Chrysler has announced a worldwide recall of up to 792 300 older Jeep SUVs because of faults with ignition switches that could fall out of the “run” position, shutting off the engine and disabling air bags as well as power-assisted steering and braking.

“Unintended ignition key rotation”

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said in June 2014 it was investigating Jeep Commanders and Grand Cherokees after getting 32 complaints that a driver’s knee can hit the key fob or key chain, causing the ignition switch to move out of position. The agency said that it is requesting additional information from Chrysler to ensure that its repairs will be effective.

Even though Chrysler no longer makes the Commander, and the Grand Cherokee has since been redesigned, the automaker revealed that models affected in the worldwide Jeep recall include the 2006-2006 Jeep Commander and the 2005-2006 Jeep Grand Cherokee.

Although still waiting for official confirmation, Media Liaison Manager at Chrysler South Africa, Richard Sloman, said that out of the almost 800K recalled vehicles, some 643 Commanders sold in that time period, would be the number they would look at.

The number of Grand Cherokee units affected locally is still being investigated. “As soon as we have received the parts we will make contact with the customers, those who still own the cars since new and the dealers will attend to those enquiries as they are encountered,” said Sloman.

The same ignition problem is the reason GM had to recall more than 15 million cars over the last six months.

GM acknowledged that it knew of the ignition problem for more than a decade, but failed to recall the cars until earlier this year, when it recalled 2.6 million small cars such as the Chevrolet Cobalt (not sold in SA).

“The GM Cobalt recall brought to light new information that NHTSA will use in the future to evaluate stalling issues,” NHTSA said in a recent statement. “While there is no specific standard regarding ignition-switch torque and no standard regarding the amount of weight from key chains and keys that an ignition switch must be able to handle, NHTSA will continue to conduct research to determine additional improvements that can be made to the nation’s fleet.”