Owners have filed 12,902 complaints on the Jeep Cherokee, covering 1984–2026. The system named most often is Power Train (1,609 reports). Worst years by volume: 2014, 2015, 2019; cleanest: 2023, 2026, 1984. 574 reports describe a crash, 238 a fire, 11 a death. On average the car was 4.3 years old when the problem happened.
What breaks on Jeep Cherokee
Grouped by the system owners named — percentages are shares of all 12,902 Cherokee complaints. Open any row for the full reports in owners' own words.
Power Train 1,609 Read
When shifting into reverse the vehicle suddenly accelerated forward, causing a collision to occur. Vehicle was included in the safety improvement campaign #97i002000. Also, dealer installed the shift interlock which has not remedied the problem. Please give any further details
The contact owns a 2023 Jeep Cherokee. The contact stated that while reversing out of the garage the air bags were erroneously deployed. The contact indicated that six of the eight air bags in the vehicle deployed including the front driver and passenger air bags although no crash had initially occurred. The contact…
The vehicle gave us a service 4wd warning on my wife's way home from work. The car had numerous issues driving it home. It wouldn't move in drive, until it was put in park and then back into drive and it would automatically engage the parking brake. Once she brought it home I went to check the vehicle. I got into the…
Electrical System 602 Read
We were in a front impact vehicle accident. Airbags didn't deploy, brakes failed after impact and the engine didn't shut down. I had to disconnect the ECU power relay for the engine to stop
The Jeep caught fire underneath while I was driving on the highway. There were no warning lamps or symptoms of the problem prior to failure. I saw flames come up over the front of the car and immediately parked and ran with my child. We could have died.The fire and stopped car in the middle of the highway could have…
The stop start system has been malfunctioning ever since shortly after I purchased the car. When I purchased the car, my father and I asked for a printout of the CARFAX history to ensure we weren't buying a '"lemon". There was no information reflecting that the 2019 Jeep Cherokee Lattitude 2.4 2WD had been serviced…
Engine 327 Read
The contact owned a 2021 Jeep Cherokee. The contact stated that there was an abnormal sweet/alcohol smell in the vehicle. There were no warning lights illuminated. The vehicle was taken to an independent while in the process of performing a stress test drive. There was a popping sound from the ignition, and it stopped…
The contact owned a 2020 Jeep Cherokee. The contact stated that while his nephew was driving approximately 70 mph, a burning odor was present inside the cabin of the vehicle. The driver then noticed flames coming from the engine compartment. The driver stopped the vehicle and exited. No further information was…
The contact owns a 2020 Jeep Cherokee. The contact noticed that the vehicle was on fire while parked in a parking lot. The contact mentioned the fire caused 2 other vehicles to catch on fire. The fire department extinguished the fire and determined the fire was caused by the engine. A police report was filed. The…
Steering 219 Read
I was involved in a single vehicle accident at 5 am on October 5, 2023 on a rural road in Deland, Florida. I was on an unfamiliar road with a sharp curve and as I was trying to slow down the I was unable to slow down or steer the vehicle. It slammed into a cluster of trees and immediately the engine caught fire. I…
The contact owns a 2020 Jeep Cherokee. The contact stated that while the vehicle was parked the driver attempted to accelerate forward and the vehicle erroneously made a sharp left turn and crashed into a construction zone causing damage to the vehicle and the construction site materials. No further information was…
The contact's mother owns a 2020 Jeep Cherokee. The contact stated that while his mother was driving at unknown speeds, the steering wheel stiffened and was difficult to maneuver. The failure would occur intermittently. The contact stated that while his mother was driving at approximately 25 MPH, the steering warning…
Air Bags 194 Read
The contact owns a 2022 Jeep Cherokee. The contact stated while at a four-way intersection, another driver made a left turn at 30-40 MPH as a result the contact did not have ample time to stop and crashed into the front passenger side of the vehicle causing it to turn 180 degrees during the impact. The air bags did…
The contact owns a 2022 Jeep Cherokee. The contact stated that while driving at 60 MPH, another vehicle failed to stop at a stop sign and merged into oncoming traffic; as a result, the contact crashed into the vehicle. The contact stated that the air bags did not deploy upon impact. A fellow motorist, who witnessed…
I was involved in an accident on May 27, 2021 with my brand new Jeep Cherokee Latitude 2021, less than 3 k miles. Another driver ran a red light and I t-boned him, all of his air bags went off, but none of my air bags deployed. Hit the steering wheel with my chest, arms, hit the under dash area with knees and ankles…
Service Brakes 155 Read
I put my car in tow mode, after hooking up my RV, followed all proper procedures, after I turned key off and closed the door, between then and when I started to roll, the emergency brake AUTOMATICALLY ENGAGED! I burned up my two rear Jeep tires and could have been worse had not a nice guy stop me and said your tires…
History of the vehicle in the shop for braking issues, on 08/09/2024; 2 vehicles in front braked for an animal on a busy road, and saw braking. Was at around 30mph and started to brake, car in front had an emergency brake event and came to a sudden stop. My vehicle sent a BRAKE!, warning and started to apply brakes, I…
The contact owns a 2019 jeep cherokee. The contact stated that there was an abnormal burning chemical odor coming from the engine and into the cabin of the vehicle through the air condition vents. The contact stated that the odor smelled like burning plastic. The contact became nauseous from the odor. The vehicle was…
Vehicle Speed Control 142 Read
The contact owns a 2019 jeep cherokee. While at a stop, the vehicle accelerated forward without warning and caused a front end collision. There were no warning indicators illuminated. A police report was filed. The contact suffered injuries and received medical attention. The vehicle was driven back to the contact's…
The contact leased a 2019 jeep cherokee. The contact stated that prior to the failure the key fob was locked inside the vehicle, however once the vehicle was opened she started the vehicle and shifted to reverse. The reverse alert audio chimed and the brake pedal was depressed however the vehicle inadvertently…
Cruise control would not disengage. Instead it accelerated me to 85 mph is rush hour traffic. The car continued to accelerate will out responding to any commands to turn off cruise control. Second time this has happened. It was supposed to be fixed by doing an update to the car. This did not work. The second time I…
Engine And Engine Cooling 71 Read
Car was maintained at dealership. 1.5 years old, 31,000 miles. Last oil change and service at dealership was on 5/5/2017 with mileage of 29,056. Fire occurred on 6/10/2017. Driving 35 mph, straight down a small hill, first got warning light that brake fluid was low, followed by ABS needs servicing, followed by many…
Consumer noticed smoke coming from under the hood, consumer got out of vehicle and noticed there was a fire under the hood, claim 45-8024-144
Vehicle was parked when engine fire started, claim 38-j660-506
Cherokee years to avoid — and the clean ones
Complaints per model year. More reports usually means more cars on the road as well as more trouble, so read the crash and fire columns alongside the count.
| Model year | Complaints | Top system | Crashes | Fires |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | Fuel/propulsion System | — | — | |
| 2023 | Parking Brake | 1 | — | |
| 2022 | Air Bags | 2 | — | |
| 2021 | Air Bags | 9 | 3 | |
| 2020 | Air Bags | 9 | 4 | |
| 2019 | Air Bags | 38 | 16 | |
| 2018 | Air Bags | 11 | 5 | |
| 2017 | Air Bags | 24 | 5 | |
| 2016 | Air Bags | 35 | 13 | |
| 2015 | Air Bags | 42 | 26 | |
| 2014 | Air Bags | 47 | 13 | |
| 2006 | Electrical System | — | — | |
| 2001 | Air Bags | 17 | 13 | |
| 2000 | Air Bags | 15 | 36 | |
| 1999 | Air Bags | 28 | 16 | |
| 1998 | Air Bags | 26 | 5 | |
| 1997 | Air Bags | 32 | 5 | |
| 1996 | Air Bags | 47 | 19 | |
| 1995 | Air Bags | 68 | 7 | |
| 1994 | Air Bags | 34 | 7 | |
| 1993 | Air Bags | 35 | 8 | |
| 1992 | Electrical System | 13 | 5 | |
| 1991 | Electrical System | 11 | 5 | |
| 1990 | Electrical System | 13 | 6 | |
| 1989 | Electrical System | 10 | 11 | |
| 1988 | Electrical System | 1 | 5 | |
| 1987 | Electrical System | 2 | 2 | |
| 1986 | Engine And Engine Cooling | 1 | 1 | |
| 1985 | Air Bags | 2 | 1 | |
| 1984 | Engine And Engine Cooling | 1 | 1 |
The same model year, different builds
Every complaint carries the first 11 characters of the VIN — plant, year, body and engine. That is a production series, and complaints are spread across them very unevenly.
| Measure | Value |
|---|---|
| Distinct production series | 3,077 |
| Average complaints per series | 4.2 |
| Worst single series | 50 complaints |
| Average age at failure | 4.3 years |
A model average of 4.2 hides a worst series at 50. Enter a VIN above to see the numbers for that exact build instead of the model as a whole.
Owners reported these. Find out if yours is one of them.
- Complaints matched to the exact production run, not just the model
- What the car is worth given what tends to fail on it
- The original window sticker and factory options
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How we count
Every figure here comes from complaints owners filed with NHTSA — 1,100,006 of them, covering 1,982 models built between 1981 and 2026.
A complaint is an unverified report: someone wrote down what happened to their car. It is not a confirmed defect and not a recall. What makes the volume useful is the pattern — when thousands of owners of the same build describe the same failure, that is a signal no marketing brochure will give you.
Two things we do that the source does not. First, we compute the age of the car at the moment of failure from the incident date and the model year. Second, we group complaints by the first 11 characters of the VIN — the production series — so a bad plant run does not disappear into a model-wide average.
Frequently asked questions
What are the worst years for the Cherokee?
By complaint volume, 2014, 2015, 2019 drew the most owner reports. Bear in mind that popular years put more cars on the road, so check the crash and fire columns too.
Which Cherokee years are the cleanest?
2023, 2026, 1984 have the fewest complaints on file. For recent years that can simply mean the cars are young.
How many complaints does the Jeep Cherokee have?
12,902 owner complaints filed with NHTSA, covering 1984–2026. Of those, 574 describe a crash and 238 a fire.
Are these complaints verified?
No. They are unverified reports from owners. NHTSA publishes them as filed and investigates only a fraction. The value is in the pattern, not in any single report.
Can I check complaints for one specific car?
Yes — enter its VIN above. We match the first 11 characters, which identify the plant, year, body and engine, so you get complaints on that exact production series rather than the whole model.