRAKING... .I AM GOING TO INSIST ON KEEPING THE DEFECTIVE PART (I DON'T EXACTLY TRUST THE DEALER) I FIND IT INTERESTING THAT THIS DODGE MECHANIC WOULD CAUTION THIS WAY WHEN THE JEEP MECHANICS DON'T (NOTE: I HAD HAD THE SAME PROBLEM WITH MY 1998 JEEP, AND TRADED IT IN WHEN I WAS LAUNCHED IN FRONT OF SEMI (FORTUNATELY IT HAD JUST STARTED TO MOVE AT A TRAFFIC LIGHT AND STOPPED IN TIME)... DEALER SAID IT NEEDED A NEW COMPUTER ALTHOUGH THEY HAD STUCK TO THE STORY OF "FAT FEET" UNTIL IT WAS OUT OF WARRENTY). *NM