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
686 reports, newest first.
Other or unspecified, Jan 2, 2021
AT 33050 SERVICE SHIFTER WARNING CAME UP ALL LIGHS ON THE SHIFTER WERE ON. TURNED CAR OFF SAT A MOMENT AND THE SERVICE SHIFTER WARNING WAS GONE. WE WERE ON A CITY STREET PUT THE JEEP IN REVERSE WHEN THIS HAPPENED VEHICLE WAS STATIONARY BEING PUT INT REVERSE
Power train, Electrical system, Engine, Jan 2, 2021
AFTER OWNING MY BRAND NEW 2018 JEEP CHEROKEE FOR A FEW MONTHS, I TURNED ON MY VEHICLE AND THE SERVICE SHIFTER WARNING CAME ON IN MY DASH AND ALL THE LIGHTS ON MY SHIFTER LIT UP. I CALL THE DEALERSHIP AND THEY TOLD ME TO BRING IT IN, SO I TOOK IT AND WHEN I TURNED THE CAR OFF, THE MESSAGE NO LONGER APPEARED. THE DEALERSHIP TOOK THE VEHICLE FOR DIAGNOSTIC TESTING AND IT SAID IT CAME BACK FINE. UPON GETTING MY CAR BACK, IT WAS RANDOMLY SHOWING THE SERVICE SHIFTER MESSAGE AGAIN SO I TOOK IT BACK TO THE DEALERSHIP TWO MORE TIMES FOR THE SAME ISSUE AND THEY STATED THAT THEY COULDN'T DUPLICATE THE ISSUE AND SO NOTHING WAS FIXED. I HAVE NOW OWNED THE VEHICLE FOR 3 YEARS AND THEY REFUSE TO FIX THE STILL APPEARING ISSUE. NO CHECK ENGINE LIGHT APPEARS BUT I FEAR THAT WHATEVER IS CAUSING THE WARNING TO APPEAR MAY CAUSE ISSUES. I HAVE READ THAT MANY MANY OTHERS HAVE HAD THE SAME ISSUE AND THE DEALERSHIP WOULDN'T DO ANYTHING. ALL THREE TIMES I TOOK MY VEHICLE IN, IT WAS UNDER WARRANTY AND THEY WOULDN'T DO ANYTHING.
Steering, Other or unspecified, Dec 31, 2020
PURCHASED MY 2018 CHEROKEE IN FEB 2018 AND IN OCTOBER 2019 HAD VIBRATION IN STEERING WHEEL. DEALER SAID I HAD 4 WARPPED ROTORS THAT NEEDED TO BE REPLACED AT MY EXPENSE. IT SEEMED ODD AT ONLY 18 MONTHS OF NORMAL DRIVING, MOSTLY HIGHWAY.
Other or unspecified, Dec 26, 2020
AT 26,000 MILES ON MY 2018 JEEP CHEROKEE TRAILHAWK, THE SERVICE SHIFTER LIGHT CAME ON.
Electrical system, Vehicle speed control, Dec 23, 2020
SERVICE SHIFTER LIGHT, R,P,N,D, ALL LIGHTS TURN RED. HAPPENED MONTHS AGO AT 36,300 MILES, DIDN'T HAPPEN FOR A MONTH THEN CAME BACK. NOW COMES ON EVERY COUPLE WEEKS, SOMETIMES MULTIPLE TIMES IN A ROW. TURN CAR OFF AND BACK ON THE LIGHTS GO OFF. HAPPENS AT INTIAL START UP AND WHILE DRIVING.
Other or unspecified, Engine, Back over prevention, Dec 23, 2020, fire
ALL THE ENGINE OIL LEAKED OUT OF THE CAR AND STARTED TO SMOKE WHILE I WAS IN MOTION AND THE ENGINE LIGHT CAME ON BUT WAS PERFECTLY FINE AT FIRST. I DO NOT KNOW WHAT HAD HAPPENED BUT MY ENGINE IS NOW MESSING UP AND I ALMOST GOT IN A CAR ACCIDENT.
Electrical system, Other or unspecified, Engine, Dec 22, 2020
WE WERE TRAVELING IN OUR 2018 JEEP CHEROKEE LATITUDE AND AT A RED LIGHT, THE CAR JUST TURNED OFF. WE HAD TO SIT FOR AWHILE AND THEN RESTART IT BY PUTTING ON THE BRAKE AND SOME OTHER THING. WE REPLACED THE BATTERY AND IT RAN FOR ABOUT 20 MINUTES. THEN, IT STOPPED WHILE WE WERE AT A RED LIGHT AGAIN! IT ONLY RESTARTED AFTER REPLACING THE BATTERY TWICE. WE AREN'T SPENDING MONEY ON A NEW BATTERY UNTIL WE KNOW EXACTLY WHAT'S WRONG.
Power train, Dec 22, 2020
THE SHIFTER KEEP SAYING THAT IT NEEDS TO BE SERVICED THE CAR ONLY HAS 30,000 MILES ON IT . I HAVE SPOKEN WITH OTHER JEEP OWNERS AND THEY SAY THAT THEY HAVE HAS THE SAME ISSUE
Electrical system, Engine, Dec 18, 2020
I HAVE TAKEN MY VEHICLE TO THE DEALERSHIP TWO TIMES FOR THE CHECK ENGINE LIGHT THAT HAVE REPLACED THE BLOWER THE FILTERS AND SO ON. EVERY TIME THE AC OR HEAT COMES ON THE CAR STARTS SHAKING AND JERKING WHILE IN TRAFFIC. THE YESTERDAY WHILE DRIVING BACK IN TO POST THE VEHICLE STARTED JERKING WHILE IN MOTION AND THE CHECK ENGINE LIGHT CAME ON. I HAVE SPENT A TILE OF ABOUT 700-800$ ON THIS PROBLEM AND IT SEEMS TO BE SOMETHING THAT THE DEALERSHIP CAN NOT FIX.
Power train, Dec 17, 2020
WHILE DRIVING AT 55MPH, MY JEEP GAVE "SERVICE SHIFTER" AND REDUCED POWER. ALL SHIFTER LIFTS WHERE LITE. I PULLED OVER AND CALL MY DEALER, THEY ADVISED ME TO TURN OFF ENGINE FOR 2 MINUTES AND RESTART MY JEEP, THIS SHOULD CLEAR IT. THIS WAS AT 34,000. IT DID CLEAR IT. IT HAPPEN AGAIN AT 35,900 MILES AND I DID WHAT I WAS TOLD THE FIRST TIME.. HAPPEN AGAIN AT 37,500 MILES, FINALLY GOT DEALER TO LOOK AT IT AND NOW THEY SAY I NEED A NEW BEZELS, HARNESS AND SHIFTER. I HAVE READ THIS HAS HAPPEN TO 1,000S OF OTHERS.
Electrical system, Exterior lighting, Engine, Dec 16, 2020
MY CAR WENT DEAD WHILE DRIVING. TOOK TO THE SHOP AND SAID THERE WAS A "SOFTWARE UPDATE/RECALL" THAT CAUSED THE CAR TO USE MORE OIL THAN NORMAL AND I WAS DRIVING WITH NO OIL!!!!! THIS "RECALL" UPDATE HAD BEEN RELEASED "6 DAYS AGO" PER MY DODGE/CHRYSLER DEALERSHIP. WHY IS THIS RECALL NOT HERE? SOUNDS VERY STRANGE TO ME.
Power train, Electrical system, Dec 7, 2020
SERVICE SHIFTER LIGHT CAME ON ON DASH AFTER I STARTED MY JEEP, ALSO ALL THE RED LIGHTS NEXT TO THE SHIFTER WERE LIT UP. WOULD NOT TURN OFF UNTIL RESTARTING THE VEHICLE. HAVE READ MANY JEEP OWNERS HAVING THE SAME ISSUE WITH THEIR CHEROKEES. SHOULD BE RECALLED AND FIXED BY JEEP!
Power train, Electrical system, Other or unspecified, Dec 6, 2020
I CONTINUE TO GET A SERVICE SHIFTER ISSUE. VEHICLE HAS 13,000 MILES ON IT. THIS IS A KNOWN PROBLEM ACROSS MULTIPLE YEARS OF CHEROKEES. DEALERSHIP SAID IT WAS A BATTERY PROBLEM BUT AFTER A NEW BATTERY, I STILL RECEIVE THE WARNING. WARNING CAME ON WHILE PARKED, JUST AFTER STARTUP.
Electrical system, Dec 4, 2020
MY CAR IS SHOWING "CHECK SHIFTER" MESSAGE AFTER ONLY 11,000 MILES. ALL THE SHIFTER LIGHTS TURN ON RED. IT HAPPENED WHEN I TURNED ON MY CAR TO PUT IN GEAR AND HAS BEEN COMING ON MORE AND MORE LATELY. USUALLY STAYS ON WHEN I FIRST START AND DOESNT SHUT OFF UNTIL I TURN OFF AND RESTART VEHICLE.
Other or unspecified, Dec 3, 2020
WHILE DRIVING THE SERVICE SHIFTER LIGHT CAME ON. I PULLED OVER AND SHUT THE VEHICLE OFF. WHEN I STARTED MY VEHICLE THE NOTICE WAS GONE BUT RETURNED SEVERAL DAYS LATER. WHEN I GOOGLE WHAT A SERVICE SHIFTER WAS I SAW ALOT OF COMPLAINTS BY OTHER JEEP OWNERS. I THOUGHT I SHOULD ADD MY COMPLAINT TO THE LIST. I HAVE HAD MY VEHICLE FOR A LITTLE OVER A YEAR. I SHOULD NOT BE HAVING THIS ISSUE.
Power train, Nov 25, 2020
TRANSMISSION IS SHIFTING VERY HARD RANDOMLY WHILE DRIVING
Electrical system, Other or unspecified, Nov 25, 2020
SERVICE SHIFTER ALARM, ALL LIGHTS ON GEAR SHIFTER LIGHT UP. GOES AWAY WHEN VEHICLE TURNED OFF AND RESTARTED. CAME BACK ON LESS THAN A WEEK LATER.
Engine, Nov 24, 2020
CAR BURNS OIL AT AN EXCESSIVE RATE-POURING IN ABOUT A QUART PER WEEK. IF IT GETS TOO LOW (EVEN BEFORE SUGGESTED OIL CHANGE MILEAGE) THE ENGINE SHUTS OFF WHILE DRIVING. NO WARNING OR INDICATOR LIGHTS. THE ENTIRE ENGINE SHUTS OFF WHILE YOU ARE DRIVING DOWN THE ROAD. CURRENTLY HAPPENED 3 TIMES TO ME-OIL WAS LOW EACH TIME. VERY SCARY!
Power train, Nov 22, 2020
WHILE DRIVING SERVICE SHIFTER WARNING CAME ON AND ALL LIGHTS ON SHIFTER WERE LIT. THIS HAPPENED AROUND 37;600 MILES.
Steering, Power train, Engine, Nov 20, 2020
THE CAR RANDOMLY SHUT OFF WHILE I WAS AT A LIGHT. IT HAS DONE THIS SEVERAL TIMES AND IT IS VERY DANGEROUS. I ALMOST GOT REAR ENDED. THERE HAS BEEN SEVERAL COMPLAINTS ABOUT THIS. IT WAS IN MOTION ONCE AND THE WHEEL LOCKED UP. BUT IT WAS A VERY SLOW MOTION. SECOND TIME I WAS TAKING OFF FROM A STOP
Electrical system, Nov 20, 2020
WAS DRIVING AND VEHICLE STOPPED MOVING. PULLED OVER AND SERVICE ELECTRICAL THROTTLE CONTROL CAME ON. FINALLY GOT THE VEHICLE TO DRIVE. CHECK ENGINE LIGHT IS ON NOW.
Other or unspecified, Nov 17, 2020
SERVICE SHIFTER MESSAGE APPEARED WHILE DRIVING TODAY AND GEAR SHIFT LIGHTS ARE ALL RED P, R, N, D. THE SERVICE SHIFTER MESSAGE WOULD NOT DISAPPEAR BLOCKING THE SPEEDOMETER READING.
Electrical system, Nov 16, 2020
ELECTRONIC THROTTLE CONTROL LIGHT CAME ON- THIS HAS HAPPENED THREE TIMES, ONCE WHILD DRIVING AND TWICE WHEN STARTING THE CAR AND IT WAS IN PARK.
Electrical system, Nov 12, 2020
'SERVICE SHIFTER' ERROR CODE STARTED APPEARING ON DASHBOARD WITH ALL GEAR LIGHTS LIT UP NEXT TO THE SHIFTER. PROBLEM RESOLVED ITSELF AFTER RESTARTING THE VEHICLE. MILEAGE AT APPROX 37K MILES, IDENTIFIED AS 'TRANSMISSION SHIFT ELECTRICAL FAILURE' BY JEEP DEALERSHIP AND REPLACED FOR AROUND $700
Power train, Engine, Nov 12, 2020
THE CAR WILL JUST SHUT OFF IN IDLE , SOMETIMES IT WILL START RIGHT BACK UP, OTHERS YOU HAVE TO WAIT A FEW MINUTES. TOOK IT TO DEALER A FEW TIMES AND THEY KEEP SAYING THAT IT IS BECAUSE WHEN THE OIL GETS LOW IT THIS MODEL THAT HAPPENS SO I HAVE TO GET THE OIL CHANGED ONCE A MONTH