2015 Dodge Durango Speed Control & Cruise Problems

TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2015 DODGE DURANGO. THE CONTACT STATED WHILE DRIVING AT VARIOUS SPEEDS, THE VEHICLE INADVERTENTLY ACCELERATED. THERE WAS NO WARNING LIGHT ILLUMINATED. THE VEHICLE WAS NOT TAKEN TO A LOCAL DEALER NOR INDEPENDENT MECHANIC TO BE DIAGNOSED OR REPAIRED. THE MANUFACTURER WAS INFORMED OF THE FAILURE AND SUGGESTED THAT THE VEHICLE BE TAKEN TO AN AUTHORIZED DEALER FOR ASSISTANCE. THE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS APPROXIMATELY 165,000.

I WAS EXITING A PARKING GARAGE AND APPLIED MY BRAKE TO STOP TO PAY THE PARKING FEE. WHEN I CAME TO A STOP THE TRUCK UNEXPECTEDLY ACCELERATED WITH MY FOOT ON THE BRAKE. I PUSHED AS HARD AS I COULD ON THE FOOT BRAKE BUT THE ENGINE WAS REGISTERING 4 TO 5,000 RPMS. MY TRUCK MOVED ON THRU THE PARKING GATE BREAKING THE GATE AND THEN MY TRUCK ENTERED INTO THE MAIN ROAD. I ALMOST HIT TWO PEOPLE WALKING ON THE SIDEWALK IN FRONT OF THE PARKING GARAGE. I WAS ABLE TO MOVE THE TRUCK INTO NEUTRAL ONCE THROUGH THE GATE AND THE RPMS WENT BACK TO NORMAL. SECOND EVENT: IN JUNE OF 2020 I WAS ENTERING A DIFFERENT PARKING GARAGE. I HAD TO PUT THE TRUCK IN PARK TO OPEN MY DOOR TO RETRIEVE THE PARKING TICKET. I GOT BACK IN AND PUT THE TRUCK IN DRIVE WHEN I PUSHED ON THE GAS PEDAL THE TRUCK AGAIN ACCELERATED UP TO 4,000 TO 5,000 RPMS. I WAS ABLE TO BRAKE AND MOVE THE TRANSMISSION INTO NEUTRAL AND EVERYTHING RETURNED TO NORMAL. THIRD EVENT OCCURRED ABOUT TWO YEARS AGO. I HAD STOPPED AT A RED LIGHT WITH A CAR IN FRONT OF ME. THE ENGINE ACCELERATED TO 4,000 TO 5,000 RPMS. THIS TIME I HAD BOTH FEET ON THE FOOT BRAKE. I THEN MOVED ONE FOOT OVER TO ENGAGE THE EMERGENCY BRAKE. WHILE STOPPED I COULD NOT MOVE THE TRUCK FROM DRIVE TO NEUTRAL. ONCE THE LIGHT TURNED GREEN THE CAR IN FRONT OF ME MOVED ON. I WAS ABLE TO PULL THE TRUCK OVER TO THE RIGHT CURB AND THEN I WAS ABLE TO MOVE IT INTO NEUTRAL. IF I HAD NOT ENGAGED THE EMERGENCY BRAKE I WOULD HAVE RAM THE CAR IN FRONT OF ME. I TOOK MY TRUCK TO A DODGE DEALER AND THEY COULD NOT DUPLICATE THIS EVENT. THESE EVENTS ARE VERY ALARMING AND VERY RANDOM. ANY HELP WOULD BE APPRECIATED.

ENGINE BEGINS TO MAKE A NOISE AND THE CAR WON'T ACCELERATE, LIGHTS WARNING TO BRAKE START FLASHING WHEN THERE IS NO REASON TO BREAK

ON 1/19/2019, I WENT TO BRAKE WHILE DRIVING MY DODGE DURANGO, AND THE CAR VIOLENTLY SHOOK, MADE A REVVING NOISE, AND ACCELERATED. MY FOOT WAS TO THE FLOOR AND THE CAR WOULD NOT STOP. I HIT TWO CARS IN FRONT OF ME, WHICH WAS THE ONLY WAY THE CAR ACTUALLY STOPPED MOVING, AND IT WASN'T UNTIL I TURNED THE CAR COMPLETELY OFF THAT THE NOISE AND SHAKING STOPPED. A CASE WAS OPENED WITH FIAT CHRYSLER CORPORATE OFFICE THE DATE OF THE ACCIDENT. A 3RD PARTY COMPANY WAS HIRED TO INVESTIGATE THE VEHICLE AND PULL DATE OFF OF THE ELECTRONIC DATA RECORD. THAT REPORT WAS FORWARDED TO FCA FOR REVIEW ON 1/26/2019. TO DATE, NO ONE FROM FCA HAS CONTACTED ME REGARDING THE STATUS OF MY CASE. I CALL DAILY ONLY TO BE TOLD I WILL RECEIVE A PHONE CALL FROM SOMEONE, WHICH HAS YET TO HAPPEN. NO NAME, NUMBER, OR CONTACT INFORMATION HAS BEEN GIVEN TO ME. I WAS TOLD A LETTER WAS MAILED OUT TO ME FROM THE LEGAL DEPARTMENT WITH FCA ON 2/6/2019. TO DATE, NO LETTER HAS ARRIVED, AND WHEN I ASKED CORPORATE FOR INFORMATION ON WHO SENT THE LETTER, I AM NOT PROVIDED A NAME OR NUMBER OF ANYONE I CAN VERBALLY SPEAK WITH. I WAS ALSO TOLD SEVERAL VOICEMAIL MESSAGES HAVE BEEN LEFT FOR ME, BUT WHEN THE REPRESENTATIVE WENT TO CONFIRM MY PHONE NUMBER, THEY ADMITTED THEY HAD NO PHONE NUMBER ON FILE FOR ME - SO HOW COULD A VOICEMAIL MESSAGE BE LEFT? THIS ACCIDENT OCCURRED IN FRONT OF AN ELEMENTARY SCHOOL, DURING SCHOOL DROP OFF. THE OUTCOME COULD HAVE BEEN MUCH WORSE, AND THE FACT THAT NO ONE FROM A LARGE CORPORATION IS COMMUNICATING WITH ME IS APPALLING. I HAVE A VEHICLE THAT IS UN-DRIVABLE, AND I AM STILL PAYING A MONTHLY PAYMENT, EVEN THOUGH I CANNOT DRIVE THE CAR. I NEED INFORMATION ON THE STATUS OF MY CASE, AND NO ONE IS PROVIDING IT TO ME.

WHEN CRUISE CONTROL ENGAGED GOING DOWN HILL THE VEHICLE WILL EXCEED SETTING FROM 10 TO 25+ MPH OVER THE SETTING. APPEARS TO BE APPROXIMATELY 6 MPH INCREASE ON A 1-2% GRADE AND ADDITION 3MPH FOR EACH ADDITIONAL 1% INCREASE IN GRADE

I STARTED TO PROCEED DOWN THE STREET AND THE ACCELERATOR APPEARED TO STICK AND THE ENGINE STARTED RACING AND I DID NOT HAVE ANY CONTROL OF THE VEHICLE SPEED. ALSO THE RPM GAUGE WAS OUT OF CONTROL. THIS LAST APPROXIMATELY FIVE TO TEN SECONDS, AND THEN THE ENGINE STOPPED RACING, AND RETURNED TO NORMAL. THE VEHICLE WAS IN MOTION AND GOING FORWARD ON A CITY STREET WHEN THE ACCELERATOR APPEARD TO STICK AND THE VEHICLE INCREASED IN SPEED, AND I HAD NOT CONTROL OVER THE SPEED OF THE VEHICLE.

THE ADAPTIVE CRUISE CONTROL (ACC) APPLIES THE BRAKES AND BRINGS THE VEHICLE TO A STOP WHEN FOLLOWING ANOTHER VEHICLE IN TRAFFIC. IF THE VEHICLE AHEAD DOES NOT MOVE FORWARD WITHIN TWO SECONDS (UNLIKELY IN HEAVY TRAFFIC) THE ACC DISPLAYS A MESSAGE IN THE DASH WARNING THE DRIVER TO PRESS THE BRAKE AND THEN SUDDENLY SHUTS OFF THE ACC AND RELEASES THE BRAKE CAUSING THE CAR TO BEING TO CREEP FORWARD. MY CAR CAME CLOSE TO ROLLING INTO THE CAR IN FRONT BECAUSE THE FIRST TIME I USED THE ACC I DID NOT EXPECT THIS BEHAVIOR. THE ACC IS PROMOTED AS HAVING A STOP AND GO FEATURE. I EXPECTED THE ACC TO WAIT UNTIL THE CAR I WAS BEHIND TO RESUME SPEED AND THEN RESUME SPEED FOR MY CAR ACCORDINGLY. (THIS IS THE WAY I WAS USED TO THIS FEATURE WORKING IN MY MERCEDES S550). THERE IS A SOPHISTICATED CENTER DASH COMPUTER SYSTEM SHOWING CLIMATE, RADIO, NAV, ETC. I WAS EXPLORING THIS SYSTEM AND NOT WATCHING THE DRIVER INFORMATION DISPLAY IN THE DASH AND AS SUCH, MISSED THE VERY BRIEF MESSAGE WARNING ME TO APPLY THE BRAKE. BESIDES THE FACT THAT IN ESSENCE THIS CAR DOES NOT REALLY EMPLOY A STOP AND GO FEATURE FOR ALL PRACTICAL PURPOSES AND LULLS A NEW DRIVER INTO A FALSE SENSE OF SECURITY, THE CURRENT IMPLEMENTATION MAKES NO SENSE FROM A SAFETY STANDPOINT. THE DRIVER SHOULD NOT HAVE TO DO ANYTHING FOR THE CAR TO RESUME FOLLOWING THE CAR IN FRONT. A LESS DESIRABLE, BUT BETTER IMPLEMENTATION WOULD BE TO REQUIRE SOME DRIVER INPUT TO THE CAR TO RESUME TRAVEL - BUT THIS CERTAINLY WOULD NOT QUALIFY AS A STOP AND GO ACC.

TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2015 DODGE DURANGO. THE CONTACT STATED THAT WHILE DRIVING APPROXIMATELY 10 MPH, THE VEHICLE ACCELERATED AND WAS MAKING AN ABNORMAL NOISE. THE VEHICLE WAS TAKEN TO A DEALER FOR DIAGNOSTIC TESTING. THE VEHICLE WAS NOT DIAGNOSED OR REPAIRED. THE MANUFACTURER WAS NOTIFIED OF FAILURE. THE APPROXIMATE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS 1,267.