Other than spurious rf signals from the automated control system, I do not know what else would cause such accelerations.
http://www.9news.com/news/article/321471/222/Car-wash-company-no-longer-washing-Jeeps
When I go through a car wash…I just put the vehicle in neutral and shut off the engine. The car wash pulls you through so I don’t see how a car idling in neutral can have a “sudden acceleration” moment. I think this article rates right up there with “Bigfoot” and the “Loch Ness” monster.
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no comment
Or perhaps paranoia due to a certain recently-legal drug?
Thanks for passing on the news article. We’ll see what comes out of the situation.
I agree with missileman.
Every automatic car wash with which I am familiar uses rollers that come up out of the floor, and nudge the tires from behind in order to move the car forward. That is why the employees tell customers–and large signs state–“put transmission in Neutral and don’t steer”.
Whether there is a problem with sudden uncontrolled acceleration with these Jeeps or not, anyone who keeps his car in gear in an automatic car wash is extremely negligent, and those folks should not be surprised at what might befall them and their car as a result of this negligence.
“When Jeeps run through his facility now, Cercioglu says, the SUVs idle for 10 seconds before an employee puts them into drive.” So it is not a matter of being in drive at the wash, but being put into gear after a wash. It would seem to be a water related issue in my book, but there do not seem to be a large number of complaints about unintended acceleration in rain storms. Perhaps it has something to do with the under carriage wash getting something wet that does not usually happen while driving in the rain, either way it should be investigated for cause, and recalled and fixed.