Owners have filed 384 complaints on the Jeep Wagoneer, covering 1982–2025. The system named most often is Electrical System (129 reports). Worst years by volume: 2022, 2023, 2024; cleanest: 1982, 1983, 1984. 19 reports describe a crash, 5 a fire, 1 a death. On average the car was 2.5 years old when the problem happened.
What breaks on Jeep Wagoneer
Grouped by the system owners named — percentages are shares of all 384 Wagoneer complaints. Open any row for the full reports in owners' own words.
Electrical System 129 Read
The Automatic Emergency Braking (AEB) system falsely engages under normal driving conditions when no obstacles, vehicles, or other hazards are present. These false activations occurred at very low speeds, while stopped, while parking, and while the vehicle is in neutral. When this happens, the vehicle brakes abruptly,…
After very minor accident the car crash symbol and the car in lane symbol came on and will not turn off. Took to dealer and they said there was no update to correct the problem. Feel unsafe in a car that should be safe since it's new. And has error message of limited functionality
While driving, coming to a stop & starting from full stop at lights, car shut itself down. After 6 separate events it happened whislt in motion. Exvept this time it engaged the E break, park break, killed power steering, locked the steering wheel, reset all systems and put itself in park. ALL WHILE TRAVELLING AT…
Power Train 51 Read
While sitting at the gas station in park, my feet were on the floor not touching the brake or gas pedal, the wagoneer shifted itself into drive and started driving forward and collided with the parking barrier in front of me
I started my 2022 series ll Wagoneer in my driveway and began driving away. I realized I forgot something and had to run back into my house. My [XXX] mother in law was I. The passenger seat and remained there while I ran in the house. I opened my drivers side door, left the Jeep running and left the door open while I…
Dec 17, 2024 2022 Wagoneer was dropped of for service for a slight rattle in the engine. It was determined that the cams and shifters were “over-torqued” and had thrown metal shavings into the engine. This would require a full engine replacement which was conducted over the course of nearly 4 months. This is a…
Steering 47 Read
ABS and Stability control lights came on and I immediately lost braking pressure within 100 yards of warning lights and could not stop the vehicle and drove through a stop light. Fortunately there were no cars in the intersection. I also have had steering warning light as well as engine warning light. My Wagoneer’s…
On 5/14/26 around 8:00am, I just dropped the kids off to school and entered onto the 5 lane freeway, 290, driving into work. Driving 70 miles an hour, the steering light and a warning light came on and then other lights started flashing. The engine shut off, and the steering wheel felt like it locked-up. I managed to…
Immediately after taking delivery of this brand-new 2024 Jeep Wagoneer L, a severe and violent mechanical vibration was detected while driving at highway speeds. When the vehicle reaches 70 mph and above, the steering wheel shakes aggressively in the driver's hands, and the entire vehicle chassis vibrates violently.…
Engine 30 Read
My car blew an engine while I was inside the car. The car was in park and running in a parking lot when the parking brake automatically engaged unexpectedly. Then, the gauge cluster instructed me to press the brake and push the start/stop button. I then got a warning on my gauge cluster, this time notifying my car…
Vehicle overheated and came to a sudden stop on a busy intersection, with my five young children in the car. Faulty thermostat
On at least 6-8 occasions car engine has shut off and car is automatically placed in emergency brake. This then requires you to place car in park, then restart vehicle. This happens while driving on interstate and when car slows down for traffic car engine without warning, will shut off, car will then automatically…
Service Brakes 21 Read
Today 30JUN2022 my wife had a forward collision. She T-boned a Hyundai Sonata on the passenger door the Hyundai’s side airbags deployed and the jaws of life had to be used to get the passenger door open. My wife’s speed was about 5-10 MPH it was in a parking lot. None of the safety features activated. There was no…
On [XXX] I was backing up trying to hook up a Uhaul trailer when suddenly my car completely lost its brakes and crashed into the trailer. The brake pedal became completely loose. Luckily for me this happened on my home driveway, because the next day I would be making a 1000 mile trip (Pennsylvania to Panama City…
The contact owns a 2022 Jeep Wagoneer. The contact stated while parking the vehicle in the contact's residential driveway, the brake pedal was depressed, however, the vehicle failed to stop as intended. The contact stated that the vehicle was uncontrollable. In addition, the contact stated that an unknown warning…
Engine And Engine Cooling 10 Read
The contact owns a 2022 Jeep Wagoneer. The contact stated that while her husband was driving at approximately 10 MPH, the vehicle stalled, and smoke was coming from under the hood. The contact stated that the smoke had also entered the passenger cabin. The contact stated that her husband had not mentioned whether any…
Engine failure resulted in engine fire (ohio traffic crash report)
The contact owns a 2023 Jeep Wagoneer. The contact stated that several unknown lights on the instrument cluster were illuminated and flashing. Additionally, the headlights were flashing, and the camera screen was blank. The contact stated that while depressing the brake pedal, additional force was needed to stop the…
Suspension 9 Read
While driving on the interstate, the vehicle continuously bounces, shakes, and vibrates, making it difficult to maintain safe control. The issue occurs at highway speeds and creates concern for both safety and drivability
The initial unresolved issue is a slight tremor at speeds above 70mph. I was told that because of the speed limit that this occurs, it is above the limit of area the dealership. The are not able to road test for the issue. New issue is my Wagoneer is slipping into four wheel drive. I received a software update and now…
We have had our 2022 Wagoneer for 5 months. I noticed that the right rear axle had the boot torn and there was grease all over the bottom of the car on the right rear side. We also felt vibrations coming from the right rear. We took the car in to get the axle replaced, however we are still feeling these vibrations.…
Seats 8 Read
The button that folds the second row seat is located right on top of the seat and easily accessible to my child, especially when sitting in a car seat (sitting higher). We had multiple incidents where my child pressed it while I was driving and came flying forward with tremendous force and hurting himself by the front…
The contact owns a 2022 Jeep Wagoneer. The contact stated while driving at an undisclosed speed, the driver's side seat unexpectedly adjusted, causing the contact to be moved up near to the steering wheel. The contact stated that the failure reoccurred while his wife was driving. No warning lights were illuminated.…
The drivers side seat does not retain memory and will randomly start moving while driving down the road. My car has been in repair for over 9 weeks during 5-6 separate visits. No fix in place other than a software update that doesn’t have a ETA. The dealership isn’t working the moving while driving because they can’t…
Wagoneer 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | Electrical System, Engine | — | — | |
| 2024 | Electrical System | 2 | — | |
| 2023 | Air Bags | 5 | — | |
| 2022 | Air Bags | 11 | 3 | |
| 1990 | Engine And Engine Cooling | — | — | |
| 1989 | Engine And Engine Cooling | — | 1 | |
| 1988 | Engine And Engine Cooling | — | — | |
| 1987 | Engine And Engine Cooling | 1 | 1 | |
| 1986 | Seat Belts | — | — | |
| 1985 | Fuel System, Gasoline | — | — | |
| 1984 | Fuel System, Other | — | — | |
| 1983 | Seat Belts | — | — | |
| 1982 | Vehicle Speed Control | — | — |
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 | 171 |
| Average complaints per series | 2.2 |
| Worst single series | 17 complaints |
| Average age at failure | 2.5 years |
A model average of 2.2 hides a worst series at 17. 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
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How we count
Every figure here comes from complaints owners filed with NHTSA — 1,109,349 of them, covering 2,013 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 Wagoneer?
By complaint volume, 2022, 2023, 2024 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 Wagoneer years are the cleanest?
1982, 1983, 1984 have the fewest complaints on file. For recent years that can simply mean the cars are young.
How many complaints does the Jeep Wagoneer have?
384 owner complaints filed with NHTSA, covering 1982–2025. Of those, 19 describe a crash and 5 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.
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