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.
Power train, Dec 12, 2024
PTU failure.
Power train, Nov 29, 2024
Complete power failure of the vehicle occurred while driving on the highway. Vehicle stalled while in a driving lane, and the driver was not able to recover onto the shoulder. Huge safety risk. After towing vehicle to the mechanic, they confirmed it wasn’t a battery issue (battery just replaced 3 months prior). Appears to be a starter system failure - no warning provided. There have been similar issues from other owners of this make and model.
Power train, Nov 28, 2024
The component that has failed on my vehicle is the Power Transfer Unit that allows the vehicle to engage in 4 wheel drive. In some instances, I cannot safely navigate without access to my 4 wheel drive. In winter weather, I would be forced to use my Front Wheel Drive only increasing the likelihood of me getting stuck or losing control. I also use the 4 wheel drive on my farm land, and it is essential (part of why I bought it) for navigating the hills and turf safely. The problem was officially confirmed by an official Jeep dealership. No, the manufacturer of the part that failed has not inspected it, but it was inspected and deemed necessary to replace by a licensed Jeep dealership with certified technicians. There was no real warning leading up to the failure. Suddenly, one day, the Service 4 wheel drive light came on, flickered for a couple of days, then stayed on disabling my 4 wheel drive. Worth noting - I have done extensive research on this problem online. It is a very common failure that needs to be addressed or recalled. Jeep actually did do a recall for a portion of the PTU on models through 2017, but I have a 2018 and the problem persists for essentially every jeep cherokee model year since 2018. There are entire message boards online dedicated to this PTU failure issue. It is a very expensive repair to have done.
Power train, Nov 27, 2024
I was driving and the service 4wheel drive light came on
Power train, Nov 23, 2024
PTU failure repair cost 3500$ out of pocket Milage 96K Pre-owned
Power train, Nov 14, 2024
The contact owns a 2018 Jeep Cherokee. The contact stated that the service shifter message was displayed on the instrument panel. The contact stated that the shifter lights had turned red. The vehicle was not taken to the dealer to be diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was informed of the failure. The failure mileage was 17,000.
Power train, Nov 5, 2024
Service shifter engine light at 20000 miles has done it on and off for two years
Power train, Electrical system, Engine, Oct 28, 2024
My jeep will stall without warning. If i turn, it stalls out, brake it stalls, turn the vehicle on hit the gas to go and step off the gas it stalls. Sometimes it won’t start or it will start then stall out. It’s without warning and has had me left on the side of the road multiple times after pushing it out of the way or trying to get it to start again. I’ve had the computer plugged up to it and even the mechanics said they haven’t seen this before. I’ve had the individual parts to the engine tested, they work just fine such as alternator. I will just randomly lose power while driving. I also have the random Gear Shifter Error that it seems every Jeep owner is going through.
Electrical system, Oct 21, 2024
Service shifter light came on and gear shift lights are all red,P,R,N,D. Took it in and they said it was the shifter harness and they changed it. Didn’t have the issue for a while and it started again January & February 2021, September 2022, June 2023, August 2023, and now ever day in 2024. Have to turn off vehicle and restart. Took to dealer and they said that it’s the shifter harness after they already had changed it. Please help, cause when driving, you can’t figure out in what gear it in and you can’t see your speedometer’s speed. Thanks!
Other or unspecified, Oct 20, 2024
i took my jeep in august 2024 to repair a recall (W20) pcm a month later i started experiencing stalling. engine will start fine but after while driving car will stall. almost got hit from behind one of the times. car will stall in traffic and no restart itself sometimes. other times it quickly restarts and feels fine. i got an oil change today. but stil having the issue.
Other or unspecified, Oct 18, 2024
Vehicle keeps having the service shifter light come on with all of the "PRDN" lights turning red. I have to quickly try and get off of the road and see if I can get my car into "Park" and then turn the car off, let it sit for a few minutes and then turn the car back on. There is not a recall on this, but I can see that a lot of people with this same type of vehicle and same year have had this issue. The shifter wiring is faulty and also needs updates or else this can cause the vehicle to completely turn off while driving which could in turn cause an accident.
Engine, Oct 17, 2024
SVC 4WD warning. Diagnosed at Jeep Dealership (Recommend replace due to CODE C14A7-97 - PTU Motor-Component or System Operation Obstructed or Blocked. Part is on a back-order status, the only information provided from the manufacturer is they are working to obtain part status. We have no ETA on part at this time.) Part is not available, and car can't be driven
Electrical system, Oct 14, 2024
Error popped up on the dash saying Service Shifter, all the lights on the gears lit up. First occurrence, I was able to turn the car off and the error went away. 1 week later, it came back and has not gone away. Was unable to put car into drive.
Electrical system, Sep 22, 2024
Randomly and more often occurring, I turn on my vehicle and it tells me "service shifter" and all of the lights on the shifter turn red. I can restart the vehicle and it may or may not come back. This happened to me when I first bought the vehicle and they told me that they could not get the message to come up. Oddly enough, the message did not come up for years until just recently it has been happening again. My center console screen between my speedometer and my odometer just says "service shifter".
Power train, Sep 12, 2024
The contact owns a 2018 Jeep Cherokee. The contact stated that on several occasions while driving at various speeds, or while parking, the gear selector was depressed and all the gears were highlighted on the selector, making it unclear what gear was selected. The contact also stated that the "Service Shifter" message was displayed. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 52,000.
Power train, Sep 10, 2024
Service shifter alert
Power train, Equipment, Sep 3, 2024
The contact owns a 2018 Jeep Cherokee. The contact stated while driving approximately 45 MPH, the vehicle lost motive power with the service shifter warning light illuminated. The vehicle was steered to the side of the road and turned off. The vehicle was restarted, and the service shifter warning light disappeared. In addition, the contact stated that the dealer could not diagnose the failure; however, the navigation system was not working correctly, and requested that the driver drive through a body of water. The contact also confirmed that the navigation system was providing incorrect information. The failure reoccurred. The failure mileage was approximately 12,000.
Service brakes, Aug 24, 2024
The brakes are locked up and will not disengage one week after coming home from the store in the rain. I was lucky enough to have it parked in my garage when I found out. I had a mobile mechanic look it over and I was told that the electronic brake control module needs to be replaced. The vehicle only has a little over 8,000 miles on it so far. I attached a picture of the part and a screenshot of the email stating what has to be done to repair the problem.
Power train, Aug 24, 2024
SVC 4WD light and clunking noises code C14A7-97-Rear differential and ptu spline failure and replaced at 34,870 miles. Now 71,060 miles SVC 4WD light on and code is again C14A7 rear differential and spline failure. And was told this time the 48 month warranty on the parts has expired. Its been 52 months. I purchased this 2018 in 2017. Why is this not recalled like the 2017 for the ptu and differential?
Power train, Aug 6, 2024
Car made a noise and the service 4wd came on. The shop I went to told me it was PTU and that when he called Jeep they told him it should’ve been a recall with how many they do daily. My Jeep is well maintained and is a 2018. Jeep should be at fault to fix this
Suspension, Other or unspecified, Jul 30, 2024
A week ago, I went to my local garage that I trust for a completely different reason than I ended up leaving with. I have a 2018 Jeep Cherokee. I have less than 62,500 miles on this vehicle. I do not tow anything. I do not go off road. I do not ride down trails or do anything out of the ordinary. I live in the Boston area. What I found when I was at the garage was an issue that the garage couldn't fix. I needed a rear differential unit replace. Jeep discontinued the Jeep Cherokee this year. What a coincidence because the differential unit isn't available. It's been on back order all year based on what I see online. I spoke to someone at a service department today. He told me it has been on back order, there are 150 ish that have been requested. There are 8 ready for deployment in July. So I will have 140+ people ahead of me for this thing that doesn't exist on a vehicle they no longer make. Today I went to a Jeep dealership and they looked at the unit and said at some point it's going to break and I'll lose control of my vehicle. They've seen this issue in the past and its not pretty and told me I should trade it in immediately. I have a vehicle with 62,500 miles that is essentially totaled . It will become inoperable in a matter of months, if not weeks. Even if they get the part, they told me it would be $3,500 for the part, plus another $1,500 for labor, plus likely the axle needs to be replaced, plus another part and it's likely $8,000 to fix it all. And it could be 6-12 months before they can fix it. I get it, it's sexy to chase the airlines. The headlines are great. Vehicles is another story. That's not a sexy storyline. But Jeep is taking someone who FINALLY paid off this vehicle this month and is forcing me to buy a new vehicle. I don't get to use insurance on my totaled vehicle. Jeep is forcing me into trading this vehicle in by not producing parts. Vehicle was inspected today. No warning lamps. It was found by mistake.
Power train, Jul 17, 2024
Approximately 3 weeks ago had SVC 4WD light came on. I took it to my mechanic and was told they couldn't diagnose it because a special subscription has to be paid for to access what the Jeep code is. Was able to find a mechanic that could diagnose the Jeep code, turns out the PTU needs to be replaced at an estimate of $5,000. In researching it appears many others have this same problem and is a safety problem for those driving the car. Of course, part is back ordered so that indicates this is a major problem with Jeep.
Other or unspecified, Jul 13, 2024
I keep getting an warning that my shifter needs to serviced. After much research, I've discovered that this is a known and common problem with Jeep Cherokees. It should absolutely be a safety recall and fixed at no cost to the customers.
Other or unspecified, Engine, Jul 10, 2024
The vehicle consume too much oil .it completely run out of oil after driving a 1000 mile only .the engine stop suddenly while driving which put my safety in danger .because it happened when the vehicle engine stop running in the highway in the middle of traffic. I call the manufacturer they said there is a recall (W20 )for this car regarding those issue . And they said once they update the car software those issues should be resolved. But afterwards the same issue still happenings. The car currently only has 32k miles .those problems started back on March 2024 when.the car has only 24k miles
Power train, Jul 8, 2024
Vehicle started to make “knocking” noises from front axle when going over bumps. Brought to a shop that stated the ball joints just needed to be greased up. The sound returned within 24 hours and become continuous while driving. The car begins to shake and feel unstable at speeds above 45/50mph. Brought vehicle in that day to a new shop, which diagnosed the problem as a faulty/broken Power Transfer Unit (aka transfer case). They advised that this piece was under a safety recall for my make and model. Upon contacting a local dealership, they informed me that the safety recall does not apply to my specific VIN, and that the part is on national back order. The second shop advised that I can still drive the car with the broken part, however I believe the car may pose a safety risk in its present form- especially considering the part in question is under safety recall for my make and model