NHTSA to investigate 3 million 1993-2004 Jeep Grand Cherokee over gas tank fires?
The position of the plastic fuel tanks in 1993-2004 Jeep Grand Cherokees makes them potential fireballs, argues the Center for Auto Safety. The nonprofit organization says that the fuel tank's location makes the pre-2005 Grand Cherokees prone to catching on fire when involved in an accident. Located behind the rear axle and hanging down below the bumper, shorter vehicles can impact the tank directly, says the Center. The fuel filler neck has also sheared off during some of these incidents, leading to fuel spills and the increased potential for fires.
The Center is petitioning the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration to open an investigation and recall some three million vehicles. Chrysler says the Grand Cherokee will come out of the study having met or exceeded any applicable standards. The organization also notes that NHTSA's files reveal 1993-2004 Jeeps involved in 172 crashes with fires and 254 deaths, while just one post-'05 Cherokee has had a fatal fire incident. The defect petition got underway with NHTSA on November 6, and could take a while, though this isn't the first time the agency has looked at problems with these Jeeps.
NHTSA's "defect petition" process began earlier this month, but a resolution isn't immediately forthcoming – such investigations can take many months – possibly years.
[Source: AutoWeek]
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Bob Marley 9:46AM (11/12/2009)
What are they going to do... sue the old/bankrupt Chrysler? If 3 million vehicles are potentially affected, bankruptcy is looking like the best thing that company accomplished in a long time! Sucks to own one of the affected vehicles though.
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james 9:47AM (11/12/2009)
Looks like Jeep owners will be looking at cars slowing behind them with anxious eyes in the future!
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ebleyes 9:49AM (11/12/2009)
I read many cases of self combustive Jeeps in newspapers and auto forums and I don't know why it took the NHTSA this long to investigate?
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TURNERSVILLE 9:56AM (11/12/2009)
Sorry...When Obama took over, part of the "change" was that you can't sue for cars made before GM and Chrysler was taken.
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Epsilon-Not 10:09AM (11/12/2009)
It's not a change, that's how bankruptcy reorganization works- the reorganized company is freed from certain obligations of the bankrupt company. That's the entire purpose of bankruptcy reorganization.
Frank 10:18AM (11/12/2009)
artandcolour,
You are mistaken. It was Bush who was responsible for Jack the Ripper's murders and the 1918 flu. Didn't you get the moveon.org memo? :-) As for the rest of us we will have to re-elect Obama in 2012 before we can hold him accountable for anything. Until then, it all "Bush's fault".
F Scharer 7:01AM (11/13/2009)
to artandcolor - enough of blaming bush for everything that is wrong today, it goes back much farther than that. every president for years has made mistakes, and if you think that this is all because of bush then you need to go back and check out your history. no, everything is not the black mans fault, but it seems that you want to blame the white man for everything that happens to you. step up and take some responsibility for your own actions for a change
artandcolour 10:00AM (11/12/2009)
some of the affected cars are SIXTEEN years old. i know of a '95 Grand Cherokee that was just cashed-for-clunkered. wtf took this agency so long to 'discover' the location of the fuel tanks? i'm very suspicious of this at all. with the, literally, millions of GCs out there, the small amount of accidents with fires is almost nothing, and could be attributed to almost anything after 10-12 years.
reminds me of the late '70s when an 'unnamed' mfr sent my parents a recall for their car, which they claimed could allow the auto trans to slip from Park to Reverse by itself. only problem was the recall came 6 years after my parents had traded that car in, and 7 years after they replaced the garage door after the car reversed itself into it one morning, smashing it all to hell.
c'mon watchdog groups. stats for cars are available BEFORE the car is produced. taking 16 years to discover the placement of a fuel tank and it's possible problems is ridiculous.
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Purplewon 11:23AM (11/12/2009)
This just in, the NHTSA has similar complaints about the Ford Pinto too! It's only been 30 years (since it was discontinued) and they finally have some data about rear end collisions! Good work NHTSA, way to stay on top of things!
John 11:50AM (11/12/2009)
I agree, there has to be an underlying agenda to this. Grand Cherokees were among the hottest SUVs in the 90s/early 00s, and millions sold. If there was TRULY an issue with this, we would have heard about it ages ago.
and I can't help but shake my head at the logic used to come to this conclusion, this is EXACTLY what is wrong with society today. Making things become an issue, when the only issue are the people that employ faulty logic.
Frank 10:12AM (11/12/2009)
"The organization also notes that NHTSA's files reveal 1993-2004 Jeeps involved in 172 crashes with fires and 254 deaths, while just one post-'05 Cherokee has had a fatal fire incident."
Uhh... From '93-'04 millions of GC's were sold, especially in the early to late 90's when they would sell 2-300,000 + a year. Since 2005? Not so much. So it's not surprising that there is only 1 fatality since '05. It may have nothing to do with design. Unless you work out some kind of ratio of fires to number of vehicles sold the raw number don't mean anything.
Question: Wasn 't the Center for Auto Safety founded by Ralph Nader?
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Redline 10:15AM (11/12/2009)
Kill it with fire?
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Geo 10:17AM (11/12/2009)
.... so so many years to do something about the beloved Chrusler and just several months to react towards the "enemy" Toyota and the problem pedal organization and throttle control ...
I am not trying to defend any of the 2 companies. Both companies should bear the fruit of improper engineering and production decisions made in the past.. But why does it take months for reaction in the second case and YEARS for reaction in the first case?
May be Chrysler is more vulnerable to class action suits now?
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davidt 10:22AM (11/12/2009)
I own a 1998 Jeep Grand Cherokee, and I'll tell you right off the bat: this claim is bogus for pre 1998 Grand Cherokees.
In 1999, Jeep moved the spare tire from the cargo area to underneath the cargo area, thus lowering the gas tank as a result.
Pre-1999 Jeeps have a higher gas tank than do post 1999 vehicles, so I don't think they should lump 1994 jeeps with 1999 jeeps: it makes no sense whatsoever.
That being said, the gas tank is positioned on these cars at the same place where gas tanks are positioned on other cars.
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cmalacon 11:57AM (11/12/2009)
Indeed they did lower it as a result, but they also added an additional metal plate around the tank for protection. Gas tanks are serious business and if they didn't pass regulations, then they wouldn't of been put on the road.
SA680 10:26AM (11/12/2009)
From Chrysler Group:
Chrysler Group is aware of the defect petition and will cooperate fully with NHTSA in the investigation process. Statistically, rear impacts that result in serious injury are rare occurrences. Chrysler Group is confident that a study which considered all factors in all collisions -- including rear collisions with fire -- would show that the 1993-2004 Jeep Grand Cherokees perform as well as or better than other vehicles in their class. The 1993-2004 Jeep Grand Cherokee meets or exceeds all applicable federal safety standards and has an excellent safety record. There are many millions of 1993-2004 Jeep Grand Cherokees on the road whose owners and families continue to enjoy tens of millions of miles and hours of safe vehicle operation each year.
The data cited by the Center For Auto Safety does not discriminate the cause or origin of a fire. Nor does it contain accurate critical real world accident data that takes into account significant factors that influence crash outcomes, such as the speed of a rear impact and the weight of the vehicles involved. As such the conclusions and comparisons reached by the Center are invalid and their use to draw alarming conclusions about a product with an excellent safety record is misguided and irresponsible.
Michael Palese
Corporate Communications
Chrysler Group LLC
Tel: 248 512-2682
Email/bberryl: michael.palese@chrysler.com
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Molly B 7:57AM (11/13/2009)
In 1995 I bought a used 1994 Jeep Cherokee Sport. I drove that Jeep until September 7th 2009. I only stopped driving it because some woman turned in front of me and caused a head on collision which in turn totaled my Jeep. In all that time I NEVER had any problems. I never had to replace the motor, transmission or any other major part. Of course we did basic maintenance and had to replace tires, battery, spark plugs etc. but that Jeep took me up and down the eastern seacoast more times than I can remember and I am so sorry I had to let it go. I had planned on driving it until it had at least 500,000 miles on it if not more! I got up to 267,000 before she was broken. Not a speck of rust! I loved my jeep and would get another one if I could. Jeep is an above average quality product in my opinion. Thanks for reading. Molly Baumbarger
ASEVENSEE4 10:27AM (11/12/2009)
This is going to do wonders for the GC's reputation, especially with a new model right around the corner.
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DOLLY 10:44AM (11/12/2009)
Maybe NBC and Dateline could put explosives under the gas tanks of these Cherokees? I recall NBC doing the same thing to Chevrolet pickups about 15 years ago. NBC apologized, but it makes you wonder. As far as suing the car companies, they went bankrupt, and I believe the President made sure we can't sue the bankrupt ones. Go and sue Ford before the UAW bankrupts them as well.
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Jerry Hightower 2:16PM (11/12/2009)
Dang! It takes this long for NHTSA to discover a problem? We're almost into 2010 and the vehicles involved are '93-2004. Did someone just wake up? This also assumes all accidents are the same, you know, same speeds, same types of vehicles, same angles, etc., etc, etc.
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