CarComplaints.com Notes: The 2012 Grand Cherokee hasn't seen the same complaint volume as the 2011, at least not yet.
It's worth noting both model years are part of a class-action lawsuit that focuses on a defective TIPM and a long wait for replacement parts.
The 2012 also received national attention after it failed a Swedish Magazine's "moose test". The test measures a vehicle's ability to swerve out of the way of an obstacle you wouldn't want to hit while driving down the road ... like a moose.
10.0
really awful
Crashes / Fires:
5 / 83
Injuries / Deaths:
3 / 0
Average Mileage:
42,602 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.
Battery light came on while driving, started losing power, vehicle started whining. Turned vehicle off when I reached safe place. Mechanic restarted vehicle and an awful grinding and screeching came from under hood and smoke came pouring out for about 15 minutes. Alternator burnt up, blew out battery, and still waiting to figure out what the last issue is preventing it from being completely fixed. Jeep sent investigator out to view issues, and then sent me a letter saying sorry this happened but not our problem. Been without vehicle now for over 3 weeks.
Alternator suddenly failed while I was driving down busy interstate. Luckily I was able to get to side of road without incident. I see there is a recall on like year/models for this very thing, however my VIN is not included in this recall, so I am having to pay out of pocket for tow, alternator and labor....and possible new battery and other electrical things, because alternator got hot and burned causing complete electrical shutdown of vehicle, so we are still unaware of complete damage done.
In 3/16 the vehicle experienced an alternator failure which was repaired at a cost of over $1,000. Today, 9/13/16, the same failure has taken place. I decided to google the issue and found that recall 14V63400 (P60 for Chrysler) is an exact match for the vehicle description and the problem. I contacted Chrysler was told that it does not apply to my VIN!! very disappointing and unconscionable!
My 180 amp alternator burnt out and in the process burned the computer and other parts because of the way it fried. When I heard others had the same issue I was shocked to hear it was not a recall yet. Then even more shocked to hear there is a recall but only for the 160 amp alternator and does not cover the 180 amp model. Really"??" Jeep should take more responsibility for the issue and replace all of the alternators. This could have been a dangerous issue if it fried when I was driving on the freeway and lost power the way I did. My car just completely died with all of the power going out and my family could have been hurt. Jeep Chrysler ' you should recall also recall the 180 amp alternators and replace them proactively before someone is seriously injured or worse!
Alternator burns out and fails suddenly while driving. There are known problems with similar parts on Jeep vehicles. The manufacturer is aware. I submitted a claim to Fiat Jeep and they refused to reimburse me, for now.
- San Diego, CA, USA
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The contact owns a 2012 Jeep Grand Cherokee. Upon starting the vehicle and driving for approximately four minutes, the contact noticed smoke and flames coming from the center console where the sun roof controls were located. The vehicle was driven to the local fire department where the fire was extinguished. A fire report was filed and there were no injuries. The vehicle was towed to an independent mechanic and then to the dealer where it was awaiting repairs. The contact received notification of NHTSA campaign number: 15V879000 (electrical system, interior lighting), but the remedy was unavailable. The contact stated that the manufacturer exceeded a reasonable amount of time for the recall repair. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 52,000...updated 10/28/16 updated 10/31/16.
2012 Jeep Grand Cherokee battery light came on while driving. I immediately pulled into an advance auto parts thinking it was just a battery issue. They turned the car off, hooked up the computer and restarted the car. When car was restarted, it made horrible screeching noises under the hood. They shut the car off, got the computer reading, and then smoke came pouring out from under the hood.. lost all power except windshield wipers automatically came on. It smoked for about 15 minutes. Had car towed to my mechanic. The alternator spiked such high voltage that it burnt up the alternator, burned the metal id tag on the alternator beyond recognition and burned up my battery so bad that the battery warped. Chrysler informed me that my alternator was a 180 amp, but we can't read the burnt up tag on the alternator so I'm not exacty sure what amp it is. I was told my 3 different mechanics that we are lucky my car didn't catch on fire.
The contact owns a 2012 Jeep Grand Cherokee. The contact received notification of NHTSA campaign number: 15V879000 (electrical system, interior lighting); however, the part to do the repair was unavailable. The contact stated that the manufacturer exceeded a reasonable amount of time for the recall repair. The manufacturer was made aware of the issue. The contact had not experienced a failure. Parts distribution disconnect. The VIN was not provided. Updated 10/04/16
The alternator on my 2012 Jeep Grand Cherokee suddenly failed without any warning causing the vehicle to stall while driving, burning odor entered the interior of vehicle, alternator was smoking. On 8/13/16 I was driving the vehicle there was a sudden burning odor that entered the vehicle along with slightly increased belt driven whine noise. Within a couple of minutes the battery warning light came on immediately followed by the vehicle engine stalling. I was able to pull over, opened the hood, burning odor and smoke arising from alternator. I was able to get car to start up again after 15 minutes and drive less than a mile to my house. Continued burning odor and alternator whine noise. Contacted Chrysler/Jeep customer service spoke to representative and reported problem. I was informed that my vehicle had the 180 amp alternator. The 160 amp alternator for the model and year of my vehicle was recalled under P60 recall. I was informed by rep that because my alternator was 180 it was not part of recall. Did some research and found out that the failure of my 180amp alternator was exactly the same reason why the 160amp was recalled earlier for model and year of my vehicle. Got the vehicle towed to Jeep dealership who confirmed alternator failed. Spoke again to Jeep customer service who states the alternator for my vehicle was not part of recall case#29914869. No further assistance was provided by the manufacturer. The sudden failure of the alternator on this model and year have been identified and recalled for the 160 amp version, similar failure is occurring on the 180 amp versions and need to be recalled to remedy the dangerous situation of sudden stalling while driving and fire risk that exists from excessive heat of the alternator due to sudden failure. My vehicle is meticulously maintained and just passed multi point dealer inspection 2 weeks prior.
The contact owns a 2012 Jeep Grand Cherokee. The contact stated that the vehicle experienced a complete loss of power. The vehicle was towed to the dealer where it was diagnosed that the battery and alternator failed and needed to be replaced. The vehicle was repaired. The contact referenced NHTSA campaign number: 14V634000 (electrical system); however, the VIN was not included. The manufacturer exceeded a reasonable amount of time for the recall repair. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 80,000. The VIN was not provided.
The check engine light came on and I had a diagnostic test that showed car was fine and all I needed was more coolant. After car was topped off with more coolant the check engine light remained on. Next the battery light came on and the battery was tested and deemed in good condition.. then the car stalled and would not turn on until it received a battery jump.. it then turn on and completely off and would not restart. The alternator has been deemed the problem and I am requesting my car be fixed under the 2012 Jeep Grand Cherokee alternator recall
The contact owns a 2012 Jeep Grand Cherokee. While driving approximately 65 mph, the alternator failed without warning. The contact pulled the vehicle over and had it towed to the dealer. The dealer diagnosed that the alternator failed and caused other parts to also fail. The alternator, electronic control module, and battery needed to be replaced. The dealer informed the contact that the failure was directly related to NHTSA campaign number: 14V634000 (electrical system); however, the VIN was not included in the recall. The vehicle was repaired. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure and referred the contact to NHTSA in order to have the VIN included in the recall. The approximate failure mileage was 58,000.
The contact owns a 2012 Jeep Grand Cherokee. The contact received notification of NHTSA campaign number: 15V279000 (electrical system, interior lighting); however, the part to do the repair was unavailable. The contact stated that the manufacturer exceeded a reasonable amount of time for the repair. The manufacturer was made aware of the issue. The contact had not experienced a failure.
The contact owns a 2012 Jeep Grand Cherokee. The contact received notification of NHTSA campaign number: 15V879000 (electrical system, interior lighting); however, the part to do the repair was not available. The contact stated that the manufacturer exceeded a reasonable amount of time for the recall repair. The manufacturer was made aware of the issue. The contact had not experienced a failure.
Car lost complete power in parking lot. Alternator failed and shorted and drained the battery. Alternator was still hot after several hours and a burnt odor could be detected. Luckily it did not catch fire as others have when this failure occurred. When the alternator failed it shorted the battery and also the PCM. Jeep has a current recall out on the 160 amp alternator for this exact problem, but since this is the 180 amp they are washing their hands of the situation. PCM's are on a huge back order and took several days and a multiple phone calls to find someone willing to sell me one. After the first round of repairs before the PCM was replaced the car died while being driven by the mechanic. Having a car that could randomly die while being driven needs to be taken more seriously by Jeep/Chrysler.
The alternator suddenly failed on my 2012 Jeep Grand Cherokee overland, just as described in recall notice P60 / NHTSA 14V-634. But fca claims that my VIN is not included under the recall. I had been driving for two hours at speeds of 45-65 mph when the battery icon came on in the dash. The passenger looked up what this meant and it said to stop driving immediately, within a couple of minutes we pulled into a service station and there was already smoke coming out from underneat the hood. Lifted the hood and it was originating from the alternator and it was sparking. Couldn't tell if it was already burning or just smoking. Contacted Jeep and they said to have it towed to the nearest dealer for evaluation. As of today their advice is to save paperwork "in case" the recall is expanded.
The contact owns a 2012 Jeep Grand Cherokee. The contact received notification of NHTSA campaign number: 15V879000 (electrical system, interior lighting); however, the part for the recall was unavailable. The contact had not experienced a failure. The manufacturer was not made aware of the issue. Parts distribution disconnect. Updated 10/18/16 updated 10/19/16.
I was walking out to my car after leaving a store. The car had been parked in the parking lot for no more than 20min. I got to my car and before I started the vehicle I noticed smoke coming from under the hood. I opened the hood and found that there was smoke coming from the alternator as well as the distinct smell associated with an electrical fire. I rushed back into the store asking if they had a hose or a bucket. They had a partially filled water jug that they let me use. I went back out to the car and noticed that the smoke was beginning to intensify. I also noticed that sparks were beginning to fly out of the area. I doused the area in water to quell any fire that may have been present (at this point there were no visible flames but plenty of smoke). I then quickly accessed the battery located in the vehicle under the front passenger seat and, using a multi-tool, was able to disconnect the battery. The smoke had once again intensified and I used the remaining water left in the jug. However, the smoke continued. I quickly went back into the store and filled the water jug with more water (I needed to be quick so I only partially filled the jug, about 1/8 of total capacity). When I got back to my car the smoke was still increasing but at a lesser rate from when the battery was connected. I doused the alternator and area around it with all of the water in the jug. At this point the smoke had stopped but the area was still very hot. I refilled the jug and doused the area again. After the last water jug, the area was warm but you could touch it. At this point I called aaa to send a tow truck. I continued to monitor the vehicle until the tow truck arrived. The smoke was gone and the area had continued to cool. Prior to the fire, there were no warning lights nor any indication whatsoever that there was a problem with the car.
The contact owns a 2012 Jeep Grand Cherokee. The contact received notification of NHTSA campaign numbers: 15V879000 (electrical system, interior lighting) 15V115000 (electrical system). The parts were not available within a reasonable time frame to schedule the recall repair. The manufacturer could not provide an estimated date for when the contact's vehicle would receive the recall repair. The contact had not experienced a failure. Parts distribution disconnect.
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
- Hilton Head Island, SC, USA