My daughter just bought a 2000 Cherokee, 4.0L Auto. I love the car but she just tried to rip the door off. She put the truck in Park and got out without turning off the engine and it rolled back and destroyed the drivers door hinges. Is there any chance that the transmission was in Park and popped into reverse on it's own?

 

It's a possibility. I know the shifter on my 91 can move without the button being depressed, just takes a tiny bit of pushing.

Was she on a hill?

 

Are you sure she put it in park?

 

My sister did the same thing she didn't wait for it to click into park...it was in park but not all the way... When you got there was the jeep still in park..?

 

"Is there any chance that the transmission was in Park and popped into reverse on it's own?"

Chances are it was left in reverse by the operator. Once the shifter is in park it can not be shifted out (there is an interlock) without depressing the brake pedal. Use the parking brake, that's what it's there for. If the brake is adjusted correctly, the vehicle will not move.

 

Wouldn't hurt to test the interlock to make sure it's functional, wouldn't want it to happen again. Or even worse, accidentally knock it into reverse on the highway...