Complaint volume
395 consumer-submitted complaints are matched to this model year. Treat the count as a research signal, then read the actual summaries for repeated symptoms.
Complaint records
2021 Jeep Grand Cherokee Complaints
395 consumer-submitted complaints on record for the 2021 Jeep Grand Cherokee, grouped by component category.
395 Total complaints
20 Crash reports
8 Fire reports
12 Injury reports
Complaint data reflects consumer-submitted reports. A complaint is not proof
of a defect, recall, or manufacturer fault. Enriched severity fields come
from official bulk records when the complaint can be matched by ODI number.
Buyer interpretation
How to use these complaints before buying
Complaint records are most useful when they turn into inspection points, seller questions, and comparison checks against nearby model years.
Pattern to inspect
The most common categories are unknown or other, exterior lighting, steering. Use those categories as a test-drive checklist instead of judging the vehicle from the total count alone.
Severity flags
Enriched records include 20 crash reports, 8 fire reports, 12 injury reports, and 0 fatality reports. These fields come from complaint records and should be read in context.
Mileage clue
Mileage is available on 63 complaints, with an average reported failure mileage of 26,419 miles. Compare that with the mileage on the listing.
Questions to ask the seller
- Have you had any problems related to unknown or other, exterior lighting, steering?
- Can I see recent maintenance and repair records?
- Has the vehicle ever been towed, involved in a crash, or repaired for the same issue twice?
- Can we also check the recall record for this 2021 Jeep Grand Cherokee?
Used-car checklist
Use these complaints before the test drive.
Build a buyer checklist to turn these issues into questions and inspection points.
2021 Jeep Grand Cherokee
Build buyer checklist Compare with other years Sends year, make, and model to pre-fill your checklist.
How severe are the 2021 Jeep Grand Cherokee complaints?
20 Crash
8 Fire
12 Injury
0 Fatality
31 Towed
8 Medical attention
What are the most common 2021 Jeep Grand Cherokee complaint categories?
UNKNOWN OR OTHER 32
EXTERIOR LIGHTING 30
STEERING 29
POWER TRAIN 24
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM 19
FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM 15
STEERING,LANE DEPARTURE 14
ENGINE 12
STEERING,ELECTRICAL SYSTEM 11
SUSPENSION 10
395 total complaints on record
Latest complaints
| Date | Component | Summary | Severity | Mileage |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Feb 2022 | STEERING,LANE DEPARTURE,FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | The power steering icon lit up on the dash saying to bring it in for service. Tbe steering felt labored. The vehicle had under 2000 miles on it. After driving around for about 30 mins and then turning it off and going into a store I css as me out turned in the vehicle and all was fine again. The lane departure icon also said it was unavailable. This seems to happen when the temperature is cold outside. There was also a yellow icon that looked like a car crash that lit up on another night and said to bring in for service emergency braking was unavailable. These is quite unnerving gvyo happen in a brand new vehicle. I have read of many others having similar issues with their grand Cherokee L | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Feb 2022 | STEERING,LANE DEPARTURE | When I turn on my vehicle, the error message Power Steering Unavailable will come on. Once the error message occurs, I can barely turn the steering wheel when I am driving my car. Most times after my car has sat (while I am work), the message will clear and power steering will be available again. On average this has been occurring every other day. The Jeep dealership where I bought my car has deemed it undrivable and taken it off the road until the problem has been corrected. Also when this light comes on, the Active Lane Management warning light will come on and doesn't work either. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Feb 2022 | STEERING,ELECTRICAL SYSTEM | The contact owns a 2021 Jeep Grand Cherokee. The contact stated that while driving at 25 MPH, the "power steering unavailable, service required," appeared on the instrument panel. As she began to drive to the dealer, the "active lane management unavailable, service required" warning also appeared on the instrument panel. Once at the dealer, she was informed that a software update would be performed on the vehicle. Five days later, the "service four-wheel drive" warning message was illuminated on the instrument panel. The vehicle was taken back to the dealer where the computer module was reset; however, the failure returned, and the vehicle was taken back to the dealer. A service tech informed the contact that he had been instructed to reset the computer module and that he knew that the reset would not correct the failure. The manufacturer had been notified of the failure and the contact was given a case number. The vehicle had yet to be repaired. The failure mileage was 2,623. | Crash: No Fire: No | 2,623 |
| Jan 2022 | STEERING | Starting in December of 2021 I had no power steering. It went out and the light came on in the dashboard. Then again January 6th it happened again while driving my daughter to school. At this point it’s the second time and I realize it’s an issue. I brought it to dealership. They ran codes couldn’t find anything. Said next time it happens to bring it right in when the light is on. It’s very intermittent. It randomly will have no power steering. So fast forward to a week later, Jan 16th it went out again. I immediately drove it to the dealership in the middle of a snowstorm ( with no power steering) they ran the codes and I showed them a pic of my dashboard. Said the 4 codes that popped up have no update or fix. I have had a loaner car since. It’s 1/31/2022 at this point. It’s been 2 weeks. They are telling me an update should be coming. So I am paying for a vehicle that is unsafe to drive and I don’t even have. Also an issue that has no fix! I can not drive a half an hour back and forth to work and back and forth to my daughters school and have no power steering. This vehicle is unsafe to drive!!! Dealership doesn’t seem to have a fix either. Each week they say an update is coming only to call a week later with the news there is no update. Meanwhile my brand new car is just sitting at the dealership in the parking lot. Same car that I’m paying on each month. That is too dangerous to drive. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Jan 2022 | ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,UNKNOWN OR OTHER,ENGINE | I purchased this car on 1/12/2022. It immediately began to have issues, first a coolant leak and then a check engine light. I have been told the check engine light is related to RFH codes for passive entry and Chrysler cannot provide a a date for the software update . I am forced to forced to drive a brand new vehicle with a check engine light on, not knowing if it’s safe. I feel this is unacceptable, I see many stories of the same vehicle just shutting down while driving. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Jan 2022 | STEERING,LANE DEPARTURE | The power steering is failing randomly on this new car with only about 8,000 miles. It mostly happens when it is colder and first thing in the morning. A message appears that says Power Steering Unavailable, Service Required. It also gives another error message that the lane departure assistance is not available, service required. I took the dealership, they claimed to fix it, and the next day, it had the same issue. They now have it and claim that only a software update can fix it. When the power steering is in a failed state the vehicle is harder to drive and does not have the lane assistance available. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Jan 2022 | STEERING | On 1/28 my 2021 Grand Cherokee L with 658 miles suddenly did not have power steering. Leading up to this event, I warmed the car up for 10 minutes, then drove 1.5 miles to a nearby store without incident. Upon returning to the car, as I backed out of the parking spot, I noticed the power steering icon was lit on the dash and a warning message appeared saying power steering unavailable service required. I drove the 1.5 miles back home, parked the car, turned off the engine, let it sit for 5 minutes, then restarted the car and the same light and message appeared. The steering was difficult to manage, but fortunately I didn't need to drive very far and since I recognized the power steering was out, I was able to prepare for turns in advance. This could be a fatal flaw in the vehicle if driven at high speeds or if it were to happen unexpectedly while driving. On 1/29 I called the local dealer service department and scheduled an appointment for the first available time which is Monday 1/31. Upon starting the car this morning of 1/29, the light and message did not appear. I did not attempt to drive it. Upon reading Jeep forum threads, there are many other reports of the same problem. Jeep needs to quickly determine the cause of the issue and determine a sustainable resolution. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Jan 2022 | STEERING,LANE DEPARTURE | Incident occurred on 1/27, ~1,760 miles. V6, 4x4. Jeep Grand Cherokee L Limited I started the car and a red steering wheel icon popped up on the dashboard. Then a message popped up saying "power steering unavailable, service required". I was still able to drive the car but steering felt very "heavy". I've only had the car for 2 months. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Jan 2022 | STEERING | Upon starting my vehicle in the morning (4200 miles on odometer) the power steering warning indicator came on. I noticed the icon after attempting to back out of my garage and the steering wheel felt hard to turn. With the vehicle being hard to turn, this put myself and child at risk if I continued to drive. I drove my child to school and returned the vehicle to my garage. Approximately 2 hours later, I attempted to start my vehicle and the power steering warning light did not come back on. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Jan 2022 | ELECTRICAL SYSTEM | The contact owns a 2021 Jeep Grand Cherokee. The contact stated that after parking the vehicle for more than 24 hours, the vehicle would not start up. The contact stated that the battery was constantly being drained. The contact was only able to start the vehicle in the morning after connecting a 1-amp charger to the battery. The contact stated that he contacted the dealer and it was suggested that the battery be replaced. The contact stated that the battery was replaced twice however, the failure persisted. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 11,000. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Jan 2022 | STEERING,LANE DEPARTURE | At 1321 miles Power steering went unavailable while driving, restarted car and it was still unavailable. Car now has 1700 Miles and have had the issue 7 times. Dealer can not get me in until Feb 15th, 2021. Which is unexceptionable. With no power steering other safety features are unavailable, like cruise control, lane senors and other. I’m making this claim hoping for a full recall on this issue. Many others having the same problem. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Jan 2022 | STEERING,LANE DEPARTURE | My power steering doesn't work. It happens when immediately turning the vehicle on. It makes it very difficult to turn the wheel when driving. I have tried to turn the vehicle off then restart but it stays on. The power steering light turns on and off as it pleases throughout the days/weeks. The vehicle has been inspected three times by the certified dealership. It first appeared in November 2021. Lane departure warning light comes in periodically causing the feature to not work. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Jan 2022 | SERVICE BRAKES,BACK OVER PREVENTION,FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | The automatic braking system/parking collision system on our vehicle regularly causes it to slam on the brakes when the vehicle is in reverse, despite there not being any objects anywhere close to the vehicle. We have had this occur when we are trying to get out of oncoming traffic into a parking space, move out of the way of oncoming traffic into a driveway or parking garage, and when trying to back the car out of oncoming traffic to avoid a collision. This problem has been inspected by, and reproduced by, the dealer (Dishman Jeep in Spokane, WA). No other individuals have inspected the components causing this issue. There were no other warnings or symptoms of the problem before they appeared--just the slamming on of the brakes in reverse accompanied by a loud noise and message on the dash about potential collision, despite there being no objects or people anywhere close by. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Jan 2022 | STEERING,LANE DEPARTURE | What Component Failed: Power Steering & Lane Management. When Component Failed: 01/19/2022 at approx. 6:45am Car Available for Inspection?: YES Details: While driving from home to work this morning, the instrument cluster displayed an error message "Power Steering Unavailable Service Required" and a red warning light with a steering wheel and exclamation mark above it. I was traveling at approx. 55mph on the interstate. Because the power steering failed, the active lane management features also malfunctioned. Safety Impact: I was driving on the interstate at a high speed. Fortunately I was on a straight-away and had time to react for an upcoming turn/bend in the highway. Loss of power steering made it difficult to change lanes, merge, and make turns. This decreased safety by making it more difficult to control the vehicle. The lane management feature also malfunctioned and decreased safety. This features warns me if the car is crossing into another lane and also provides steering assistance to course correct when the driver doesn't respond fast enough. Because power steering and lane management failed, I had difficulty turning the vehicle and maintaining safe position in my lane, especially on curvy and high-speed roads. Inspection/Reproduction of Issue: The vehicle is currently at the dealer where it was purchased for inspection by the service dept. This issue has not been reproduced on this particular vehicle. However, this issue was confirmed and reproduced on another Grand Cherokee L I purchased in November 2021. The current vehicle I am reporting the issue for is a replacement car because the vehicle purchased in November 2021 also had the same issue with the power steering, lane departure and lane management. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Jan 2022 | UNKNOWN OR OTHER | The vehicle has Uconnect system with Bluetooth, WiFi, Apple Car play etc. The incoming volume on the connected device is always (let me repeat that with emphasis) ALWAYS at maximum. An incoming call literally blows you to the back seat with its volume. I have set it, saved it, set it again, saved it again….to no avail. At one point I was on a crowded interstate surrounded by traffic and the call nearly caused a crash. I have also researched this issue online, and I see hundreds upon hundreds of posts with the EXACT SAME COMPLAINT. And, before you can ask the question: YES I have tried ALL of those solutions, and absolutely none of them work. All of the online posts concern different Chrysler/jeep/Dodge vehicles with Uconnect systems. They all exhibit this issue. This one failure alone is enough to make the vehicle too dangerous for the road. It is so dangerous, that I am also filing a complaint with the NHTSA. From the online posts and my conversations with a local dealer, it is apparent that this is something Chrysler/Jeep has no interest in fixing. Perhaps a formal intervention from a regulatory agency is what’s required. It seems to affect many different models, so this Jeep is not an isolated incident. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Jan 2022 | ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,SERVICE BRAKES,FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | I took my vehicle in for a recall on Saturday. I left with the auto start stop warning light on. They said the cable was fried and part was on back order, otherwise it was fully drivable. I started it for this first time since Saturday on Monday morning. I began to drive and the AEB immediately slammed on. Every warning light started to flash. Including the hazards. I had to unload my kids through the driver side, as the other doors wouldn’t open from inside or outside. The locks nor the windows would roll down. On the suspension it said to turn the engine on, however the engine was on. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Jan 2022 | POWER TRAIN,ENGINE | my wife was driving. SUV was doing about 50 mph on highway. With left hand she hit the paddle shifter on the steering wheel. SUV went from auto trans mode to lower gear manual mode. Engine jump up in rpms, had to pull off road, stop car, restart car to get back into auto trans driving. This 2021 Grand Cherokee L has no way to disable the paddle shifters if you do not want to use them. This driving change can happen anytime, local or highway driving. You need to have them come up with software fix to disable paddle shifters. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Dec 2021 | POWER TRAIN | Front Drive shaft broke off vehicle while driving at 45 mph and lost control of vehicle. Vehicle is available for inspection. The vehicle lost control and almost flipped over when the drive shaft broke off. Problem was confirmed by dealer. Manufacturer has not inspected vehicle they had the dealer send pictures. No warning lights appear on dash before or after the incident. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Dec 2021 | POWER TRAIN,SERVICE BRAKES | Vehicle was in park on the drive way and rolled backwards about 20 feet before coming to a stop. Video from Ring camera is available in the link below. https://photos.app.goo.gl/QjvPBfN47gBhqLA37 | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Dec 2021 | ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,VISIBILITY/WIPER,LANE DEPARTURE | -The new 2021 Jeep Grand Cherokee L-Limited was made to be a third, row off-road, all weather driven vehicle. #1: The front windshield is flush with the front pillars. This causes accumulated snow or off-road dirt to easily be pushed to the driver side window (with no way to wash off) and blocking the driver’s side mirror. This makes it impossible to to use the blind spot light on the side mirror. In my case, I had audio alarm turned off as not to wake the kids while driving across the country. So I had a couple of near misses until I was able to stop, clean the driver’s window and turn the blind spot alarm back on. This is not a big deal if driving in clear rain, just not off-road or snow. It’s available for inspection whenever needed. -Our safety was placed at risk by creating a blind spot, making my driver’s side mirror and sensor obsolete. This created me nearly striking the cars beside me. -I just returned from the dealership(Puyallup-Larsen Jeep)an hour ago and the staff admitted it was a flaw. They actually recommend I go buy some aftermarket window lip, that does not exist. It was disgraceful to say the least for them to admit a flaw and suggest I fix it on my own, after having my car for 8 hours and it having 3500 miles on it. -No warning lights other than the blind spot sensors activating that I could be sure was activated or not. #2: The third row seat over heated the phone charging cord, causing light cabin smoke and burning a slight hole in the gym bag. My 7 y/o twins were woken up and advised me she think she smelled smoke. I figured it was nothing, it a brand new vehicle. She said “something is burning Dad”. I turned the cabin light on as my 14 y/o said she now smelled something in the second row. I saw a light fog and immediately pulled over, ran to the back and yanked out the cord out of the car. The cord was overheated to my touch. The cord had burned the plastic bag the Happy Meal toy was inside. Available for inspection whenever. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Dec 2021 | ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,LANE DEPARTURE | VEHICLE LOCKS ARE NOT WORKING SAFELY. When locking doors on the vehicle the doors are easily opened when you pull the handle while sitting in the vehicle. All doors will open which is very dangerous especially since my grandkids sit in the back and can open the doors while the vehicle is in motion. I have a video showing the doors locked and i am able to open the doors when the vehicle is driving down the road. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Dec 2021 | STEERING,POWER TRAIN,ELECTRICAL SYSTEM | Second incident in less than 2 months on Grand Cherokee L that has 2K miles. Vehicle experienced limp mode when stabilizer system malfunctioned when going 45mph. Began to stall and lost acceleration. Gas pedal was unresponsive. Second incident (~500 miles later) Power Steering Failure. Could not get vehicle out of garage. Luckily this malfunction did not occur on the highway. Was able to get it to dealer the next day and they fixed with software updates for only the effected power steering module. What other updates are needed and what happens if the braking system is next? I have lost all faith in Jeep’s ability to design a safe and reliable vehicle for my wife and 2 kids. My wife has anxiety driving her own car as well. The roll out of the L and Grand Wagoneer may be coming with potentially fatal flaws. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Dec 2021 | STEERING | The contact owns a 2021 Jeep Grand Cherokee. The contact stated while driving at various speeds, the steering wheel was difficult to turn. The contact drove the vehicle to the residence, restarted the vehicle after waiting approximately one hour and functionality was restored. The contact stated that the power steering warning message was illuminated. The vehicle was towed to a local dealer but was not diagnosed. The failure persisted. The manufacturer was informed of the failure and was awaiting a response. The failure mileage was approximately 27,000. | Crash: No Fire: No | 27,000 |
| Dec 2021 | STRUCTURE | When driving at highway speeds, the front hood flutters up and down really fast, which is a huge distraction as it draws the drivers attention and when the sunlight hits it just right, it causes a flashing beam of light like a strobe effect in the drivers eyes. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Dec 2021 | POWER TRAIN,ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,UNKNOWN OR OTHER | Vehicle was left at dealer on 12/3 to address the infotainment screen gltiching and turning off and to address a recall. The dealer performed a software update and addressed the recall. I picked vehicle up on Saturday, 12/4. The infotainment screen flashed off again and I noticed the transmission shutters and bangs during a downshift and when I lift off the gas pedal. It was observed on Sunday, 12/5 that the nightvision images freezes and glitches while using. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |