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.
Visibility : windshield defroster/defogger system is un-operable due to faulty "heater blend doors". this is a serious safety "hazard" due to fact you can not defrost the front windshield when necessary to see where you are going.
I own a 2003 Jeep Grand Cherokee limited with 105K miles. I am the second owner. We purchased the Jeep second hand from sheehy Ford Mercury in ashland Virginia on January 15th 2007. The part failure appears to be a very common problem on the Jeep models with dual climate control based on the hundreds of online forums describing similar problems with the HVAC "recirc" doors and the "blend" doors. My problem was the recirc door had broken loose and had fallen down covering the vent system entirely, in effect, we had no heat, no A/C and most importantly, no defrost. Virginia state law requires that the vehicle must have defrost to pass the state safety inspection. I did the repair myself after reading how daimler/Chrysler has completely ignored the design fault. Now, anyone who has these model Jeep's will have to pay $1200 and up for a repair that breaks again due to the same problem using the same faulty parts. The plastic door stops break off first, then due to the poor design, the door finally breaks off and falls down blocking all airflow from the heating and air system. A recall needs to be issued to fix the problem. I ordered from ebay, two kits from someone in Texas who offers replacement stainless steel hardware that replaces the recirc doors and blend doors. The kits cost me $232 dollars and about 16 hrs labor along with bloody knuckles. I decided to not waste time going to a dealer and getting denied repairs due to no recall. The kits I used were called heatertreater. I repaired both recirc and blend doors even though the blend doors were not a problem yet. Please, please someone force DaimlerChrysler to face reality and fix this safety problem.
Visibility: Defroster/defogger system:windshield:blower wj style Jeep heat stopped working. Could not see to drive during the winter. Defrost would not work. Jeep would not fix. Cost me over $3000 cdn to repair at dealership.
I have a 2003 Jeep Grand Cherokee overland and the vents on the passenger side only blow cold air. The blend door not opening and closing, which is what it should be doing. During the winter I had to keep changing the heat from blowing on me to blowing on the windows because they kept fogging up, and when I switched to the windows I was subject to the cold. There is loud creaking sound coming from the dashes underside when you turn on the ventilation. There is creaking from the dash seconds after shutting the engine off.
Very unsafe malfunction of the "blend doors" in my 2003. Defroster only work on my driver's side. Dealer knows about it, says if you only have one malfunctioning, you might as well replace both blend doors because they know the parts are badly designed and will fail, says about $1600 - $1800 to fix it with redesigned parts!
Passenger side air vents of my 2003 Jeep Grand Cherokee started to blow cold air when the heat was on starting in 3/2006. This caused problems with my windshield defrosting with the heat only working on one side. Dealer refused to cover problem ("door actuator") under warranty and told me it would cost $800 to fix. I didn't even own the vehicle for a month, this vehicle was sold to me with faulty heat. Now on 2/17/07 I lost all my heat in the vehicle causing me to freeze in the new england weather. More importantly I can't defrost my windshield. I was told the total cost to repair would be $1,000.
Blend door failed. Heat no longer came out on passenger side. Cold air instead. Cost $1500 to fix. Absurd for a 3 yr old auto (2003) with 40K miles. Jeep Grand Cherokee. I understand the blend door fails on almost all their 1999-2004 cars.
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
- Georgetown, TX, USA