NHTSA Complaint #11614196 — 2015 JEEP CHEROKEE

We bought the car brand new at Lithia Motors in Roseburg Oregon. After just a few months of driving, there was a noticeable clunk in the transmission at approximately 30-40 mph that occurred at random and included a shudder. The problem seemed to occur about every 3 or 4 days. We took the car to Lithia and they could not replicate the problem. Lithia did do some software updates. We were advised of a class action suit regarding the transmission. We made a claim and we were denied because they said we did not report the issues enough to Lithia. We appealed that because we told Lithia about the problem every time we took the car to their facility for oil changes. In December of 23 we had an issue with the car missing and took it to Lithia. The replaced injector one and advised there was minimal seepage from the oil filter. It was not explained that it was a transmission oil cooler. In [XXX] there was a code to service transmission. Minutes later the car was losing power and barely made it up the hill to our house. A return trip to Lithia and they said replacing the transmission cooler might resolve the problem but maybe not. A second opinion AAMCO said the same thing. The AAMCO mechanic showed me the transmission cooler and a puddle of oil that had settled below the leak in between the manifold. I told him I though that was the motor oil filter. On the way back home, the car again failed going up hill to our residence. The car is not safe to drive. There is potential for engine fire. I think a transmission oil cooler in the center of the engine near the manifold does not make a lot of sense. This car has 104,000 miles. I think there should be a safety recall on these cars to include full repair of the drive train. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)