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.
Issue was identified immediately upon delivery of the vehicle from the selling dealership. Steering requires constant correction in order to maintain a straight line. Additionally, the steering response 1 - 2" from center is not precise and results in over-corrections of the steering. The sensation is similar to that of trying to drive a straight line through a few inches of snow. The selling dealer allowed me to do a comparison drive with a like model (same make, model and options) and a difference was acknowledged and a service appointment scheduled. The service department later indicated that this issue is "normal" and that it was not unusual that there would be a difference between my vehicle and the comparison vehicle. Navigating two lane roads and highways, along with narrow construction areas, are of concern given the vehicle's tendency to wander and inaccurate steering corrections/over-corrections.
The car doesn't track straight without continual adjustments with the steering wheel. It will drift a little right, then I nudge the steering wheel to the left and it will drift left and have to correct to the right again.
I have had this vehicle for one week and I noticed the steering problem right away. Most of my driving is on the highway, this vehicle has an excessive steering dead zone which leads to major over correcting and constant steering input to keep within a straight line, especially when there are bumps, cracked, uneven pavement, turning, wind etc. It's very a scary. I don't even want to drive the vehicle. My speed during this is between 60-75.
The contact owns a 2018 Jeep Wrangler. While driving 45 mph, the steering wheel seized without warning. The contact was able to control the vehicle until the power steering returned to normal. The vehicle was taken to atlantic Chrysler Jeep Dodge Ram (130 sunrise hwy, West islip, NY 11795, (631) 422-0123), but the cause of the failure was not determined. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 1,000. The VIN was not available.
I have the new jl Wrangler. This is a redesigned Wrangler for 2018. Since taking delivery on 5/2/18 I have experienced lose steering with what seems to be a dead spot with the steering wheel. This allows for the Jeep to wonder in the traffic lane. At times it feels very unsafe where you feel like you could lose control or end up in an adjacent travel lane. The dead spot is a few degrees right and left of center. It feels like you can move the wheel without any steering input to the front wheels. Because of this you are often fighting with the steering wheel as you make corrections to the left you end up going too far and have to correct back to the right. This occurs at all speeds, but seems more prevalent at higher highway speeds. Maybe because it feels more scarier at those speeds? Jeep and fca so far seem to indicate this is normal Jeep Wrangler steering. However I have had previous Jeep Wrangler where the steering did not feel this way. As well as conferring with other Jeep owners both of previous models and this new model who do not experience this problem. I have had the Jeep in twice for service with the dealership I purchased the Jeep from, but nothing wrong has been found. I have driven over 3600 miles on the Jeep to date in hopes that it would get better. However the issue is still there.
Highway speeds 60-75 mph, steering locks. Hard to turn left or right. A major degree of resistance from a 'straight' steering wheel to any movement left or right
Since purchasing this vehicle in early July 2018 and having driven 550 miles I can say this vehicle has an excessive steering dead zone which leads to major overcorrecting and constant steering input to keep within a straight lane. This problem is amplified when traveling at highway speeds (60+ mph). Especially when there are bumps, cracked/uneven pavement, turning and wind and this creates an extremely dangerous driving situation which could result in serious injury to myself or others. This vehicle has a dangerous "bobble" or sway and driving at faster posted speeds, especially on more narrow roads is quite dangerous. The amount of force to correct to stay in center lane is unlike any vehicle in my almost 40 years of driving I have also owned 3 other Jeep Wrangler so I know how they drive. Others have mentioned this could be either a steering gearbox or computer flash issue. I did not pay over $40,000 for an unsafe to drive vehicle. Thank you for your assistance and help with this serious safety issue!
Build date 2-2018 since purchasing this vehicle in early March 2018 and having driven over 5,000 miles I can say this vehicle has an excessive steering dead zone which leads to major overcorrecting and constant steering input to keep within a straight lane. This problem is amplified when traveling at highway speeds (60+ mph). Especially when there are bumps, cracked/uneven pavement, turning and wind and this creates some not so fun situations. The selling dealer suggested lowering tire air pressure, which I did and it still doesn't fix the problem.
This is in reference a dead spot when the steering wheel is centered and I'm going or trying to go straight on the road. It is noticeable at all times but becomes unstable at 50+mph. It is difficult to drive straight because the steering wheel has play in it before the wheels actually turn. My jlur was lifted at the dealership before delivery using the mopar 2" lift kit. I brought the Jeep to the shop and was told I needed an upgraded steering stabilizer because of the lift. They added part number 77072360 at a cost of $461.80. I have driven the Jeep since then and the steering play is still there. A week later I put new tires on my Jeep thinking it may help reduce the dead spot condition on the steering but it did nothing, it feels exactly the same. The new tires are 35 X 12.5 R17. Stock tires were 33.
There is excessive play in the steering wheel, which progresses as the speed increases. It becomes very difficult to keep in the lane on the highway. The vehicle "wanders" and requires constant steering corrections. Exact vehicle is a Jeep unlimited Wrangler (jlu) sahara 2018
This is a brand new vehicle. The steering is loose. There's a dead spot when the wheel is centered. It is very difficult to drive especially speeds over 50 miles per hour because the steering wheel has play in it before the wheels actually turn.
There is something wrong with the steering on this new Jeep Wrangler. There is 2-3 inches of play in the steering wheel and it is very difficult to stay in my lane on the highway. This is a very unsafe vehicle over 55mph. This is not normal.
There is a lot of play in the steering. It is unsafe to drive over 55mph. You have to turn the wheel 2 inches to the right and back to the left to stay straight on the highway.
Purchased my 2018 billet silver, 4-door Wrangler rubicon jl on July, 2 2018. Build date is 2/2018 for the vehicle. I noticed the excessive need to overcorrect the steering wheel when I drove it home from the dealership. I test drove it earlier in the day on a 4 lane, split highway and it was almost entirely a straight highway drive, so I didn't notice it much on the very short test drive as I did driving the Jeep home later in the evening on a much more narrow, two lane country road. The issue is exactly like many who have descried the issue in the jl Wrangler forums online (over 570 posts as of this complaint filing) who've described the wheel being unresponsive with lots of left/right micro correcting to stay in center lane. While driving straight and on even pavement I can move the steering wheel approximately 5-7 degrees and the wheels and direction is unresponsive. There was a time or two driving home when I would come out of a slight dip or bump in the road and the Jeep would come out of the dip, start tracking towards an oncoming car or center lane, and correcting the wheel back to the right and away from oncoming traffic really took a lot of effort. Tire pressure is to spec at 37psi in all four tires. This vehicle has a dangerous "bobble" or sway and driving at faster posted speeds, especially on more narrow roads is quite dangerous. The amount of force to correct to stay in center lane is unlike any vehicle in my almost 30 years of driving.
Track bar bracket and other welds are very poorly done, which can lead to serious malfunction or injury. Welds have poor porosity with pinholes, slag inclusions, lack of Fusion, underfill, etc. The welds on my new 2018 Jeep rubicon jlu that cost $52,000 are all malformed. I don't see how there could have been an inspection pass on these welds, as they are dangerous. I've had them inspected by two professional welders with a combined 45 years of experience and they both immediately agreed. One user on the jl Wrangler forums with very similar welds had a complete failure of the track bar bracket at a higher rate of speed (highway posted speeds) and was somehow able to get the vehicle to the side of the road without killing himself or anyone else. This post can be found on jl Wrangler forums dot com, search for "track bar sheared off at the weld" the track bar bracket weld on my Jeep doesn't cover the top of the bracket but instead the weld sits almost on top of the bracket edge as you can see from the added pictures. The side welds are simply weld blobs and do not follow any weld standards. This is simply dangerous and shows that the vehicle was not inspected when leaving this stage of the build from fca. Just to note, most all other welds that were visually inspected are just as poorly done.
While starting the vehicle for the third time in two days after picking up the car following a PCM flash for a cruise control recall, I noticed the prnd lights flashing on the shiftier approximately 10 seconds after vehicle start. I subsequently received a cel and a "service shifter' message. I shut off the vehicle, let all displays go dark, and restarted; the cel went away. I proceeded to continue my drive home. About 10/15 min later, I noticed the lights flickering once again on the shifter. I once again elected to continue home as it was late at night. Approximately 2/3 miles later, I received errors on the start/stop and traction control systems. The vehicle appeared to go into a "limp mode" - I it would not shift out of 8th gear and I experienced reduced power and an inability to maintain the posted 70 mph. I decided to exit at the next off-ramp as I could maintain 65mph. While exiting, I noticed the gauge needles (speedo and tach) sweep and got airbag warnings. I heard the electric fan go 100% high (very loud) and I lost power steering. I pulled over to the side of the road and shut off the vehicle. After letting it sit for approximately 5 min, I restarted the vehicle and while the cel remained no other errors were illuminated or presented. I was less than 2 miles from a Jeep dealer and decided to try to continue there on access roads. About 1/8 mile down the road, I once again lost power steering and say various error messages like before. I pulled into a parking lot and aborted my attempts and called for a tow to the dealer less than a mile away. Posted are pictures of the errors read using an obd-2 scanner I had in the glove compartment. While I have driven cars without power steering in the past, it was rather difficult with the larger ~32" tires and I am not sure a crash could be prevented if a smaller person was driving.
Jeep steering has a dead spot, which allow the Jeep to wander back and forth in a lane. If it has any side wind the Jeep become very difficult to control. Seem like to much play in the steering box. This is not a Jeep thing as the dealer states, its a real problem that fca seem to not want to address.
Steering on the freeway at higher speeds (60 mph+) has a dead zone and the Jeep wanders back and forth, making it difficult to keep in a straight line and very dangerous/feels as if I could lose control. Several complaints for same issue on NHTSA from other 2018 jl owners. Needs to be addressed and a safety recall initiated to correct as no dealerships are fixing the issue. Could cause accident and fatality and extreme liability for fca.
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
- Lansdale, PA, USA