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Jumpin' Jeep Injures Two at Minneapolis Car Wash

Jeep owners beware: Jeeps and car washes don't mix

By Joe Benton
ConsumerAffairs.com

December 5, 2007

The most recent report involved Neil in Minneapolis, Minnesota. His 2006 Jeep Grand Cherokee suddenly accelerated out of a Minneapolis car wash damaging four vehicles, totaling one of them and seriously injuring two bystanders.

Three people were struck by the runaway Jeep.

“One remains paralyzed 18 months after incident. My letter to NHTSA says probably driver error,” Neil reported to ConsumerAffairs.com.

Jumpin' Jeeps have caused near-catastrophes at three Virginia car washes in the last several months as well.

In Fredericksburg, Bruce drove his 1999 Jeep Grand Cherokee through the wash and when the wash was complete he “shifted the vehicle to drive and it accelerated on its own to full throttle.”

Bruce told ConsumerAffairs.com that he “stood on the brakes but could not stop the vehicle. I hit a wall behind the car wash and then bounced into a boat that was being dried.”

The boat owner “got out of the way and was not hit.”

The local Jeep dealer “could not explain nor understand why this happened,” Bruce said.

Other reports of unintended acceleration with Jeeps at Virginia car washes include an incident with a 2003 Jeep Grand Cherokee slamming into a truck in Newport News.

At a Virginia Beach car wash a 2006 Jeep commander crashed into a brick wall.

A Chrysler spokesman claims, “it's not an issue of sudden acceleration but pedal misapplication" or put another way, simply driver error.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has refused to order a safety recall because the agency found “no evidence to indicate the influence of a manufacturing defect.”

ConsumerAffairs.com has received reports of unintended acceleration in the Grand Cherokee since at least 2000.

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