CarComplaints.com Notes: Poor side crash test ratings from the IIHS are really no surprise.

10.0

really awful
Crashes / Fires:
1 / 0
Injuries / Deaths:
2 / 0
Average Mileage:
49,291 miles

About These NHTSA Complaints:

This data is from the NHTSA — the US gov't agency tasked with vehicle safety. Complaints are spread across multiple & redundant categories, & are not organized by problem.

So how do you find out what problems are occurring? For this NHTSA complaint data, the only way is to read through the comments below. Any duplicates or errors? It's not us.

2012 Jeep Wrangler engine problems

engine problem

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2012 Jeep Wrangler Owner Comments (Page 1 of 2)

problem #23

Nov 232022

Wrangler

  • miles

A D V E R T I S E M E N T S

ABS, Traction control and Brake lights came on. Veh has 45000 miles on it. Was advised the ABS module is bad. Part is no where to be found, and no dealer can order it. Basically the vehicle braking system is questionable on the road without ABS or traction.

- Riverview , FL, USA

problem #22

Mar 032021

Wrangler

  • 37,500 miles
On my way to work on city street, slight curve in road, it was raining. Cruise control set at 50mph. I heard the chime and glanced at the dashboard. Cruise control light was out, ABS light, anti-skid light and parking brake light were on. Touched the brake slightly and Jeep went into a skid. Luckily no one was next to me. Took it to my mechanic the next day and was told the ABS module had failed and needed to be replaced. This vehicle has less than 38000 miles on it.

- South Daytona, FL, USA

problem #21

May 122015

Wrangler 6-cyl

  • 914 miles
The contact owns a 2012 Jeep Wrangler. The contact stated that while driving at various speeds in cruise control, the traction control warning light illuminated causing the cruise control to disengage intermittently. The vehicle was taken to the dealer fitzgerald Chrysler Jeep Dodge Ram lexington park located at 22231 three notch rd, lexington park, md 20653 where it was diagnosed that the steering was faulty and needed to be repaired. The vehicle was repaired however, the failure recurred. The manufacturer was notified of the failure and informed the contact that no recalls were under the VIN and to call NHTSA to place a complaint. The failure mileage was approximate 914.

- Ridge, MD, USA

problem #20

Mar 182020

Wrangler

  • 67,800 miles

A D V E R T I S E M E N T S

Beginning of Feb., lost power on freeway. Went from 65 to 40 mph and could not accelerate. Engine and traction lights came on. Exited the fwy and drove to dealer where I was turned away due to high volume. Left my Jeep at the dealer the following day with this issue and to correct campaign #V51 recall. The engine light wasn't lit anymore and dealer couldn't find anything wrong with it so I picked it up. Couple of weeks later, I failed the smog check I need to register my Jeep, and an engine code showed up, P0394. I took it to other places where the same code showed up and was recommended to take it back to the dealer. Going downhill, my father experienced the same while driving my Jeep. Beginning of March, omw to the dealer on the fwy, I lost power again and the engine and traction lights came on. I showed the dashboard to the service advisor, explained the continued problem and the code showing up. I left my Jeep there for several days because they couldn't reproduce the problem and didn't know what was causing it. The code was cleared when I picked it up. The following day, as I was making a right turn into a parking lot, the engine stalled. I used gravity to partly move back down as there was another car driving into the lot. I put it on "park" and I was able to restart the car. No engine light this time. This morning I lost power driving to the first stop on my street (stop on my side only). I had already entered the T-intersection but could not accelerate to turn left. I put it in "park" then back to "drive" and accelerated normally. There were no cars around because of the corona virus, but I would have been hit on the driver's side if a coming vehicle (who has the right-A-way), decided not to slow down.

- Cerritos, CA, USA

problem #19

Jul 102019

Wrangler

  • 55,706 miles
Began having issues with rpms revving but no acceleration while driving then all of the sudden Jeep will not turn over and warning light for etc is

- Fairview, WV, USA

problem #18

Aug 022018

Wrangler

  • 110,000 miles
Lightning bolt symbol and check engine light come on while driving. Vehicle goes into limp mode and starts running roughly. If turned off and allowed to sit will start up again just fine. Check engine light typically turns off after a couple more trips and runs just fine until it randomly does it again. Has been sometimes minutes, other times weeks between episodes. Have had accelerator position sensor replaced, throttle body replaced, and wiring to throttle replaced. Keeps happening. Has happened when vehicle is parked, sitting at light, normal driving, and while driving at highway speed.

- Waxhaw, NC, USA

problem #17

Apr 132018

Wrangler

  • 37,826 miles

A D V E R T I S E M E N T S

Driving out of my work parkinglot on a clear dry even road onto a fourlane street across traffic ABS and traction control lights came on then front brakes locked up and then started pulsating causing me to almost be T-boned in the drivers side.

- Decatur, IL, USA

problem #16

May 182018

Wrangler

  • 67,000 miles
The contact owns a 2012 Jeep Wrangler. While driving 45 mph, the accelerator pedal became stuck and the vehicle accelerated independently. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was notified. The dealer was not contacted. The failure mileage was 67,000.

- Putnam Valley, NY, USA

problem #15

Sep 282017

Wrangler

  • miles
When driving and accelerate to around 3500 to 5000 RPM randomly the Jeep stalls and doesn't accelerate nore passes 2500 rpms. Very dangerous when driving in the freeway. I cleared the check engine light around 3 different occasions. Obd code was P06dd

- Long Beach, CA, USA

problem #14

Jul 252017

Wrangler

  • 93,000 miles
Check engine light and hill assist always lit. Dealer constantly resetting and I was repeatedly told not to worry as it is probably "bad gasoline." Now, no acceleration and is more pronounced when on an incline ie highway entrance ramp. Presently, one week into diagnostics and repairs with present diagnosis being "probably" cam shaft phasers. Important to note engine repairs previously done one month of ownership on brand new vehicle. In addition, engine light has been on while in warranty but told not to worry. Now, almost complete engine rebuild. Jeep will not assist even though engine light has been on and reported to dealer (and documented) while in warranty. Vehicle purchased brand new, never used "four wheeling" or utilized to tow. Mileage reflects ~ highway travel. Religiously maintained through dealership.

- Lorain, OH, USA

problem #13

May 152017

Wrangler

  • 60,000 miles

A D V E R T I S E M E N T S

On 3 occasions my Jeep Wrangler's accelerator pedal has stuck to the floor. Shifting to neutral would not bring the pedal up. Manually pulling the pedal would not make a change. Twice I had to turn off the car in mid traffic. The third time I was able to coast to the side of the road.

- Bridgeport, WV, USA

problem #12

Jan 232017

Wrangler

  • 124,000 miles
While turning to park the engine throttle suddenly accelerated & Jeep jumped the curb, crashed thru a fence & ended up in the ocean. We were rescued by dana point harbor patrol.

- Monarch Beach, CA, USA

problem #11

Jan 252016

Wrangler

  • 37,000 miles
The tipm unit went out, causing lots of issues. The issues we're aware of are: The doors wouldn't lock, shifter was stuck in park, radio/cd/bluetooth wouldn't work, and the front headlights wouldn't turn off leading to a complete drain of the battery. Thankfully, the vehicle was parked and this didn't happen while we were driving it (it could have been very dangerous if it did). It cost us $1100 to replace the tipm unit, which was a huge financial burden on us, but even worse was that we had to go without the Jeep (one of our main means of transportation) for almost two months because there's a waiting list for the replacement part. We checked with 3 different repair shops just to be sure, and all said the same thing: 1.) that there's a waiting list at least 40 people long for this tipm unit, and 2.) that they've been seeing Jeep Wrangler left & right for this same exact problem, and there's a waiting list because the part can't even be manufactured quickly enough to keep up with the demand. I know the tipm unit has been recalled for Jeep Cherokee, but why not Jeep Wrangler when this is clearly a major issue for it as well??

- Alamosa, CO, USA

problem #10

Feb 012016

Wrangler

  • 150,000 miles
Airbag clockspring was replaced under recall M031 in early 2012. The part recalled had failed again causing airbag light to be illuminated, loss of speed control, loss of steering wheel audio controls, loss of horn, and loss of "step" and "reset buttons for the information center. This issue started out when turning the steering wheel in the left or right position and within a few weeks has became a constant problem to no avail.

- Eatonton, GA, USA

problem #9

Jan 292016

Wrangler

  • 52,119 miles
12 jkru 52,000 miles. It first happened at night while wife was driving on interstate Jeep went crazy mode all lights in cluster illuminated warning lights flashing and with hot oil msg, warning dings going off, heard electric fan running. It seemed that nothing was controllable, auto trans went into and would not shift out of first gear. Scared the hell out of my wife. Got home after shut off I tried to restart but nothing happened. I disconnected battery to reset cpu that did not work. I stopped by auto zone to get codes scanned. They told me every system was reporting failure and needs to go to dealer. After restart every thing was normal. After 100 yards down the street it all happened again. Pulled into store parking lot, turned Jeep off and would not restart till 4th try. Drove it strait to dealer in first gear with all. They said that it was tipm and not under warranty, gave MA a rental car for 10 days because part is on back order. After 10 days Chrysler quit paying for rental car and still have no part to fix Jeep it has been 16 days. I guess there are alot of failures for the tipm causing back order and do not know when they will get one.

- Kernersville, NC, USA

problem #8

May 122015

Wrangler

  • 62,000 miles
The airbag light came on and the left steering wheel controls quit working, later all steering wheel controls quit working. I researched and found a previous recall for the clock spring which was up until models manufactured in November 2011. Called the dealership and was told there was no recall on my vehicle. Mine is a right hand drive manufactured in March 2012. It is a safety issue and should be recalled. It happened out of warranty.

- Scottsburg, IN, USA

problem #7

Jul 172015

Wrangler

  • 16,000 miles
I was operating my vehicle on the highway and attempted to engage the steering wheel mounted speed control. The speed control failed to turn on, so I pressed the button several times and found that it would not activate (turn on and show "cruise" on the gauge cluster). Approximately an hour later I pressed the cruise control button several more times, and it eventually showed "cruise" in the gauge cluster. I was then able to set the speed control to 70 mph. After traveling on the highway for approximately one hour with the cruise control set, I attempted to shut it off utilizing the steering wheel mounted button. The cruise control would not deactivate by pressing the on / off button. I was approaching an exit, and was able to deactivate the cruise control by utilizing the vehicles brakes, however the I could not shut the power to the cruise control off until I shut the Jeep ignition off. The cruise control power button now works intermittently. Sometimes it will activate the cruise control power, sometimes it will not. I do not feel comfortable utilizing the vehicle feature due to the inability to consistently shut it off. I have conducted some research on line and have seen many complaints on Jeep forums about this issue. The forums have stated that many Jeep have defective clock springs.

- Westbrook , ME, USA

problem #6

Feb 042015

Wrangler

  • 25,000 miles
The contact owns a 2012 Jeep Wrangler. While driving approximately 60 mph, the vehicle independently accelerated to 90 mph. The contact had to shift into neutral in order to stop the vehicle. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 25,000.

- Warren , NJ, USA

problem #5

Nov 202014

Wrangler 6-cyl

  • 77,700 miles
Attempting to accelerate from stop at traffic signal, dashboard trouble lights illuminated, ESC and antilock brake system activated, effectively nullifying driver throttle input. Vehicle would not accelerate.

- Nanjemoy, MD, USA

problem #4

Oct 162014

Wrangler 4WD 6-cyl

  • 41,065 miles
I was driving on I70 from wheeling, wv to saint clairsville, oh during rush hour. I came out of construction and set the cruise control for 65 mph. I was coming to the merge of I70 and 470 and there was a lot of traffic. My Jeep, without touching the brake or control, kicked out of cruise. I was on an incline and went from 65 mph to 55 mph before I could get my foot on the gas pedal. The car behind me swerved into the outside lane to avoid hitting me. This is not the first time this has happened. It has been to the garage for this and I was told it was fixed. Someone is going to get hurt if other Jeep are doing this. I was lucky!

- Cadiz, OH, USA

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