CarComplaints.com Notes: There's no way around it, the Cherokee's transmission is junk. There's no other explanation for why a vehicle, usually with under 40,000 miles, would have so many complaints
10.0
really awful
Crashes / Fires:
15 / 6
Injuries / Deaths:
7 / 0
Average Mileage:
34,382 miles
About These NHTSA Complaints:
This data is from the NHTSA — the US gov't agency tasked with vehicle safety. Complaints are spread across multiple & redundant categories, & are not organized by problem.
So how do you find out what problems are occurring? For this NHTSA complaint data, the only way is to read through the comments below. Any duplicates or errors? It's not us.
There have been several times while driving the Jeep that the same transmission problem occurred. Twice I was approaching a stop sign in a residential area, once I was coasting down a hill on a city street, once I was slowly accelerating in rush hour traffic on a major interstate, and another time I was accelerating from being stopped at a red light on a city street. The service transmission message along with several lights indicated a transmission problem. I have a picture attached. The dealership I took it took pulled a shift differential code off the vehicle. The problem is intermittent and does not happen every time it is driven. However, this is a serious safety concern to me because the vehicle is not driveable until I turn off the engine, open the door and restart the engine several times until only the mil light is on. This is an accident waiting to happen especially with me driving 29 miles each way through 2 tunnels during rush hour. It is unsafe for me to be broken down in rush hour traffic on an interstate. I fear that I will not be in the right lane like I was previously to be able to try to pull off the road. I fear I will be driving 55 miles in a tunnel and cars not stopping behind me. I fear that I will be causing an accident trying to open the door to reset the engine. No one should have to live with this fear that you are not safe with driving to and from work.
Vehicle hesitates choosing a gear when accelerating from a near stop, causing it to act as if it were placed in neutral. When accelerating from a very slow I45 to an exit ramp lane, (changing lanes) vehicle stalled for a second or two, causing on coming traffic to hard brake. This problem is intermittent, and has happened numerous times. This incident is the only near miss. Vehicle has a hard time upshifting at highway speeds, will run at high RPM for long periods of time. It also shifts very harsh from 1st to 2nd and 2nd to 3rd gear. With this vehicle's tendency to hesitate in traffic situations, this vehicle is not safe to drive.
The vehicle randomly does not respond to the accelerator. This is not a regular occurance, maybe once or twice a month. We have had several occasions when we have been making turns with plenty of room but the vehicle does not engage. The same issue has happened when trying to accelerate on the freeway and the vehicle does not 'listen' to a pushed gas pedal. We have had it to the dealership 5 times and they say they 'cannot reproduce the issue' and have offered now help. We find a large number of the same complains online about the Cherokee's transmission. My wife was almost hit while making a turn the other day and we are going now to trade in the vehicle.
The vehicle was in motion. Transmission fails when trying to go up hill or during acceleration. When driving on a incline or trying to pass someone on the highway, you may get a transmission needs service error or 4WD system disabled. Either of these errors disables the vehicles transmission putting the vehicle in neutral, with no power to advance or get out of traffic. When this happens the transmission makes a horrible noise and does nothing. Not safe could cause accident. This has happened before and after a transmission & torque converter replacement.
After dealership replaced transmission at 30,000 miles for improperly shifting we noticed a burning smell and noticed new transmission was slipping and not shifting properly. We called the dealership and was advised that the not get it in to be checked for another week and a half. At 9:10pm I went around the corner about 4 blocks to visit with a friend and left and came back to my home where I noticed smoke coming from underneath the hood. Upoing the hood I saw light from a flame and extinguished it using a garden hose. Minimal damage but fire non the less. Chrysler corporate stated I can not drive it and to let it sit un touched. I have a daughter to get to school and jobs to do that pays my bills. Three days pass I call Chrysler again and state I am going to fix the vehicle my self and send them a bill. I tighten the transmission lines they did seem loose. No transmission still leaking. 15 days later still no word from crysler. I have a $28,880 paper weight in my front yard costing me $380 a month. I have called crysler every day for a 2 weeks and all they can tell me is " its in our legal department". no call, no loaner, nothing. An expensive paper weight costing money.
- Duncan, OK, USA
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When coming to a stop, most times the vehicle downshifts roughly. Sometimes, this causes the transmission to slam into a lower gear, thrusting the car forward. This also occurs when accelerating and shifting between gears 1,2 and 3. when accelerator is pressed to pass, occasionally a loud noise is heard almost like the car was slammed into gear. When climbing a hill, the vehicle wants to be in gear 3 or 4 which causes you to accelerate too slowly and waste gas. Vehicle has been back to dealer for a new upload which did nothing.
My 2014 Jeep Cherokee has been to the dealership several times for the transmission problems. It lunges forward, stalls when merging into traffic and jerks so hard that it feels like someone has hit me from behind. The dealership has done nothing to fix the problem and say they can't fix it. The transmission is very dangerous and I've nearly hit vehicles in front of me when it lunges forward. This is a dangerous vehicle and it should be taken off the market.
Transmission not down shifting causing the vehicle to be sluggish while trying to merge into traffic creating an unsafe condition as the vehicle will not accelerate. The transmission also has a bucking sensation from time to time when trying to accelerate as the transmission cannot seem to figure out which gear it needs to be in. The vehicle is currently at the dealer for this safety concern along with safety issues with the forward collision system. We were notified by the dealer that some additional software changes were made to the transmission and it is better, but still not fixed and that "it is what it is" until Jeep comes up with a solution. We are refusing the vehicle back from the dealer due to the way the transmission is operating and also with the issues that we are experiencing with the forward collision system. There is currently an open case on this vehicle with Jeep. Note: We have had the Jeep at multiple dealers multiple times and continue to be told that "it's just the nature of the transmission". in addition, this has been an ongoing issue since purchased new in February 2014.
The Jeep Cherokee transmission started to slip and downshift causing vehicle to slow. Vehicle would jerk hard back into correct gear as vehicle was traveling at 60 mph. Check engine light came on. Drove immediately to dealership with transmission continuing to malfunction. Left vehicle with dealership for diagnosis and repairs. This was on 11/16/2015. Picked up vehicle on 11/19/2015 and advised update to shaft ware was completed to slove transmission issues. Drove three quarters way home and traveling 65 mph on state highway, the transmission started slipping and downshifting causing vehicle to slow and then jerk back into correct gear. Check engine light came on as well as every warning and system light on the dash. Warning to driver to come to a complete stop and turn engine off came on. Stopped vehicle and turned off engine and after a couple of minutes turned engine on and drove back to dealership. Vehicle currently at dealership for diagnosis.
The contact owns a 2014 Jeep Cherokee. The contact stated that the gear lever mechanism failed to operate when engaged. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 17,885.
2 times already I have had to take my car into the dealership because it would shut off randomly while driving. This has happened while on the highway and also while on busy streets. So far I have been able to drift to the side of the road, put the car in park and then turn the car off and back on. The car sputters when restarting and on multiple occasions will stall again. Both times they tried to blame it on the oil change being overdue. The 2nd time I had to have the car towed to the dealership and they stated there was no oil in the car. How a car loses oil if there isn't a leak, I'm not sure. This is now the third time it is happening and based on the car's computer I still have 30% to go before needing an oil change and the car is shutting off on me again randomly. I was at the dealership for the 2nd time less than 3 months ago. I drive in miami and have been lucky that my son was not in the car with me.
When accelerating from stop or slow speed, the vehicle lunges, will not shift, shifts very hard to the point of loosing traction to the drive wheels. Various slow speeds city and highway on ramp get the same effect.
While driving home from work the vehicle jerked and the transmission service light came on. Once the light came on the vehicle would not drive faster than 10 mph and the RPM were at like 4000. The transmission has been weird since day one. I brought the vehicle in and they reprogrammed the computer. It still acted funny after the reprogramming. There were times I would be traveling on the highway and would lose any sort of accelerating when the gas pedal was pressed. It would then kick in all of a sudden. All the issues regarding the transmission and its shifting hard were told to the service tech and I was told they couldn't find the problem. Also the front end steering linkage makes very loud noises when turning the wheel from left or right. This was also explained to the tech who said he couldn't find the issue. Yet the truck still makes the noises anytime it does it. This is not something you expect to deal with after purchasing a new vehicle which is not 2 years old. Especially it is the reason I bought this so I wouldn't have to worry about spending money on an old car and for dependability.
The power train bucks hard, delays forward motion from stop position, especially with a cold start, and is much worse on cold days. Had the car back to the dealer several times, called Jeep, and they all tell me there is nothing they can do. I have also been told that not all of this model Jeep has this problem, I am one of the lucky ones. Please help me! I am a realtor and have clients in my car that look at me like, what is wrong with your car, and why isn't Jeep doing something about this? I do have several invoices from the dealer, stating my complaints, but nothing has been corrected, they have done "two updates" via their computer system, again, with no results.
Driving to work on hwy in heavy traffic I accelerated up a small hill car jerked then powered down on hwy at 65 mph I was able to coast over three lanes of traffic and pull off to side of road then noticed service transmission, check parking break, put car in park and then select gear all came on as messages also the traction control light came on. Put care in park and restarted engine all lights/messages still on dash and car would not go into gear for driving. Tried two more times and finally could drive under 50 mph straight to dealer for service. The check transmission light remained on during my entire drive to the dealership. I had previously experienced acceleration when in traffic coasting and my foot off gas pedal. Also hard shifting multiple times like it was skipping gears when accelerating. Very scary and unsafe situation to be in.
Driving 65 mph on highway dashboard warning lights started flashing service transmission immediately. Transmission disengaged car would not respond when gas pedal was pushed. Message to shift car in park appeared. Had to coast in morning rush hour traffic to the shoulder. Could have been a very dangerous situation. On shoulder put it into park and if it was put into drive it would jolt severely and would not move more than a few inches with accelerator pressed. Had the car towed to the dealer on a flatbed. Was informed that a new transmission is needed. The Jeep Cherokee has 31000 miles.
From stop accelerating to merge with highway traffic and pulling out of a street the car won't move. It's like the transmission is slipping. Very dangerous, have been almost hit several times. Other times the transmission shifts irregularly. Have taken it to our local dealership twice and have a third scheduled
The contact owns a 2014 Jeep Cherokee. The contact stated that the rpms increased independently and the vehicle felt rough while driving in third gear. In addition, the vehicle suddenly increased speed and the brake pedal was depressed with excessive force in order to decrease the vehicles speed. The vehicle was taken to the dealer where it was diagnosed that the transmission module needed to be replaced. The vehicle was repaired but the failure persisted. The vehicle was included in NHTSA campaign number: 15V509000 (visibility) but the recall remedy was not yet available. The contact felt that the manufacturer exceeded a reasonable amount of time for the recall repair. The manufacturer was notified of the failures. The approximate failure mileage was 13,000. VIN tool confirms parts not available.
Last Thursday the vehicle lost all power after applying brakes going down a hill, when attempting to start it up again, it remained in the run position but was not functional, engine sounded like a car grinding. Pressing the starter did nothing, the vehicle would not turn off, but remained in the run position but with an abnormal sound and no ability to drive it. I just kept trying to put it in different gears, give it gas and finally the engine engaged and it was driven back up the hill to my home. It was driven to Jeep service the next day. They could not reproduce the problem and the "diagnostics" did not reveal a problem. The same thing happened today and it took me about 10 minutes of pushing starter button, trying different gears and giving it gas to get it functional again. This vehicle has been into Jeep at least 3 times for transmission problems. One time the vehicle was worse after going in, and 2 of the times it seemed better initially but was worse again within several weeks.
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
- Harrison City, PA, USA