I bought my RT 3 weeks ago. A week ago, my wife backed into our Xterra....What a bummer. I thought she really messed up. Well, actually, i have determined that she didn't mess up, but rather the Magnum messed up.

If you put the car in reverse, randomly (it appears) that when you press the gas pedle slowly down, the electronics does not engage properly. So, you press the gas peddle down about 50% or greater before there is an engine response. Once the electronics realizes where the gas peddle is, then you have about 50% or more throttle all at once. The car jumps to life in reverse and the car accelerates backwards about 10 feet even if you instantly let off of the gas peddle.

This did $1300 damage to the Magnum and $1300 damage to our Xterra.

If anyone has any input, please let me know what you have to share.

It is difficult to get it to repeat and the dealer has the car as of today. They could not make it happen, but will try again tommorow morning when the care is cold. Yesterday, the insurance adjuster sat in the passenger seat and watched it happen. I let him know that the odds were that it would not happen, but it did. 2 black marks about 3' each and 10' jump in reverse. He said that there is a problem and it appears a malfunction in the throttle sensor mechanism. I sent the report which states this to the dealer today. I actually filed this problem with Dodge last week and they said go to the dealer.

Basiclly, i would like the car replaced as it had 800 miles on it and it was 1 week old. At the very least, repair of both vehicles and compensation for the problem.

Anyones advice or similar experiences is appreciated.

I am not trashing Dodge on this, i love the car. I think i have just identified a potential bug that needs some major attention.

Thanks,

Mel

 

Wow... that's extremely sad!!

Can I inquire if you or your wife gave it time to engage... or just hit the gas right away? Not that I'm saying it was your fault at all... NOT AT ALL... I'm just surprised it happened.

Did you get any pics of the damage? On the Magnum of course, I'm not an Xterra fan... my apologies about that. No sympathy for it... but the Magnum... ohhhh the poor thing... I could just cry for it!!

~Amanda

 

Amanda, yes, the transmission is fully engaged. We have gotten it to repeat this about 5 times total. None, more clearly than when the adjuster looked at it yesterday. I was really surprised how harshly it responded. There was no rapid depression of the gas pedal, rather a simple slow pressing of the peddle. At about 1/2 thottle position on the peddle, all of the gas dumped at once and the engine ramped up. Result = going backward real fast. It would hurt someone if they were behind the car. The impact of the Exterra was rather dramatic. I have pics, but i am too embarrassed to post them.

Thanks,

Mel

 

That is so weird... and extremely sad!! I'm SO glad no one got hurt...

As long as a Nissan badge didn't get stuck on the Magnum, you have NOTHING to be embarassed about. We are here for you and your RT...

How long did the dealership say it would take to fix the damage, above and beyond the time to fix the reverse issue...?

~Amanda

 

Amanda,
The dealership is trying to diagnose the problem first. They have not seen it first hand. They want to keep it a couple of days. I really would prefer that DODGE caugh up a new car though. 800 miles and then this really makes me want a substitute. It was a very hard wack.

If they do figure out the problem and repair it, probably towards the end of next week.

-Mel

 

I have a Blazer that does the same thing. The damnable 'electronic' trans takes like a full second to engage and if you hit the gas the engine revs way up, then the gear 'engages' and its like doing a 'neutral drop' hard on the trans, hard on tires etc.

It's especially annoying when you are trying to make a real fast three point turn with traffic coming and you want to back up enough to go the other way. Also I like to put in N while at a light, so you have to anticipate the light changing to put it in D because of this - it's only about 1 to 1.5 seconds but that seems like an eternity when you cars are coming at you.

If you are VERY lucky the dealer might pay your deductible, but it's likely they will just say it's your fault. Car dealers just don't take them back once you sign on the dotted line. They would have to sell it as a used car and would lose many thousands and that's without paying for the damage.

Before the 'electronic' thing, you moved the lever and immediatly the 'thunk' engaged and there was no hesitation - why do the electronic rigs have this damnable hesitation?

Isn't the LX a 'drive by wire' deal rather than the old cable for the throttle? Maybe this is part of the problem.

Anyway, sorry about the problem - it's a real downer to bang up a month old car.

 

My Tundra (sold) used to do the same thing if I didn't wait for the tranny to engage. Twice ran into something because I shifted into gear, looked back, and took my foot off the brake then rolled forward; BAM[:@]. Once was a telephone pole making a 3 point turn (around) and the other was a guardrail I was parked in front of on a hill. Lesson learned.

 

Hello, I actually noticed this occurance today (twice in Forward and once in Reverse) I was told that it is a delay by the computer and then a quick response.

I definitley find it dangerous.

I would suggest taking someone with you and a video recorder and tape it for others to see, or save it for a recall hearing.