2014 Jeep Compass
This year drew an ordinary 306 complaints for a Jeep Compass — the model's median is 137. What they were about is the unusual part: 17% of them mention seat, against 5.8% 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 | 306 |
|---|---|
| Median for this model | 137 |
| Involving a crash | 20 |
| Involving a fire | 7 |
| Recalls | 2 |
| NHTSA crash rating | 4/5 |
| EPA combined | 24 mpg |
What the complaints were about
- seat — 17% of this year's complaints, against 5.8% across the other years of this generation (2.9×).
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
THE DRIVER SIDE SEAT PANEL KEEP BREAKING OFF. THIS MAKES THE SEAT VERY UNCOMFORTABLE TO DRIVE. IT HAPPENED WHILE I WAS DRIVING. I HAVE HAD THE PIECE REPLACED ONCE AND IT BROKE NOT TOO LONG AFTER THAT.
THE ACTIVE HEADREST ON THE DRIVER'S SEAT DEPLOYED WHILE THE CAR WAS PARKED AND OFF - THE PLASTIC CLIPS INTENDED TO HOLD IT IN PLACE IN RESTING POSITION SNAPPED AND THE HEADREST IS UNABLE TO BE RESET. NO ONE WAS IN THE CAR AT THE TIME.
Verbatim from NHTSA complaint filings, with identifying details removed.
Recalls for this year
- 16V668000 SEAT BELTS Fixed free of charge.
- 13V552000 ENGINE 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 2014 Jeep Compass? What happened to yours?
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