What 455 owners told NHTSA about the 2016 Jeep Patriot

My son was driving his vehicle on the interstate in Florida when all of the sudden engine stopped working. He was able to navigate to the side and eventually it started up and made back to campus. Codes had came up so took to Firestone and changed spark plugs. We checked NHTSA website for engine recalls and showed had some but not for his specific vehicle per VIN. Only sounded a little better so took to Jeep dealership and paid for diagnostic evaluation and told “alternator falling apart” but nothing wrong with engine or transmission. They changed a belt Dealership also said no recall for his particular vehicle. Problem continued so took to local mechanism who replaced alternator and a good bit better. So between 8/20/25-8/26/25, he took car to 3 repair shops that couldn’t find the problem completely. Then on [XXX] while driving on interstate, son saw smoke then fire coming from under hood. Car caught on fire. Was able to pull over and call 911 who had fire department put out fire. He survived fire but emotionally a wreak. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)

NHTSA ODI 11684580

MY MALFUNCTIONING JEEP PATRIOT EXPERIENCED SUDDEN UNEXPECTED ACCELERATION WHICH RESULTED IN A TOTALED CAR, 2 DAMAGED BUILDINGS, AND A FCA LETTER STONEWALLING AND WASHING THEIR HANDS OF. THIS ACCIDENT CAME WITHIN A WHISKER OF TAKING OUR LIVES. ACCIDENT HAPPENED AS I DESCENDED OUR DRIVEWAY TO OUR HOUSE. DEEP SKID TIRE MARKS IN GRAVEL THEY CHOSE TO IGNORE. THEIR "INVESTIGATION" WAS VERY VERY SHALLOW. I HAVE A DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF ALL THAT HAPPENED THAT DAY AND POLICE REPORT WHICH I CAN FAX TO YOU. I AM A VERY ANGRY AND FRUSTRATED VETERAN I NEED YOU. THANKS.*DT*DT*JP*DT*JB*JB

NHTSA ODI 11383533

2016 PATRIOT WITH,54,000 MILES. NO MAJOR ISSUES PRIOR. 2 WEEKS AGO HOWEVER, I WAS LEFT STOPPED IN THE MIDDLE OF A HIGHWAY ENTRANCE RAMP, ALMOST REAR-ENDED BY A SEMI AND SIDE SWIPING A CONSTRUCTION SIGN TO AVOID BEING HIT. WHEN ACCELERATING THE ETC SYMBOL (LIGHTENING BOLT) WILL DISPLAY, TRACTION CONTROL ICON AND CHECK ENGINE LIGHT WILL DISPLAY. THE JEEP COMPLETELY STOPS ACCELERATING (HIGHWAY SPEED TO 0 MPH WITHIN SECONDS=DEADLY), IT WILL SHAKE BEFORE JUST DYING. IF I'M LUCKY I'LL MAKE IT TO THE SHOULDER (IF IT HAPPENS TO HAVE ONE). THROUGH GOOGLE RESEARCH, I CAME ACROSS A WAY TO DO A "RESET" (TURN CAR OFF, INSERT KEY AND TURN "ON", PRESS GAS PEDAL SLOWLY, RELEASE SLOWLY, TURN CAR OFF AND THEN RESTART THE ENGINE). DOING THIS TYPICALLY CLEARS THE ICONS AND I'M ABLE TO TRAVEL AGAIN. THIS INTERMITTENTLY HAPPENS, SO YOU NEVER KNOW WHEN YOU'RE POTENTIALLY ABOUT TO BE INVOLVED IN AN ACCIDENT FROM STOPPING IN THE MIDDLE OF THE ROADWAY. WHEN DRIVING ON CITY/TOWN ROADS, IT HAS NOT COMPLETED STOPPED AS STATED ABOVE, BUT WILL "JUMP" WHEN SWITCHING GEARS, THEN THROW THE ETC SYMBOL. IF I LET OFF THE GAS, THE ICON GOES AWAY AND CAR RUNS NORMAL. I TOOK IT TO A MECHANIC 1 DAY AGO AND WAS TOLD TO GET A NEW BATTERY. THE BATTERY WAS CHANGED 1 DAY AGO AND THE ISSUE OCCURRED MULTIPLE TIMES TODAY. THROUGH ONLINE SEARCHES IT APPEARS THIS IS A TERRIBLY COMMON ISSUE THAT JEEP HAS YET TO ADDRESS! SOMEONE IS GOING TO END UP LOSING THEIR LIFE BECAUSE OF THIS MALFUNCTION. THERE APPEARS TO BE NO WAY OF KNOWING THIS IS GOING TO HAPPEN OR ANY PREVENTATIVE MEASURES THAT A TYPICAL PERSON WOULD KNOW TO TAKE TO AVOID THIS DEADLY MALFUNCTION. AS EASY AS IT IS TO JUST TAKE IT TO A MECHANIC, THAT IS NOT FINANCIALLY POSSIBLE FOR EVERYONE AND IN THIS SITUATION NEEDS TO BE ADDRESSED BY JEEP AS IT IS RECURRING ISSUE AND IS DEADLY. NOTHING AS A VEHICLE OWNER WOULD AVOID THIS FROM OCCURRING.

NHTSA ODI 11217907

WHILE DRIVING SLOWLY (~10 MPH) SB I PREPARED TO MAKE A RIGHT-TURN (WB), IN THE ONLY LANE THAT TURNS RIGHT. AS I NEARED THE INTERSECTION THE LIGHT TURNED GREEN, ENABLING ME AND THE (1) LANE ON MY LEFT TO GO (IT GOES SB). NO CAR WAS AHEAD OF ME (TO TURN). THE STREET I WAS TURNING ONTO HAD ONE (WB) LANE, AND TWO LANES (STOPPED), THAT GO EB. NOTE: (MAY BE RELEVANT), I FREQUENTLY DOWN-SHIFT (AUTOMATIC) TRANSMISSIONS (USING THE "PADDLES" OR "BUTTONS", WHATEVER'S ON THE SHIFT COLUMN), ON ALL AUTOMATIC TRANS. CARS I DRIVE, WHEN I SLOW DOWN. I DO THIS TO SAVE WEAR & TEAR ON MY BRAKES, WHEN APPROACHING STOP-SIGNS OR RED-LIGHTS. I DOWN SHIFT GRADUALLY, JUST LIKE ON A MANUAL TRANS. WHEN IT'S TIME TO GO, I HOLD THE PADDLE IN THE "UP-SHIFT" MODE, UNTIL I SEE "DRIVE" ON THE TRANS. INDICATOR. IN THIS ACCIDENT, AS THE LIGHT TURNED GREEN (THE TRANS. WAS IN A LOW GEAR), I HELD THE PADDLE IN "UP-SHIFT" MODE (NOTE: I MAY HAVE CLICKED THE PADDLE 1 GEAR UP BEFORE IT WENT TO "DRIVE", I DON'T REMEMBER), AND STARTED THE TURN, BARELY PRESSING THE ACCELERATOR. WHEN I WAS APPR. HALFWAY (45 DEGREES) INTO THE TURN (POINTED SWB AT THE OPPOSITE TWO LANES), I FELT THE ENGINE "STAGGER" (LIKE IF YOU ACCIDENTALLY SHIFT A MANUAL TRANS. INTO A HIGH GEAR BUT YOU MEANT A LOW GEAR), AND IN A FRACTION OF A SECOND-THE CAR ROCKETED AHEAD (I HEARD RPMS) SLAMMING ME INTO THE WB CAR(S) SO FAST, I DIDN'T EVEN MAKE 90 DEGREES, NOR COULD I BRAKE (I TRIED). THE 1ST CAR IMPACTED WENT BACKWARD (AND TO THE RIGHT) HITTING THE CAR BEHIND, AND HIT THE CAR IN THE RIGHT LANE. NOTE: 1. JEEP WAS TOTALED. 2. THIS ACCIDENT WAS IN DRY WEATHER, MID-MORNING @ INTERSECTION I DRIVE NEARLY EVERY DAY. 3.THE AIRBAG FAILED & I WAS BRIEFLY KNOCKED-OUT W/SOME INJURIES. 4. THIS IS NOT: " I HIT THE GAS BUT MEANT THE BRAKE" CASE, I WENT FROM SLOW TO ROCKET-SHIP. 5. I'VE BEEN DRIVING > 40 YEARS W/O ACCIDENT. 5. I'M A PILOT W/GOOD REFLEXES. *TT *TR

NHTSA ODI 11099358

ON 4/12/17 AT APPROXIMATELY 5:30 PM I WAS DRIVING MY JEEP OF 11,000 MILES ON IT. STILL A NEW CAR. IT STARTED RUNNING AS IF LOOSING POWER. I PULLED OFF OF HIGHWAY TO SEE WHAT WAS HAPPENING. I PULLED HOOD RELEASE IT DID NOT OPEN. I LOOKED UNDER JEEP TO ATTEMPT TO GET HOOD OPEN AS AN POLICE OFFICER PULLED UP BESIDE CAR TO SEE IF I WAS OK. AS HE BEGAN TO ASK THIS AND I TURNED TO REPLY. CAR BURST INTO FLAMES. OFFICER ATTEMPTED TO USE FIRE EXTINGUISHER BUT IT DID NOT HELP AND BY THE TIME FIRE DEPARTMENT ARRIVED IT WAS A TOTAL LOSS. FIRE RAGED SO HOT IT MELTED THE FRONT SEAT HEAD RESTS AND THE ENTIRE FRONT OF JEEP IS GONE. PERHAPS BY PULLING OVER IS THE ONLY REASON I AM STILL ALIVE. I HAVE A LOT OF DOCUMENTS AND PICTURES. IN THESE DOCUMENTS I HAVE WORD FOR WORD OF CHRYSLER JEEP REFUSING TO DO AN INVESTIGATION ON WHY THIS CAR BURNED..

NHTSA ODI 10983094