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.
The front wheels shimmy at freeway speeds when hitting a slight uneven seam or joint in the road bed, the dealer put a dampener on but the issue is still there, just not as pronounced. The drive train / transmission / differential has "locked up" violently stopping the Jeep, this has happened twice so far but I have only had it for a few months. Both times I was moving slowly forward in drive just leaving a parking space on the side of the street. I put it in park, then back in drive and it moved normally. It sounds like metal on metal when it happens and is very sudden!
Sunday 22 Sept 2019 Jeep Wrangler jl driving back home from work at about 40-60 mph the steering was all over the road. I almost hit 3 vehicles just trying to get home. Something was seriously wrong with the steering. Bought the Jeep in Apr drove fantastic like a car for the last 4 months. Last week I got a U-connect notice safety recall to avoid driving it and take to a dealership soonest for a stabilizer issue. Called a dealership right away, they got me in next day Saturday at 0630am. 0830 the workmanship or adjustments were done. Only drove it twice since then yesterday - Sunday on the way home from work, it totally scared the heck out of me. Called Jeep national customer service number 877..... they said try to take to the same dealership to have it looked at again. I took a video on how it was acting on the road I looked underneath and didn't see anything obvious wrong anywhere. Bolts were tight no leaking or wet spots anywhere nothing loose to the touch this is my 3rd Jeep in my life and something was serious about this issue. Last 35 years of driving, this one drove scared the heck out of me. Something is not right
Steering takes constant attention to stay in lane when driving at highway speeds (55+). I was aware of complaints when I bought the vehicle, noticed it right away on the way home. I made many upgrades to the vehicle, but the problem is still there. We have added positive caster and lowered air pressure which improved it, but it still much more difficult to drive on the highway than our 2011 Wrangler was. It is especially noticeable on concrete grooved highway or in areas where roadwork is being done and they have temporarily moved the lane of travel so you are driving over the grooves in road separating lanes.
- Palm Desert, CA, USA
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My 2019 Wrangler jlu rubicon steers like a boat. It wanders left and right when going straight....has since new and I have over 7300 miles on it now. I've upgraded thesteering dampner with an aftermarket fox dampner. It helped just a bit, but the steering still requires constant corrections.
While driving down the hwy at 70mph it was very difficult to keep my Jeep in its lane. A few times I was very nervous and even felt a little unsafe. Jeep says this is normal. There is no way that it can be 'normal' to have a vehicle drive this way.
Vehicle begins to wonder badly beginning at about 40 mph, can get scary at highway speeds. We owned a 2016 jk and it didn't have this issue. Unsafe and unhappy.
Steering is loose, most noticeable around 50mph when you are driving straight. It can often be white knuckle driving when cars are around. The response for slight corrections is lacking. There seems to be an inch or two of play in the wheel before it responds. You drift in the lane and feel unsafe. My Jeep is around 1 month old, only has about 800 miles on it. Both my wife and I commented on it when new. It's our first Jeep, so we chalked it up to just being a 'Jeep thing'. after reading about the investigation, we realized this is likely a bigger problem and it's not a 'Jeep thing'.
Steering is weird it randomly jerks to the right and left, I have taken it in multiple times and they can't seem anything wrong with it but it can't be safe that my Jeep jerks and veers while driving
Steering gear has excessive play. No on-center steering response for 1-2" of steering wheel arc length. Makes straight driving unsafe by reducing control and increasing the time lag to correct for cross winds, road surface, or other drivers/obstacles. Inspection has led to noticing all the play coming from the steering gearbox itself. This happens at all speeds, however the most dangerous is by far straight high-speed highway driving. Dealer has been honest and says this is a common complaint. Has not been able to identify a guaranteed fix based on experience with other cars to date.
As I drove off the lot I noticed the instrument panel had a distortion on it. Dealership was unable to fix (after a software upgrade). More concerning is the car shakes violently when hitting a bump in the road. I took it in 3 times without resolution. Always on the highway, at first at high speeds, now even going below the speed limit. Sometimes it resolves on it's own, but lately I have to slow down or stop to make the shaking stop. (which is very dangerous when driving on a 65mph highway), the steering wheel shakes left to right and is very loose during these times. I feel very unsafe and it feels like the wheels are going to fall off. This is a brand new vehicle. It happened 5 times on a 15 mile trip to work this morning and has been happening since I bought the car in late February 2019.
Handling while driving at freeway speeds is terrible. The steering constantly wanders and requires not stop corrections to maintain lane position. If any bumps in the road or wind is present, the risk of wandering into another lane is greatly increased and I have narrowly avoided several collisions with other vehicles already.
Steering gear has excessive play. No on-center steering response for 1-2" of steering wheel arc length. Makes straight driving unsafe by reducing control and increasing the time lag to correct for cross winds, road surface, or other drivers/obstacles. Inspection has led to noticing all the play coming from the steering gearbox itself. This happens at all speeds, however the most dangerous is by far straight high-speed highway driving. Dealer has been honest and says this is a common complaint. Has not been able to identify a guaranteed fix based on experience with other cars to date.
The steering on this Jeep is dangerous. It wonders all over the road. I have to keep both hands on the wheel at all time with a death grip. I feel extremely unsafe driving this Jeep. I have taken it to the dealership 4 times now and it has not improved. Jeep is now telling me that there is nothing else they can do and I am just stuck with it.
I picked up my new Jeep at the dealer and went not even a couple blocks away and noticed the steering was really sloppy. The dealer called to get my email and I told them about it. They said bring it back, which I did today( the next morning.) too much play, constant corrections, drifted. I just dropped it off and they said it had a steering damper recall on the vehicle. This is my 3rd Jeep Wrangler(1999 and 2004) were my other ones and they were fine. Jeep needs to address this asap. It is not safe and I am not very hopeful this recall will fix it.
The steering is sloppy with 2-4 inches of "play" in the steering wheel when driving. I have had the recall done for dampener replacement, but it still tries to "walk" the road side to side due to the slack in the steering. I am told this is an issue with the electrical assist, but it needs addressed. I drive for hours and having to fight this back and forth the entire time is unsafe. Also, the windshields are not sloped enough for areas where there are many bugs. The windshield becomes so congested with splattered bugs it's hard to see. The washers and wipers cannot scrape away the debris either because the impact is so hard is plasters them to the glass, and takes high pressure water or vigorous scrubbing to remove. This is a poor windshield design flaw that most every other automobile does not have an issue with.
I was going around 65 mph on the freeway and I hit a pothole, my Jeep started to "death wobble". it stated to violently shake and vibrate almost pulling the steering wheel out of my hand. I slowed down to under 45 mph and it stopped. The violent shaking lasted for about 6-10 seconds. I just purchased the Jeep 2 days ago. It is completely stock with the factory tires and the pressure in them was fine. It was also not cold, the high at the time was 97 degrees.
Brand new vehicle, now has 200 miles. From beginning, it tracks to the right when in motion. Dealer said alignment is perfect, they cross rotated tires, are in process of trying to figure it out, but I suspect it may be the electronic assist steering inputting right steer for some reason. Have heard many complain about steering box issues with Jeep jl Wrangler, unknown if this is related to that.
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
- Coronado, CA, USA