NHTSA complaint #11675874

Owner complaint summary

When accelerating, the transmission feels jerky/stutters. The check engine light and traction control light are illuminated and on the instrument cluster the messages: "Forward Smart City Brake Support Malfunction", "Smart Brake System Malfunction" and "Front Radar Sensor System Malfunction" appear. The vehicle acts like it doesn't know which gear it should be in, it'll buck pretty hard and then it refuses to accelerate...it feels like it's in a "limp mode". A previous driver of the vehicle complained and said that it actually stalled in traffic on the highway and was of course difficult to steer due to loss of power. I took it to a dealership and they came up with a laundry list of things to fix...most of which wouldn't have any bearing on this issue. I did have the serpentine belt replaced and the belt tensioner replaced due to wear on the belt and loose tension. On 7/16/25, I scanned the vehicle with a code reader, the codes P0301 and P0506 appeared. P0301 is a generic "Cylinder 1 Misfire Detected" message and P0506 is a generic "IAC system RPM Lower Than Expected. The vehicle was taken to a shop where the spark plugs and the cylinder 1 coil was replaces and the IAC cleaned. On 7/24/25 the same vehicle behaviors were observed and the same warning lights and messages were activated. I scanned the vehicle and got "p0300 Random/Multiple Cylinder Misfire Detected and P0304 Cylinder 4 Misfire detected. There was a recall on this particular vehicle make, model and year and my vehicle was out of the VIN# range. I firmly believe that the recall needs to be expanded to include a larger number of vehicles...you can google about this vehicle and see many others with similar issues. Usually, the cure is a PCM reflashing/software update that seems to take care of the issue. Please expand the recall before someone dies in an accident because of this problem.