[arild]

From Automotive News:

Fiat Chrysler CEO Sergio Marchionne said some new Jeep Renegade subcompact crossovers are being withheld from dealers because of software problems.
Marchionne said the Renegade’s quality issues are similar to those that plagued the 2013 debut of the Jeep Cherokee. He spoke late Tuesday after receiving an industry leader of the year award from the SAE Foundation.
The Cherokee’s 2013 launch was delayed several months because of the software controlling its nine-speed automatic transmission and all-wheel-drive system. The Renegade has an identical nine-speed automatic but a different all-wheel-drive system than the Cherokee.
“I’m having a very bad engineering day,” Marchionne said. “It’s a combination of attributes of that vehicle that is making my life horrible.”
The Renegade went on sale in mid-March. In April, Jeep sold 4,214 Renegades, more than the more-established Jeep Compass.
He said the software issues are being addressed, and predicted that any Renegades being held would be released by mid-June at the latest.

http://www.autonews.com/article/201...des-being-held-for-drivetrain-software-issues

Ps: I tried to post this in the news forum, but for some reason I was not allowed to post a new thread there.

 

[CalTom]

“I’m having a very bad engineering day,” Marchionne said. “It’s a combination of attributes of that vehicle that is making my life horrible.”

That is outstanding news!

Only when an executive's life is personally miserable can we hope for change.

 

[TripleC85]

Nice find! It's good to know why Renegades have only been trickling in since their launch.

 

[Hdreserve]

Finally some concrete news that helps to make some of the delays make sense. It's fistrating, but I don't mind waiting as long as I know they are fixing things in the process. I want my car to run!!

 

[raz-0]

Nice find! It's good to know why Renegades have only been trickling in since their launch.

Yeah my two locals had been getting a steady stream, now they have six 'in transit' that have been that way for a couple of weeks.

 

[Jeepers]

It sounds like the problem is some type of interaction between the nine speed automatic transmission and the all-wheel drive system. Wasn't that the same type of problem as the Cherokee had a while ago? It bothers me when automakers make the same mistakes over and over again. Not a great look FCA.

 

[aardvark]

I don't understand this exactly. Either it's buggy/broken or not. Vehicles wouldn't only trickle out because of software issues, especially something like the Renegade where there aren't a lot of combinations of components. So do the Renegades out now (including mine) have bad software?

 

[Lackadazikal]

So do the Renegades out now (including mine) have bad software?

That's what I was wondering too...

 

[aardvark]

I just called the dealer and they said there's nothing in the system for my TH around a software update yet. They're probably the last to know though.

 

[Indiana Jones]

There is more than "software issues" FCA need to address.

 

[jamie]

I don't understand this exactly. Either it's buggy/broken or not. Vehicles wouldn't only trickle out because of software issues, especially something like the Renegade where there aren't a lot of combinations of components. So do the Renegades out now (including mine) have bad software?

<br />
<br />
I received a letter this week saying i have to make an appointment asap with my dealer for a software update..

 

[aardvark]

<br />
<br />
I received a letter this week saying i have to make an appointment asap with my dealer for a software update..

What model do you have? Trailhawk, lattitude, etc...

 

[jamie]

1.4 140hp lattidute fwd

 

[Strike Z]

I lived this. My TrailHawk failed on me and was in the dealers service for over a week. They said it was having a software/computer problem. Chrystler was good with daily calls to me from Detroit and paying the first loan payment for my troubles. No problems with my Renegade since, I may have been one of the triggers for the holdup.

 

[aardvark]

I lived this. My TrailHawk failed on me and was in the dealers service for over a week. They said it was having a software/computer problem. Chrystler was good with daily calls to me from Detroit and paying the first loan payment for my troubles. No problems with my Renegade since, I may have been one of the triggers for the holdup.

How could some but not others of the same model not be part of this?

 

[fmunk]

I lived this. My TrailHawk failed on me and was in the dealers service for over a week. They said it was having a software/computer problem. Chrystler was good with daily calls to me from Detroit and paying the first loan payment for my troubles. No problems with my Renegade since, I may have been one of the triggers for the holdup.

Maybe. But there's been plenty of reports from people here experiencing the 4wd warning light.

How could some but not others of the same model not be part of this?

It probably rears its ugly head under very specific conditions. Since all cars rolling off the production are programed the same, you probably will encounter the same issues if all the right conditions are met to trigger a fault. Keep driving and keep an eye out for TSBs (once they have revised mapping figured out).

 

[Strike Z]

For me it took a week of the dealer swapping fault codes with Detroit and reinstalling software and repeating until they found the cause of the fault. My Renegade did a complete engine shutdown while rolling. I was at 94 miles when it happened. When I picked it up it had 50 test drive miles. Luckily I was in a good place for it to happen, because it could have been disastrous. The Chrylster representative was very helpful and informative.

 

[aardvark]

For me it took a week of the dealer swapping fault codes with Detroit and reinstalling software and repeating until they found the cause of the fault. My Renegade did a complete engine shutdown while rolling. I was at 94 miles when it happened. When I picked it up it had 50 test drive miles. Luckily I was in a good place for it to happen, because it could have been disastrous. The Chrylster representative was very helpful and informative.

So did they just do a software update or actually replace something physical?

 

[Strike Z]

So did they just do a software update or actually replace something physical?

From my understanding they replaced the control module? Software updates did not work. I did not get into the specifics of the fix, but they said they had to replace something. Once they made the swap, everything was fine.
They also said something about software heaving a conflict between versions.

 

[JeepCares]

CalTom and aardvark brought this thread to my attention. We are looking into this further and will provide more information shortly.