‘Battery could explode’: Suburban family afraid to drive newly leased Jeep after recalls

A Woodstock family says they’re stuck paying nearly $1,000 a month for a vehicle they don’t feel safe driving due to three active recalls.

As they look for answers, NBC 5 Responds took a closer look at their options, the limits of state lemon laws, and the federal protections available to use in situations like this.

At first, leasing a brand-new Jeep Grand Cherokee 4XE hybrid seemed like the perfect upgrade for Steve Shepley and his young family.

“We were convinced that this is a great car, let’s go ahead and do this, especially for family trips,” said Shepley.

But the honeymoon was short-lived.

Within six months of owning the car, three recall notices arrived. The first arrived in September, then October and then November. The recalls involved serious safety issues.

“I mean, it’s not like just your headlight may burn out,” said Shepley.

Shepley’s Jeep is among roughly 500,000 Grand Cherokee, Wrangler and Pacifica Hybrid models under recall for safety issues, including sudden power loss, damaged batteries that may catch fire, and sand in the engine—the most serious issue, which can cause fires or drive failure.

Two of the three recalls do have available repairs—and a third is on the way, according to Jeep’s parent company Stellantis.

“Essentially it was, ‘don’t plug in your plug-in hybrid, you know, and don’t park it in the garage. Don’t park in your structures. The battery could explode’,” said Shepley.

Shepley doesn’t feel safe having his wife or kids ride in the jeep, and he avoids driving it as much as possible. But they’re still paying off their lease.

“It’s $910 a month. You know, and that’s fine, if the car functions and does what I expect it to do,” said Shepley.

Desperate to get out of his lease, he appealed to the Kunes Auto Group dealership where he bought the Jeep, and Stellantis.

In one response letter Shepley received from Stellantis, the company says, “It does not appear that this situation qualifies under Illinois lemon law.”

“There’s two legal issues with the Illinois Lemon Law that make it difficult, if not impossible, to file the cases,” said Greg Moss, an attorney that specializes in consumer protection.

Moss says in Illinois – you can’t use the lemon law if your car’s warranty doesn’t meet a strict definition – and even when it does, you will usually have to pay your own attorney fees.

Moss says his office is fielding calls from up to 15 jeep owners every day facing the same recalled-vehicle issues as Shepley. And he’s now representing many of them, including Shepley, through the one legal option that could get results.

“Under the federal law, you’re entitled to cash compensation. And so, the goal is to get you enough cash that where you can trade your vehicle in,” said Moss. “In a lease situation, unfortunately, consumers often time find themselves stuck because there’s an early termination penalty.”

Amid the recalls, Stellantis recently announced it will phase out its plug-in hybrid Jeeps — but Shepley is still on the hook for his lease for another 34 months.

“If the manufacturer is not gonna stand behind these vehicles, why do the consumers get stuck with it?” said Shepley.

The Kunes dealership tells us terminating Shepley’s lease or providing him with a loaner vehicle would be Stellantis’ responsibility, not theirs, but the dealership is acting as an advocate.

Stellantis told NBC 5 Responds that a remedy to address the sand in internal engine components is expected to be available in mid-April. It consists of a software update, and if that doesn’t work, a long block or engine replacement will be performed at no cost to consumers.