2018 Jeep Cherokee
Problems, recalls and owner-reported issues
Power train is the leading concern among 686 owner complaints filed for this model year. This is the 8th highest complaint count among 12 Cherokee model years with reports.
Of the 2018 reports, 11 involved a crash and 5 involved a fire. 7 people were injured.
What owners report most often
Recalls and investigations
Power trainApr 29, 2025
Chrysler (FCA US, LLC) is recalling certain 2017-2019 Jeep Cherokee vehicles. The power transfer unit (PTU) may become damaged and disengage the transmission and differential, resulting in a loss of drive power and/or loss of park function.
A loss of drive power can increase the risk of a crash. A loss of park function can cause an unintended vehicle rollaway, which can increase the risk of a crash or injury.
Dealers will update the drivetrain control module and PTU software and replace the PTU, as necessary free of charge. Owner notification letters were mailed beginning February 19, 2026. Owners may contact FCA customer service at 1-800-853-1403. FCA's number for this recall is 01C.
Campaign 25V011000 on NHTSA.gov
Electrical system, wiring, front underhoodAug 9, 2018
Chrysler (FCA US LLC) is recalling certain 2018 Jeep Renegade, Compass and Grand Cherokee, RAM 1500 and Promaster, Fiat 500x, Dodge Journey, Challenger, Charger and Durango and Chrysler 300x vehicles, 2017-2018 Jeep Wrangler, Dodge Grand Caravan and Chrysler Town and Country vehicles and 2018-2019 Jeep Cherokee and 2018 Chrysler Pacifica and Pacifica Hybrid vehicles. The powertrain control module may be equipped with a voltage regulator chip in the circuit board that may fail, causing a stall or a no start condition.
A vehicle stall can increase the risk of a crash.
Chrysler will notify owners, and dealers will replace the powertrain control module, free of charge. The recall began October 2, 2018. Owners may contact Chrysler customer service at 1-800-853-1403. Chrysler's number for this recall is U87.
Campaign 18V524000 on NHTSA.gov
Power train, axle assembly, axle shaftJul 26, 2018
Chrysler (FCA US LLC) is recalling certain 2018 Jeep Cherokee all-wheel-drive vehicles. The bearing cage for the right front halfshaft assembly may not have been properly heat treated, possibly resulting in the bearing cage breaking and a potential halfshaft assembly failure.
If the halfshaft bearing cage breaks, the halfshaft may not be able to transmit engine power, causing a loss of drive or it can allow the vehicle to move while in the "Park" position. Either condition may increase the risk of a crash.
Chrysler will notify owners, and dealers will replace the front right halfshaft assemblies, free of charge. The recall began September 20, 2018. Owners may contact Chrysler customer service at 1-800-853-1403. Chrysler's number for this recall is U78.
Campaign 18V494000 on NHTSA.gov
Electrical system, wiringMay 17, 2018
Chrysler (FCA US LLC) is recalling certain 2014-2018 Dodge Journey, Charger and Durango, RAM 2500, 3500, 3500 Cab Chassis (more than 10,000lb), 4500 Cab Chassis and 5500 Cab Chassis, Jeep Cherokee and Grand Cherokee and Chrysler 300, 2014-2019 RAM 1500, 2015-2018 Dodge Challenger, 2015-2017 Chrysler 200, 2016-2018 RAM 3500 Cab Chassis (less than 10,000 lb), 2017-2018 Chrysler Pacifica and 2018 Jeep Wrangler vehicles. These vehicles are being recalled to address a defect that could prevent the cruise control system from disengaging. If, when using cruise control, there is a short circuit within the vehicle's wiring, the driver may not be able to shut off the cruise control either by depressing the brake pedal or manually turning the system off once it has been engaged, resulting in either the vehicle maintaining its current speed or possibly accelerating.
If the vehicle maintains its speed or accelerates despite attempts to deactivate the cruise control, there would be an increased risk of a crash.
Chrysler will notify owners, and dealers will inspect the software, and perform a software flash on the engine or powertrain control module, free of charge. The recall began June 4, 2018. Owners may contact Chrysler customer service at 1-800-853-1403. Note: Owners are advised to stop using cruise control until the software update has been performed. In the event that cruise control cannot be disengaged while driving, owners should firmly and steadily apply the brakes and shift the transmission to neutral, placing the vehicle in park once it has stopped.
Campaign 18V332000 on NHTSA.gov
Fuel system, gasoline, delivery, hoses, lines/piping, and fittingsMay 1, 2018
Chrysler (FCA US LLC) is recalling certain 2018 Jeep Cherokee vehicles equipped with a 2.4L engine. These vehicles may have been manufactured with a fuel tube that may leak fuel into the engine compartment.
A fuel leak in the presence of the ignition source can increase the risk of a fire.
Chrysler will notify owners, and dealers will inspect the fuel tube, replacing it as necessary, free of charge. The recall began May 24, 2018. Owners may contact Chrysler customer service at 1-800-853-1403. Chrysler's number for this recall is U39.
Campaign 18V282000 on NHTSA.gov
Engine and engine cooling, engineOct 24, 2017
Chrysler (FCA US LLC) is recalling certain 2018 Jeep Cherokee and Compass vehicles equipped with 2.4L engines. The engines may have a cracked oil pump housing that can result in oil pump failure.
If the oil pump fails, the engine will stall, increasing the risk of a crash.
Chrysler will notify owners, and dealers will inspect the oil pump, replacing it as necessary, free of charge. The recall began December 5, 2017. Owners may contact Chrysler customer service at 1-800-853-1403. Chrysler's number for this recall is T65.
Campaign 17V670000 on NHTSA.gov
Equipment, other, labelsAug 31, 2017
Chrysler (FCA US LLC) is recalling certain 2017-2018 Jeep Cherokee vehicles. The tire and rim size information required to be on the Certification label was omitted during manufacturing, which may result in an incorrect tire and rim combination being installed on the vehicle. As such, these vehicles fail to comply with the requirements of Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) number 110, "Tire Selection and Rims."
The missing tire and rim designation information may lead to an incorrect combination being installed on the vehicle, increasing the risk of a crash.
Chrysler will notify owners and will provide a corrected certification label, free of charge. The recall began October 13, 2017. Owners may contact Chrysler customer service at 1-800-853-1403. Chrysler's number for this recall is T53.
Campaign 17V543000 on NHTSA.gov
Representative owner complaints: electrical system
190 reports, newest first. Show all
Electrical system, Air bags, Engine, Feb 14, 2024
This was a jeep sold to me with active recalls
Power train, Electrical system, Feb 1, 2024
Service shifter light comes on intermittently. Have noticed a “catch” that occurs at times when accelerating when the light is on but not every time.
Electrical system, Air bags, Forward collision avoidance, Feb 1, 2024
Last week we noticed steering wheel controls not working, steering wheel heater .. cruise control ,, hands free,controls Today took in to Jeep dealer In superior Wi was told it is the Clock Spring , squib,, said that we have to replace entire unit including new airbag .. as we do not know for sure if until the work done ,air bag would deploy as per dealer ,he isn't 100 percent sure. ,and the entire thing has to be replaced at a hefty cost of 1000.00 as well as safety , being told that other larger trucks and Jeep models have had this as a recall I contacted JEEP and they said nothing they can do ,, but to hang on to receipts in the event of a future recall.. we do not feel that they are treating this as the safety issue that it truly is . This is after we have had rear driver caliper replaced over heating and seizing , at 800.00. also been told this is common for Jeep and another safety issue as well . The dealer said both are recall worthy on this vehicle .this has been all within 50 -60,000 miles.. We feel something needs to happen here before someone gets killed. Thank You
Electrical system, Service brakes, Jan 7, 2024
The trunk has leaks coming in. It happened 1 year ago and it is now happening again. Last year jeep charged me almost 4 thousand dollars to replace the computer system because of a leak coming in and shorting the wires. It took 3 months for them to fix. I now see a similar issue was recalled in a year previous model of my car.
Electrical system, Service brakes, Engine, Jan 4, 2024
Service shifter notification comes on, all lights on shifter light up. I’ve had it “fixed” 2 times under warranty and it continues to do it. Owned since 2017 and this has happened more times than I can remember. Dealership has little answers. Eventually car will begin sputtering, all service lights come on, you lose control of brakes and steering and have to pull over. Turn off, take key out, open door. Let it sit. Turn back on and typically will drive fine until the next time. All supposedly related to service shifter.
Electrical system, Structure, Nov 10, 2023
In the beginning of July, the parking brake engaged on its own and a warning came up on the dash. It took some jockying to get the brake to disengage but it continued to happen. We took it to the dealer where purchased who told us that the parking brake control module was damaged by water and that bedause of this the extended warranty that we purchased for a few thousand dollars would not cover it (even though we were told it covered everything). The dealer wanted $2000 to fix it. I took the Jeep to a qualified mechanic whom I deal with, and he replaced the the control unit. We picked up the car and a week or so later the brake came on again. We took it back to the mechanic who dug deeper and found out that the body of the car was leaking, and water had run down and into the control unit again. It is now November (going on five months!) and we still do not have the car back because he is waiting for the part to come in. I'm a pretty patient person but this is ridiculous. I'm paying for a car that I haven't had for five months and then I'm told this is a common issue with Jeeps and no warranty will cover it. I sincerely beleive this should be arecall issue by Jeep. Especially when they cannot get me a part to fix it for months! Any help you can render is much appreciated. Thanks
Electrical system, Engine, Sep 16, 2023
Engine Failure 3 out of 4 cylinders not working 122,000 miles on car and regular service for oil changes and maintenance
Steering, Electrical system, Visibility/wiper, Sep 11, 2023
Turn into our street, windshield whippers came on. Fuse blown, take out still stay on. Kept changing them, Fuse kept blowning. Replace mod with turn single, wheel part. Pic sent. Worked two weeks, did it again. Now they are saying it's the radio is pulling to much, relay needs to be replace the radio. Which mileage, radio, back up camera, whatever else is connected together causing the problem. This safety problem because back up could hit someone or something, whippers just coming on scared, hurting window, windshield whippers it self if dry out. This should be recall and concern. I don't understand why this not. Jow it's taken so long figure out problems at car place. They took the suv apart still cant figure problem out. Thank you [XXX] INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)
Electrical system, Other or unspecified, Sep 6, 2023
I am getting random "service shifter" fault message displayed. No apparent fault or change when driving. Contacted Jeep dealership and am told this is very common issue with no long term fix. Fix the problem please.
Power train, Electrical system, Other or unspecified, Jul 28, 2023
I believe the shifter bezel is faulty. When pulling out of my drive way backwards a service shifter light came on and caused me to get stuck sideways and having multiple cars nearly tbone be because the hazard lights wouldn’t turn on after. I can’t even drive because of this incident I don’t feel safe in this jeep!!! I called jeep in Elk Grove California and they never heard of it, however I’ve found over 500 issues on Reddit and other forum sites of people having the same issue but more at 16,000 miles! No because I don’t have the money to fix their faulty product. The light “service shifter” appeared right when I put it into drive then everything went to [XXX].
Electrical system, Visibility/wiper, Back over prevention, Jul 17, 2023
the infotainment screen flashes a warning on red screen "911 Car Phone malfunction contact dealer". It has done this intermitently for the past couple of weeks. A few times I've started the vehicle and the screen is black, no back up camera, no a/c, no back up warning tone (I back up the vehicle from parking spot using the mirrors and the screen comes on a few minutes after vehicle is moving). I am concerned because I don't know what else isn't working and if something electrical will fail while driving. A couple of weeks ago I made an appt with the local jeep dealer and today was told I need a new radio at the cost of at least $1250 (the dealer has ordered a new radio could take a couple days to a few weeks he wasn't sure). When researching this problem online I saw numerous compaints similar to mine but I don't know if anyone has reported the issue to the NHTSA because the dealer states its a bad "radio" ...but if the 'radio' controls the backup camera, the climate controls and other functions on the screen it seems like more than just a radio problem to me. The vehicle has 55,000 miles so the screen hasn't been used excessively like a vehicle used for long distance daily commutes.
Electrical system, Jun 27, 2023
While driving I receive warnings I need to service my shifter. Warning stays on instrument panel and disables all other settings and screen. Also all lights light up on shifter unable to see which gear the car is in. THIS IS STILL HAPPENING EVEN AFTER i GET MY OIL CHANGE. AND THEY RESET THE OIL CHANGE.
Electrical system, May 12, 2023
The contact owns a 2018 Jeep Cherokee. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed, the vehicle stalled with several unknown warning lights illuminated. The vehicle was taken to the dealer, and an unknown repair was performed; however, the failure recurred. The vehicle was taken back to the dealer, who informed the contact the vehicle had an electrical failure. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 46,000.
Steering, Suspension, Electrical system, Apr 17, 2023, crash
This vehicle is designed to be a flat tow vehicle for a class a motorhome. No one made me aware of the death wobble and this caused an accident which could have been deadly. We did 13,000 dollars in damages to my motorhome and jeep. After hours of research i found this to be a common problem from Jeep. i contacted the local jeep service department and they were not aware of this. Come to find out there is a jeep part to correct the problem, at a cost of $286.39 and a labor charge of $460.00 to install. If jeep is aware of this problem, why are they not advising the public to not flat tow this jeep until the necessary parts are installed. There is nothing in the manuals regarding this problem!
Electrical system, Mar 29, 2023
The system that failed was the fuse panel that controls the engine and the steering of the car. How this put my safety at risk was I lost all control over the car I could not steer or get the car to turn back on for about 30 minutes. The problem has been reproduced by the dealer. The vehicle has been inspected by the manufacturer. There we no issues prior to the failure.
Electrical system, Engine, Mar 17, 2023
The contact owns a 2018 Jeep Cherokee. The contact stated while driving at approximately 30 MPH, the vehicle stalled and stopped in the middle of the road. The contact stated the instrument panel had begun to flicker on and off. The contact was able to restart the vehicle however, there was vibration, and the engine was running very rough. The contact had taken the vehicle to an independent mechanic, where it was diagnosed and determined that the Electronic Control Module and the throttle body and O2 sensor needed to be replaced. The vehicle had been repaired; however, the failure reoccurred. The manufacturer had not been informed of the failure. The failure mileage was unknown.
Power train, Electrical system, Engine, Feb 23, 2023
The service shifter light keeps coming on. Sometimes when stopped in traffic the vehicle’s transmission will shift from drive, to some unknown position, then the engine will stall out when attempting to go forward with traffic. The car will then not start and the shifter will not allow any gear shifting to be done. Can not be put into neutral in order to be push or easily towed. This has happened 4 time within the past 18 months. Each time the dealership acts surprised and responds that they have never heard of a service shifter issue before. They tried a software update, which didn’t help. They also stated that they could replace several parts that added up to over $2000. Stated it wasn’t their problem since it is out of warranty. Yes, it is available for inspection. Always being out in risk at busy intersections due to a potential of being hit in the rear end of the car because people expect your car to be moving. Have had several cars swerve at the last minute barely missing me. And having to exit the vehicle is even more dangerous. Yes, the dealer has seen the issue along with an independent repair shop. Service shifter message is on most of the time but no one really knows how to fix it.
Power train, Electrical system, Other or unspecified, Jan 13, 2023
Was driving and "Service 4wd" came on, no change in the driving, then went off and comes back. Now I'm getting "Service shifter" no change in the driving but all the lights on the shifter (P, R, N, D, +/-) are all red and display won't move from Service shifter.
Electrical system, Vehicle speed control, Dec 20, 2022
I believe TSB 08-054-18 does not take seriously enough the danger of an automatic car shutting off mid drive. Only by luck did I avoid being hit on a small road. This has happened pretty much every year of owning the car but I thought it was a fuel/oil issue related to weather until the shifter messages popped up this year.
Electrical system, Other or unspecified, Dec 13, 2022
As I am driving the service shifter notification comes on and all my shifter lights come one and I can’t see the dash board. I have to pull over and turn the engine off to cut it back on. This is an ongoing issue Jeep says they didn’t find anything or I just need my oil changed.
Electrical system, Nov 25, 2022
The contact owns a 2018 Jeep Cherokee. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed, the vehicle stalled. The contact pulled over and waited to restart the vehicle. Additionally, the vehicle made abnormal sounds while restarting. The vehicle was taken to the dealer; however, the dealer was unable to duplicate the failure. There were no error codes retrieved. The dealer replaced the spark plugs and alternator; however, the failure recurred. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The contact related the failure to NHTSA Campaign Number: 18V524000 (Electrical System) however, the VIN was not included in the recall. The failure mileage was approximately 110,000.
Electrical system, Engine, Fuel/propulsion system, Nov 2, 2022
My car keeps stopping in the middle of me driving. I've had the car about a year and a half. Today the electric throttle light is flashing and car did not want to go in the middle of a double intersection and highway. Yesterday it read oil pressure.
Electrical system, Engine, Fuel/propulsion system, Oct 20, 2022
Within the last 6 months this vehicle has left me stranded at least 5 times. The first time it overheated because the heating coil is so close to another line that is created a hole that caused the vehicle to overheat. The second time was an ignition coil. The third time was because it was time for an oil change which was not the case because it wasn't even time for an oil change. The other times were (battery) related but yet with the battery being replaced 200 bucks later I am left stranded on the road in the middle of traffic without any indication that it was going to cutoff. I fear taking it on the interstate. Within the last 24 hours I have been left stranded after having the dealership again yesterday tell me I need a new battery which I replaced but yet broke down again this morning. The vehicle will start but it seems like now 2-3 minutes it cuts off while driving and has to be jumped by another vehicle. This has to be an electrical problem...the lights don't dim; everything stays on for a bit once I take the keys out, but yet I am being told my VIN has no recalls. Once again there is no lights or anything that appear on the dash letting me know where is an issue.
Power train, Electrical system, Sep 21, 2022
Service shifter light randomly comes on; vehicle has stalled several times. Sometimes hesitates when pushing gas to accelerate.
Electrical system, Other or unspecified, Sep 15, 2022
All LEDs on shifter light up and and "Service Shifter" appears on dashboard screen. This happens every few hundred mile and could result on transmission locking out. Apparently this dangerous and is a very common problem that should be a factory recall.