2011 Jeep Compass
This year drew an ordinary 187 complaints for a Jeep Compass — the model's median is 137. What they were about is the unusual part: 25.1% of them mention subframe, against 9.2% across the other years of this generation.
Generation 1 of the Jeep Compass, which began in 2007 and ran to 2016. 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 | 187 |
|---|---|
| Median for this model | 137 |
| Involving a crash | 7 |
| Involving a fire | 2 |
| Recalls | 3 |
| EPA combined | 24 mpg |
What the complaints were about
- subframe — 25.1% of this year's complaints, against 9.2% across the other years of this generation (2.7×). Owners wrote it as: subframe, rusted, corrosion, rotted.
- transmission — 19.3% of this year's complaints, against 6.9% across the other years of this generation (2.8×).
- old — 9.6% of this year's complaints, against 3.5% across the other years of this generation (2.7×). Owners wrote it as: old, car only, out warranty, other parts.
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
2011 JEEP COMPASS 4WD. HAD SHAKING IN STEERING WHEEL AND A WHEEL WOBBLE. EVEN AT DRIVING 40MPH OR LOWER. MECHANIC SAID THE CRADLE/CROSSMEMBER WAS RUSTED OUT. AT 8 YEARS OLD, THE ENGINE CRADLE SHOULD NOT BE RUSTED OUT. HUGE SAFETY HAZARD.
The rear subframe and suspension are rusted. I have been hearing a rattling sound for the past couple of weeks, especially when driving over bumps. When I took the car to my mechanic, he detected a cracking in the rear subframe/suspension due to the rust. If t…
Verbatim from NHTSA complaint filings, with identifying details removed.
Recalls for this year
- 16V668000 SEAT BELTS Fixed free of charge.
- 11V315000 STEERING Fixed free of charge.
- 13V233000 AIR BAGS Fixed free of charge.
How this was worked out
Every year of the Jeep Compass 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 2011 Jeep Compass? What happened to yours?
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