2025 Jeep Grand Cherokee L

I am reporting a serious safety failure in my 2025 Jeep Grand Cherokee L (1,483 miles). On XXX, the vehicle was parked with my wife and young children inside. Upon starting it, the vehicle would not shift into gear, the steering wheel locked, and the front windows stopped working. The lane departure symbol lit up during the failure, and the vehicle would not shut off through normal controls. After two hours, we shut it off by disconnecting the battery. When restarted, the check engine light and other warning lamps came on, and the vehicle began shaking and rattling. No crash occurred, but with steering locked and children in the car, I had no way to safely disable the vehicle for two hours. This could have caused loss of control if it happened while driving. No prior warning signs occurred before the incident. The vehicle has not been inspected by a dealer or repair shop, as no certified Jeep dealership exists on Lanai, Hawaii, where I reside; shipping the vehicle requires barg transport to XX or XXX. The vehicle is available for inspection on request and is currently not in use. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)

Within weeks of purchasing my brand-new 2025 Jeep Grand Cherokee, this past Thursday when leaving for my workday the steering wheel on my vehicle became completely immovable when I attempted to leave. I started the vehicle and tried to turn the wheel, but it would not move at all. There were no warning lights or alerts. I had no ability to steer or maneuver the vehicle, and it was completely undriveable. The vehicle had to be towed from my workplace to the dealership because the steering would not turn. After diagnosis, the dealer informed me that the entire power steering rack had failed and required full replacement. A power steering rack is a critical safety component, and a failure of this magnitude on a brand-new, very low-mileage vehicle is extremely concerning. If this defect had occurred while driving, it could have led to a total loss of steering control and a serious crash. I no longer feel safe operating this vehicle. I am requesting that NHTSA record this incident as a safety-critical steering system failure and investigate whether similar power-steering or steering-rack failures may be occurring in other 2025 Jeep Grand Cherokees.

The contact owns a 2025 Jeep Grand Cherokee L. The contact stated while driving 65 MPH, the buttons on the steering wheel failed to operate as intended. The contact stated that while at a gas station, attempting to start the vehicle and depressing the brake pedal, the ABS failure warning light illuminated. The contact stated that a dealer was contacted. The vehicle was towed to the dealer where it was diagnosed and determined that the ABS needed to be replaced. The ABS was replaced, and instrument panel was replaced, and the vehicle was repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure, and the contact was informed that there would be a follow-up regarding the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 3,000.