Model years Jeep Grand Cherokee
2012 Jeep Grand Cherokee
Complaints about this year name electrical system far more often than the other years of this generation — 26% of them, about 24× the usual rate of 1.1%.
Generation 2 of the Jeep Grand Cherokee, which began in 2011 and ran to 2021. 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 | 1,638 |
|---|---|
| Median for this model | 399 |
| Involving a crash | 46 |
| Involving a fire | 104 |
| Recalls | 11 |
| NHTSA crash rating | 4/5 |
| EPA combined | 16 mpg |
What the complaints were about
- electrical — 30.6% of this year's complaints, against 9.5% across the other years of this generation (3.2×). Owners wrote it as: electrical, electrical system, numbers, campaign numbers.
- amount time — 28.4% of this year's complaints, against 10.7% across the other years of this generation (2.7×). Owners wrote it as: amount time, manufacturer made, time recall, aware issue.
- pump — 14.2% of this year's complaints, against 5.5% across the other years of this generation (2.6×). Owners wrote it as: pump, fuel pump, relay, pump relay.
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.
Also unusual this year
- alternator — 14% of complaints, 16× usual
- amount time — 18% of complaints, 4× usual
- time recall — 16% of complaints, 3× usual
What owners wrote
WHILE DRIVING, THE 180 AMP ALTERNATOR FAILED AND CAUSED THE VEHICLE TO STALL. THE VEHICLE WAS TOWED TO A DEALER WHERE IT WAS DETERMINED THAT THE VIN WAS EXCLUDED FROM NHTSA CAMPAIGN NUMBER: 14V634000 (ELECTRICAL SYSTEM). THE VEHICLE WAS REPAIRED. THE [VIN] WAS…
THE ALTERNATOR FAILED. A LOCAL MECHANIC CONFIRMED THE FAILURE. THE [VIN] WAS NOT NOTIFIED. THE CONTACT WAS INFORMED THAT THE VEHICLE WAS NOT INCLUDED IN NHTSA CAMPAIGN NUMBER: 14V634000 (ELECTRICAL SYSTEM). THE CONTACT STATED THAT THE VEHICLE EXPERIENCED THE S…
Verbatim from NHTSA complaint filings, with identifying details removed.
Recalls for this year
- 19V813000 ELECTRICAL SYSTEM
- 17V435000 ELECTRICAL SYSTEM Fixed free of charge.
- 17E061000 ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING Fixed free of charge.
- 17V572000 SERVICE BRAKES Fixed free of charge.
- 15V879000 ELECTRICAL SYSTEM Fixed free of charge.
- 14V154000 SERVICE BRAKES Fixed free of charge.
- 14V391000 ELECTRICAL SYSTEM Fixed free of charge.
- 15V115000 ELECTRICAL SYSTEM
Showing 8 of 11. The rest are on NHTSA's site.
How this was worked out
Every year of the Jeep Grand 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 2012 Jeep Grand Cherokee? What happened to yours?
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