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
8.0
pretty bad
Typical Repair Cost:
$540
Average Mileage:
55,450 miles
Total Complaints:
4 complaints
Most Common Solutions:
replace starter and ground (2 reports)
cleaned contacts of plug for fuel pump (1 reports)
Had already replaced battery 3 month prior. This is the 2nd time I have replaced the battery since purchasing the car brand new. Thank goodness for AAA.
So I took my mother to my off-grid home in upstate NY for the weekend, 286 miles from home in New Jersey. We left Friday evening and we arrived with no issues and all seemed well. Sunday morning I went to a local store to get fuel and Eggs. When I got back to the house I pulled in the driveway, parked the car and shut it off. Then I thought I should turn the car around so it would be easier to hook up the little utility trailer. I turned the key and nothing except what you see in the photograph.
I tried several more times and still nothing. I disconnected the battery in hopes it may have been a computer issue and doing so would clear it out. Nothing. I assumed because of the message on the display that I was dealing with a transmission issue, again.
Though this is the main problem, the other problem lies in that I am off-grid, with no public utilities and no cellular service. If I am lucky and the wind is blowing the right way and there are no birds in the sky I might get a signal 300 feet from the house in the middle of the woods. Luckily, I did. After a few dozen phone calls I had to rent a truck and flatbed to haul the Jeep back to NJ ($400). I dropped the Jeep off at my local Jeep dealer where they diagnosed the problem as a dead battery. $163 diagnosis fee. I said I'd buy a new battery elsewhere ($177) and put it in at the dealership which I did. The vehicle still wouldn't start. I asked Jeep to take a look at it again. Thanks to the new battery, they determined it was the starter. Then they told me it would be a $141 diagnostic fee and $1013 if they wanted me to fix it.
I argued that their original diagnosis was wrong so I shouldn't have to pay for that fee. AND I advised them what they should have done was find a battery on site, diagnose the problem and then tell me, you need a new battery and a starter instead of trying to charge me for two diagnosis fees. Needless to say, the didn't charge me the fee and they released the vehicle to me which I had towed to my regular service guy who replaced the starter and put the old battery back in since it was still good and replaced a corroded ground wire. My service guy charged me $396.
So this is a dual complain. One for the Jeep and one for the Jeep service department.
Comment to Jeep. If there is a starter problem or battery problem, please reprogram your displays to NOT say anything related to Transmission.
Had I visited CarComplaints sooner, I would have never bought this Jeep Cherokee.
Jeep wouldn't start. Dealership fixed what they found on code reader. 6 different problems. Key fob brand new. Car started no problem. Now a week later check engine light on and starts hesitant, wants to stall and then stalls. No problems are being found. This is the 3rd time it's going into the shop. There has to be some kind of recall for this. I love my jeep. Beautiful and comfortable car but too many issues going on. This has got to be the worst model of jeep out there.
Situation aggravated me because my wife generally drives this car and did not need it quitting with her out-and-about. Just one more thing to go wrong with this vehicle!!!
- dissatisfied2014,
Statesville, NC, US
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Had already replaced battery 3 month prior. This is the 2nd time I have replaced the battery since purchasing the car brand new. Thank goodness for AAA.
- Erin F., Boston, US