— A Jeep Cherokee electronic parking brake investigation is closed following allegations of four crashes, three minor injuries and one vehicle fire.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration received 80 complaints about 2014-2020 Jeep Cherokees which said the parking brakes suddenly activated.
However, NHTSA looked at only 2014-2016 Jeep Cherokees.
Repair invoices indicated the parking brake module was damaged by water leaking into the Jeep. NHTSA also knew the parking brake module was in the same area as the liftgate module, and Chrysler had problems with water affecting the liftgates.
FCA responded to NHTSA and found the parking brakes likely suddenly engaged on more than 1,650 Jeep Cherokees, with the 2014 model suffering the highest failure rates.
Most of the Jeeps which had problems were about three years old, with the oldest vehicle in service nearly nine years.
NHTSA learned most incidents occurred while the vehicles were not in motion, with a small number of parking brake incidents occurring while the vehicles were moving at slow speeds or while backing up.
And according to safety regulators:
"All of the alleged injuries appeared to be consistent with hard braking and did not need medical attention. There was no supporting information that demonstrated a fire had occurred on the vehicle."
Although NHTSA has closed its investigation, NHTSA could reopen the probe if future conditions warrant the action.
