2019 Jeep Cherokee

2019 Jeep Cherokee with only 35,000 miles. There was a recall previously for lateral acceleration sensors that covered over 40,000 2019 Cherokees. This vehicle is affected with the same problem, but I’m being told that because the VIN doesn’t fall in a particular range it is not covered. The repair could end up being extremely expensive due to the labor required to repair the defective sensor. The car displays multiple warnings that Electronic Stability Control and 4WD are unavailable. Codes pulled revealed one fault code, C0061 which is for the lateral acceleration sensor which also is tied into the airbag system. Recall V63 (NHTSA 19V-449) issued in August 2019 is related to this exact issue. There are numerous reports of the same problem occurring with other 2019 Jeep Cherokees on Jeep owner forums. Jeep should have expanded the recall to cover this known defect.

The contact owns a 2019 Jeep Cherokee. The contact stated while driving 10 MPH at night, the headlights turned off momentarily. Additionally, the contact stated that while starting the vehicle, the instrument panel and the infotainment system screen display turned on after 15 seconds. The contact also stated that the instrument panel and the infotainment system screen display were turning off intermittently while driving. The contact stated that the forward collision system chime failed to engage while there was another vehicle in the rear proximity of the vehicle; however, the forward collision avoidance system chime engaged while driving by another vehicle. Additionally, the contact stated while driving from a complete stop, the vehicle made an abnormal clunking sound while shifting into 2nd gear. The vehicle was taken to the dealer several times, but the vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 350.

My family and I drove from San Antonio, TX to El Paso, TX on [XXX]. In the car were 4 passengers, including a 11 month old child. At the start of the drive, a warning message that read "4WD overheated. Temporarily unavailable" was seen. The alert showed 1 time and upon a quick search online, was seemingly insignificant. It never showed up again during the drive. We did leave around 4pm so the sun was out and hot, we believed it to be a temporary warning that would not affect our drive as we did not need 4WD during the drive. The jeep did not have a lot of miles on it and was only serviced at the dealership at appropriate windows as recommended by professionals. Once we reached El Paso, a strong smell occurred. Followed shortly by fire and flames coming from the front area, under the hood, near the engine. We pulled off to the side of the road while the flames grew bigger. The infant and all 4 adults were able to exit the vehicle timely but the fire was very large. Many onlookers stopped to check on our welfare. There was an investigation done but all that was said was that there was in fact a fire, and it did in fact start near the front of the vehicle by the engine. Chrysler said they could not determine anything further as there was damage from the fire. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)

Failing part - 8.4" Uconnect radio/control center of the Jeep. The Uconnect system is failing and started ghosting the vehicle, changes the radio, heat and AC, turns on backup camera, calls 911, etc. This specifically becomes a when it starts calling phone numbers and turning backup camera and becomes a distraction to the driver. The problem has been confirmed as the system control panel has delaminated and needs to be replaced by a Jeep Dealer. We were advised to have a Dealer check and confirm the control panel has delaminated and confirm it needs to be replaced. We followed this guidance from Chrysler/Jeep and Uconnect and told that once we did this and they confirmed it needed replaced they would start the process to replace the control panel. There were no warning signs that this was starting and first started about 6 months ago. It has now progressed to nearly every time use the vehicle the control panel starts ghosting all the controls. We have researched and understand that this is an issue with all the Uconnect 8.4 control systems, doesn't matter which vehicle it is in. What we have been able to find is it has been determined a safety issue in other vehicles and Chrysler/Jeep is replacing them. But for us we were told they would only warranty it to 60,000 miles. We have about 89,xxx miles on our Jeep. I don't understand how it can be determined a safety issue and Chrysler/Jeep can get by only covering this to 60,000 miles. It becomes a major safety issue when it randomly and constantly starts changing the temperature, fan speed, back up camera, radio, calling numbers including 911, this can only be stopped by turning the system completely off. this causes loss of many functions to the vehicle.

One day before the incident occurred, I was sitting at a red light and the Start/Stop light was green like normal, all of a sudden, it turned amber, and the engine kicked back on. It drove normally, the next day, I tried to start it and it wouldn't turn over, the gas tank was almost full. This is the 2nd time a battery change was done. The first time was for normal service, the battery needed to be changed. The Start/Stop system has worked normally since I bought it (in 2018) The mileage is ~83,000