In November of 2019 my 2017 Jeep Cherokee, which was still under its initial lease at the time, suffered a major mechanical malfunction in which the parking brake autonomously engaged while driving, causing the vehicle to abruptly stop in the middle of the road. This issue repeated itself on several occasions and is still being ignored by Stellantis (formerly Fiat Chrysler Automobiles), three Jeep dealerships involved in the sale or repair of the vehicle, and US Bank (the lessor). I intend to prove that both Jeep and Stellantis are fully aware of the defect and deliberately ignoring it. Under no circumstance is it acceptable for a corporation to knowingly put its customers’ lives at risk. This is no exception.
Throughout this letter, I will be outlining a timeline of events in chronological order. I will not be naming individual employees involved in the situations that have occurred, as I believe the behavior exhibited indicates the failure of Stellantis as a whole.
I hope that after this is investigated and resolved, better measures are put into place by all parties involved to better protect their customers against such gross negligence and overall atrocious behavior.
Everything in this letter is true, and I am fully prepared to swear under oath to its honesty and, when the time comes, provide factual evidence of every single word stated within it.
It has been eighteen months since the parking brake malfunction first occurred in my vehicle. After its inception, I immediately brought it to Flemington Jeep in Flemington, New Jersey, for service. A few days later, I was told the parking brake was repaired, and the vehicle was safe to drive.
Upon receiving the vehicle back, I was given the diagnosis as follows: “Star connector has been inspected and multiple pins have corrosion. Star Connector has been cleaned, and dielectric grease has been applied. Upon further inspection, multiple connectors have pins loose. Pins have been repaired and secured back into the connector”.
I trusted that the issue was resolved, so I paid the service fees, and my vehicle was returned to me.
Two weeks later, the issue began to repeat itself with the addition of the entire instrument panel malfunctioning; all warning lights blinking on and off, windshield wipers autonomously engaging, the “service electronic brake system” light flashing, and the doors autonomously locking me inside of the vehicle.
I called Flemington Jeep to get it serviced again. They refused to see the vehicle again and refused a refund for the failed service they performed (this fee was refunded at a later date).
Stellantis is the parent company of Jeep, so I called them, thinking they would intervene. I informed them that the dealership failed to repair the defect and refused to service the vehicle further. I was, at the very least, expecting help with getting a refund from the dealership. But it is at this moment in time that a pattern begins to appear with how Stellantis responds. They inform me that “All Jeep dealerships are independently owned and operated. We cannot tell them to do anything. Your best bet is to find another Jeep dealership to try and resolve the issue.”
I had just paid hundreds of dollars to get a life-threatening defect repaired. But it wasn’t repaired, the vehicle still couldn’t be driven, I wasn’t receiving a refund, and both the dealership and manufacturer were refusing to help. What was I to do? I had no choice but to find another dealership and start over.
I called Team Welsh Jeep in Far Hills, NJ. They agreed to service the vehicle. It was towed to them the next day.
Two weeks later, I was informed that it was repaired and ready to be picked up. Upon meeting with the service advisor, he immediately informed me of something alarming. He stated that the work Flemington Jeep said they had done was not done. In a later phone call, he stated this again. It is also stated in the service order from Team Welsh, which reads as follows: “Upon receiving the vehicle, it would keep engaging the parking brake, inspected vehicle as per the previous repair at another shop, inspected the star connectors (4), located every plug installed in the incorrect locations on each of the 4-star connectors, reinstalled all plugs in the correct locations, inspected plugs for indication of corrosion and dielectric grease, there were no signs of any dielectric grease on any of the pins as stated in the previous work order.”
Flemington Jeep said they fixed the parking brake defect. I paid them for that service. Not only did the defect repeat itself several times after it was in their possession, but now the vehicle was also locking me inside afterward, and they refused to even look at it again. Then, upon inspection at another Jeep dealership, it became evident that they lied to me about fixing the defect. Flemington Jeep knowingly put my life and the lives of others at risk. I confronted them with this evidence. It is at this point in which they refunded the service fees they originally charged me.
I paid Team Welsh about twelve hundred dollars after they informed me of this and told me the vehicle was repaired and safe to drive. Ten to twelve weeks later, the defect began occurring again. I called Team Welsh back. Now they were refusing to service the vehicle a second time.
In a later phone call, they stated the reason for this was that I had become argumentative. They wanted me to pay the diagnostic and service fees again after they already assured me that they repaired the defect. I paid them for that service. Then that service failed, causing the parking brake to autonomously engage again. And now they wanted me to pay them again for that same service that failed, putting my life at risk. I was indeed argumentative about this. That is Team Welsh’s justification for refusing to help a customer whose vehicle was exhibiting a life-threatening defect after they assured me it was safe to drive. As I stated earlier: under no circumstance is it acceptable for a corporation to knowingly put its customers’ lives at risk. This is no exception.
I contact Stellantis again. I get the same response again. “All Jeep dealerships are independently owned and operated. We cannot tell them to do anything. Your best bet is to find another Jeep dealership to try and resolve the issue.”
I start calling the remaining dealerships in my local area. I also call Ramsey Jeep in Ramsey, NJ. They are the originating dealership. After explaining the situation, everyone’s overwhelming response is more or less: it would be impossible to pinpoint the defect’s underlying cause because two other dealerships have already worked on it, and too much time has passed.
Ramsey Jeep would later change their tone and tell me they were willing to look at the vehicle while, at the same time, constantly evade my calls and not return them. On dozens of occasions, I called and was given conflicting information about who could help me and who could not. I was eventually told that the only person who could help me was a service supervisor. When I finally got him on the phone, I explained the situation to him. He said he would contact Stellantis and see what they could do to help. He said he would get back to me in a day or two. He did not get back to me in a day or two. About two weeks later, I called Ramsey Jeep several times in one day and stated to an employee that I would continue to call every day, several times a day until someone there was willing to help. The person I was waiting for called me five minutes later. He informed me that Stellantis did not return his call with an offer to help, and his hands were tied.
I had no idea what to do at this point, so I continued calling Stellantis and the dealerships that had already worked on the vehicle. Stellantis kept assigning new case managers and case numbers. They all kept repeating the same thing over and over again. Stellantis wasn’t claiming responsibility. They were telling me it was the Jeep dealership’s responsibility. When I called the Jeep dealerships, they would tell me it was Stellantis’ responsibility.
This cycle continued for hundreds of phone calls over thirteen months, during which every Stellantis case manager would repeat the same thing over and over again: “All Jeep dealerships are independently owned and operated. We cannot tell them to do anything. Your best bet is to find another Jeep dealership to try and resolve the issue. Until you have a service appointment booked or there is a diagnosis of the vehicle given, we cannot help you.”
I told every case manager I spoke with that I could not get a dealership to service the vehicle, and the two who already had were refusing a second service. Furthermore, the parking brake defect was already duplicated and verified by these same two dealerships. Surely this must be enough of a diagnosis, enough evidence for Stellantis to realize my Jeep was unsafe to drive. Surely they would step in and remediate the situation, right?
They did not. In fact, they did quite the opposite.
In December of 2020, Fiat Chrysler Automobiles, now known as Stellantis blocked me from calling them to request help with a life-threatening defect in one of their vehicles, a vehicle that I was still leasing. Well, my mother and I were leasing it. She was the co-signer. So we tried calling from her phone. Stellantis blocked her from calling as well.
At this point, I began contacting both dealerships that had already worked on the vehicle. Team Welsh gives the same response: They won’t work on it because I became argumentative several months earlier.
Flemington Jeep, however, got a little more creative this time around: During one of my conversations with a case manager at Stellantis (shortly before they blocked us from calling), I was informed that an employee of Flemington Jeep told Stellantis that “precautionary repairs” were performed on my vehicle. When I asked the Stellantis case manager what that meant, he could not tell me. I asked him to call this employee back and find out what that meant. He then hung up on me.
So I called Flemington Jeep to ask this employee myself. When I asked him what he meant by “precautionary repairs,” he would not tell me. I then asked if I could bring the vehicle in for service. This employee informed me that “We are no longer accepting vehicles for service at this time.” I asked him to repeat that because I wasn’t sure if I had heard him correctly. He repeated it. I did hear him correctly. I then asked for a copy of my original service order. I explained that I needed this service order to show other service departments what Flemington Jeep had done to the vehicle so it could be repaired properly. He refused that as well and then hung up on me. I immediately called another department within the dealership to see if they were “not accepting any more vehicles for service,” as stated by the service supervisor a few moments prior. I was informed that they were accepting cars for service.
So, where does that leave us? Flemington Jeep has changed its narrative once again. They even went so far as to lie to me again and tell me they were no longer accepting any vehicles for service. When I asked what services they had done to the vehicle, they refused to tell me. When I asked for a copy of the service order, they refused to give it to me. When I tried to call back, they hung up on me.
I began calling other dealerships within the Flemington Auto Group to see if anyone could help me get a copy of my service order. I eventually got in touch with someone who was working in the service department at their Ford dealership. When I explained what had been happening, she agreed to help. She told me she would inform her supervisor about it. When I spoke to her again later that same day, she informed me that I would receive a call back from either her or her supervisor. I never received that call.
I kept calling around to other dealerships within the Flemington Auto Group, asking for help of any kind. I eventually spoke with an executive assistant/customer relations manager. She told me she would call the service supervisor who was withholding the repair information and service order. I was emailed a copy of the service order later that day.
I called her back, thinking she could help me figure out what was done to the vehicle, and ask why they were refusing to work on it again. She informed me that I should stop calling.
Flemington Jeep has yet to give me an explanation as to what they did or did not do to the vehicle while it was in their possession. As I stated earlier: under no circumstance is it acceptable for a corporation to knowingly put its customers’ lives at risk. This is no exception.
Stellantis and Jeep are not alone in their inaction. US Bank owns the vehicle. I make payments to them. From the very beginning and throughout the entire process, they have been fully aware of the situation. I made several dozen phone calls to them explaining, in detail, what was happening with the vehicle. They have offered no resolution except the following: On one particular phone call, a US Bank employee suggested I crash my vehicle purposefully to get help with it. Not only is that dangerous for both myself and others, but it is also unquestionably illegal. I have talked to senior management at US Bank about both this phone call and the vehicle’s ongoing safety issues. They have taken neither seriously. I have also called their legal department numerous times, but they have yet to get back to me. Though, I think that might change after they read this letter.
During another phone call with US Bank, I asked what would happen to the vehicle after the lease was up. I was told it would be prepared to be resold. I called back several times and talked to several different US Bank employees to verify this. They did verify it.
I explained that the defect was dangerous, that it could seriously injure or kill someone, and that the vehicle should be retired. I was told it would go through an inspection before being resold.
I further explained that the defect was random. There was a strong chance it would not happen during the inspection but perhaps after it was sold to an unsuspecting customer. I was then told it was neither my business nor my responsibility. As I stated earlier: under no circumstance is it acceptable for a corporation to knowingly put its customers’ lives at risk. This is no exception.
That is where I draw the line and take a stand. I will not let anybody else’s life be put at risk or be affected by this the way I have been. It has had a direct impact on my livelihood, my health, and my future. We have extended the lease beyond its original end date to ensure this never happens to anyone else with this vehicle ever again. We will continue to bear this weight while all other parties involved have shrugged it off as inconsequential.
From the very beginning, I was only asking for one thing, my vehicle to either be repaired or replaced. A major mechanical defect occurred in this vehicle, putting lives at risk. It happened repeatedly. I reported it to the dealerships and manufacturer every time it happened. It has been proven to be a real defect by multiple dealerships. They have stated so in their service orders. Both Jeep and Stellantis are fully aware of the defect, yet both deny any responsibility for it.
Jeep and Stellantis have morally failed. They have, time and time again, shown the true depths of their villainy by letting the weight and responsibility of their failures fall to the consumer. That leaves it up to the consumer to remediate these failures. That’s exactly what’s happening here.
It’s been eighteen months since this fight started, and I am more motivated now than ever to see the entirety of this through until the end. This has become more than just about the mechanical malfunction in my vehicle. This is about the malfunction of a mega-corporation as a whole and indicative of how all mega-corporations conduct business. Their only purpose becomes self-preservation to ensure a continued profit and exponential growth, even if it’s at the cost of suppressing their own customers’ truth and safety. These companies cannot exist in tandem with the truth as it happens to us. So they form their own narrative and force us to accept it as it changes to better suit their needs. When we don’t, they try to silence us. But I will not accept what is happening here. I will not be silent.
Over the past eighteen months, I’ve been doing quite a bit of research. I will continue to do so until a full investigation is underway. This will not be the last letter I write. I’m in the process of compiling information on other Jeep cases from the NHTSA and a few other sources. I am also doing everything I can to contact other Jeep customers who have experienced what I have outlined in this letter. The parking brake defect in my Jeep vehicle has also occurred in many other Jeep vehicles dating back as far as 2014. Below is a link to the NHTSA website showing three examples of this. After you click on the link, scroll to about 3/4 of the way down the page and click on “parking brake” under “filter complaints by affected components.” The first of these vehicles (my vehicle) was at approximately 52,000 miles when the failure occurred. The second vehicle listed here was at approximately 58,000 miles when the failure occurred. The third vehicle listed here was at approximately 312 miles when the failure occured and reoccured. There are many more cases like these. Over the next few months, I will be thoroughly researching every single one.
There must be a recall. To deny that is to deny the safety we’ve already been promised.
Below is a TSB (technical service bulletin) from 2016. This TSB outlines the water intrusion problem that occurs in the EPB module. This TSB shows that Stellantis has undeniably known about the defect since 2016. It was so serious they needed to post a company-wide bulletin about it. How can Stellantis continue to manufacture with this design when they know it can lead to corrosion of the EPB module? I’ve asked them. I’m still waiting for an answer.
If more proof is needed that Stellantis is fully aware of the parking brake defect, look no further than the link below. It shows the results of a dispute from 2019… Dunn vs. FCA US, LLC.
In it, Dunn (the Consumer) states that the parking brake in her 2018 Jeep Compass spontaneously engages while driving. In the “Findings of Fact” section it is noted that the manufacturer “did not contest its liability in this case.” FCA (Stellantis) was ordered to refund the full cost of the vehicle.
STELLANTIS DID NOT CONTEST THE FINDINGS. It is also noteworthy that this defect happened in a Jeep Compass. This further shows the defectiveness of the EPB module itself, and the danger it poses to the public.
This is not a failure to recognize a critical safety issue. Both Jeep and Stellantis are aware of it and have been for a long time. They are willfully choosing to ignore it. As I stated earlier: under no circumstance is it acceptable for a corporation to knowingly put its customers’ lives at risk. This is no exception.
I want to reiterate that I am fully prepared to swear under oath that everything I have stated in this letter is true. I fully expect all parties involved to respond with corporate disinformation wherein they try to change the narrative again. I welcome their attempts. They will be met with the factual evidence of everything I have stated here.
To any Jeep customers reading this letter who have experienced the same parking brake defect or any other defect in your Jeep vehicle that has put your life at risk: please email me at the address below if you’d like to share your story.
Shawn Duffy
JeepDefects@Gmail.com
