Well, if you don't like the thread, I didn't start it, although I agree with several of the posts in it.

That shifter-image is from the article I added. The author just used it as one of numerous examples he didn't like. But that doesn't make the G90 a deal breaker.....you had one, and loved it. I had a Lacrosse with an E- shifter I didn't like, and was otherwise quite pleased with it except for a transmisison-shift quirk.

 

People have actually been killed by these shifter designs...

 

i never stated or even implied that you started it.

 

if someone was killed BY a shifter design, perhaps it's better for everyone else that they're sadly a Darwin award winner. hopefully they didn't take anyone else out by their crash caused by confusion over a gear shifter!

if you're referring to the star trek guy who left his jeep in drive (somehow!) and got out (somehow) and got in front of the jeep and got crushed by it (somehow), which i still don't understand, then that's gotta be a 1 in a million weird thing that is hardly the exclusive fault of the shifter. he was probably in a hurry, may have been unfamiliar with the vehicle, and just didn't pay attention.

 

I can 100% see how some of these shifter designs can create real danger for people when they are not accustomed to using them. What year was your Grand Cherokee? Mine was a 2014 and had that shifter, I can see how it happened.

 

I had a co-worker with a 2014-2015 GC Summit. She also reported some difficulties with her transmission/shifter, among other things. I think that in one instance, she thought she put the car in Park and turned it off, but it started to roll while she was still in it and she panicked while trying to get the car to stop. Thankfully she didn't hit anything or anyone, but it was troubling enough for her to trade it in for a Subaru.

Apparently in her case, and in the case of Anton Yelchin, there was a problem with the TCM where the driver puts the vehicle in Park, but is actually in Neutral because of the faulty TCM.

 

Interesting that you brought up Subaru. They used to have those (annoying, IMO) zig-zag levers, but have gone back to the (mostly) fore/aft movement.

 

One reason why manufacturers first went with gated shifters and then ultimately with electronic shifters, is to protect themselves from the warranty claim when customers shift from D to R and vice versa without coming to a full stop. It takes more time to shift with gated shifter, and electronic shifters wont even allow this.

 

The computer-regulated shifts aren't foolproof...they sometimes allow questionable or foolish action.


Something else that my (?) be a good candidate for standardization is the +/- direction for bump-manual shifting. I've noticed that most of the industry does it one way, and Mazda and BMW do the opposite.

 

I don't believe there was a fault with the TCM, it was that it wasn't designed to protect against that potentiality. Jeep went back to a traditional shifter in I believe 2016

 

There appear to be 2 transmission recalls for the 2014-2015 JGCs. One is 16V529000, the other is 19V447000. It sounds like the first one may have been what caused the issue in my coworker's Jeep. In both cases, reprogramming of the TCM is done. Truthfully I haven't read much into it beyond that, but it sounds like there was some fault in the programming that was fixed.

https://www.cars.com/research/jeep-c...ecalls/?page=1

 

If I remember correctly those recalls were to ADD the TCM override for park after the issue.