NHTSA Complaint #10484988 — 2005 JEEP LIBERTY

ON A RAINY MORNING ON 11/13/2012 WHILE MERGING ONTO THE INTERSTATE MY JEEP LIBERTY WENT INTO A SKID AND I LOST CONTROL OF THE VEHICLE AND HIT THE ROADSIDE BARRIER. THE FRONT AND BACK BUMPERS WERE DAMAGED. THE PROBLEM WAS NOT THE SKID BUT THAT THE STEERING WHEEL LOCKED IN PLACE AND COULD NOT BE STEERED TO HELP CONTROL THE TRUCK. THIS HAD HAPPENED AT LEAST TWICE BEFORE WHEN THE TRUCK WENT INTO A SKID. MY HUSBAND HAD ASKED OUR LOCAL SERVICE DEALER ABOUT IT AND HE SAID THAT THIS WAS PART OF THE JEEP SUSPENSION AND WAS NOT A DEFECT IN THE VEHICLE OPERATION. BASED ON THAT INQUIRY, I THOUGHT THE FIRST TIME THIS HAPPENED, THAT MAYBE IT WAS JUST A FLUKE. HOWEVER, NOW I AM NOT SO SURE. I DO NOT BELIEVE THAT THE STEERING COLUMN ON A VEHICLE SHOULD LOCKED IN PLACE AND NOT ALLOW THE VEHICLE TO BE CONTROLLED. ADDITIONALLY, I HAVE BEEN WAITING EIGHT MONTHS FOR MY LOCAL JEEP DEALER TO GET THE PART FOR THE LATEST SAFETY RECALL, L27/NHTSA 12V-085 REAR SUSPENSION LOWER CONTROL ARMS. WE CHECKED LAST MONTH AND THE SERVICE DEPARTMENT STATED THAT WE WERE STILL NUMBER TWO ON THE LIST AND WHEN THEY GOT THE REPAIR PART WE WOULD GET THE REPAIR PART. WE HAVE BEEN TOLD SINCE MAY 2012 THAT WE WERE NUMBER TWO ON THE REPAIR LIST. I NEED ANSWERS ON WHY MY STEERING WHEEL DOES THIS OR I NEED TO GET RID OF THIS VEHICLE BECAUSE IF THIS HAPPENS AGAIN I MIGHT HAVE VERY DIFFERENT RESULTS THAN THE PAST TWO TIMES. *TR