2024 Dodge Hornet Phev

This involves a rental from AVIS at Orlando International Airport that I picked up on the 24th of March. I drove up to Palm Coast, as that journey progressed I began to notice that turning the steering wheel, either right or left the beginning of that motion had no effect on the direction of the car, which meant you had to turn the wheel further than you would normally that gave the driver a lack of confidence in the steering. This got progressively worse over the next couple of days, so I investigated to see what was wrong. It took me a little over one minute to find the pinch bolt in the knuckle joint, where the steering column joins to the steering rack, was completely missing. Realising how dangerous this was, I contacted AVIS, who asked me to drive the car some 30 miles to their nearest depot/office, which I declined to do, telling the vehicle was dangerous in it's current condition. They brought a replacement car on a recovery lorry and took the first car away. I told the driver that the car he was taking should not be put on rental until the issue was sorted.

The contact rented a 2024 Dodge Hornet. While driving 50-75 MPH, the vehicle made an abnormally loud sound, and the steering wheel was not turning as intended. Additionally, the steering wheel and the front axle were not responding as intended, and constant adjustments were needed; the contact had to grip the steering wheel tightly. The contact stated that the failure increased while turning the steering wheel. The vehicle was driven back to the rental agency. No further information was available. The failure mileage was approximately 48,025.

Dear NHTSA Safety Defects Division, I am writing to report a safety issue I have identified that affects several modern vehicles, particularly from manufacturers including Toyota, Honda, Nissan, Ford, and Dodge (Hornet model specifically). This issue relates to the overactivation of the Electronic Stability Control (ESC) system and related sensors, including wheel speed sensors, yaw rate sensors, and forward-facing cameras. Over the past two years, I’ve conducted extensive personal testing and analysis across multiple vehicles and brands. My findings indicate that many vehicles using modern ESC systems—likely built on common software frameworks from Tier 1 suppliers (Bosch, Continental, ZF, WABCO, Autoliv, etc.)—are exhibiting the following unsafe behaviors: •Overcorrection of minor road imperfections, such as slight pavement grooves or drainage lines. •Harsh braking or acceleration of individual wheels at highway speeds, triggered by incorrect interpretations of road angle or yaw. •Resulting symptoms include vibration, wobble, instability, and “bouncy” rides, which compromise vehicle control and driver confidence. •In some cases, fuel economy is also impacted, due to unnecessary braking and acceleration by the system. When I disconnected the four wheel speed sensors and the front-facing camera in a 2023 vehicle, the vehicle’s ride quality and directional stability improved significantly. This suggests that the ESC software is misinterpreting normal driving conditions as loss-of-control events and is applying interventions that reduce safety rather than improve it. I believe this is a systemic safety defect, potentially affecting millions of vehicles using similar ESC software logic. If left unaddressed, this could result in increased accident risk—especially at freeway speeds—and consumer mistrust in vehicle safety systems. I respectfully urge NHTSA to investigate this matter and consider whether a defect investigation or broader inquiry into ESC behav

The vehicle was leased as a new vehicle with 665 miles on the odometer. Immediately upon driving home, I tried activating the ACC (Adaptive Cruise Control) feature on the highway and received a "Highway Assist Unavailable Service Required" error message. The vehicle was taken back to the dealership to be looked at and repaired. Waited for the vehicle for about 3 hours till they repaired and tested the vehicle. The vehicle passed the test and was repaired and delivered back to me. When driving home and exiting the highway, a Forward Collision Warning message was displayed disabling the system. I pulled over, turned the vehicle off and restarted it to find the message disappear. Later that day, after the vehicle was parked for a couple of hours and driven again to every single warning light and error message being displayed. The dealer was contacted once again and was advised to drive the vehicle back immediately so they could look at it. The brake hold feature deactivated and it started lurching forward, hybrid system deactivated, power steering failed and even air bag light started blinking. Drove back to the dealership and the cat has been in since November 11, 2024 with only 1000 miles on the odometer.