2021 Jeep Grand Cherokee High Altitude 4x4 on 2040-cars

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Vile Gossip: Ladies who launch

Jean Jennings has been writing about cars for more than 30 years, after stints as a taxicab driver and as a mechanic in the Chrysler Proving Grounds Impact Lab. She was a staff writer at Car and Driver magazine, the first executive editor and former president and editor-in-chief of Automobile Magazine, the founder of the blog Jean Knows Cars and former automotive correspondent for Good Morning America. She has lifetime awards from both the Motor Press Guild and the New England Motor Press Association. Look for more Vile Gossip columns in the future. The year was 2006. We were driving a Bugatti Veyron 16.4 across the Florida Panhandle from Jacksonville to Panama City, only because I couldn't convince Bugatti to let me be the first to drive its exotic powerhouse, the world's fastest car at that time, all the way across America. One gleaming example had arrived in time for the Amelia Island Concours d'Elegance, where the journos massed for their quick test drives out the front drive of the Ritz Carlton, down a short stretch of the A1A, and back to the Ritz. Not far enough for me. I wanted to take the Veyron in all of its 16-cylinder, 1,001-horsepower, $1.3-million-dollar glory on a coast-to-coast extravaganza of a road trip. Never hurts to ask. I asked. Once the Bugatti guys stopped hyperventilating, I explained that the coastal adventure would be contained wholly within the state of Florida, from the Atlantic coast to the Gulf of Mexico. My secret destination, however, was to be Vernon, Florida, home of the great Errol Morris' classic documentary about a town in the Panhandle with the highest per-capita population of citizens who'd blown off or whacked off a limb for insurance money. (Google "Nub City.") The Swiss head of Bugatti public relations thought it hilarious. He showed up in a van with a couple of German mechanics to follow us and a failed French Formula 1 driver to serve as my chaperone. I came with a photographer from Germany and one of the most infamous of bad-boy auto magazine tech editors, the irrepressible Don Sherman. Sherman had his own reason for going, and it had nothing to do with a Veyron to Vernon. Once we gave up looking for nubbies, he ordered me to veer south to the handgrip of the Panhandle, familiarly known as the Redneck Riviera. The Don was aiming to secretly execute the Veyron's first Launch Control blastoff in captivity.

Jeep recalls 228k Cherokees over airbag deployment fears

Jeep is recalling an estimated 228,181 examples of the 2014 and 2015 Jeep Cherokee worldwide because the airbags can inadvertently deploy in some situations. Specifically, the campaign covers 168,092 vehicles in the US, 19,557 in Canada, 4,133 in Mexico and 36,399 outside of North America. According to Jeep, the problem occurs when drivers execute extremely hard handling maneuvers and upset the vehicle's balance, which causes the side-curtain and seat-mounted side airbags to deploy. "The air-bag systems, sensing potential rollovers, automatically activated," according to the automaker's announcement. While this occurred in "a small number" of cases, according to Jeep, the problem caused no reported injuries or accidents. To fix the fault, the company will issue a software update to recalibrate the bags' deployment. Statement: Restraint-System Software Upgrade February 2, 2015 , Auburn Hills, Mich. - FCA US LLC is launching a global recall of an estimated 228,181 SUVs to upgrade software governing side-curtain and seat-mounted side air bags. The action follows an investigation by FCA US engineers after a small number of inadvertent deployments involving drivers who executed extreme maneuvers. These maneuvers dramatically changed the vehicles' angle of operation, relative to the ground. The air-bag systems, sensing potential rollovers, automatically activated. FCA US is unaware of any related injuries or accidents. The software upgrade will recalibrate the threshold for deployment and the vehicles will remain compliant with all applicable safety regulations. Affected are certain 2014 and 2015 Jeep Cherokees. Estimated volumes by market are as follows: 168,092 in the U.S.; 19,557 in Canada; 4,133 in Mexico and 36,399 outside the NAFTA region. The Company will notify affected customers. Software will be available at that time. Customers with additional concerns or questions may call 1-800-853-1403. Featured Gallery 2015 Jeep Cherokee View 41 Photos News Source: FCA USImage Credit: Jeep Recalls Jeep Safety Crossover

Jeep Begins Fixing 1.56 Million Recalled Grand Cherokee, Liberty SUVs

Chrysler is just now beginning the big job of fixing 1.56 million older Jeep SUVs seven months after a recall was announced, according to The Detroit News. Jeep Grand Cherokees sold between 1992 and 1998 and Jeep Liberty models sold between 2002 and 2007 are being recalled because the gas tank can leak in the event of a rear-end collision, leading to a fire. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration originally requested the recall of 2.7 million vehicles. Chrysler initially disputed NHTSA's findings and seemed willing to go through a court battle until an 11th-hour deal reduced the number of vehicles involved in the recall. The remaining vehicle owners left out of the recall will receive a "customer service action" notification and may not get fixed. Chrysler says the vehicles are safe and need no repairs. Fixing the 1.56 million Jeeps will cost Chrysler $151 million. NHTSA cited 51 deaths causes by such tank fires. Chrysler plans to install protective trailer hitches to protect the gas tanks, but even the automaker admits the hitches will only provide incremental protection in a low-to-moderate speed rear-end crash. Related Gallery 2014 Jeep Cherokee Test Drive View 9 Photos Recalls Chrysler Jeep jeep liberty