Table 1 shows two common vehicle speed control related problems of the 2010 Dodge Nitro.
| Problem Category | Number of Problems |
|---|---|
| Car Accelerates On Its Own problems | |
| Vehicle Speed Control problems |
The contact owns a 2010 Dodge Nitro. The contact was traveling 60 mph when the vehicle independently began to accelerate. The contact stated that the throttle became stuck in the open position, causing the vehicle to accelerate abnormally. In addition, the contact stated that the brakes would not engage when depressed. The vehicle accelerated up to 90 mph and the contact was able to shut off the engine in order to stop the unintended acceleration. The contact attempted to restart the vehicle but to no avail. The entire dashboard momentarily illuminated yet the vehicle would not start. The vehicle was not inspected or repaired for the failure. The failure mileage was 393 and the current mileage was 501.
I have a 2010 Dodge Nitro. Sunday night I had the scariest episode of uncontrollable acceleration. The pedal was not blocked by anything, it moved freely. But when I pressed on the accelerator, it kept accelerating. Nothing stopped this short of putting the car in neutral, even pressing on the brakes with all my weight only slowed the car down. I was scared out of my mind. Nothing worked except for to slam on the brakes, put the car in neutral, then park, and turn the car off. When I turned the car back on, everything was fine. I have never had any other problems with my Nitro. It may be a glitch but this is too scary to not report. No one was hurt thankfully, but we were seconds away from being automatically forced into an intersection of oncoming traffic if my boyfriend hadn't been Smart enough to tell me to put the car in park and turn it off. I immediately took it into the dealership (its there right now, I immediately called the dealer after this happened). I could have seriously hurt or killed myself, or someone else. I know I have read other forums where people have had the same issue with their Nitro. I am seriously considering getiing a new car and never buying from Dodge again. I have a brand new baby I have to think about and that was too scary to even risk happening again. Dodge needs needs to do something about this, its unacceptable for any vehicle to perform like this, even once. Especially when lives are at stake.