Owners have filed 3,704 complaints on the Jeep Compass, covering 2007–2026. The system named most often is Electrical System (851 reports). Worst years by volume: 2018, 2007, 2019; cleanest: 2026, 2025, 2023. 143 reports describe a crash, 48 a fire, 1 a death. On average the car was 4.2 years old when the problem happened.
What breaks on Jeep Compass
Grouped by the system owners named — percentages are shares of all 3,704 Compass complaints. Open any row for the full reports in owners' own words.
Electrical System 851 Read
Active lane management jerked me off the road disabled my forward and rear crash detection sensor and my automatic high beams were disabled all simultaneously without warning or any sign scared me and my family since then my forward crash section is permanently on and will not go off I have no active lane management…
The vehicle caught on fire while sitting in a parking lot. This vehicle had just over 13,000 miles, serviced by jeep dealer, and health reports did not surface any problems. The fire impacted other vehicles around it
My family's n is safety was at risk daily ,do to fear of the electric system being off ,changing speed and directtion of car falsely. 2Continuly lights sources in panels on at night , unable to turn off . Navigation pulling vehicle off lane ,to opposite side of road in rain sleet heavy snow . Stays stuck on after air…
Power Train 471 Read
The accident occurred on [XXX] in the city of Visalia, Ca. I’m not sure what time it was happened and any other details because I’m not the person involved in the accident but I bought the car from a dealership located in Corona, Ca on [XXX]. They never mentioned that the car was involved in a collision or if it had…
Note: The vehicle is totaled, and GEICO Insurance is in possession. A month ago, we received Brake warnings. We brought the vehicle to a mechanic to get checked and it passed. We did not get the warning again. 2 weeks ago, while turning into our driveway, as we were almost stopped, but still in the turn, the vehicle…
The contact owns a 2022 Jeep Compass. The contact stated that the dealer previously replaced the PCU and axillary battery, and reprogrammed the TCM; however, the failure recurred. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed, the vehicle jerked and then lost motive power with the Auto Start/Stop…
Engine 463 Read
The contact leased a 2018 jeep compass. While driving 5 mph, the brake pedal was applied and the vehicle shut down, restarted, and spontaneously accelerated. As a result, the vehicle crashed into a brick pole. The "stop switch not engaged" warning indicator illuminated. The contact sustained unknown injuries, which…
The contact owns a 2018 jeep compass. While the vehicle was stopped with the brake pedal depressed, it lurched forward and struck the preceding vehicle. The preceding vehicle had a trailer hitch and ripped off the contact's bumper. There were no injuries and a police report was not filed. The vehicle was taken to…
On July 9th 2022 the car showed a low oil pressure warning then shut down going around a curve but I was able to restart the vehicle. Within a few minutes I was stopped at an intersection and the car stalled again and I was unable to restart it which resulted in my car being rear ended. On July 12 th I contacted my…
Suspension 237 Read
Accident On [XXX] at [XXX], I headed out of the Timberlane Estates neighborhood to go to volunteer at the NWR in Crystal River and was behind 3 other cars going out of the same neighborhood. As I started to turn from [XXX] (25 mph) to [XXX] (decelerating to about 10), I had to fight the steering wheel trying to…
My jeeps auto start stop has had issues since the day I got it. Ive taken it back to jeep servicing multiple times and all they do is resent the card computer. The car still moves while in park, the car shuts off while driving on the highway (55mph) it slows down, shuts off and does start for a few mins. The entire…
Tie rod snapped causing an accident
Air Bags 229 Read
The vehicle was involved in a rear-end and front end collision, the vehicle was stationary at a red light with another vehicle in front. The vehicle behind me rear-ended the jeep compass at approx 50 mph pushing me into the vehicle in front of the jeep compass. No airbags deployed and the vehicle's seat belts failed…
Deer ran into passenger front side of car. Car caught on fire. Air bags did not deploy
The contact owned a 2013 jeep compass. While driving approximately 10 mph, a second vehicle crashed into the passenger side of the contact's vehicle. During the crash, the front driver side air bag deployed and caught on fire. The fire department extinguished the flames. The contact sustained burns to the right arm…
Steering 225 Read
On my way to work this morning 4:30 ish the same way I always take. My car decided to drive itself, every light on the middle console lit up, and the dashboard. I was going 50 when my car completely lost control while I tapped my brakes no response its locked, my steering wheel locked up, my brakes locked everything…
The contact owns a 2022 Jeep Compass. The contact stated that while stopping at a drive-thru window, the steering wheel began spinning to the left and then to the right independently. The vehicle then suddenly turned right and hit a nearby curb which then made the vehicle turn to the left hitting another curb. The…
I bought the Jeep 2000 24 June 5th from Auto Lenders and Fairless hills vehicle had 34,632 miles on it took it back June 18th for inspection and that there was noise coming from the front end when you went over speed bump metal climbing I told him they said they found nothing took it back again July 10th with the same…
Structure 124 Read
I bought this vehicle at hawk chrysler dodge jeep 7911 w roosevelt rd, forest park, il 60130 on 04/8/19 . I drove off the lot without a proper explanation/presentation of my vehicle, no one went over the features with me. When I arrived at home, a family member pointed out that the lcd screen qhere the mileage is…
Several days ago while on the expressway, my jeep compass would not brake at all. We were forced to pull off on the median left side until it stopped.. Two days ago, october 10th, when pulling into a parking lot, with brake depressed, the car lurched forward and hit a sign just missing a tree. The passenger front…
On 12 jan 2017 a lady backed into my car at approx 35 mph and destroyed the passenger doors - the entire right side of the vehicle - the airbags did not deploy resulting in injuries to my son and myself. I was parking in a parking lot at the time and she was backing out at a high rate of speed without looking
Fuel/propulsion System 121 Read
The contact owns a 2007 jeep compass. The contact stated that the vehicle was being serviced by an independent mechanic for a failed fuel pump. The contact indicated that while replacing the fuel pump, a connector wire that was attached to the fuel pump and connected inside the fuel tank was discovered. The vehicle…
When fueling I can’t get the gas to go into the jeep it shuts off over and over takes near 20 mins to get a half a tank of fuel it’s loose in there air can’t escape I’m thinking
At 2900 miles, my check engine light came on while I was on vacation out of state. Within a couple of seconds, my car started to choke and jerk so bad that the passenger could feel it. It did this intermittently, to the point I knew it needed to be seen before driving 900 miles home. Several times since then, my…
Compass 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 | Electrical System,service Brakes,forward Collision Avoidance | — | — | |
| 2025 | Air Bags | 4 | — | |
| 2024 | Air Bags | 6 | 1 | |
| 2023 | Air Bags,forward Collision Avoidance | 2 | — | |
| 2022 | Air Bags | 11 | — | |
| 2021 | Air Bags | 5 | 2 | |
| 2020 | Air Bags | 3 | 2 | |
| 2019 | Air Bags | 12 | 2 | |
| 2018 | Air Bags | 28 | 5 | |
| 2017 | Air Bags | 10 | 2 | |
| 2016 | Air Bags | 8 | 2 | |
| 2015 | Air Bags | 4 | 2 | |
| 2014 | Air Bags | 18 | 7 | |
| 2013 | Air Bags | 6 | 4 | |
| 2012 | Air Bags | 2 | 5 | |
| 2011 | Air Bags | 6 | 2 | |
| 2010 | Air Bags | 5 | 3 | |
| 2009 | Air Bags | — | — | |
| 2008 | Air Bags | 3 | 3 | |
| 2007 | Air Bags | 10 | 6 |
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 | 1,011 |
| Average complaints per series | 3.7 |
| Worst single series | 30 complaints |
| Average age at failure | 4.2 years |
A model average of 3.7 hides a worst series at 30. 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
- Full research report as a PDF for the pre-purchase inspection
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- No ads, no tracking — and much more
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 Compass?
By complaint volume, 2018, 2007, 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 Compass years are the cleanest?
2026, 2025, 2023 have the fewest complaints on file. For recent years that can simply mean the cars are young.
How many complaints does the Jeep Compass have?
3,704 owner complaints filed with NHTSA, covering 2007–2026. Of those, 143 describe a crash and 48 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.