What 325 owners told NHTSA about the 2011 Jeep Patriot

TOOK MY CAR INTO MECHANIC FOR FOUR NEW TIRES. AT THAT TIME WAS TOLD BY THEM THAT LOWER BALL JOINTS SHOWED SIGNS OF ABNORMAL WEAR AND TEAR. THEY RECOMMENDED FIXING. AS I DIDN'T HAVE THE TIME TO GET IT INTO THE SHOP AT THAT POINT, I WAITED. TOOK CAR IN FOR STATE MANDATED ANNUAL INSPECTION AND IT FAILED - AT 38000 MILES. NOT ONLY THAT BUT CAR NEEDED ANOTHER NEW TIRE BECAUSE BALL JOINT HAD AFFECTED THE NEW TIRES I JUST BOUGHT. MECHANIC STATED THIS SHOULDN'T BE HAPPENING IN A CAR THAT'S BARELY 4 YEARS OLD. I DO NOT DO ANY OFF ROAD DRIVING - JUST NORMAL ABOUT TOWN AND SOME MINIMAL HIGHWAY. I AM THE ONLY OWNER - BOUGHT THIS CAR BRAND NEW. SEEMS LIKE THIS IS A DEFECT THAT OUGHT TO BE ADDRESSED. I SEE A LOT OF CONVERSATION ON THE WEB ABOUT THIS ISSUE. HOPE THEY DECIDE TO RECALL. *TR

NHTSA ODI 10706448

BALL JOINTS/CONTROL ARM BAD AT ONLY 41,000 MILES. TOOK CAR FOR INSPECTION AND IT FAILED BECAUSE OF THIS. TECHNICIAN SAID THESE PARTS SHOULD HAVE NEVER FAILED AT 3 YEARS OLD AND ONLY 41,000 MILES. OF COURSE OUT OF WARRANTY BUT FROM WHAT I AM FINDING OUT, WARRANTY WOULDN'T COVER THESE ANYWAYS. I WONDER IF THESE PARTS WERE EVEN TESTED AS THEY SHOULD LAST LONGER, SO SEEMS TO ME THEY ARE DEFECTIVE. *TR

NHTSA ODI 10655379

IN 2012 WE HAD A NAIL THROUGH THE TIRE OF THE 2011 JEEP PATRIOT THAT WE BOUGHT NEW. WHEN WE TOOK THE CAR TO TIRES PLUS TO HAVE THE TIRE REPLACED. WE WERE TOLD THAT THEY COULDN'T LEGALLY REPLACE JUST ONE TIRE. THE TREAD WEAR WAS SO AWFUL; UNEVEN, DIFFERENT TREAD VARIANCES, THEY COULDN'T MATCH ONE USED TIRE. HOW WOULD THEY PICK WHAT TIRE TO MATCH IT UP TOO. WE ENDED UP WITH 4 NEW TIRES, WE WERE ALSO TOLD AT THE TIME THE UNEVEN TREAD WAS DOING DAMAGE TO SHOCKS AND STRUTS. A YEAR LATER WE TOOK IT IN FOR NEW BREAK PADS AND ROTATION, AGAIN, EVEN WITH THESE "NEW" TIRES WE WERE TOLD TREAD WAS SO UNEVEN, IT WOULD BE LOUD, BE CAREFUL, EXCRETA. I TOOK THE JEEP INTO A JEEP DEALERSHIP FOR A RECALL 10/2013 "N01 RECALL" SINCE I HAD IN THERE I ALSO OPTED TO GET TRANSMISSION SERVICE/FILTER, THEY TOO TALKED TO ME ABOUT MY TIRE WEAR. 11/2013ISH MY HUSBAND, STATIONED IN HI PURCHASES A NEW JEEP AS WELL. NOW WE ARE STUCK WITH TWO OF THESE...2/2014 I FIND OUT THE VEHICLE HE PURCHASE (NOT HIS, BUT OTHERS WITH SAME YR/MAKE/MODEL ARE ALREADY BEING RECALLED. THEN MY TRANSMISSION GOES OUT! A JEEP, WE HAVE JUST OWNED, HIGHER MILES ALL FROM HWY 94 FROM MY HUSBAND COMPUTE WHEN HE LIVED IN WI TO FORTMCCOY...STRAIGHT SHOT...65MH THE WHOLE WAY. IN ADDITION THEY FIX SWAY BAR LINK, ARM CONTROL AND TELL ME NOISE THAT STILL EXISTS COULD BE WHEEL BEARING, MY ALIGNMENT WAS SO OFF, THEY KEPT IT AN EXTRA DAY. SO I'M 5K INTO MY VEHICLE I OWED 3 YEARS, THE WHEEL BEARING, ALIGNMENT, SWAY BAR, ARM CONTROL, SHOCKS, STRUTS ALL I BELIEVE TO WHATEVER (I WISH I NEW) WAS CAUSING THE UNEVEN TREAD WEAR. THERE IS SOMETHING WRONG! TRANSMISSION DIFFERENT ISSUE...OR IS IT? I HAVE BEEN TOLD AS MENTIONED ABOVE THEY COULDN'T "LEGALLY" REPLACE JUST ONE TIRE...THEN HOW FOR THE LAST THREE YEARS CAN JEEP LEGALLY LET ME DRIVE MY 4 KIDS IN A VEHICLE THAT HAS OBVIOUS PROBLEMS. YES, I'VE CALLED DEALERSHIP, HOME OFFICE AND BBB. *TR

NHTSA ODI 10568551

I HAVE A 2011 JEEP PATRIOT LATITUDE THAT BEGAN HAVING A ROUGH RIDE AND RATTLE NOISE IN THE LEFT FRONT WHEEL AREA IN OCTOBER 2013. IN DECEMBER 2013 THE VEHICLE WAS INSPECTED WITH 42,000 MILES AND IT WAS DISCOVERED THAT THE LOWER CONTROL ARM NEEDED REPLACING BECAUSE OF A BAD BALL JOINT. I RESEARCHED THIS ONLINE AND DISCOVERED NUMEROUS SIMILAR COMPLAINTS ON JEEP FORUMS INDICATING IT HAS BEEN A RECURRING PROBLEM FOR JEEP FOR THE PAST SEVERAL YEARS DUE TO POOR QUALITY PARTS BUT JEEP REFUSES TO COVER IT UNDER WARRANTY OR RECALL. I TOOK THE JEEP TO MY DEALERSHIP, GOLLING CHRYSLER JEEP IN BLOOMFIELD, MI. THEY ADMITTED THIS IS A COMMON PROBLEM BUT NOT COVERED UNDER WARRANTY, RECALL OR TSB. I ENDED UP REPLACING THE PART FOR $300 AT A REPAIR SHOP. I FEEL THERE SHOULD BE A RECALL AS THIS IS A COMMON PROBLEM AND A SAFETY ISSUE THAT JEEP REFUSES TO COVER. *TR

NHTSA ODI 10558131

BALL JOINTS ARE WORN AND NEED REPLACEMENT AT APPROXIMATELY 35,000 MILES. VEHICLE HAS ONLY BEEN DRIVEN ON HIGHWAY AND AROUND TOWN. NO OFF-ROADING. LOOKING AT JEEP PATRIOT FORUM ON-LINE THIS APPEARS TO BE PRETTY TYPICAL. PERHAPS A RECALL SHOULD BE DONE SO THAT JEEP CAN PUT IN PARTS THAT ARE DURABLE AND SAFE. *TR

NHTSA ODI 10551736