What 1,793 owners told NHTSA about the 2018 Jeep Wrangler 4-door 4xe

My car steering started shaking and rattling when I would accelerate above 30 mph. I felt like I was losing control of my car. Upon taking it to a jeep dealership for inspection, they said that my steering dampener needs to be replaced. There’s also a nationwide shortage of this part and so the waiting list could take over two months plus time to get the replaced part. It’s like several jeeps are experiencing this and it’s unsafe conditions to drive under there needs to be a recall.

NHTSA ODI 11500495

Steering Dampening system keeps failing causing the known effect called the "Death Wobble" as the Jeep Wrangler will violently shake at certain speeds or after hitting a bump int he road. The dealer has fixed the problem Twice and now the vehicle is back in the dealer with being fixed for the third time. The dealer is telling us that it is out of the warranty period and will cost $3,200 to repair. This is unacceptable for jeep to have failed the first 2 times to repair the issue. This is a big safety issue as when we are driving down a highway the jeep will start to violently shake and we have to slow down to under 40 mph to gain control which is a major hazard to other driver safety as well as our own safety. The steering damper was replaced at 5,000 miles and then again at 18,000 miles. The car currently has 30,300 miles on it.

NHTSA ODI 11498545

when going over rough road or bumps, potholes etc there is a loud noise under the front of the Jeep. Steering is effect at times by shaking. Upon inspection by mechanic was told the tie rods were the culprit and would need to be replaced. Was also told that these parts are not lasting long on the newer Jeeps. 2018 Jeep Wrangler JK Sport with 36000 miles. Was told by mechanic that it will take 1.5 - 2 months to get parts due to there already being over 2300 orders for the parts.

NHTSA ODI 11498526

I took my jeep in to have the oil changed, and the tires rotated. When I left the dealership and got on the highway going around 70 mph, the jeep begin to shake. I had to pull over to the side of the road. I’m being told it is the steering damper. According to some research I’ve done online, there was a period of time. The dampers were being replaced for free if you had an issue. I am having an issue now. What do I do? V41?

NHTSA ODI 11497635

I own a 2018 Jeep Wrangler JL (4-Door) that I bought new. It only has 7,522 miles on it and has never been off-road. On 12/3/22, I was driving on the interstate at the speed of 70 mph when my jeep began shaking vigorously and the steering became almost uncontrollable. I had to take evasive action, move over to the far right lane and slow my speed rapidly. Once my speed was under 30 mph, my jeep began driving normally again. This occurred when I drove over the beginning of a small bridge where there was a minimum change of the driving surface. As I continued driving on the interstate, the same action occurred when I drove over the next change in the surface road. This time I was only traveling at 50 mph and had to slow down to 20 mph to get the vigorous shaking to stop. I took it to my local Jeep Dealership today (12/5/22). After they inspected my jeep, I was advised that the steering damper was weak and outdated. I was also advised that they had already replaced the steering damper once due to the "customer satisfaction note" issued by FCA. The dealership then stated that FCA has revised the steering damper since the one that was replaced under the note but that I would have to pay for this repair because FCA hasn't issued a recall or safety notice regarding this known issue. At the low miles of 7,522 on a Jeep Wrangler that I bought brand new, I am going to have to pay for a repair to a known safety issue. Even after replacing the steering damper that they knew was defective once, I am going to have to pay for a 3rd steering damper that has been revised because the 2nd one put on by FCA was defective. This is a serious safety issue and is known by FCA but they are refusing to admit the issue and are making their customers pay for their defects. I will include a copy of my service report from the Jeep Dealership.

NHTSA ODI 11496167

I had experienced the "death wobble" when I first bought my 2018 Jeep Wrangler JL in 2018. A recall repair was done replacing the dampener. Here we are in 2022 and I am beginning to experience the death wobble again. The dealership says the dampener is bad and Chrysler will not replace it. I don't think the "dampener" is the issue. It will be at my expense to fix.

NHTSA ODI 11495505

Vehicle goes into death wobble on highway, you must slow down below 30 miles an hour to get to stop. Very dangerous on busy interstate. Vehicle had less than 40,000 miles, took it back to Jeep dealer where they inspected it and said they now have upgraded parts, I felt if they new they had a problem and had re-engineered parts for a fix the fix should have been on them. Cost for parts and labor exceeded $1200.00

NHTSA ODI 11494137

Power steering and digital speedometer cut out without notice. Seems to be an electrical issue as it will throw a handful of lights at once and sometimes read "no bus". Has happened numerous times. Dealership replaced the aux battery. Did not resolve. Private dealerships are afraid to even touch it. Dealership I purchased it from "can't look at it until March" (5 months from now). There are reports of this all over forums and YouTube. Reached out to Chrysler directly and they basically just said "sorry your warranty is up".

NHTSA ODI 11492854

When driving steering stops working transmission won’t shift wipers come on speedometer stops working radio gets loud engine cooling fan turns on fast and loud warning lights come on in dash abs, trac control, air bag, and service shifter. Have to restart vehicle and tap on small electrical connector behind the glove box to return to normal. Sometimes the vehicle won’t start or shift out of park. Problem is ongoing happens when idling sitting still or driving down the road

NHTSA ODI 11492786

Severe "Death Wobble" occurred on the highway at 70 mph after running over a bump in the road (bridge seam), let off the accelerator and the wobble increased. I experience "Death Wobble" routinely with this vehicle but, never this bad. Stock, no lift or modifications, 45K miles, properly inflated newer tires and steering damper replaced. Vehicle steering feels consistently unstable and cannot drive more than 65 mph.

NHTSA ODI 11492243

While driving the 2018 Jeep Wrangler JL, the vehicle began to shake violently along with the steering wheel. I had to pull over and slow to a stop to make it stop. I was running at a speed of about 70mph.

NHTSA ODI 11491337

The contact owns a 2018 Jeep Wrangler. The contact stated while driving 45 MPH and turning the steering wheel in either direction, the vehicle failed to respond. The contact stated no warning light was illuminated. The contact continued driving to his destination. The contact took the vehicle to the local dealer, where it was diagnosed with needing the steering gearbox to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The contact called a second local dealer: Gupton Motors, Inc (3450 Tom Austin Hwy, Springfield, TN 37172:(615) 380-7226), and made an appointment to service the vehicle. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer had been informed of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 24,409.

NHTSA ODI 11490835

This started out intermittently after hitting a bump in the road, but now the vehicle shakes uncontrollably at 50 mph and above. The vehicle feels like it is falling apart. I need to put my hazzards on and move slowly to the side of the road and come to a stop to get the shaking to stop. I have several videos of the condition, but they are too large to upload (11MB and 33MB). I am taking my vehicle to the dealership in hopes they can fix this. There is an open class action lawsuit with Jeep over a similar issue. I also have already had the steering stabilizer recall performed.

NHTSA ODI 11490600

In cold weather the Jeep is very hard to steer at highway speeds. While driving at highway speeds below 40 F and coming around a curve the steering feels like its locked up (will not turn). It has to be forced to get over the locked up spot (hump). This happens a few times until the engine and system warms up, then works fine. This seems to be a well known issue on the Jeep JL Wrangler forums.

NHTSA ODI 11489923

Vehicle violently shakes after hitting a bump or other imperfection on the freeway.

NHTSA ODI 11488640

I purchased my 2018 Jeep wrangler and has less than 13k miles. I been having alot of front shaking (death wobble) since purchasing the vehicle. I have heard of complaints about the front end shaking violently and have had this problem a few times. Especialy at highway speeds if I hit a pothole as such. I can get it to stop if i am able to slow down and apply light brake pressure. I have checked all the steering for tight ess and even had the track bar replaced (as per other owners). But still have the problem occasionally. As for alignment, the jeep runs really well and straight without problems. I hear theres possible problems with the aluminum steeringg box (which I do have) vs. the steel steering box (I hear has a recall??). Is there any other issues as this is really scarry. Other than the replacement track bar everything is stock on this vehicle. Behicle was purchased from Cascade Auto in Wenatchee Washington 22 July 2022 with 10,893 miles.

NHTSA ODI 11488553

This Jeep has the notorious “Death Wobble”. It has been inspected numerous times, there was a recall on a part ~May be a sway bar or a stabilizer bar etc- that did absolutely nothing to fix it. I’ve had the entire suspension replaced and it still does it constantly when driving over bumps in the road -specifically when the front right tire goes over a bump, around the 30+ mph. The entire front end of the Jeep jumps all over the road, the steering wheel shakes violently back and forth and you lose control of the vehicle. It’s terrifying when it happens, especially on the freeway. My two teenagers have both experienced this while driving and they were terrified trying to control it, had no idea what to do and almost lost control of the car because of how violently this one shakes. They both are anxious about driving the vehicle all together. I purchased this new and it started right away. Took it to the dealer and they new exactly what I was talking about but had no idea how to fix it. There is no warning, it’s just happens suddenly amen going over a bump in the road. It’s SO SCARY!

NHTSA ODI 11488493

Going over a bridge at 55mph my vehicle went into a vigorous shaking in the front end making it uncontrollable to steer. I had to decrease speed right away to avoid going into another vehicle or the side of the bridge. Once, on the other side, I pulled over to come to a complete stop and was able to continue to my destination about 1-2 miles away at reduced speed. This is commonly known as “The Death Wobble” at the dealerships and Jeep community. It was taken in that day and returned the next day as they replaced the Steering Damper, which I’ve been told will not fix this problem. We will just have to see what happens next.

NHTSA ODI 11488098

All warning lights on the dash lit up. All gauges (tach, speed, fuel) fell to zero while I was traveling at 55 mph. Engine stayed running. Power steering failed but would engage intermittently causing over steering when it caught. Found a safe place to get off the road and turned vehicle off for 1/2 hour. The vehicle ran fine afterward. Limped it to the dealer a day later and they diagnosed it as a "star connector" problem. They said they've seen it before. There's much discussion on the internet about it occurring with the 2018 Wranglers. Jeep said that the replacement connector is just the same as the one which failed so this could happen again if the connector is not improved. Loss of steering is life threatening especially when it goes on and off intermittently.

NHTSA ODI 11486101

1. On numerous occasions my Jeep has suffered an electrical issue that renders the power steering, power brakes and other components in-operable. My dash goes blank, then restarts showing just about every system feature as needing serviced. The dealer has tried twice to fix it stating that a Star Connector has overheated and is the cause for the problem. This is a huge safety issue and I no longer feel I can trust it to not happen again. 2. The vehicle is impossible to drive without the power steering and brakes. The wipers stick on along with the electronic radiator fan. 3. Yes, The dealer has reproduced this and stated so on the repair invoice. Stating multiple codes in multiple modules for loss communication. 4. No, the vehicle or component has not been inspected by anyone other than the dealer. 5. No warning whatsoever! It has now happened for a fourth time and is back at the dealer.

NHTSA ODI 11485414

The dash board lights all came on, The steering wheel lost power, the ABS light came on, with check shifter, could not control Jeep.

NHTSA ODI 11484530

Jeep JL shows various warnings about engine revs and sometimes loss of power steering while driving at all speeds. Sometimes the Jeep will not get out of park and this issue is intermittent. Have taken it to the dealership and they cannot find anything wrong. From reading forums it would appear there is a bad wiring harness that causes this but it is terrifying when it can happen randomly and then just goes away on its own like nothing happened. I have various videos of this happening while parked. This issue seems to affect many of the JLs and rubicons. It has been happening for about 3 weeks now. Jeep does not admit or see the issue and the error codes thrown would indicate literally everything is wrong with the jeep. Can provide videos of this parked but it can and does happen randomly while driving.

NHTSA ODI 11482103

April 2022 - Driving down US 30 in Ohio had the electronic stability control warning light come on. Took to dealership and was advised that no codes were stored therefore no work could be done on the Jeep. Next time the ESC warning came on it also gave service gear shifter, stop/start not available along with loss of traction control. Was told it was the wiring harness getting moisture and had been replaced. Drove Jeep maybe 100 miles and same codes came on with loss of power steering at a speed of 70 mph on I-75. This time Jeep was in the shop for 45 days with no luck of pinpointing the issue. Was told by the dealership to continue to drive the Jeep until the warning lights trigger more often. Had to put Jeep In the ditch due to losing power steering. Now Jeep is not wanting to turn over and when it does start not able to get the Jeep to go into ANY gear. I can not believe I traded in my husband's Hyundai in for this paperweight as I do not feel safe driving it.

NHTSA ODI 11481026

Driving at 60 mph, the steering wheel locked up and could not turn left or right. The road had a significant curve and it forced me to merge on the lane as I couldn't steer into the curve. No service lights came on and this is a very serious safety issue. Luckily no other vehicles were near me while this occurred.

NHTSA ODI 11479741

While driving at 30 mph, on occasion the vehicle would start to shake and the only resolution is to stop the vehicle, and then restart. On the freeway, I nearly lost control of the vehicle during one of these incidents. I had to stop the vehicle on the freeway and a lane change was not viable. I was nearly rear ended, so there were multiple safety issues at play. I took the vehicle to the jeeo dealer where I was informed of a 189 fee to diagnose the problem. I agreed to this fee, repeating to the service advisor mutiple times it was a safety issue and must be repaired. I was told that the steering dampener had a dent, and the steering dampener needed to be replaced every 30k miles. This is NOT listed in the maintenance schedule, nor is there any public statement from Jeep that this part can become defective as a result of early wear out. My vehicle is driven exclusively on city streets and has less than 20K miles. An internet search turns up the words “Jeeo Shake of DEATH” to describe this apparently well known problem.

NHTSA ODI 11479144