2021 Jeep Cherokee
This year drew an ordinary 151 complaints for a Jeep Cherokee — the model's median is 1,325. What they were about is the unusual part: 33.8% of them mention ptu, against 11.8% across the model's other years.
Generation 1 of the Jeep Cherokee, which began in 2014. Everything below compares this year against the others in that generation, not against a different car wearing the same name.
NHTSA opened a defect investigation into this model year.
| Complaints filed | 151 |
|---|---|
| Median for this model | 1,325 |
| Involving a crash | 10 |
| Involving a fire | 4 |
| Recalls | 4 |
| NHTSA crash rating | 4/5 |
| EPA combined | 23 mpg |
What the complaints were about
- ptu — 33.8% of this year's complaints, against 11.8% across the model's other years (2.9×).
- ptu failure — 11.3% of this year's complaints, against 3.3% across the model's other years (3.4×). Owners wrote it as: ptu failure, abruptly, 4x4, serious injury.
- resulted — 9.9% of this year's complaints, against 3.6% across the model's other years (2.7×). Owners wrote it as: resulted, chest, january, estimated.
Words owners used for the same problem are counted together, so a fault written four different ways is measured once. Grouped by which complaints they appear in, not by a list anyone wrote in advance.
What owners wrote
Another driver ran a red light and I t-boned him. All of his air bags went off, none of mine deployed. Hit the steering wheel hard with chest and arms, hit lower dash hard with knees and feet. Resulted in concussion and a bunch of bruising and strains.
While driving at an undisclosed speed, the vehicle abruptly lost automotive power, and the vehicle coasted to the side of the roadway. The contact stated the power transfer unit had failed, causing the transmission to become inoperable. The vehicle was towed t…
Verbatim from NHTSA complaint filings, with identifying details removed.
Recalls for this year
- 21V310000 POWER TRAIN Fixed free of charge.
- 20V657000 SUSPENSION Fixed free of charge.
- 24V516000 AIR BAGS Fixed free of charge.
- 26V290000 POWER TRAIN
How this was worked out
Every year of the Jeep Cherokee was compared against its own history rather than against other cars, which removes popularity and age from the answer — a common car draws more complaints at equal reliability, and an older one has had longer to accumulate them. A year is flagged when it drew at least 2.5× this model's median and at least 50 complaints.
This is a fault record, not a review. Nobody files a federal complaint to say the car was fine, so it shows what tends to go wrong — not whether owners liked it, and not whether it is a good car.
Source: NHTSA complaints, recalls and investigations, retrieved . Look this vehicle up directly on NHTSA's site to check anything here.
Own a 2021 Jeep Cherokee? What happened to yours?
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