NHTSA Complaint #11461993 — 2022 DODGE DURANGO

On Saturday, 04/23/2022, the Dodge Durango ran fine. I was able to back out of my driveway without incident around 12:00 PM and go to Walmart. I drove to the Sheetz gas station from Walmart and topped off the fuel tank because we wanted to take a family trip during the weekend. At 12:40 PM, I arrived back home, turned off the engine, and went inside my house to pick up my son. We entered the vehicle around 12:50 PM. I put my seatbelt on, put my foot on the brake pedal, and pushed the engine start button. Then I placed the vehicle in reverse, released the parking brake, and slowly backed my foot off the brake pedal. This time around, the vehicle did not drive backward normally like it's supposed to, but hesitated like it didn't have any power (NHTSA complaint 11461953). The engine hesitated several times, the RPMs dipped under 500 more than once, and then when I almost got to the street, the engine died, and the vehicle stalled. The transmission placed itself into the park position (AUTOMATIC PARK), and I could hear and feel the driveline clunk when the parking pawl locked the transmission. The "R" led started flashing on the gear shifter. I put my foot on the brake, and moved the lever from the "R" to the "N" position. The "N" position was still flashing, indicating that the vehicle is not really in "N". Then I pushed the engine start button to completely turn off the vehicle as the "RUN" led was flashing, but instead, the engine turned back on. Without taking the foot off the brake pedal I moved the shift lever from "N" to "R" and heard a loud clunk and even felt it. It sounded and felt like there was a lot of pressure on the parkin pawl and it got barely released. I am concerned that the vehicle stalling might have damaged the parking pawl somehow. I don't feel safe driving this vehicle. This is very difficult to reproduce as the vehicle exhibits this behaviour randomly, however I am concerned for my safety and my family's safety while traveling in this vehicle.