NHTSA Complaint #10671254 — 2012 DODGE DART

WHILE TRAVELING AT A STEADY 45 MPH WITH THE TRANSMISSION IN "DRIVE", THE VEHICLE SOUNDED AN AUDIBLE ALERT. THE DASHBOARD DISPLAYED A MESSAGE THAT SAID "SERVICE TRANSMISSION" AND THE CHECK ENGINE LIGHT CAME ON. AT THIS POINT, I FOUND THAT THE VEHICLE WAS NO LONGER UNDER POWER AND WAS ACTING AS THOUGH IT HAD SHIFTED TO NEUTRAL. I PULLED FROM THE ROADWAY. WHILE STOPPED, I SHIFTED THE VEHICLE TO PARK. THE DASHBOARD DISPLAY ADVISED ME TO SHIFT THE CAR TO NEUTRAL AND THEN TO DRIVE OR REVERSE. INITIALLY, WHEN ATTEMPTING TO COMPLETE THIS STEP, I RECEIVED AN ALERT SAYING "GEAR NOT AVAILABLE". AFTER COMPLETING THIS PROCESS SEVERAL TIMES OVER 10 MINUTES, I GOT MY GEARS BACK AND I WAS ABLE TO GET THE VEHICLE TO THE DEALERSHIP WHERE THEY PERFORMED TROUBLESHOOTING. THE CODES REPORTED BY THE DEALERSHIP INDICATED "NEUTRAL ENGAGEMENT" AND "MULTIPLE GEAR SELECTION" BUT THE DEALER COULD NOT REPLICATE THE PROBLEM SO NO FIX WAS ATTEMPTED. THEY CLEARED THE CODES AND RETURNED THE CAR TO ME. THE VEHICLE IS THE 1.4L TURBO ENGINE WITH THE DUAL DRY CLUTCH TRANSMISSION. A REVIEW OF THIS ISSUE ONLINE INDICATES THAT IN ADDITION TO MULTIPLE COMPLAINTS TO NHTSA THERE ARE A NUMBER OF BLOG ENTRIES AND FORUMS ON THE TOPIC. IN FACT, THE PROBLEM OCCURRED DURING A TEST DRIVE BY CAR REVIEWER FOR YAHOO. THIS PROBLEM CREATES A SIGNIFICANT DANGER TO NOT ONLY MYSELF BUT OTHER VEHICLES AROUND ME. HAD THE TRANSMISSION FAILED UNDER ACCELERATION INTO TRAFFIC IT COULD HAVE BEEN QUITE DANGEROUS. I FEEL LIKE I GOT LUCKY IN THIS SITUATION THAT IT HAPPENED WHILE TRAVELING IN AN AREA WHERE IT WAS SAFE TO PULL OFF WITHOUT POWER. *TR