NHTSA Complaint #10875365 — 2013 CHRYSLER 300

MY VEHICLE IS A CHRYSLER 300S AND HAS AUTO SHIFT "PADDLES" LOCATED A FEW INCHES FROM THE STEERING WHEEL AND THE AUDIO SYSTEM CONTROLS. ANY SLIGHT TOUCH TO THESE PADDLES WHILE DRIVING CAUSES THE VEHICLE TO IMMEDIATELY DOWNSHIFT INTO FIRST GEAR, REGARDLESS OF HOW FAST YOU ARE TRAVELING. ACCORDING TO THE OWNER'S MANUAL THIS DOWNSHIFTING INTO FIRST GEAR SHOULD BE NO PROBLEM, BUT I STRONGLY DISAGREE. I CAN SEE THE RPMS SOAR AS MY VEHICLE TRIES TO GO 70 MPH IN FIRST GEAR. THIS IS A DANGEROUS ADD-ON THAT FEW DRIVERS WANT OR NEED. I HAVE ASKED WHETHER THESE "PADDLES" CAN BE DISABLED AND HAVE BEEN UNABLE TO FIND A SOLUTION. THESE PADDLES ARE NOT ONLY WORTHLESS TO THE AVERAGE DRIVER, BUT ARE A MAJOR HAZARD ON THE HIGHWAY. LESS THAN 30 MINUTES AFTER I BOUGHT MY NEW VEHICLE IT SHIFTED INTO FIRST GEAR WHILE ON CHICAGO EXPRESSWAYS TRAVELING AT OVER 70 MPH. I HAD NO OPTION BUT TO PULL INTO THE EMERGENCY LANE AND STOP. ONCE I TURNED OFF MY VEHICLE AND RESTARTED IT, THE CAR WAS IN THE CORRECT GEAR, BUT THEN I HAD THE PROBLEM OF MERGING INTO 70 MPH TRAFFIC ON A BUSY INTERSTATE HIGHWAY. SINCE THEN, I HAVE LEARNED TO SHIFT INTO NEUTRAL WHENEVER THE "PADDLES" ENGAGE - A VERY POOR SOLUTION WHEN DRIVING ON EXPRESSWAYS. I VIEW THESE "PADDLES" AS AN POORLY CONCEIVED ENGINEERING IDEA THAT NEEDS TO BE CORRECTED BEFORE THIS INADVERTENT DOWNSHIFTING INTO FIRST GEAR CAUSES ACCIDENTS OR DEATHS. I ALSO WONDER WHAT ALL OF THIS DOWNSHIFTING IS DOING TO QUALITY OF MY TRANSMISSION. - [XXX] , CHICAGO, IL INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6). *TR