NHTSA Complaint #10958649 — 2014 JEEP CHEROKEE

WHILE DRIVING ON A CITY STREET AT ABOUT 40 MPH, THE VEHICLE SHUT DOWN AND I COULD NOT ACCELERATE OR STEER. I RECEIVED THE MESSAGE ON THE MESSAGE CENTER THAT SAID "CAR MUST BE IN PARK IN ORDER TO SHIFT." THE VEHICLE STARTED AGAIN AFTER ABOUT 30 MINUTES AND NUMEROUS ATTEMPTS. THE FOLLOWING DAY, I TOOK THE CAR TO THE DEALER. I ENDED UP BEING TOLD THAT THEY FOUND NO OIL IN THE MOTOR, THEY DID AN OIL CHANGE AND I SHOULD BEGIN AN OIL CONSUMPTION TEST. I SHOULD NOTE, I HAD GONE ALMOST 6,000 MILES SINCE MY LAST OIL CHANGE WHEN THIS OCCURRED AND RECEIVED THE "OIL CHANGE REQUIRED" MESSAGE ON THE MESSAGE CENTER FOR THE FIRST TIME THAT VERY MORNING. THE DEALER TOLD ME THIS IS A KNOWN PROBLEM WITH THIS MODEL YEAR AND ENGINE. I ASKED WHY I DIDN'T GET SOME TYPE OF WARNING LIGHT. WAS TOLD THAT THIS MODEL DOES NOT HAVE A LOW OIL INDICATOR LIGHT. I SAID OK, BUT IT DOES HAVE AN OIL PRESSURE LIGHT AND A CHECK ENGINE LIGHT, WHY WOULDN'T ONE OF THOSE COME ON? THEY HAD NO ANSWER. I STARTED MONITORING THE OIL MYSELF EVERY 250 MILES. AFTER I DROVE 1000 MILES, THE OIL WAS AT THE SAME FULL LEVEL AS IT WAS WHEN THE OIL CHANGE OCCURRED. I WENT BACK TO THE DEALER AND THEY CAME TO THE SAME CONCLUSION. I WAS TOLD TO COME BACK AGAIN IN 1000 MILES. I WAS MONITORING THE SITUATION FOR THE NEXT 1000 MILES AND, AS OF THE THE DAY BEFORE I TOOK THE CAR IN, THE OIL LEVEL DROPPED ABOUT HALF WAY DOWN THE "FULL ZONE". THE DEALER TOLD ME THE OIL WAS EXACTLY THE SAME AS BEFORE AND THERE IS NOTHING WRONG WITH THE CAR! I AM FORTUNATE THE CAR STALLED WHILE I WAS DRIVING AT A RELATIVELY LOW RATE OF SPEED. AFTER RESEARCHING, THIS IS A COMMON PROBLEM IN THIS YEAR'S MODEL THAT JEEP IS AWARE OF AND IT SOUNDS LIKE THE ONLY SOLUTION TO THE PROBLEM IS TO REPLACE THE ENGINE. I WAS TOLD THE SAME BY THE DEALER INITIALLY, BUT NOW I AM BEING TOLD THERE IS NOTHING WRONG WITH THE CAR.