NHTSA Complaint #11242469 — 2017 JEEP RENEGADE

GAS PEDAL/ACCELERATION WILL NOT ENGAGE WHEN VEHICLE IS IN REVERSE, IN A CERTAIN CIRCUMSTANCE. THIS HAPPENS EVERY TIME AFTER I FIRST START THE VEHICLE, PLACE IT IN REVERSE, AND COAST/ROLL BACKWARDS (OUT OF MY DRIVEWAY, INTO THE ROAD, INTO TRAFFIC). SLAMMING MY FOOT ON THE GAS PEDAL RESULTS IN NO ACCELERATION, SO I JUST ROLL SLOWLY INTO THE ROAD. VEHICLE WILL ACCELERATE NORMALLY AFTER I THEN SHIFT TO DRIVE. NOT BEING ABLE TO QUICKLY ACCELERATE IN REVERSE WHEN LEAVING FOR WORK EVERY MORNING IS AN OBVIOUS SAFETY CONCERN. I TOOK THIS TO MY DEALERSHIP, AND THEY WERE ABLE TO REPLICATE THE ISSUE. THEY THEN TESTED THIS ISSUE ON 2016 RENEGADE, 2017 RENEGADE, AND 2018 RENEGADE. THE 2016 AND 2017 RENEGADES HAD THIS SAME ISSUE. THE 2018 RENEGADE REPORTEDLY DID NOT HAVE THIS ISSUE. MY DEALERSHIP SPOKE WITH A JEEP ENGINEER THAT HAS INVESTIGATED THIS ISSUE BEFORE, AND TRIED REPLACING THE ENTIRE TRANSMISSION SYSTEM AS A SOLUTION. THAT DIDN'T FIX THE ISSUE, SO THE ENGINEER CLAIMS THAT IT'S "WORKING AS DESIGNED." CLEARLY IT'S DESIGNED UNSAFELY. I HAVE INCLUDED MY DEALERSHIP'S NOTES INDICATING THAT THEY WERE ABLE TO REPRODUCE THE ISSUE AND MY (AND OTHER) RENEGADES. AND THAT THEY ENDED UP DIAGNOSING THIS AS "ISSUE IS NORMAL NO PROBLEM FOUND."