Jeep Wagoneer Problems

What actually breaks on the Jeep Wagoneer — 414 owner complaints filed with NHTSA across 1982–2025, sorted by model year and by system, with what owners wrote in their own words.

NHTSA owner complaints · 414 reports · 182 builds · Updated Nov 4, 2026
Quick answer

Owners have filed 414 complaints on the Jeep Wagoneer, covering 1982–2025. The system named most often is Electrical System (142 reports). Worst years by volume: 2022, 2023, 2024; cleanest: 1982, 1983, 1984. 21 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 414 Wagoneer complaints. Open any row for the full reports in owners' own words.

Electrical System 34% 142 Read
2024 Jeep Wagoneer

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,…

2023 Jeep Wagoneer

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

2023 Jeep Wagoneer

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 13% 54 Read
2024 Jeep Wagoneer

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

2022 Jeep Wagoneer

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…

2022 Jeep Wagoneer

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 12% 50 Read
2025 Jeep Wagoneer

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…

2024 Jeep Wagoneer

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.…

2024 Jeep Wagoneer

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…

Engine 7% 31 Read
2022 Jeep Wagoneer

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…

2024 Jeep Wagoneer

Vehicle overheated and came to a sudden stop on a busy intersection, with my five young children in the car. Faulty thermostat

2024 Jeep Wagoneer

My 2024 Jeep Wagoneer L with the 3.0L Hurricane engine began experiencing drivability and warning-light failures at very low mileage and within the first year of ownership. The vehicle was purchased new in October 2024 and experienced its first major drivability/towing event at approximately 10,372 miles. Over the…

Service Brakes 5% 22 Read
2025 Jeep Wagoneer

While waiting at a drive thru, the brakes did not respond when pressed and the car kept moving forward. The emergency braking system also did not respond. The car was placed into park and the car still did not stop. This resulted in hitting the car in front of us in line

2022 Jeep Wagoneer

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…

2022 Jeep Wagoneer

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…

Structure 2% 10 Read
2022 Jeep Wagoneer

Auto was being towed by my RV. Frame rail extension welds on vehicle failed and vehicle broke loose and struck utility pole destroying it. Could have hit oncoming traffic or innocent bystanders. Vehicle being inspected by Chrysler third party inspectors and State Farm Insurance. I believe “cold welds” to be…

2024 Jeep Wagoneer

The contact owns a 2024 Jeep Wagoneer. The contact stated that the driver’s side sun visor fractured and fell and impeded the driver while driving. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The contact stated that an authorized dealer confirmed the failure but only offered to repair the vehicle if the contact paid…

2024 Jeep Wagoneer

The contact owns a 2024 Jeep Wagoneer. The contact stated while driving at an undisclosed speed, there was a loud whistling and vibrating sound coming from the door. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 25V593000 (Structure); however, the part to do the recall repair was not yet available. The…

Engine And Engine Cooling 2% 10 Read
2022 Jeep Wagoneer

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…

1989 Jeep Wagoneer

Engine failure resulted in engine fire (ohio traffic crash report)

2023 Jeep Wagoneer

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 2% 9 Read
2025 Jeep Wagoneer

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

2022 Jeep Wagoneer

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…

2022 Jeep Wagoneer

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.…

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.

FIG.02·Jeep Wagoneer complaints by model year
Model yearComplaintsTop systemCrashesFires
20257Electrical System, Engine1—
202456Electrical System2—
2023113Air Bags5—
2022206Air Bags123
199010Engine And Engine Cooling——
19895Engine And Engine Cooling—1
19882Engine And Engine Cooling——
19879Engine And Engine Cooling11
19862Seat Belts——
19851Fuel System, Gasoline——
19841Fuel System, Other——
19831Seat Belts——
19821Vehicle Speed Control——
ROWS 13·SOURCE NHTSA owner complaints

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.

FIG.03·Jeep Wagoneer complaints by production series
MeasureValue
Distinct production series182
Average complaints per series2.3
Worst single series17 complaints
Average age at failure2.5 years
ROWS 4·SOURCE NHTSA owner complaints + ForCar

A model average of 2.3 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.

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How we count

Every figure here comes from complaints owners filed with NHTSA — 1,115,966 of them, covering 2,019 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?

414 owner complaints filed with NHTSA, covering 1982–2025. Of those, 21 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.

Owner complaints from NHTSA, published as filed and unverified. Age at failure computed by ForCar from incident date and model year; production series grouped by the first 11 VIN characters. Last updated Nov 2026. — ForCar Reviewed by , founder of ForCar.
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