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.
Dear National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, I'm writing to report a critical safety concern regarding the 2018 Jeep Grand Cherokee's water pump design. As an owner, I've experienced persistent coolant leaks, which I've found is a widespread issue affecting many others. This problem stems from a fundamental design flaw in the water pump, not typical wear and tear. The issue centers on a small "freeze plug" that leaks when the engine reaches operating temperature. This plug serves no apparent purpose and causes premature failures and coolant leaks across numerous vehicles. Key points: The leak occurs consistently when the engine is hot, indicating a design-related problem. This issue potentially leads to engine overheating and severe damage. It affects many vehicles, particularly those with the 3.6L V6 engine. Extensive research on online forums confirms this is a common problem. A YouTube video (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=73MgJF4bx5o) provides insight into the issue. The creator states: "Upon digging into this a bit deeper, I don't believe it's the 'weep hole'. It's actually like a small 'freeze plug' that leaks on these pumps. If you look through the pulley at the opposite side of the aluminum freeze plug that leaks, you will see the weep hole. This 'freeze plug' that leaks serves no purpose as far as I see it. It's just like they slapped this plug in the front of the pump-?? and it leaks when it gets hot." Given this evidence of a design flaw and its widespread impact, I urge NHTSA to: Investigate the water pump design of the 2018 Jeep Grand Cherokee and similar models. Assess the safety implications, including the risk of engine overheating and potential vehicle failures. Consider whether a recall or other corrective action is necessary. The fact that this is a design issue rather than wear-and-tear underscores its urgency. All vehicles with this water pump design are potentially at risk, regardless of mileage or maintenance history. Thank you
Jeep uses a transmission manufactured by ZF. Jeep claims the transmission is "filled for life" and does not require any maintenance, and never requires the oil to be changed. ZF recommends the oil be changed every 50-75,000 miles. Many other car manufacturers that utilize ZF transmissions recommend that same interval. In fact, if you push Jeep to change your transmission oil, they suggest it will void your warranty. Preventative maintenance in the form of a transmission fluid change is necessary for the health and longevity of the vehicle. Jeep is negligent in this matter. When your transmission fails, you are thrust into "limp" mode, capping your speed at 15-20 mph. This occurred to me on the highway. I narrowly avoided being rear ended in traffic traveling 65+ mph. My car has been babied, all factory recommended services have been done in a timely manner, I was not having any issues with the car at the time, and there were no symptoms, warning lights, etc at the time.
The contact owns a 2018 Jeep Grand Cherokee. The contact stated that the vehicle was shuddering while idling. Additionally, the contact stated that while driving at various speeds and depressing the accelerator pedal, the vehicle hesitated to respond. The check engine warning light was illuminated. Additionally, the contact stated while driving 25 MPH and depressing the brake pedal, the vehicle stalled. The vehicle failed to restart and was towed to the residence. The contact stated that the vehicle was able to restart the following day. The check engine warning light was illuminated. Several messages indicating the air bag, the Engine Stop/Start system, the FWD system failures, and other unknown failures were displayed. Additionally, the contact stated that the vehicle stalled while driving on another occasion. The vehicle was towed to the residence, where a mobile independent mechanic diagnosed that the PCM had failed and needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The dealer was contacted and advised the contact to take the vehicle to their location for diagnostic testing. The contact related the failure to NHTSA Campaign Number: 18V524000 (Electrical System); however, the VIN was not included. The manufacturer was notified of the failure and informed the contact that the VIN was not included in the recall. The failure mileage was approximately 36,000.
The contact owns a 2018 Jeep Grand Cherokee. The contact stated that while attempting to park and exit the vehicle through the front driver-??s side door, the vehicle unintendedly accelerated in reverse. As a result of the failure, the driver's side door struck her arm and leg causing injuries. The contact stated that the vehicle drove off a cliff, and one of the tires experienced a blowout and the bumper became loose. The air bags had not deployed. Medical attention was not sought. The vehicle was towed to a dealer. A police report was filed. The vehicle was not repaired and remained with the dealer. The manufacturer was notified of the failure; however, no assistance was provided. The failure mileage was 36,000.
The contact owns a 2018 Jeep Grand Cherokee. The contact stated while driving 5-10 MPH, the accelerator pedal was depressed; however, the vehicle failed to accelerate as intended. The contact was able to drive the vehicle on the shoulder of the highway. The contact cycled the gear selector and the transmission engaged as needed. Additionally, the contact stated that the failure reoccurred. The contact stated while driving on a busy highway, the engine seized. The vehicle was restarted, and the vehicle was driven to the residence. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired by an independent mechanic or the dealer. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure and a case was filed. The failure mileage was approximately 96,010.
- Saint Cloud, FL, USA
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Multiple leaks found under the car and was brought in for emergency repair. One leak was the driveshaft, one was engine coolant and the other was the front steering column.
This vehicle will not move (intermitant problem) at times when the vehicle is placed in drive or reverse. The gear shift console and dash will flash and the vehicle is rendred useless. I have to turn off and restart the vehicle to resolve the problem. Temporary fix. It keeps happening. This vehicle has been in the shop 3 times (dealing with this issue for over a year). Noone knows what the problem is. No codes are thrown. Jeep has been contacted. Several forums I have looked at online state this problem with no resolution. The problem is someone is going to be killed or seriously injured. When it leaves me stranded in an intersection, which it did, I have a major problem. A resolution has to be found. Its not allowing me to upload video. I do have video of this happening which has been shown to the dealership and the adjuster of my extended warrenty company.
When I turn the vehicle on 'start' and change the gear from P to D in order to start driving, I get a warning sign that says "Shift to P then Desired Gear". I have to follow the sign direction several times back and forth and also turning the engine off and starting on again until it engage to gear followed with a big transmission bump. i just made an appointment at a dealership for an inspection. Others Jeep Grand Cherokee have indicate the same situation....
Starting around February 23 after about 10 minutes into driving. The hot temperature lamp would show up. I pull over an it was always empty of coolant I had done that few times within one week. I also didn-??t use air conditioning for a few weeks left. An it was ok for few weeks. Then I noticed smoke coming out back pipes. Send to first reipair shop. They found Coolant in a combustion chamber They told me I should send to Jeep shop.
2018 Jeep Grand Cherokee with 55,575 miles was parked in a parking garage all day in Brooklyn NY and when the vehicle was move to the front of the garage by parking attendants the engine started smoking and caught fire. There were no leaks, dashboard symbols or open recalls to cause the fire; additionally the car was linked to a iPhone App CarRx that can scan for any issue and no issue noted. This engine fire not only put all of the other vehicles in the park garage at risk of catching fire but the parking garage sits under a luxury apartment building putting the working and residents at risk. Additionally I commute between Brooklyn and NJ 3x a week and cant imagine what would have happened if I was driving the vehicle over the Brooklyn Bridge, on the Brooklyn Queens Express or in the Holland Tunnel during high commuter rush hour traffic. Car was checked out by a Jeep Dealership who confirm fire was not caused by any leaks or electrical issue but did mentioned it seems to have started around the engine air cleaner. The current status of the issue has been an open investigation with Jeep Corporate for going on the 3rd week with no communication or updates on status. The entire issue and fire from pulling into the garage to the when the car was moved to it smoking and catching fire is all documented on security video.
The contact-??s wife owns a 2018 Jeep Grand Cherokee. The contact stated that the ABS, brake lights, and traction control warning lights were illuminated. Additionally, the contact stated that while driving at various speeds, the rear tires locked up inadvertently, without the brake pedal being depressed. The contact stated that there was a pulsation coming from the rear of the vehicle. The contact believed that the failure was associated with an unknown recall. The vehicle was taken to a dealer where it was diagnosed that the ABS control module and the hydraulic control module (HCU) needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 80,000.
The contact's wife owns a 2018 Jeep Grand Cherokee. The contact stated while driving from a complete stop and depressing the accelerator pedal, the vehicle would surge forward. An unknown warning light was illuminated. The contact's wife was able to continue driving. The contact stated that the failure also occurred while reversing. The vehicle was taken to the dealer where it was diagnosed that the failure was associated with the transmission; however, the parts to repair the vehicle were not available. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 30,000.
The vehicle stalled while driving on a busy road. It sounded like it couldn-??t shift gears. It also accelerated once I tried to move it to a safer location on the side of the road. It was very scary not knowing if I could get out of the stalling situation in the middle of traffic. The unexpected acceleration upon trying to park it safely was also terrifying.
Transmission failed while driving. Had someone been behind me they would have hit me. It was towed to a dealer and through the extended warranty it was deemed a faulty transmission. There was no indication of an issue until it happened. Once the transmission failed the check engine light came on.
The contact's mother-in-law owns a 2018 Jeep Grand Cherokee. The contact stated that while driving at various speeds, the vehicle vibrated abnormally. While stationary, there was an abnormal sound coming from the vehicle. The vehicle was taken to the dealer five times to be diagnosed however, the dealer was unable to duplicate the failure. The vehicle was not repaired and was scheduled to be diagnosed again. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 35,000.
On our way to the grocery store, I turned onto the highway and began accelerating. Suddenly the engine shuts off and random messages pop up on the display. The "D" on the shift indicator was blinking telling me to put the vehicle into park to restart. Steering and braking were impaired as i tried to get the vehicle to the emergency lane. Numerous vehicles at highway speeds had to make rapid maneuvers to avoid hitting us. After coming to a stop and putting the vehicle in park, I restarted the vehicle. The engine light was now on and there were numerous messages coming up on the display. There were also random electrical occurrences as well, rear wiper running with switch in off position. This was a very dangerous situation. Had the individual behind us not had room to maneuver into the adjacent lane he would have impacted us for sure. This seems to be a known issue that needs to be addressed. As this incident just happened i have not a chance to contact a dealer yet. There was no warning prior to the incident. We have had no issues with this vehicle to this point save one, and I do not know if they are related or not. But randomly for a few months prior to this incident, the vehicles radio/control console would freeze up becoming totally unresponsive. It will eventually reboot itself and begin working again. Sometimes after one restart and other times it takes several restarts after varying lengths of time being frozen. The frequency of these occurrences seem to be increasing also. If this was just your radio controls it would be annoying enough, this is your control center for everything. Have not addressed this with the dealer yet as well. I will be contacting my nearest dealership this week.
Just purchased 2018 Jeep Grand Cherokee from bulk dealer. The engine consistently stalls while in drive (at red lights, stop signs, intersections) causing safety issues and near MVAs. During stall, the AC continues to blow but air is not cold. The VIN# shows no unrepaired recalls, but the vehicle is behaving exactly as described in recall U87. It still has some time on warranty but I'm not sure how to proceed here. This is certainly unsafe.
I took my vehicle to earnhardt Jeep in gilbert Arizona for the W79 egr cooler recall and only the egr valve was replaced and not the egr cooler. The recall stated that the egr cooler could crack from thermal fatigue and a new egr cooler with thicker walls would be installed. This issue if the egr cooler cracks can cause coolent to go into the air engine intake and cause a fire. The valve does not have coolent going through it so I do not know how this can be a complete fix. The vehicle had the valve replaced 4-7-2021 and I returned the vehicle 5-5-2021 withe the mill light on with the same code. Car still in the shop. Fca says the current remedy is valve replacement and not the egr cooler. This does not seem logical and I need NHTSA help to resolve this issue so my wifes vehicle is not a future fire hazzard.
After starting my car I went in my house to get something. My car slipped into reverse and rolled down my lawn across a busy street and hit a tree. The emergency braking system did not engage. I was able to drive the car back to where it was parked. I then tested to see if I could have accidentally put the car in reverse when I got out it. It began to roll in reverse and I wasn't touching the gas. I could not have gotten of the car if were in reverse because it would have been rolling. Apparently when the car is in a parked position it can slip into reverse.
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
- Downingtown, PA, USA