NHTSA Complaint #10162933 — 2006 JEEP COMMANDER

I PURCHASED A 2006 JEEP COMMANDER 2 1/2 WEEKS AGO. I HAVE HAD IT INTO SERVICE TWICE FOR THE ANNOYING WHISTLE THAT APPEARS TO BE COMMON ON THIS VEHICLE, BUT APPARENTLY HARD TO FIX. WHILE I WAS DOING SOME RESEARCH ON THE INTERNET INTO THE WHISTLING PROBLEM, I KEPT READING ABOUT ANOTHER PROBLEM THAT SOME COMMANDER OWNERS WERE HAVING. WHEN I TOOK MY VEHICLE TO THE SERVICE DEPARTMENT, THE SERVICE MANAGER AND I TOOK IT OUT TO REPRODUCE THE WHISTLE. I BROUGHT THE OTHER CONCERN TO HIS ATTENTION AND HE TRIED, AND SUCCESSFULLY, RECREATED THE PROBLEM ABOUT 4 TIMES. WHEN THE VEHICLE IS RUNNING, IF YOU ACCIDENTALLY BUT BARELY, TAP THE KEY THE CAR SHUTS OFF. THIS REQUIRES THE DRIVER, IF THE VEHICLE IS MOVING AT THE TIME, TO PUT IT IN NEUTRAL, TURN THE KEY OFF AND THEN BACK ON. SO POTENTIALLY, A PERSON COULD BE DRIVING ON A MULTI-LANE HIGHWAY, DOING 55-65 MPH, AND ACCIDENTALLY HIT THE KEY WITH THEIR KNEE. THIS WOULD SHUT THE VEHICLE OFF, CAUSING A LOSS OF POWER STEERING. THE DRIVER WOULD THEN, WHILE AVOIDING DRIVING INTO OTHER LANES AND BEING REAR ENDED DUE TO THE CAR DRASTICALLY LOOSING SPEED, HAVE TO PUT THE CAR INTO NEUTRAL, TURN THE KEY OFF AND THEN BACK ON. I WANT TO MAKE SURE THAT I MAKE IT CLEAR, THIS HAS NOT HAPPENED YET TO ME, BUT THE SERVICE MANAGER WAS ABLE TO RECREATED THIS WHILE WE WERE SITTING IN TRAFFIC AT A RED LIGHT. HE SEEMED TO BE QUITE STUNNED, AND SAID HE WAS CALLING JEEP THAT DAY TO REPORT THE PROBLEM. HE ALSO SAW THIS AS A HUGE SAFETY CONCERN. I AM TRYING TO BE PRO-ACTIVE IN THIS COMPLAINT, BRINGING THE PROBLEM TO OTHERS ATTENTION BEFORE AN ACCIDENT HAS TO OCCUR, PERHAPS WITH TRAGIC RESULTS. *NM