Home · 2026 Jeep Cherokee · Complaints

What 3 owners told NHTSA about the 2026 Jeep Cherokee

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 (3)Engine (1)Fuel system (1)Transmission & drivetrain (1)

Newest first · 3 complaints

Jun 6, 2026

Intermittent grinding noise that lasts from 1 to 20 seconds that I believe is related to Traction Control / ASC which is concerning.It happens more frequently when turning the traction /asc button on & off. I have taken it to the jeep dealer & showed them a video of it happening but they said they could recreate the noise. It happens to me multiple times EVERY day. I wanted to send you a video of it happening that I have of it on my IPhone but don’t seem to be able to do it online. I can send by email or phone message if you would like to see it.

NHTSA ODI 11742476

May 30, 2026Transmission & drivetrainEngine

I had pulled the vehicle into my garage. When I tried to shut the car off the car it would not shut off. In fact many components of the car seem to be completely out of sync. The car would not go into any gear. I could not shut the car off. No matter what I did the car just kept running. I finally more or less gave up and just let it keep running for a couple of hours. When I went back into the garage to check what was happening the car had finally stopped running. At that point I had call a towing service and arranged to have the vehicle taken to Autonation Jeep Chrysler the next morning where I had purchased the vehicle. This was a newly purchased vehicle and only had a total of 78 miles on it. Surprisingly the next morning I went into the garage to check on what was happening with the vehicle and to my surprise the vehicle had stopped running. I then disconnected The 12 Volt battery and left it disconnected for an hour or two. After this time I reconnected the battery. I again attempted to start the vehicle and surprisingly the vehicle started up and all functions in the car seem to be performing normally. At this point I drove the car about a mile to the Autonation Jeep Chrysler dealership and had conversation with service technician. Surprisingly he told me that Jeep has had this problem with other vehicles and the solution is to disconnect the 12 Volt battery for 20 or 30 minutes and then reconnect the battery. At that point the car seems to reset itself and it will run normally. End This car of mine only had 78 miles on it This is totally unacceptable. Furthermore this seems to be a problem with other Jeep vehicles. It is my opinion that Jeep Needs to correct this problem so I will not be stuck with a car that's running in my garage and I can't shut it off. All in all it seems to me this is a software problem that needs to be reworked and corrected.

NHTSA ODI 11741012

May 1, 2026Fuel system

Car gave message stating only 30 miles (or maybe 40?) before empty, but then went empty in only approximately 5 miles. Message before it completely died stated to pull over but car died before that point. After putting in about 1/2 gallon, car took repeated (7 or 8) start attempts before gas got to injectors to start. When filled up, gas receipt showed only 12 gallons could be put in before gas pump shut off. I believe the incorrect mileage warning, and abrupt stop, misleads the driver and may cause an accident.

NHTSA ODI 11735087

Working with the data? Download all 3 complaints as CSV · fetched from NHTSA July 8, 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 2026 Jeep Cherokee verdict →