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What 455 owners told NHTSA about the 2016 Jeep Patriot

These are the actual owner complaints behind this car’s reliability verdict, filed with the federal government, unedited. They’re unverified reports, not confirmed defects: read them as leads for your pre-purchase inspection, not a diagnosis.

All (455)Crash / fire / injury (33)Engine (222)Electrical system (97)Transmission & drivetrain (74)Speed control (47)Fuel system (42)Airbags (33)Brakes (25)Steering (24)Seats (20)Electronic Stability Control (esc) (19)

2 of 455 complaints match · Transmission & drivetrain · crash/fire/injury only · clear filters

Feb 25, 2025Transmission & drivetrainCrash

Sitting at a red light with foot on brake and auto “jumped” happened quickly do not know If any warning lights were on. It seams to now be not not shifting property resulting in a lag in power

NHTSA ODI 11644692

Jun 2, 2018Transmission & drivetrainEngineCrash1 injury

WHILE DRIVING SLOWLY (~10 MPH) SB I PREPARED TO MAKE A RIGHT-TURN (WB), IN THE ONLY LANE THAT TURNS RIGHT. AS I NEARED THE INTERSECTION THE LIGHT TURNED GREEN, ENABLING ME AND THE (1) LANE ON MY LEFT TO GO (IT GOES SB). NO CAR WAS AHEAD OF ME (TO TURN). THE STREET I WAS TURNING ONTO HAD ONE (WB) LANE, AND TWO LANES (STOPPED), THAT GO EB. NOTE: (MAY BE RELEVANT), I FREQUENTLY DOWN-SHIFT (AUTOMATIC) TRANSMISSIONS (USING THE "PADDLES" OR "BUTTONS", WHATEVER'S ON THE SHIFT COLUMN), ON ALL AUTOMATIC TRANS. CARS I DRIVE, WHEN I SLOW DOWN. I DO THIS TO SAVE WEAR & TEAR ON MY BRAKES, WHEN APPROACHING STOP-SIGNS OR RED-LIGHTS. I DOWN SHIFT GRADUALLY, JUST LIKE ON A MANUAL TRANS. WHEN IT'S TIME TO GO, I HOLD THE PADDLE IN THE "UP-SHIFT" MODE, UNTIL I SEE "DRIVE" ON THE TRANS. INDICATOR. IN THIS ACCIDENT, AS THE LIGHT TURNED GREEN (THE TRANS. WAS IN A LOW GEAR), I HELD THE PADDLE IN "UP-SHIFT" MODE (NOTE: I MAY HAVE CLICKED THE PADDLE 1 GEAR UP BEFORE IT WENT TO "DRIVE", I DON'T REMEMBER), AND STARTED THE TURN, BARELY PRESSING THE ACCELERATOR. WHEN I WAS APPR. HALFWAY (45 DEGREES) INTO THE TURN (POINTED SWB AT THE OPPOSITE TWO LANES), I FELT THE ENGINE "STAGGER" (LIKE IF YOU ACCIDENTALLY SHIFT A MANUAL TRANS. INTO A HIGH GEAR BUT YOU MEANT A LOW GEAR), AND IN A FRACTION OF A SECOND-THE CAR ROCKETED AHEAD (I HEARD RPMS) SLAMMING ME INTO THE WB CAR(S) SO FAST, I DIDN'T EVEN MAKE 90 DEGREES, NOR COULD I BRAKE (I TRIED). THE 1ST CAR IMPACTED WENT BACKWARD (AND TO THE RIGHT) HITTING THE CAR BEHIND, AND HIT THE CAR IN THE RIGHT LANE. NOTE: 1. JEEP WAS TOTALED. 2. THIS ACCIDENT WAS IN DRY WEATHER, MID-MORNING @ INTERSECTION I DRIVE NEARLY EVERY DAY. 3.THE AIRBAG FAILED & I WAS BRIEFLY KNOCKED-OUT W/SOME INJURIES. 4. THIS IS NOT: " I HIT THE GAS BUT MEANT THE BRAKE" CASE, I WENT FROM SLOW TO ROCKET-SHIP. 5. I'VE BEEN DRIVING > 40 YEARS W/O ACCIDENT. 5. I'M A PILOT W/GOOD REFLEXES. *TT *TR

NHTSA ODI 11099358

Working with the data? Download all 455 complaints as CSV · fetched from NHTSA July 24, 2026

How to use these: a complaint is one owner’s report, filed voluntarily and published unverified. Patterns matter more than any single story. If several owners describe the same failure at similar mileage, put that system at the top of your pre-purchase inspection list. Back to the full 2016 Jeep Patriot verdict →