Friday, May 25, 2018
Consumer Reports’ advocacy division urges consumers with recalled Dodge, Ram, Jeep, and Chrysler vehicles to take precautions until repairs are made to cruise control systems that might not disengage
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Consumers Union, the advocacy division of Consumer Reports, today alerted consumers of an important safety advisory from Fiat Chrysler and the federal government on approximately 4.8 million Dodge, Ram, Jeep, and Chrysler vehicles with defective cruise control systems. Most, but not all, of the recalled vehicles are model year 2014-2018. When these systems fail, the cruise control might not disengage when the driver turns it off, leading to a risk of losing control of a vehicle — including at a high speed. Fiat Chrysler announced that it plans to fix the defective cruise control systems through a software update.
David Friedman, Director of Cars and Product Policy and Analysis for Consumers Union, said, “Everyone with a Dodge, Ram, Jeep, or Chrysler vehicle that is five years old or newer should pay close attention. This defect could put you or your loved ones at risk. Find your VIN at the front corner of your dashboard, and check safercar.gov right away to see if your vehicle is part of the recall. If it is, stop using cruise control until Fiat Chrysler has repaired the car. We urge the company to roll out an effective fix as quickly as possible, and to do everything it can to reach consumers, both about the defect and about the software update once it’s available.”
Contact: David Butler, dbutler@consumer.org